More Odd Neighbor Stuff

 I don't want to harp on the neighbors too much.  But I don't like mine a whole lot.  I think they are kind of weird.  The neighbors to the east are odd.  They don't have much sense of property lines.  And forgive me, it it hard to discuss concerns well.  They don't speak American well.  Damn that seems bad to say, but you have to be able to talk to resolve problems.

I can manage that slightly, but they seem kind of new to yardwork safety.  They  decided to burn fallen tree branches once, right next to my wood fence and below small trees.  And had no water supply near.  Then the guy decided to use a metal blade trimmer to remove grass around a tree in my yard.  It died the next year.  When I told him to stop, he seemed to think he was helping me.  

Now they have their tree trunks wrapped in clear plastic, taped all around 5' up.  None of my business, I suppose, but I'm curious and can't ask why.  

The neighbors one further had all their trees cut down, but only 8' high.  They left the trunks.  I can't imagine a reason.  That's the east...

My neighbors on the west side have a tree across their front lawn that has sat there for 4 years.  They have a mowing company that does their lawn, but they ignore the fallen tree.

The people to the south have poison ivy beds that creep into my yard.  I spray them, but they come back.

I have some neighbor down the street a few houses who just drives a motorcycle back on forth along the the street.  I thought maybe he had a repair business on the side, but it is always the same 3 motorcycles.

I feel trapped.  I love the city water and sewage, the buried electrical and good internet cable, the dead end street and the grandfathered no Homeowners Association.  And I feel like I have too much to move; woodworking equipment is delicate in some ways.

But if I don't move soon, I never will...

Deck Mums And A Surprise Visitor

I didn't do too well with the planters hanging from the deck rails (usually Zinnias or Salvia) but the deck floor planter Mums are beginning to bloom...

The beds were mowed for renewal, but do you notice a small object near center top?

A bunny was visiting...

Marley and Ayla have mostly retired from hunting the bigger critters (mice are just fine these days) but Laz has an interest in rabbits and squirrels.  I mean, he was LOOKING at the backyard (see the top pic).

It was funny.  The rabbit was obvious to ME, but even when I picked up Laz and aimed his head to it, he didn't see it.  Because the rabbit wasn't moving.

I understand.  I'm shape/color/movement/far-sighted evolved and he is movement/sound/near-sighted evolved.  And sees yellow-blue best (which is why bunnies and i are brown, I suppose).

So I whistled suddenly and the bunny twitched its ears.  Wow did THAT get Laz's attention!  He was off like a shot (I have a wound to prove it) and went right after it.  No chance to catch it off course but he was enthusiastic.  Give a rabbit a headstart and no hope for a cat.

But it probably made his day.  He didn't need any food, but "the thrill of the chase" was good...

Catching Up With The Yard, Part 3

I meant to show the clearing and mowing of the 3 beds and forgot...

So here some are:  Plus the goldfinch feeder.  Just couldn't leave that one out...

Some spots went unmowed for the year but that is mostly done now and thge mowed stuff will smother the grasses.  I have 2 Yuccas in one bed and a wild daylily in another.  There were 3 Yuccas originally, but I have one in the original spot that can be divided in 3 now and moved so I will have 5 in the future.  I'll wait to see the daylily color next year (I plan to divide most of them in the original area this Fall and mix up the colors anyway) while creating more plants.

The last picture is of a front yard island around the Saucer Magnolia (my best Spring-flowering tree).  There are daffodils planted around the bed, but I want Painted ferns and variegated Bishop's Weed in there too.  The Astilbes didn't thrive,  but the other 2 seem to like the area and the deer don't eat them, so they are good choices.

The unmowed area is where some Astilbes survive.  I will move them to a better location.  I have landscape flag next to each one, so I can dig up the roots and hope they like a new spot.

Catching Up With The Yard, Part 2

I mentioned that grasses were taking over some areas of the yard.  And those were flowerbeds.   Well, I "got behind" this year.  I wasn't healed from the ladder fall until about June (and will never be fully, but let's say I might be about 80%).  I can do most things OK.

But I have catching up to do.  I slacked last year a bit and then couldn't do much until June this year (and I have done a LOT of cutting-to-ground-level and digging this year.  So I'm doing basic stuff this late Summer and Fall.

Two losses were the meadow bed and the pollinator bed.  The meadow bed wasn't all THAT bad.  Lot's of Queen Anne's Lace, some Black-Eyed Susans and a few surviving wildflowers.  But both failed, so it is time to start again.

