Hi there.

I have no photos for you right now, as I am at my office on my way home from class - hence, no real time to download and edit. I am woefully behind on recording the goings on in the orchard, which makes me really sad. The apricots are already finished blooming, and so are some of the peaches. I'll certainly catch the apples, and hopefully some of the later peaches and the plums and pears. The apricot bloom is so incredibly brief it kind of amazes me. Their flowers are so pretty! Mayhap I can find one left on at least one of the trees tomorrow before the day's hijinks commence.

Tonight was my last night at clinical. Hurray! And also - gulp. I am not at all ready for the final lab exam OR the lecture exam, which are one week from tonight and two weeks from last night, respectively. EEP. One thing I can say most assuredly? THANK GOD it's almost over. Holy cats, man. I am so tired. I am also really, really sick of school. I know, wah, poor Anne, blah blah blah, etcetera. Sometimes I really am just a self-centered teenager, only with wrinkles and bad knees. It bears thinking about.

Moving on. Let's see... what else? Well, there's the farmer's tan I've got going on. My arms and face are fifteen times darker than the rest of my flesh. As long as I wear long pants and shirts with sleeves, I look ok. However - skirts? Shorter sleeves? Shirts open at the neck? HA HA HA! I look foolish. I'm not at all concerned about it, but it's still a pretty funny contrast. Hmm. Other stuff beyond melanocyte activity.... nope. I have nothing for you. Yes, there is stuff going on (finals approach, obviously, and I'm just starting to have trickles of panic penetrate my giant wall of denial)... but I am not really composed enough to address it properly. I really just wanted to sign in to once again remind my enormous fan base that I am actually alive. Guffaw, etc.

On that really poorly written note.... ta. I shall try to provide photographic fare tomorrow. Try not to hold your collective breath, ok?

ARGH! I need to bring a camera outside! Meanwhile, old pics...

Up the hill, through my windshield. I was trying to give you a perspective on the steepness of the hill, but you can't really tell, can you? Oh, well.

Down a row in the pond block - flags flying. If I ever talk about flagging trees, this is what I'm talking about. The flag colors match up with the fungicidal treatment the trees get.

Tiny Brassica, I think. Cute little baby.

Media (for bacterial growth plates) stirring, from above.

That same media, from the side. Boring, I'm sure, but still - here it is! Yay!

Photo one of an orchid we have here at work. Lovely, lovely thing. This is the second time it has bloomed since I've been here (4 years).

Another shot of the orchid.

Common mullein - fuzzy!

First flower of the season - coltsfoot. I love these guys.

Another view of a coltsfoot - I love them because they're out there in the starkness of March, no leaves, growing out of impossible looking ground. Pretty little things.

*******

Hi there! I've been away awhile. I am tired, just as tired as I was in the last entry. That's ok, though. Tired is good, sometimes. In the past, I often said I was tired when really I was being crushed under the weight of depression. It's actually kind of amazing that I didn't do more than cut myself a few times over the past few years - I was that down. I still continue to be amazed by the fact that I feel kind of normal, and occasionally giddily happy for no reason at all. It's nice, so nice!

If you still read here, and I haven't visited your blog lately, I apologize. I have been so busy, soooo so busy, and also distracted. And also? With regard to what I said above... I have some depression issues at the moment that would normally have had me completely snowed under. Funny - now I know it, which is a good thing. On the other hand, it's kind of scary how life-sucking depression is - if I felt the full brunt of what is scratching through the glass at me right now (all bristly and tooth-baring and angry), I would most certainly be doing very self-destructive things. Thank God (and Shannon, again - I have to keep saying this because she has helped me so much) that I am on medication. It's real, depression, and as I believe William Styron said, the word "depression" doesn't really cover it. Moving on.

The world outside is changing like crazy - so fast, so pretty! I've worked outside a lot lately, which is a total blessing, but I've been way too busy to carry a camera. I need to get out there (hopefully tomorrow) to capture what's happening in terms of bud-break and so forth, because it all happens so rapidly. We have bluebirds nesting in a box in one part of our orchard, and two eastern phoebes claiming territory in two other parts - it's just wonderful. The peepers (frog species) have been peeping like crazy for weeks now - I just adore being outside and hearing them. I can't believe how lucky I am to have this job. It's amazing.

School. I have entered a new era (well, it's kind of an old era for me, but it's new now because it's been absent for too long) - I have become Competitive Anne again. The reason? A 94 on my midterm and a 95 on the latest exam. I'm back in the game, and I want to continue to kick ass. I thank the meds, for sure - I wouldn't be doing so well if I wasn't taking them. I managed good grades before this, but not quite as high - and I don't even know how I did it, feeling as bad as I did. Anyhow, I feel good, and I want to chew up my final and spit it out. We shall see what we shall see, because I am not at all ready for it (two weeks hence). And, per usual, the final skills assessment scares the crap out of me - I perform badly when being watched one on one. Too bad I didn't major in drama instead of science.

Alrighty, then. I wish you all well, and I'm sorry for my lack of presence. I will check in now and then, and I hope to get some photos tomorrow to share with you. Ta for now.

Not dead, just busy.

Old view (a week and a half ago, maybe?) of buds and the weather shelter on the hill.

Clover in one of the potted trees - which need to be weeded by *someone* very soon!

Hiya. I am so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open. Exam tonight, outdoor work much of the day today. I'm not complaining, I'm just tired. I probably won't sign in again till Thursday - I can't imagine I'll have any time tomorrow. Meanwhile, hello. And I hope you are all well, those of you who bother to read here. Until later, then, ta.