Meadow Garden Update

Three major meadow things...

1.  I have buds on different meadow flowers and some are open or beginning to open.  Not enough to take a picture, but I can see the various varieties maturing.  

The first were 2' tall yellow daisy-like flowers.  They started to fade away 2 weeks ago, but now there are new blooms.  Yay!  Maybe they will do that all Summer.

The next were some dozen 2" purple spire-shaped flowers.  I took a couple pics, but they are nearly invisible to the camera.

After that came some yellow daisy-like flowers similar to the earliest ones, but 2' taller.  And today, some purplish flowers opened on a 4' tall plant.

2.  While I was focussed on looking at the new flowers, I suddenly realized they were covered with honeybees and different odd smaller native ones!  Every flower I looked at had at least one, and they seemed very active.  They kept moving from one to the other.  Nor "beeing"a bee, I can't exactly judge what kinds of nectar various bees prefer.  But they sure seemed like "happy little busy bees".  I also saw a couple of butterflies.  And I'll bet there are some very small insects that are feeding and laying eggs there too.

3.  I spent 4 years ordering trays of native meadow plants from a good source.  And planting them directly in the meadow (as instructed) never worked.  So last year (having delayed direct-planting) I stuck them all in my 10 gallon tomato pots (3 per pot, rich soil).  And they just sulked there all Summer and Fall.  But this Spring, grew fast and lush.  They were suddenly a foot tall, so I transplanted them to the meadow.

Talk about sudden growth!  Those 4' plants I mentioned above were those 12" transplants in March.  If I hadn't stuck labels and orange landscape flags next to the new transplants, I would had have assumed they were growths from 1-2 years ago, finally established and maturing.  

But these all seem to be from the transplants this Spring.  I am thrilled.  And I can't wait for there to be enough flowers to post pics of them are close-ups and "overall".  

Dad's Day

 Happy Dad's Day to all you dads in the world.  I was never one myself, so I can't claim it as my day.  But without one, I wouldn't be here.

So enjoy your day.  And if you get another tie you don't need, another tool that you already have (or is too weird to use), or just a card, accept it and be pleased.  It's the thought...

The Meadow Garden

HAL A LU YA!   After years, my meadow garden is finally starting to grow.  I didn't start it right.  The idea is to cover the bed in plastic for a year to smother all the grasses and weeds.  I'm too impatient for that.  So I just mowed the area and planted some meadow flowers.  They didn't grow.  I tried the same thing the next year and they didn't grow then either.  

Three years ago, I got a few sad lonely plants that grew, but they weren't much to look at.  Two years ago I bought yet another tray of 48 plants (groups of 3), but delayed getting them planted (I keep having hip injuries).  And they probably would have died had I planted them.  It was Summer and that's a bad time to transplant flowers.

I had bought ten 10 gallon pots for tomatoes (my regular garden has gotten too shaded by neighbor's trees, so I needed to try them somewhere sunnier).  So I stuck the meadow flower transplants in with the tomatoes (3 to a pot).  They just sat and sulked.   

But last year in Spring, they burst into growth!  I transplanted them in the meadow garden.  They grew some, but didn't flower.  But hey, growth is good!

This year, I have many groups of 3-4' high tall meadow flowers!  I'm thrilled.  Some few are blooming, some are showing buds, and some are just growing tall.  Well, some bloom in late Summer and Fall, so they might bloom later this year.  

Here are some pictures...

I think this one is orange coneflower.

I'm not sure what this one is (and it is bluer/lavender than it looks).

I don't have a label for this one either.  But I took the pic a few days ago, and it is opening up to a 3"circle.  It will be a beauty.

There is also a perennial I planted elsewhere that is blooming now and should do well in the meadow garden when I transplant it this Fall.  It seems to grow well in difficult conditions.

It is a Maltese Cross.  I suppose the name comes from the Isle of Malta, or a "maltese cross" has 5 points to it.  But it a nice red color and seems dependable.

A few days ago, I took some of last year's meadow flowers that survived from last year in a tray and planted them in this year's tomato pots.  I hope they thrive like last year's ones did.  That would pretty much fill up the meadow garden.  

Since most of them are perennials, they will last a decade.  But there are also self-seeders and some spread from roots.  So hopefully, in a few more years, the meadow bed will be full of flowers.  

And most of them are favored by both common and struggling butterflies, native non-hiving bees, and minor insects who will be supported by the meadow flowers that are finally growing here.

My heirloom Brandywine and Cherokee Purple tomatoes are thriving.  I need to get cages set up around them.  I have more domestic common flowers I am planting in deck pots, but that's a future post.  😀

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I don't make them often, but I love chocolate chip cookies.  But I like them as bars (like brownies) even more.  I just scrape all the batter onto parchment paper in a glass baking dish and set them on a rack to cool until firmly set.

Then just cut them up and put them in a lidded container (I have a couple of nice metal ones that actual cookies came in as holiday gifts).

This may annoy some of you, but I have one every 2-3 days...  So a batch of 15 lasts a month or so...  😇

And it is time to make ore.  I make some from store pouches and some from raw ingredients.  The most annoying thing is that the batter is very thick.  I actually broke a wooden spoon mixing the stuff once.

This time, I think I will see how well my bread machine is at mixing it on the dough setting.  Aside from making good cooked bread (a topic for another post), it mixes pizza and bread dough for baking separately.  It sure would save a lot of hard stirring!