I cut all the tall plants near ground level with a hedge-trimmer (worked great) and then used the mower at the lowest level.  There is probably enough fallen plant material to smother the grasses.  Or maybe not.  But as they decay, it will sure be good for the soil.

But I have a plan.  The Meadow Bed will become a mix of native and adapted flowers that do well here.  Mostly Black-Eyed Susans, Purple Coneflowers, Queen Anne's Lace, 

And some various self-sowing flowers (Tithonia, Calendula, and Butterfly Weed) that seem to attract pollinators.  

The pollinator garden will become more of a source of beneficial insect growth area.  A plastic tub will serve to host milkweed for monarch butterflies and others will help other beneficial insects.  I'll be deciding next month about what to plant for them.  There are lists on the net.

But the first thing to do is try to smother the more wild grasses that invaded the beds in the first place.  I've collected enough permeab;e black weed-smothering fabric to cover everything.  I tried solid black plactic over the Spring Bulb bed, but THAT did was create pools of rainwater for the mosquitoes.  Some pereamble it must be.  It WILL smother the grasses eventually.

I made a mistake trying to plant the specialty beds several years ago.  I SHOULD have covered them first for a year to kill the grasses that survived the rototillering.  But I was impatient.

Had I done that then, I would have 3 year old mature meadow and pollinator beds now.  You live and learn.  And such beds were new to me.

I have all THOSE above flowers growing now around the yard and in a nursery bed.  I'll be collecting the seedheads as they mature and dry to spread around in the 2 beds.  I think I will spread all the various seeds around about equally.  Some may grow better than others, and I would rather see a general spread of flowers adapted to my area all over than have barespots.  I can always diversify in a future year.

Catching Up With The Yard, Part 1

I got some stuff done in the yard in June and July (which got undone as weeds regrew in August) but at least it isn't as bad as before.  Young new weeds are better that old tough ones. 

August was odd.  Too much rain.  I never thought I would complain about THAT!  My 1st 25 years here, the soil would get so dry that it would crack open like a lesser version of parched mudflats.

When some rain DID fall, it would immediately be sucked into the depths.  OK, unlike the above picture, I DID have lawn grass, but dry and brown.  Things have changed.  Partly, by my own efforts to leave grass clippings on the lawn which gradually improved the soil.  And NO, grass-clippings do not cause "thatch". Frequent but only surface watering causes the grass roots to spread on the top inch or so (where the water is), and THAT causes thatch.  And that leaves the grass roots subject to drying and death.

I have a healthy lawn almost year-round these days, and I seldom water it.  But when I do, it is a long deep watering.  Healthy grass can send roots down a foot or more if that is where the water is, and deeper water doesn't evaporate away as fast as surface water.

And I'll mention the clover is good for your lawn.  Clover sends roots down several feet and brings nutrients back up to the surface as the leaves die.  But bees like clover, and I sure don't mind helping the bees.  

As far as the lawn goes my rule is pretty much "If it is green, it is OK".  I don't even mind a few dandelions.  I don't have many because the grass is healthy and I cut it at 3" which is enough to smother/shadeout most weeds.  

I have neighbors who cut their grass to 1" and are constantly fighting with weak grass and happy weeds.  I'm pretty sure all the dandelions I DO have come from them.  Well, you know, most people don't exactly study about lawns.  They just do their best in their busy days.  I've always been interested in growing things though, and a lawn is like a garden.  

In fact, it is time to spread corn gluten meal on the lawn.  It inhibits seeds from developing and Fall is when the dandelion and most lawn weeds germinate.  And since it is also mostly nitrogen, the grass loves it.  Turf grasses in temperate zones grow roots best in Fall/Winter (which admittedly does seem odd for most plants) and good roots make healthy lawns.  But Spring bulbs are like that too, so they aren't unique.

But the corn gluten that prevents weed seeds from developing also affects grass seed.  So I generally cycle the  Fall treatments.  Two Septembers, the corn gluten, and the 3rd, new grass seed.  My preferred lawn grass is tall fescue and they are not spreaders.  So new seed has to be spread "sometimes".  

Every few years, I get a trailerful of free compost from the County and spread it around on the lawn.  It's really kind of a cool system.  You have yard debris like fallen branches and even Christmas trees and bring it to the Mulching Center.  

They pile it up into huge mounds for a couple years while it heats up and breaks down.  Then they move it to a 2nd spot for a final "churn" where it heats up again.  The result is something between mulch and compost.  It's not like finely-sifted compost of course, but it is ready for lawn and garden use.  

