Oh Lpink, I hear you. At least you can open a door and smell the berries. When I am at work I am stuck in an air-conditioned building with windows that do not open. It is killing me, especially when I look out the window and see the beautiful weather. Hasn't it been magnificent?

When I get home, I do a little gardening and then sit on my screened porch with a book. Just now I was checking Facebook and here.

I admire you for having the discipline to work at home. I'd be out that door and into the garden, for sure.

There has to be a better way. I saw a job advertised at Awbury Arboretum, and I seriously considered applying. It pays about half of what I earn now, but there are the intangibles! Oh well every day is one day closer to retirement.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another heavenly day and it's back to work for me. I am going to take Fridays off in August. Bet the weather will be stinking hot and humid by then.

L, if it helps at all, I'm stuck all day in a windowless office in the middle of a cement block building, I can't even see the outside. It might be better that way, I can long to be outside, but at least I can't smell the berries.

Of course, my garden is 20 miles away, so I have to leave work and drive to get there, that does tend to cut down my gardening time too, LOL.

Someday I'll build a house at the farm and then I can just walk out my backdoor to pick the berries or ride the horse or get fresh lettuce for a salad. That's what I'm looking forward too.

Congratulations on the consulting job, at least it pays well, that's got to be a big help.

Annie

Funny you should mention that Awbury job Pam . . . I'm stuck at my desk today applying for it!! Among other things.

Thanks for cheering me up, it is oddly comforting to know that some others are suffering too. I'm sure some people do not even care if they ever get outside, like my neighbor, who practically RUNS from the garage to his back door when he gets home from work. Pretty soon it will be too hot to go outside except in the early morning and late evening. That's why I plant mostly white flowers in my garden.

I did go outside last night and pick a few berries, and eat a few. Sadly, the ones I picked earlier in the week molded in the refrigerator. I was saving them for the torte, which I might as well give up on. When I planted those few bushes, I just intended it to be for the pleasure of harvesting a few raspberries to eat fresh. But foodie/harvester me can't stop there. No, I have to try and get more and more berries, and do more and more with them. I realized this morning I should have been freezing them as I go. They are just so yummy fresh!! And oddly enough, when they aren't giving off berries, I curse those bushes and am always one step away from shovel pruning them. Maybe they sense that every year and that's what keeps them cranking out the berries.

I dream of being able to sit on my patio just for a few minutes of R&R. I can't do that now, because there is so much dissaray in the yard if I'm out there for any length of time I start a project, time I can ill afford away from my ball and chain . . . I mean desk and computer. I am always thankful for work, but since none of it is steady it doesn't seem like I'm getting anywhere. And if my whole life gets played out in front of a computer screen, am I really living? Humans are not really designed for this life is what I think. Although some people, like my brother, for example, don't mind at all and can happily do nothing but interact with the computer screen. When he's not doing that he's interacting with a piano. He is more than happy to stick to inanimate objects, lol!

So here I am at my desk looking out at the bee-yoo-ti-full weather. I did go out at lunch and just drove around. It is so amazingly gorgeous out here -- rolling hills and horse farms. The kind of horse farms that only very rich people can afford. Old stone barns and Pennsylvania stone homes.

One of the trustees at the hospital breeds race horses. I drove past her stable and her horses were out in the fields. They are such gorgeous animals.

I plan to be out of here at the tick of 5, if not sooner.

As for growing produce, I let the experts do it. There are wonderful farm stands nearby and I get what I want there. I am growing two tomato plants in my driveway, though. The heirloom plant already has several tomatoes on it.

I hope you get the job at Awbury!! They were advertising for a director of development and that's what I was thinking about.

Annie, I used to work two different places where I was buried in the middle of the building without a window. I literally thought I would go bonkers. I made a point to go out every day at lunch no matter the weather. I really think your biorhythms get srewed up without daylight.

Our new hospital building has daylight in every room, even in the ER because research has proven that daylight promotes healing. It's called evidence based design.

Thank heavens you can escape to a whole farm full of nature!

Look at it this way .... being deprived pays the bills. We have all done that. I had a job that kept me on the road 100% of the time(M-F), but i was able to keep a beautiful garden in Georgia on the weekends. It can be done, but the job puts food on the table!

Yes, and that's the ONLY reason I am here.