Civilization II

I know no one really cares about my favorite game , Civilization II, but I achieved something in a recent game that I don't think I've achieved in my 30 years of playing it.  I got all the top 5 cities in the world!

As a turn-based strategy game, Civilization II models the historical development of human civilization. A player, when creating a game, may pick one of 21 historical civilizations or a custom-named civilization. The computer will intelligently control multiple rival civilizations.

Cities occupy one tile and harvest yields from nearby tiles: food, trade and production. They may build units, city improvements or wonders of the world. Typically, each civilization will constantly expand by founding new cities until all of the map is settled. Analogous to chess pieces, the many different units vary in their functions, mirroring historical types of soldiers and occupations. Units occupy one tile at a time and may move every turn. Most of them can attack others in battle; a minority have non-military functions.

After civilizations make contact, they begin diplomatic relations. In war, a civilization may conquer another civilization's cities. When all of a player's cities are conquered, they are permanently removed from the game. To end war, two players may negotiate peaceful relations.  

Scientific research is a focal point of the game. Players begin with primitive technology and hence limited possible actions. Grouped by eras from ancient to modern, civilization advances, both scientific and societal, offer numerous advantages.

There are three paths to victory: conquering all other civilizations, building a spaceship that reaches the Alpha Centauri star system using advanced technology, and otherwise surviving until 2020 AD (being ahead in civ score over the others). A player's score is calculated after finishing the game.

There are many games available on the internet.  But I really like this one.  It is never the same game twice, I don't have to move fast, it is no "shoot them up", and I know the rules and tech advances.  It is more of a thoughtful game (like chess or risk).  I enjoy being able to consider actions and do some planning without time-pressure.

Memorial Day (Observed)

 

Birthday

I made it to another one! 

Dental Issues, Part 2

Well, I mentioned bad news from the dentist a few days ago about the condition of my teeth.   They are in wretched condition.  Think of a pile of loose boulders compared to a good pyramid...  It isn't a question of "will they start breaking, but how soon?".

So yesterday, I had a "consult" with the Dentist.  Not my usual "fillings and routine stuff", but a more specialty one who visits weekly for advanced work.  He recommended placing new crowns on most upper teeth and replacing old existing ones then, but yesterday's visit was for a more detailed exam, a timetable, and costs.

The news is serious.  Though I don't currently have any tooth sensitivity, it is coming soon, and each repair will be harder as less durable.  Basically, I can wait for each individual tooth to fail and be in pain for several days waiting for an available appointment, or get it all fixed over a couple months.

Here's what he wants to do...

1.  Put temporary caps on the 2 left and right upper back molars.  This is to provide some slight leverage on my jaws to align them better and get me used to feeling a change.  Part of my problem is that I have a small jaw and an overbite.  And BTW, I have a family history of bad teeth.  I have outstanding health otherwise, but bad teeth.

2.  The Dentist will also do a digital scan of the shape of my teeth at the same time.  Well, good, I won't have to suffer that hard molding stuff they used to use.  I always hated that.  A lab will create new permanent crowns based on that (as needed - this whole process will take several months).

3.  After those few weeks of adjustment, the Dentist will put temporary crowns on my 8 upper front teeth.  And I will wait several weeks to adjust to those.  

4.  Then, he will replace the back crowns with permanent ones.  A week later or so, he will put on the permanent front crowns and make any minor crown-shaping to make the new crowns

    ----------

So he had described the procedure.  He had advised me that each active appointment would mean numbing both sides of my mouth each time (ack).  His insurance tech developed a cost estimate.  I was shocked!  Apparently, my health insurance company does not provide the same level of coverage as they used to (and I didn't notice that in the renewals).  And on my Federal Govt health care program, I can only change plans in December each year.  😭

Something just short of $13,000!  😠. OK, I can afford it.  I am planning some home and driveway renovations/repairs anyway and that would just be a 1/4th of all that.  But I wasn't expecting such a large cost.  

So, sitting in the Dentist's chair and looking at the detailed cost chart, I thought about how legitimate this all was.  So I asked him about implants (which I already knew they didn't do themselves.  The Dentist said that was a good option.  He said there were some advantages to that.  It could be done in just a couple visits, and offerred to refer me to an implant specialist with a great reputation.  He said that can be easier on some patients and that there is even sedation implant specialists.

So that answered my internal concern about the Dentist just wanting to do all the crown work just for the money.  

I also asked about the general cost of full implants.  He said they were a good option.  He said it is generally about $25,000 "per arch", meaning both upper and lower.  OK, $50,000 will make me think twice too!  😰

So, I am going ahead with the 12 crown replacement at my regular Dentist.  I'm going to hate it.  Just having one new crown is miserable, 12 is going to be much worse.

I asked about the durability of the new crowns.  He said 10-15 years.  OK, 15 years from now I'll be 90 (if I live that long).  I guess I have to do this...  10-15 years of good teeth is worth something, and there is not much point in dying rich when the option is good teeth for most of the rest of my life.

I have another option that just occurred to me now.  If I wait until December, I can switch to a Govt Health Care plan that covers major dental work.  I'll have to call the Dentist and ask about the consequences of delaying all this work that long.  He may say yes that would work or he may say I have some teeth that won't last that long.

