Spring has arrived here in my little part of the world. The weather is balmy, the sky is endless blue, and I hear birdsong every morning now. Yay! I headed off the the nursery on Friday and bought some nice bedding plants that can withstand a spring snowstorm or two and planted them that afternoon. Look at what else I found!
So cool, right? My front rose garden is covered with these little white flowers and the occasional crocus as pops of color. Some of my perennials are putting out new growth and I am feeling pretty good about getting the outside gardens going again. I think that all of the rose bushes made it through the winter, but in another few weeks I’ll know for sure. Please, no big snow storms, Mother Nature!!
Knitting
I kind of set a goal for myself early in the year to knit a pair of socks each month, so late last week I went into knitting overdrive and got March’s pair of socks finished. They are nothing fancy, but they are done!
Once the socks were done I went back to knitting the Goldwing sweater and made some progress. I have now finished the body and am working my way down the first sleeve; Hannah has been tons of help with the sleeve knitting… NOT! I have to flip the sweater around while working on the sleeve and that makes the knitting look like a cat toy to her. Still, we are making good progress.
Books
Have you ever found yourself reading books that had similar themes? Without meaning to I have gone down the rabbit hole reading books about… artificial intelligence and the personhood of human-like constructs.
These books ask the question, “What is personhood?” while taking you on adventures that are engaging and action-packed while forcing you to consider why some individuals have lesser rights than others. In A Closed and Common Orbit the artificial intelligence of a ship (Lovelace) moves into a robot body after a catastrophic failure and reboot that makes her continued presence on the ship uncomfortable. It’s a rocky, and illegal, transition but over time Lovelace, with the help of her irrepressible engineer/friend Pepper, is able to move into a life that is hers alone.
Then there is Murderbot. Oh, dear. I am currently consumed with Murderbot. Imagine being a highly skilled and intelligent construct of organic and machine parts that is designed to provide sophisticated services to clients who hire their services from security corporations. Known as SecUnits, these constructs are lethal bodyguard units capable of multiple types of responses; they can conduct electronic warfare and control other units (like drones) while shooting their way out of any ambush or hazard; retrieval and secure safe passage for human clients is their specialty. They are lethal units, valuable corporate possessions, and their compliance with corporate priorities and directives is controlled by implanted governors that “punish” any failure by the SecUnit. They are “things” and have no rights. Except… what if a SecUnit is able to hack the governor and can begin to make decisions for itself? Meet the hero of The Murderbot Diaries as it goes rogue and begins to find its own way in the universe. I love the Murderbot!! This is Space Opera to die for with a main character (snarky, media-watching, anxiety-ridden, loyal to its friends) that grows on me with every single new book. Who could have thought that a Murderbot could be so human as it struggles to deal with… humans? I just started the 5th book in the series today and I am seriously upset that I have to wait for the next one to get published.
Lucky for me I have Klara and the Sun waiting for me in my library. Klara is an artificial intelligence. Klara is solar powered. I can’t wait to meet Klara.
Have a great week, everyone!
Read a little, knit a little, and garden like your heart can’t live without it.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Oh goodness, look at Hannah in that last photo! I miss having cats. We thought spring was here but now we have snow again but hopefully after this week we won’t have more. My orchid flower bud still hasn’t opened. Its weeks and weeks now, do you think it ever will? Have a good week.
It is snowing in the mountains here, but still pretty warm out here on the plains. My orchid buds take forever to open… you might notice it slowly growing over weeks. Be careful to not overwater the plant; that’s how I usually kill my buds. 😦
Hannah says hi!
Nicely upbeat. Hannah was trying to read the lettering behind her.
She does love her Chewy.com boxes!
🙂
That photo of Hannah is priceless. She has quite a personality. Your sweater is gorgeous, your socks are gorgeous, and yes, your emerging bulbs are gorgeous. Happy spring.
Hannah does have a great personality! Thanks for the gorgeous comments!!
Those sound like really interesting books – will have to look for those! Love the pictures of Miss Hannah – what a sweetie! Your socks and sweater are beautiful, and so are your new flowers!
Hannah is just a bundle of fun most days. I’m just stunned every now and then when I remember that she was a failed adoption returned to the shelter!! How glad I am that I was able to snag her; the perfect kitten for a person living alone who can shower her with the attention that she craves.
Spring is a great time of year… everything looks just beautiful!
She is just so adorable, and you two seem so perfect for each other! Spring is a wonderful time – enjoy!
I liked A Closed and Common Orbit more than the first one in the series – Pepper’s story is also excellent!
I read some kind of iffy reviews about A Closed and Common Orbit that made me hesitant to buy it, but I decided as I read the book that it was really pretty good. I also liked Pepper a lot, and loved how the circle closed at the end of the book when everyone had found their place. I have the third book waiting for me on the Kindle but got stalled out when I discovered Murderbot!!