String Notes

The sun is out for the fourth day in a row. I’m liking March so far. Sunlight, warmth… my mood is so much better. I would probably even have snowdrops, if they weren’t under here.

The front flowerbed is by the front walk so that it can be admired several times a day. But it’s also the only place to put all the snow from the front walk, and we’ve had a lot this year. Most of the yard is melting out, but this pile has a way to go.

Would it be weird to shovel my flower bed? I could put the snow back on the sidewalk…

I spent Friday night curled up on the couch with a pile of books working on a big research project. This made me very content. Nick called me a “knowledge-based life form” last week, and I think he may be onto something. Anyway, I mentioned online that I was happily ensconced with my reference materials and a tin of book darts. Judging from the replies, many of my friends have never heard of these invaluable items. This must be remedied!

This is my stack of books at the end of the evening. If you look closely at the edges, you can see, oh, maybe 50 book darts marking places I need to refer to later. They don’t add any appreciable bulk, they don’t move or fall out, the cat can’t remove them.

One side has a little pointer so I can mark the exact line of interest. They make acceptable bookmarks, but nothing beats them for this kind of extensive survey project.

(Note: sticky notes leave adhesive residue in your books, and it’s acidic — please don’t use them in library books or books you care about because the paper will eventually degrade. And if I catch you putting sticky notes in my books, you’d better be prepared to prove that they are archival-grade!)

Best of all, I can buy them by the hundreds!