I like it for several reasons.  It's free to dump the raw stuff at the start and free to pick the finished product.  And if you go on Saturdays 8am-Noon, they use a bucket-loader to fill the trailer for free.  I LOVE "free".

The commercial nursery near the County mulch center probably hates that.  They get $40 per bucketload (my trailer holds 3).  But they offer sifted compost and a 50/50 blend of topsoil at the same price and sometimes I buy some of that.  And I only know of them because I have stooped there on my way to the County mulch center, so they get some business from me for that and sometimes I buy plants.

But back to the lawn.  I spread the compost over the lawn thinly most Springs.  Every little amount helps.  An 1/8" of compost helps the grass quite a lot (they are good at living on very little help (consider that most grasses worldwide live without human assistance)...

But all that is about the lawn.  I have problems with TOO much grass in other places.  More about that tomorrow... 

Car Maintenance

I was reminded last week by receiving a registration renewal form from Motor Vehicles that it had been 13 months since I bought the new Subaru Forester and so it was time to have routine maintance done.  Never mind the car has only 700 miles on it, oils gets old etc  and I am planning to drive at highway speed 200 miles roundtrip in 4 weeks (pick up new kitten).  

I mentioned that previously, but I actually scheduled it for Friday.  I am a Class A procrastinator, so actually scheduling it was a Big Deal.  And why I scheduled it for 8:30 am is beyond me, but I suppose at the time I wasn't sure how long it would take.

All my life before I retired, I was a morning person.  Up early for school and job and even on days off, I got up early.  Then I became a real "night owl".  So 8:30 am was an unaccustomed time of day.  I managed it though.  Dropped off the car, reviewed what they would do, gave some warnings (I have a battery-charger device wire sticking out of the grill and I didn't want them to mess with it).

They have shuttle service, so they drove me home (I love shuttle service as I go nuts sitting around and doing nothing).  The van driver almost made me scream.  You might expect that it was because he drove too fast, but it was the opposite.  He was maddeningly slow and didn't understand directions very well.  

I haven't been the passenger in a car very often since my carpool days 15 years ago.  I kept thinking "go" when regular traffic allowed for it safely, but he just sat.  Let's just say it took me 5 minutes to drive to the dealership and 10 minutes to get returned, LOL!

And he seemed confused about directions.  I would say "next right turn", and he would hesitate at every house we passed.  And "next left turn" and he would ask if I meant each house we passed.  One street ends at a wetland.  I told him about that and to turn left, but I was 1/2 certain he was going to drive straight into it!

We got near my house and I said 3rd house on the left - the green one (only green house on the street.  He almost drove past.  I said "stop, this one".  *sigh*

So back in the house, I went straight back to bed, assuming I would hear a telephone call to let me know the car was ready and they could pick me up.  I must have been REALLY tired!  Apparently, I slept through 3 calls.  I got up at 2 pm and sure enough, there were those call on voice mail.  The car had been ready at 10 am!

Well, no great loss.   I called back and they said the shuttle guy would be there in 10 minutes.  30 minutes later, I called them again.  They said he had left 20 minutes before but not to worry "he doesn't get lost".  Sure enough, he showed up soon after.  He had gotten lost.  Said his GPS was charging.  He had my phone number...

But he arrived and got me to the dealership.   The good news was that they found nothing wrong, but did the usual tire rotation, oil and filter change, checked fluids etc and even washed the car (nice touch). And at no charge!  

Well, when I bought the car, the details of the costs were very specific.  I had negotiated for a month after all.  But they had charged $200 to fill the tires with nitrogen.  Hey "air" is 78% nitrogen already!  Tired of fussing about the final cost, I got a "free" oil and filter change at the first annual maintenance in exchange.

Salespeople are amazing.  Turned out that the first annual maintenance was free anyway!  No matter what you do, they always find "some" little trick to get a last dollar.  But, in the long-term, the $200 trick and the meaningless "free" oil and filter change doesn't really matter.  

Unless I suddenly decide to by an all-electric car in a few years due to some battery-tech breakthough, I the Subaru Forester may be my last car.  Each car of my life has been built better and lasted longer.  The Toyota Highlander lasted 15 years and I drive the Subaru less than the Toyota anyway.  It should last 20 and I probably won'tbe safe to frive at 90+.