But it won't hurt to ask.

Advice welcomed...

Answers To Comments

 I haven't done "Answers To Comments" here before (I think) but there have been some questions...

*  I mentioned a difficulty in getting some flowers in April.  Pilch asked "Would Lowe's let you pick them up instead?  Oddly, no.  Their website specifically said they were not open for onsite shopping.  Their garden center was not open yet.  And at $15 for online order delivery, I passed them by.

*  My new Brother color/toner printer was driving me crazy.  I finally found a small reference to having the printer plugged into a different wall outlet than the computer/router.  It worked.  Why that matters is beyond my understanding, since both outlets are on the same circuit.  But Pilch also commented "Glad you figured it out".  So am I.  👍

*  There was another issue about prescription cat food.  Marley needs a kidney-care diet and I have tried the 2 types of Hill's and the 3 of Royal Canin.  He won't eat any of the Hill's stuff.  Royal Can comes in 3 types (E, T, and T).  E is chicken liver.  T is pork liver and chicken liver.  D is T with some Salmon.  He will eat Royal Canin  T and D.  

He doesn't really like either but will eat it.  The weird thing is that Taz and Binq adore the stuff!  They nose into his bowl if I turn my back for a moment.  I had to buy a few pink foodbowls so I could keep track of which one had Marley's food and move them around to keep Marley's bowl under his nose.

Getting prescription canned cat food is tricky online.  Petsmart sells it in store (and I have to show the prescription each time), but they will stop offerring it in October because they are closing down their Vet connection.  Amazon and Chewy sell it but say the Vet has to approve.  My Vet says they don't approve online vendor requests.   Catch-22!

Pilch commented "Not sure if it is my state or a law all over, but they make you get the script from the vet and send it in now instead of having the vet contact them".  I can't find where to send it to Amazon or Chewy yet, but I have a few months to figure it out.

*  I've been having photo problems with iCloud.  It ruined my saved photos folders/file structure on the desktop.  I think I've escaped iCloud and got the photos back...

Messymimi commented "It's weird. I have to upload all photos directly from my phone even though I write on the computer. Supposedly it's all in the cloud, but I can't get it to come down to Earth".  I really understood that comment.  I don't understand iCloud either.  Mostly, I can't get it to work the way I want.  I really appreciated that comment!

*  I have a difficult dental situation.  The dentist says "your teeth are all beat to Hell.  You need a complete to top row of crowns at least".  The problem is whether to suffer 12 crowns in 8 visits or risk having some teeth just "break".  I go in for a detailed "consult" exam next week about that.  My dentist can do crowns with me awake but numbed.  I'm wondering about sedation implants (which my dentist doesn't do).  It will be an interesting "consult" and a difficult decision either way.

But Messymimi commented "I'm sorry to hear this. It's not fun to have dental work".  I appreciated that.

OK Maybe...

 I think after a couple days, I have managed to retrieve most of my files from the iCloud.  It sure wasn't easy.  Most important were the photos.  The desktop folder/file structure is gone, but I can probably slowly re-construct most of it (or live with the less-structured folders).  The newer pics are more important.

After confirming (I hope) my files from iCloud retrieval , I cancelled the account.  Apple kept sending serious warnings of things I wouldn't be able to do if I did, but those aren't things I do anyway.

I was able to export Full-sized (3-6Mb) pics from Photos library to my "blogger-size" (200-300 Kb) pic folder, reducing them to usable size there (I use Preview).  

I lost some early May pics.  Can't find them anywhere.  I'll survive...

But I think I will be back posting in a day or two.  I still have to go through all the April pics and list them on my paper record of pics/cats/subjects, and that will take some time.  

I still don't like the way Mac Sequoia has forced changes in my file structure, and the loss of control over how my photos are arranged, but I don't have much control over that.  I do what I can with the limited settings, but Mac sure makes it hard sometimes.  

But I tried a Windows computer a couple years ago and could not make any sense of it.  So I'm stuck with Mac.

Dental Issues

 Visited the dentist 2 days ago for 6 month tooth-cleaning.  Got bad news.  I am healthy in general.  But my family has a history of bad teeth.  And among family, I may be the worst.  

My dentist thinks I grind my teeth at night.  I don't want to be indelicate, but I have had a few intimate relationships and asked my bed-partner if I grind my teeth (and do I talk at night)?  The unanimous answer has been "no" (but I do toss and turn a lot).  And one partner really did grind her teeth (to the point where I woke her up expecting to see pieces of broken teeth).

What actually happens is "earworms" in daytime.   Some people tap their feet to the tune, some humm.  I slide my lower jaw back and forth.  That is not "tooth-friendly".

So my teeth are beat all hell now.  The dentist said there is severe wear and "holes".  He says that they are worn down so much that the only way to save me from full implants (which he does not do) is to place crowns on most of my teeth.  

I have some crowns, so I know what one involves.  I have had 3 teeth extracted because even a root canal wouldn't save them.  I have a consultant visit scheduled in 2 weeks to have more examination and discussion.  He wants to look at my teeth more carefully and discuss a timeline of appointments to crown teeth 3 or 4 at a visit.

I'm going to have to agree with his expectations.  I know my teeth are bad and getting worse.  But damn, it is going to be a miserable few months!

