Dreaming of spring already!

This past week has been a bit better than the last few in terms of eating and exercise, but any kind of organization has gone right out the window. I have three loads of laundry to fold, one in the washing machine (forgotten from a few days ago... will rewash with vinegar tonight), no clean dishes in the house, and we barely have room to move around. It's time for another big purge/clean. I've done three or four of these since I moved in seven years ago, but I'm hoping to either finally make the place nice enough so that we can move out, or finally render it liveable enough to stay in long(er)-term. I have a broken bathroom sink that I'd like to have replaced, a broken front window that NEEDS to be fixed, and I'd like to replace the carpet in the livingroom/front room with either cheap laminate or industrial-type carpet (the flat stuff). Oh, and I have a stove that has one working burner *sigh*

All these projects require a lot of money. Money I don't currently have. But if I'm a bit smarter about my budgeting and work enough extra hours at the store, I should be able to manage a few of these before spring. I'm hoping to get the sink/window issues sorted before Christmas (Rob and his son are coming up for a visit, and it kind of sucks that you can't even brush your teeth in the bathroom sink). I think Jeff's niece's husband (wasn't that a mouthful) works in plumbing and I used to work with a girl whose husband does windows, so I'm going to chase down those avenues before going public in my quest for home repair. My landlord will be footing the bill whether he likes it or not. He's been aware of all these problems for quite some time, but refuses to have anyone in to repair them.

I also need to bring my vacuum cleaner to be repaired. The ten-year-old vacuumed her freshly-cleaned room a few months ago, and I think she burnt out the motor on it. I thought it was the belt at first, but when I took it apart to poke at its innards, the belt we had put in a couple of years ago seemed brand new (okay, so I don't vacuum often). That will be done tonight, hopefully (we have this fantastic place on Bronson Ave called The Vac Shack that's been around longer than I have, it has a very good reputation for good work and reasonable prices).

As for the dreaming of spring... well, I've recently started reading this blog (Itty Bitty Farm in the City by Heidy Kooy) and I am craving the ability to plant even a small herb plant. Sadly, everything I've tried to grow in my apartment has been devoured by the beast (my cat, George). She ate some lovely pumpkin and squash sprouts I had started, ate all my mint and basil (that made for some interesting stains on the carpet later, let me tell you!) and I've stopped even bringing home the traditional plants my aunt gives all the moms on Mother's Day for fear of inadvertently poisoning her. *sigh*

I have such garden fever right now that I actually requested a seed catalogue from Stokes (the Canadian equivalent of Burpee, pretty much). I don't have a yard. I don't have my own balcony. I have NOWHERE to grow said plants (unless I set up some sort of table or shelves in my bedroom windows, since the cats are NOT PERMITTED in the master bedroom). I don't care!!!! I WANT TO GROW FOOD, dammit! I want to grow herbs so I'm not stuck with flavorless dried stuff. I wish I had unlimited space so that I could grow and process my own fruits and vegetables, but I'd be happy to start out with a small herb garden. I wonder if I could put window boxes over the edges of the (shared) balcony... I wonder if the fact that my neighbor smokes out there would totally ruin anything I tried to grow. I wonder if I actually have the chutzpah to pull this off... (heck, reading Heidi's blog, I even had fantasies of setting up a beehive on the roof, if I had access... I wonder if the landlord would give me access to the roof to start a container garden!)

Anyway... this is what I've been dreaming of for the last few weeks, and it's killing me LOL I raid my mother's garden mercilessly every summer, and I pick the gooseberries that grow on a tiny little hedge at our front door... I'd love to plant a rhubarb patch, but I've never had one take before. Maybe this year will be luckier. (and maybe I can find a spot to plant one that won't ruin my basement neighbors' view out of their windows).