Reconsiderations

It is Sept 11th and I am becoming torn about how to respond to the 20th recognition of such a horrible event.  I  wrote a post in great anger a couple of days ago.  Everything I wrote in it is true,  to me.  But I decided not to post it here.  I spoke of anger and not ever forgiving the events of THAT DAY.  And I do NOT forgive.

But this morning, I also thought about hope and new days and the past, and I decided to change my post to reflect that.  I understand that part of the World's problems are due to various People nursing old angers and victimizations.  How long should anger continue?  I remember reading about some people expressing anger about a battle fought in the 1400s (I do not recall who or which battle now).

The US fought 2 wars against Great Britain, yet we are strong allies now.  The US fought against Germany, Italy, and Japan in WWII, yet were are allies now.  People who live today are not the same people who lived in the past.  

Many people around the World and within the United States think we think we are "all so much " or "all that".  Yeah, sometimes.  We are fortunate here.  Otto von Bismarck once said, if memory serves me correctly,  "America is blessed by God having oceans on 2 sides and weak neighbors on the other 2".  Let's say "peaceful" for now.  I like our good neighbors...

So maybe this round number of years is time to begin to let anger go.  We in the US are not innocent of horrible crimes against others.  

I acknowledge that there were people here before my European ancestors, but migrations happen in history.  And I know about slavery.  We have done wrong and I can't change the past.

But I listened to a song today and it reminded me of hope.

Hope has come from many places around the world though time.    Freedom has sprung up in the weediest places and defended to the death.  Sometimes it lasts and sometimes it doesn't.  

In my lifetime, "America" has stood for hope.  It's not perfect or anything "real" close, but sometimes a good try is worth it.  As Churchill said "The Americans do the right thing...  eventually."

So I was reminded of a song.  And today it felt more important.  We here are more divided than for scores of years.  We will re-unite...

Because there is a basic promise in our very existence.  Hope, freedom, and a promise that most of us agree on outside of politics.

The symbol is from France...

The words "We The People" have reverberated though 2 centuries+, and 

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Still has meaning...

It is a promise not kept perfectly lately, but I think things are changing again.

The song is from Neil Diamond, who expressly described his Grandmother (as like so many others) reaching our shores from the far parts of the World...

Coming To America

Someday, the US will fade into history or change from what it was; every good nation has and no nation can hold the best ideals forever. History move forward relentlessly as things change.  Sometimes cruelty and horror erupts.  But somewhere there is always an island of hope.  I think we are that, however briefly.  It has been other places at different times.

To paraphrase Edna St. Vincent Millay:

Our candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, our foes, and oh, our friends—
We gave a lovely light!

But for today, and with a sense of humility, we are doing the best we can and I am pretty proud of the dream.    

Better than anger and hatred.  Cherish hope! 

You can read my original post HERE.  It's a site I've used for various purposes at various times.  There is a part of me that still thinks as I wrote there, and probably always will.  Sometimes we hold conflicting thoughts in our minds.

Let's say I am going 75% with this post and 25% with the post at the link for now.  It will certainly change over time, and I don't really know in which direction...

New Kitten Delayed

I called the Tonkinese breeder yesterday.  She knows I am looking for a female of light colors like Iza.  Turned out the newest litter was 5 males in the color I wanted and the one female was dark brown.  Well sometimes gender is uncertain for weeks.  

But she assures me the litter of her partner-in-breeding has had a healthy litter of mostly females 2 weeks younger and ready for adoption in early October and they are sure the colors will be about what I wanted.  And will send pictures of all.

I'm to blame if I have Iza in mind.  I keep saying "whatever close " in my head, but I keep saying "Iza" in my heart.  I'm torn...

The available "brown" female Tonkinese might melt my heart.  Brown would be different, but the breeder says their colors get darker.  Yeah, Iza's did too.  I didn't mind that.  It made her different after her first year.

She has the picture of Iza on her wall next to my name.  She understands about colors.  I can't describe Iza by Tonkie colors but she can.  I think Iza was "platimum or champaign" but blue eyes only come from some mixtures.

The next litter are ready in early October.  Quite frankly, at that point, I will take any female Tonkie I can get.  I've waited a year and a half.  Has to be female though.  3 males and Ayla would feel odd.

Arranged for the car to be "maintenanced" tomorrow.  First annual visit to the dealership since I bought it.  If I have to do a 90 mile each way trip for a cat, I want to make sure it is ready for a highway.   The dealership service department pulled me in 2 directions.  First, 700 miles in a year is not a problem in most ways.  But a year is too long for oil or coolant sometimes.  I have enough problems with gas-powered yard equipment; I won't risk a new car.