I always need a 2nd novocaine shot (I am somewhat drug-resistant and pain-sensitive).  And I have a small jaw so it is difficult to keep it open enough for dental work.  Heck, I can't even eat a thick sandwich!

My dentist doesn't push any "special treatments" on me, so when he says I need something, I have to trust him on that.  So it looks like I'm in for a lot of unpleasant dental work this Summer...

More Computer Problems

Photos has messed up my iPhotos folders.  I'm stuck on iCloud and trying to escape back off it.  Hours of work and not much success.

I feel like I've been forced onto iCloud without much benefit and many problems.  I'm trying to undo that.  But it sure isn't easy!

😖

I only mention this now because my original post was rejected and I had to remove some specific complaints that mentioned a Brand Name.  I'm a Mac user, so you can guess the Brand Name...

I'll detail that on another forum...  😐

And The Powers That Be decided my original post was OK after all, but I had already deleted it...  

😄

Meanwhile, I was slowly working my way back through the lost processed pics and re-processing the originals.  I caught up.  It's almost 9 am now, but worth the effort.   I think I'll stay up long enough to mow the lawn (it really needs it) and then let the mews go out while I transplant some tomatoes.  Then we will all come inside and I'll let them sleep around me (after their meal) until 6 PM and totally ruin my sleep cycle.  😎

Losing It

I have fallen behind the tech curve to keep up with some computer apps.  I may have to just give up and stop blogging.

Mac iPhotos has gone away and I need to go to the cloud.   I don't really have much idea what that is other than I have to go "somewhere else" to access my pictures.  

I've been a happy "cat-dad" for a couple decades.  I was able to switch from MS to Mac without major problems.  But Mac is getting kind of weird.  And I don't think I can switch back to MS.  I tried an MS computer 5 years ago and I couldn't make it do anything I wanted.  So it's a $1,000 doorstop.

I'll try to learn about "cloud", but I think my learning days are about done.  I have always been in total control of my computer and files, but I guess that is over now.  

OK, OK, I'm not good at quitting.  I'll try to learn about the "cloud" starting right after I post this.  But I think I;m not going to like it.

Computer Technology Issues

And for once, I don't mean mine.   I mean internet services and commercial computers.  I've been noticing more problems with both lately...

I shop at a grocery store that requires customer use of a touchscreen to pay.  First, the display always asks for donations.  It's irritating to have to deny a donation at every cash register in every store.  But I shop at the grocery store most often.

Sometimes I can't get the "No Thanks" notice to go away.  Tap the button with fingernail, fingertip and card corner and it stays for many tries.  I give directly to several charities, so I don't need the store to get a "cut" of what I donate.

Then I try to pay for my food.  The touchscreen offers tap, slide, and insert.  Tap almost never works.  Slide or Insert usually do. And my card offers all 3 options.  The cashier said they always have problems with Tap.  They didn't used to.

And the cashier's computer monitor shows different items than I bought.  The price is correct, but a peach is not a nectarine, and green leaf lettuce is not red leaf lettuce.  Well, if the price is the same, it doesn't matter too much.  

But sometimes I ask the produce manager why they have so much of one thing and not enough of a similar thing.  He says the store deliveries are based on the checkout data.  Given the inaccuracy of the checkout computer, I can easily see where their problem is.  Seriously, if their computer calls all peaches "nectarines", no wonder they have lots of nectarines and few peaches!

Outside at the store gas station (where I can use grocery-purchase points to get cheaper gas), the pumps no longer want to accept my store loyalty card half the time.  That it does work sometimes and not others means they have a tech problem.  

At a DIY store the other day, the card reader would not accept my card when inserted.  But it did when slide.  

This seems to be happening more and more often.  Are businesses just letting their technology fall behind to save money?  Are their profit-margins so tight that they have to let some things degrade to keep prices down?  I looked up my grocery store.  It had increased profits last year (and so far this year).

On the internet, Google has suddenly gotten worse about Blogger.  Suddenly for a week, when I want to upload images, it fails the first time, blanks the 2nd time, and usually works on a 3rd try.  Is it just me?  I stay updated on all software.

So it is something else.  Do they just not care, or are they just being careless about everything?  It seems to be happening everywhere I shop.

I'm not any sort of conspiracy-theorist.  Most problems are just people not doing jobs very well or getting overwhelmed by tech.  And I love tech!  It makes my world work.  But it feels like we are sliding downhill in some basics.

Do any of you have similar problems?

  

Hummingbirds

 I set out feeders 2 weeks ago.  One is by the kitchen window.  But I never saw any.  I feared that they weren't returning to my yard this year.  

But I heard a hummer-chirp in the yard a couple days ago.  And then I saw a male flitting around.  And if there is a male around, there must be a female.  And yesterday, I saw both at the feeder near the window.  YAY!

Mine are Ruby-Throated.  Not my own picture, but it was very like this...

I was SO glad to see both.  There is probably a nest in the backyard spruce tree.  They like that tree.  I have found nests there after they are unused by late Summer before.  I won't disturb them.

Meadow Garden

I've been trying to establish a meadow garden for years.  I should have followed the original guidelines and just covered the whole 15 x 30 bed with black plastic for a year, but I thought good transplants would grow.  They didn't.

So last year, I bought ten 5 gallon pots to grow tomatoes (my regular garden is too shaded) and stuck 30 meadow flowers around them.  They just sort of sat there all year.

This Spring, they exploded in growth!  All of a sudden, I had 8" thriving plants in 8 of the pots.  A few days ago, I started transplanting them to the meadow bed.  Finally, I had plants large enough to identify (the originals of past years came 2" high and the grass shaded them out)

Transplanting them from the tomato pots to the meadow bed has been hard.  I know how to transplant.  But the soil there is almost impossible to dig into.  It is all rocks in every place I dug.  I removed all the rocks, but it was exhausting works.  The shovel hits a 1" rock and it seems like a brick!  I finally found it best to pry them out with a trowel.

The meadow flowers I bought last year are tolerant of bad soil.  Years ago, it was a ridge in the backyard that I had a landscaper scrape level and add to the soils to a low spot in the front lawn.  That worked well.

Then I used a roto-tiller to mix the clay/sand 4' deep.  And then dragged around a board to smooth the surface.  The surface 4" is all good soil.  But 4" down it is still clay and rock.

Digging holes for the transplants about kills me.  6 holes takes an hour.  It is like I'm prying out bricks with a screwdriver!

But I've transplanted over a dozen 8" meadow flowers in the past few days.  I gave them a deep slow watering yesterday morning and they all perked right up by the afternoon.  I expect they will thrive.

Finally, I will have some meadow flowers that survive and grow!  I still have a few more to transplant, but the heavy sprinkler watering should make digging their holes a bit easier.  

I have some small ones from last year.  They didn't grow, but they did survive.  Since the ones I planted around the tomato pots (in great soil) did so well this year, I expect good results and larger plants next year to increase the size of the meadow bed.  

I'm going to have a meadow bed of plants that butterflies and bees want to visit if it (darn near) kills me.  😩

And some good news about the meadow bed.  Some flowers that seemed dead there last year have exploded with growth on their own.    There is a group of 6 identical plants in one spot, so they must be deliberate plantings.  

And there are 6 scattered around with small yellow flowers already emerging.  So they must be meadow flowers I planted in previous years that are finally maturing and thriving.  

I may have a functional meadow bed emerging!

Annual Flowers

After my Busted Shopping Trip , I sat down here and made a quick list of local flower sources (Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart).   Compared Impatiens, Petunias, and Marigolds.  Entered price, pickup vs delivery, and availability.

I like 6-packs.  Cheap and they catch up in size fast to the bigger-potted ones.  And I don't mind routine standard annual flowers; "color is color" on the deck.  Its not I'm listed on any garden tours!  😊

Walmart didn't offer much.  And I've learned they don't water their flowers as often as the should.  Dry soil is a bad sign.  😔

So it was Lowe's vs Home Depot.  Normally, that is not an issue.  Their prices are usually the same right to the penny.  But their garden center prices vary.  I've seen great deals at one or the other most years.  

I discovered that (this year, at least), Lowe's wants to deliver flowers (for a $15 fee) and Home Depot has them available for pickup (no fee).  And Lowe's is $1 more per 6-pack.  With 7 deck pots to fill, that matters.

Guess where I'm getting my standard annuals this year!

New Brother Printer, Part 2

 After a few good prints, the battery backup started screaming at me (only during printing) and nothing would print after.  I went crazy trying to figure out the sudden battery backup problem.  It didn't happen until I used the new Brother printer.

I did some internet searching.  I finally found a mention.  One single little sentence fixed my problem, but it was sure hard to find it.  "One little sentence" in a long list of trouble-shoots the site had me try!  

According to Brother, the printer can't be plugged into the same wall outlet or surge protector as the computer.  I'm no hardware guy, so the idea baffles me.  But when I finally did that "one little sentence" suggestion, everything worked!

It took 2 hours to get at that discovery, but I just printed a color picture and it worked with no battery backup problem.  

Computer problems can be horribly difficult sometimes, but research and persistence always seem to work eventually.  

All the equipment seems to be happy now.  I finally printed out this pic with no noise involved...

YAY!  😎

Busted Shopping Day

😖

I left the house yesterday morning to buy prescription canned cat food (Royal Canin Renal T and D for Marley and Hill's Biome Gastro-Intestinal  for Lori), some groceries, and some cheap annual flowers.

It just didn't go well!  I got to Petsmart and couldn't find the prescription papers.  I was totally confused about that and thought maybe I left them at the checkout station.  And then I realized they were next to my computer.

There was a reason for that.  The last time I bought them at Petsmart, the clerk advised me they would stop selling them in a few months.  Apparently they have to have a Vet onsite to do that, and they were losing theirs.  They  didn't know if it was just their store or company-wide.

So I decided to set up subscription deliveries with Chewy, Petco, and/or Amazon.  Their sites all said they would contact my Vet for authorization (which seemed a routine thing).  All of them later said my Vet would not authorize that.  But that I could email or fax them copies of the prescriptions and they woud accept that.  

I haven't done that yet, but the written prescriptions were all at my computer for copying, so they weren't in the car at Petsmart.  Bummer.  😞

So I drove to the grocery store.  And realized I had nothing I actually needed to buy.  Lots of good stuff I'll want next week, but not Friday.  I'm veggied, fruited , and meated up for a few days...