I'll let them do what they want.  Most of it is free for the first years anyway.  I just want to make sure I can safely drive at highways speeds to the breeder 90 miles and back and not worry about oil and coolant.

Looking forward to Lorelei Lee even if it is ANOTHER few weeks.  Though my patience IS thinning.

Will post promised pics from the breeder when I get them...

Blogging

The best computer response to a sent Comment  is:  "Your comment has been posted".

The second best is:  "Your comment is awaiting moderation" (well at least it got through).

The worst is "Oops there is an error".  Well, thats why we usually remember to copy it first!

LOL!

Griping

Hi - Anyone bored enough to trade being 50 or younger for 71?   I'm offerring good rates; I'll hardly charge anything in exchange for 20+ years of life-experience...

I'm beginning to feel like a clone in a sci-fi movie that is wearing out.  Don't worry, this is all just a gripe; not depression.  I'm happy enough with life not to feel depressed.  But things are creeping up on me.

I'm tired of the muscle cramps.  Oh sure, they happen sometimes even when you are younger when you over-exert yourself, and that is normal.  Around 60, they started getting a little more common, but still mostly when I did too much yardwork.  You hold a shovel tightly enough while digging, a cramp a few hours later isn't that odd.  I push myself a lot.

Living alone means having to do "necessary things" that would be better off with 2 people doing it.  

I suppose an equation would be:  Doing 2x times 2y projects times AgeZ = 2 cramps...  OUCH!

It is almost becoming a daily routine.  I go outside and do some yardwork.  I've gotten smart enough to take breaks after 1/2 hour, wear padded gloves, apply some muscle rub...  MOST days are OK.  But more often lately, preparing dinner a few hours later results in hand cramps as I grip knives to cut veggies and meat and hold a wok spatula, etc.  And if I apply a muscle ointment then, the knife handles are hard to hold.

And sometimes the surface muscles on one side of my ribs or the other will cramp.  That's the least ones.  Bending over slightly and waving my arms below me resolves that in a few minutes.  Definitely not heart problems.  Very surface and no dizziness or other discomfort.  

But night-time is getting worse.  There can be any of several kinds of muscle cramps when I lay in bed.  The least is when the ankle muscles "harden".  It doesn't actually hurt, but it is annoying.  Next are the calf muscles.  That hurts some, but I can stretch my foot back and forth and it stops in a minute.

The backside thigh muscles (hamstring?) are the bad ones.  I will suddenly wake up feeling a cramp that feels like the muscle will tear loose from the bone.  I have to walk around for 15-20 minutes before it stops.  Sometimes I'm lucky enough to be awake and feel the first pull and I jump out of bed before it gets worse.

I saw a basketball game once where a player had that cramp and use a rolling stick to press along the muscle like using a rolling pin.  I bought one.  It is hard to use on yourself...  So I walk around until it goes away.

There isn't much connection between yardwork and that cramp.  And it isn't like I sleep all pulled together with my legs pulled up tightly.  My cats sleep against me (which limits my movement sometimes), but it happens without them around me too.

I may get dehydrated.  I'm sometimes very good about drinking a lot of water, but then forget for a while.  But I typically get a lot of water from meals.  My first meal of the day typically is a sandwich with a mug of green tea, a mug of milk, some small amount of Coke, and celery, cucumber, carrot; so that's a fair amount of water.  After I work outside, I often drink a pint of water and-or Gatorade.  

Dinner and dessert involves a fair amount of water.  I eat a lot of fresh veggies and they are mostly water (meat is usually about 3 ozs).  Dessert is always assorted fresh fruit and lots of it.  Aside from keeping me from drinking that 3rd glass of wine, I'll enjoy a peach, a plum, a handful of grapes, some cherries, apple slices, some melon cubes, and  they are mostly water.  

I may be alternating between hard work and sitting too much.  Daytime means outside or inside work;  evening means watching TV or being on the computer.  When I sit in the easy chair to make a lap for the cats, I put an ankle onto the other leg.  And shift legs when one feels stiff.  My right knee is getting worse.  Maybe I am warping my legs indulging The Mews.

Maybe I should start taking a walk down the street after drinking a pint of Gatorade.  And standing more instead of sitting.  I've been a "stander" in the past; sitting is new.  I was a "stander" in my office whenever I had the chance.  Really, I spent a lot of time on the telephone and got a long cord so I could pace back and forth.  Maybe it would be good to get back into that habit.

I feel too young to be old...

Gripe...