OK, so I could go to the DIY store for annual flowers (I was lazy and just didn't plant any myself this year).  But we have 3 major cheap sellers of 6 packs of annual flowers here (Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart) and I had only looked at Home Depot online.  And it is easier to do price research at home.

So I just drove home... Wasted gas, wasted time, some confusion.  I've had better days.

What a lousy start to a day!

New Brother Printer

It's a doozie!  Model MFC-L 8905CDW.  Yeah, I splurged...   

But I can print in color again (and I assume scan and fax).  But it wasn't easy setting it up.  Not the printer's fault, I was just stupid and confused about a few things.  

First, let me say it is very early morning.  I couldn't sleep last night (too much sleep the day before).  So there I was in bed completely awake.  I got dressed and started a load of laundry.  And then I thought about The New Printer.  So I decided to install it.  Three hours later, it works.  And all the difficulties (except one) were completely my errors.

Second, let me say I bought a 1/8th" custom-cut plastic top for the computer desk 2 years ago (for easier cleaning) but never put it on because the (failed) canon printer was too damn heavy to move easily.  So I pulled the Canon off the deck (nearly killed me) and dumped it on the floor.  Moved all the other stuff to one side and lemon-pledged that.  Moved stuff again and did the other half.

I built the computer desk many years ago.  In fact, it is so old it has a slot for fanfold paper to come up from a box on a shelf underneath!  But it is sturdy and nicely finished, so I keep it.  With the old Canon printer off, I slid the plastic top halfway on, moved the smaller stuff onto it, and got it in place.  Looks lovely.

But guess what?  I can't lift the new Brother printer onto the desk!  It sits on the floor, which made plugging cables awkward and I think I'll need to keep it covered to protect it from cat furs.

So I read the startup instructions.  I say "read" but mostly it was just poor images I had to struggle to follow.  It came from China of course.  Pulled off all the packing tape.  Some packaging items were weird.  One part was like 12" of plastic that looked like part of the printer!

It was "oh that's what the drawing was about".  I went on like that for an hour.  Even some tape that looks like it should be removed apparently isn't.  😖

But I did get it properly unpacked.  Then "load paper".  OK, that wasn't a problem.  Next, plug in the printer.  Did that into the battery backup surge suppresser.   For fax capability, I had to connect a phone cord to the router.  On my back with a flashlight.  Struggled for a few minutes.

Finally came to "connect the printer to your computer".  Should be easy, right?  No, that took another hour.  The printer came with a CD for connecting.  It didn't work.  Apparently, my CD is too old.  There was a download site.  That drove me crazy.

The printer was plugged in and connected to the computer.  But nothing happened.  I pressed the on/off power button a few times.

Oops, wrong button!  I finally found the actual power button (unlit little dark circle).  And when I pressed that, the printer made a screaming noise!  I went through several iterations of on/off (saying "bad words" frequently).  

I finally went back under the desk with my flashlight and pulled out the power plug.  I had it in a non-backup outlet and it seems the printer didn't like that.  It stopped screaming at me  after I changed some plugs around to give it a battery back-up outlet.  😣

Keep in mind that the CD didn't work, so I was at a Brother help website...

And then the instructions said to connect the printer to the computer.   I wrote down the menu sequence.  It didn't work.  Drove me nuts.  Then I finally realized I hadn't actually plugged the printer into the computer!   I should be shot for "computer malfeasance".  😢

Hurray, the computer recognized the printer!  I printed out a nice color version of

If you work hard and long enough, sometimes things work!

TV Commercials

I think TV commercial designers are dumb as a pile of bricks!  I watch TV a lot while making dinner.  They don't affect my purchases, but I like good ones and most are not.

My favorite "stupid" one is some company that sells sleeping pills.  They use an owl as their mascot.

OK, think about that.  They are selling a sleeping aide and owls are nocturnal.  How damn stupid do you have to be to use a mascot that is naturally awake all night for a sleeping med?

Illogic is both entertaining and maddening sometimes!

 

Computer Printer

 I've given up on my Canon color toner printer.  I called Canon Help, and after long hold got a really helpful techie.  We tried all sorts of software fixes, but none worked.  And as I was asked to send a couple of screens by email, we got disconnected.

Second call got me referred to some place where no one knew his name.  But this guy was a hardware expert.  Said the "assembly fixture" was broken.  And "couldn't be fixed".  So, essentially, I have a 40 pound doorstop.

I have a closetful of old non-functioning computer equipment.  This is now just another piece that I should just recycle.  

He recommended several Canon printers.  But I did some research (Consumer Reports, some techie sites).  I ordered a Brother 

MFC‐L8905CDW Business Color Laser All‐in‐One Printer, 7” Touchscreen Display, Duplex Print/Scan, Wireless, White.  $700.  But sometimes you just want "the best".  It will arrive in 2 days.

Yay, I should be able to make Christmas cards again!  But mostly, I will be able to scan/copy/fax/color print again.

Sometimes, you have to "pay to play"!

Yappy Dog

 I need some advice.  I've never quite understood dogs.  I've never liked them (my family has a long history of bad events with them with one exception).  But I don't exactly dislike them in general.  I am aware of the long good history of humans and dogs cooperating and adjusting together.

But I need some help dealing with this one.  The neighbor lady speaks better English than I do Spanish, but that's not much on either side.  So I can't just go talk to her about it.

It never stops barking...

When I am out in the backyard, Yappy Dog is desperate to "get at me".  It has made my yardwork "unpleasant".  One part of me wants to just spray the darn thing with a garden hose.  Another part says "make it a friend".  

It looks sort of like this...

I'll consider all suggestions.  👍👎

Yappy Neighbor Dog

I do not love the yappy neighbor dog.  It disturbs my time outside.  It is noisy, annoying, and I don't need some animal trying desperately to find a way through the fence to attack me (small as it is).

But I worry about it sometimes.  I don't think it has a  really good life.  

First, the single Mother there tosses it out into the fenced backyard as soon as the kids leave for school.  So it alone almost all day.  I don't think dogs like to be alone.  It runs around the perimeter of the yard barking all day.

Second, I hear it barking outside late at night.  All Winter.  And even now, it is cold outside.  And there is no doghouse where it can go for shelter and some gradual self-heating.  I mean, I think that a doghouse warms up slightly by the heat the dog produces).

Third, I have never seen the kids actually play with the dog.  I have a deck and can see over the fence.  They just don't give any attention to it.

I don't know why they have it.  The Mother tosses it outside all day, the kids don't seem to play with it.  It is almost as if they think they should have a small yappy dog, but really find it annoying.  

I am not big on dogs, but I don't like the idea that one is "kept but not wanted".  OK, maybe when it is inside, they drown it in attention and love.  But I don't think so.  

Should I ask Animal Authority to look into this?  Or should I just leave the situation alone?  I sure would like it to have a better home, out of my hearing the incessant barking and aggression.

Random Stuff

I got my replacement glasses  Friday.  The store said the lens on the previous pair had been ground just a bit too small, so that is why the lens popped out.  Well, that explains whyI couldn't seem to tighten the frame screws.  They were already as tight as possible.  

And I was fussier than usual about how the new glasses fit.  It took them 4 tries to get the ear-piece to keep them snug but not too tight.  I ended up with the best fit I've ever had.  Two days later and I haven't had to push them back up on my nose a single time.

Renewed my small trailer registration online.  It wasn't completing correctly and sent me back a page several times.  I finally noticed a small print saying I hadn't checked a box about agreeing to "terms and conditions".  So I did and they sent me a temporary registration by email.

Speaking of the trailer, some jerk pushed the front off the support block last Winter.  The ground was muddy from heavy rain so the metal pipe that raises and lowers the front snk into the ground.  And then the soil froze!  I couldn't pull it out.

Now that the soil is thawed, I still can't.  But I have a scissor-jack.  I'll have to put a cinder block under the jack to lift the front of the trailer to pull the support post out of the soil.  And another to rest the freed support on.  Just a real pain.  I already have too many things I need to do.

I'm so far behind everything.  I haven't planted a single veggie or flower seed yet.  My basement gardening bench area is a complete mess!  I actually bought some heirloom tomato plants from Amazon.  And I think I will go to the local DIY stores to buy 6-packs of flowers in a few days.  This is not going to be my DIY growing season.

I had planned to build a new planting box around the mailbox (the old one finally rotted after 25 years) and fill it with better soil.  But my Stella D' Oro lilies have already emerged. So I can't cover them in deeper soil.  I can still build a box around them, but I'll have to wait til Winter to fill it with new rich soil.

The Washington Nationals baseball team bragged all Winter about the improvements they had made on the team.  But they are currently 1-6.  It doesn't seem like it will be even an average season.

My Ryobi self-propelled electric mower got recalled.  Something about a potential fire hazard in the battery connection.  They will send me a replacement.  But I have to cut out 6" of a wire cluster, take pictures of that and the serial number and model plate, email the pictures to them, and wait 6 weeks for delivery of the new one.

At least I just use it for trim work.  My main mower is a John Deere riding mower.  I love it, but there are places it can't get to.  I've gotten it stuck in a couple of places where I needed the car to pull it out.  And one place where I needed my 6' metal bar to wedge it backwards a foot at a time.  

The Mews are doing well.  Lori is calmer about Taz and Binq (shelter cats I adopted late 2023).  She still isn't perfect around them and resents their presence in her house, but "Bad" has become "OK".  I appreciate that.

Spring Has Sprung

I love Spring!  The 2 Saucer Magnoloias are in complete full bloom.  Sometimes a late freeze catches them and damaged to budding flowers, but not this year! 

The front yard tree...

The backyard tree...

I planted them about 30 years ago.  Because in a small park across the street from where I worked, I saw them for the first time (a dozen around a reflecting pool) and thought they were the most beautiful trees I had ever seen.  

I had to research to figure out what they were.  And they require some maintenance.  They grow rather twiggy on their own, and I didn't realize at the time how much effort the Park Service put into keeping the branches "open".  I do some work on them every couple of years, but even with an 8' stepladder, it is hard to get at the crowded top sprouts.

I do what I can.  But I may have an arborist visit and do better work.

The other Spring thrill for me are the daffodils.  Daffodils are wonderful!  The deer and rodents can't eat them (the bulbs are slightly toxic) and they seem to have no disease or insect problems.  They seem to live darn near forever and multiple on their own.  

The only thing I could ask for is more colors.  White/yellow/orange seems to be about all they can  do.  But that is still pretty impressive.

The early daffodils in the front box are blooming.  And there is a later-bloomer variety emerging.  So I get 2 shows in one place for longer.

The old backyard circle is blooming...  Five varieties of slightly different blooming time.  If I had it to do over again, I would have just mixed them all up so the the entire bed was blooming somewhat for months.  To make up for that, I am going to put some thin-bricks in empty spots ( I bought 60 last Fall to hold down landscaping fabric) and add random daffodils there next Fall.  Eventually, it might all look "fuller, longer".  And there are some tulips and hyacinths growing among them.

And I planted more daffodils in front last Fall.  Really late, so I wasn't sure they would grow.  But they are emerging!  

One early bloomer type is planted right around the tree.  A later bloomer was planted around the inside of the border edging.  There is a gap between them which I will mark with nylon rope around tent stakes as a reminder where to plant a 3rd kind next Fall.

And I planted more in the back yard.  I have a 10' circle where I've tried to establish insect pollinator plants for several years, but it has never worked.  So I planted a 4' circle of hyacinths in the middle and daffodils all around them.  The daffodils are up; the hyacinths will emerge later (I hope).

They don't show up really well yet.  They were the last ones I planted.  So, "last in, last up".  And while voles love hyacinth bulbs, I hoping all the inedible daffodils surrounding them will discourage foraging.

Lastly, the old established daffodils keep blooming in the "woods".  A typical patch...

There are others scaterred around...

And some old hyacinths are still surviving in one corner of the yard.  The voles haven't found them!

I do need to clean up that area, though.  Too many brambles and weedy vines.

Now I have to get some tomatoes started.  I'm running out of time.  On the other hand, I've learned that tomatoes planted outside before May just sort of "sit and sulk".  So 6 weeks of growth might work just fine.

Happy Spring flowers and a happy successful Summer gardening season to all!

 

Sports, 2

I've mentioned sports too much.  But I have to tell you about a big event before high school.

I played in little league.  I was a terrible batter.  The bat seldom left my shoulder.  But I was a good fielder (at 2nd base).  

But I did have one great moment.  I made a triple play all by myself.  There were runners on all bases.  The batter struck a line drive but I jumped high enough to catch it.  None of the runners realized that.  

So the batter was out.  The kid on 1st ran straight into me tagging him.  I stepped on 2nd base so that guy was out too.  3 outs in about 5 feet!

And actually it was a 4-out play.  I threw the ball to the 3rd base kid, who stepped on the base and made a 4th out before that runner could return.  It didn't count of course.  But it was wonderful.

Everyone needs some amazing event to keep in memory.  That is sort of mine...

Sports, 1

I've mentioned University of Maryland basketball success the last couple of posts.   I'm a homie.  I went to college there.  When the Univ teams are good I watch.  Watching sports in general is not something I do.

I'd rather play than watch.  I was never good enough at any college-level sport.

But I was good enough in high school (oh so many decades ago).  😁

So I understand competing.  I was on the golf team.  I was the worst golfer on the team (6 of 6), but we went undefeated for 2 years and I helped sometimes.  We won one match because I sank a 30 foot putt on the last hole.  No one was more surprised than I was!  The thrill of success is lasting.

My junior year, we had a male foreign exchange student from Brazil.  We didn't play soccer in my county back then.  But to welcome him and give him something familiar, the school formed a soccer team (and neighboring schools did the same).

It was a hilarious start.  The entire Junior Varsity football team joined as well as some of us who weren't.  Soccer is a strange game.  You don't wear much padding even though there can be a lot of contact.  And you just keep playing constantly.  No football huddles or time-outs.  

The Junior Varsity guys quit after 2 weeks.  They were all beaten up and exhausted.  Big guys don't really play soccer well.  It's all agility and never-stopping.  But I was a small wiry 135 lb kid who had run with the cross-country team (not good enough to be on the team, but I ran with them).

I made the soccer team as a starter in the backfield.  I could run around all day.  Brian ( the Brazilian student) was amazingly skilled.  But he couldn't carry the whole team.  I think we went about 50-50 the 2 seasons I was there.

And that's where I learned that you don't always win.  Yeah, it hurts to lose.  But some team has to.  You congratulate the winners and try harder the next game.  And sometimes a team gets better and sometimes it doesn't.  You lose sometimes.  But you never give up.

So it is wonderful to see Univ of Maryland winning.

BTW, Cal Ripkin came from my high school a few years later...

University of Maryland's Women's Basketball Team

I thought the Maryland Men's basketball survived a tight game NCAA game 72-71 with a buzzer-beater.  But DAMN the 4th-seeded Maryland Women's team went into double overtime against 5-seeded Alabama!  They finally won 111-108.

It was an amazing game.  The after-game announcers said it was THE game of the tournament.  Maryland had been down by 17 but came back in the 4th quarter as the lead changed at least a dozen times.  

Alabama lost, but should not be ashamed.  It was a fierce game right to the last seconds.  And their star player scored 45 points.  Something nearly unheard of in NCAA tournament play!  They all played their hearts out.

But as a post-game announcer said, 64 teams enter the tournament and 63 lose.  Sports can be very cruel, but it is also very definite.  Some team has to win and some team has to lose.  

Maryland's next opponent is Florida.  They are the #1 rated team.  I don't expect Maryland will win.  But you never know.

One unusual thing is that both the Men's and Women's teams are now in the Sweet 16.  Most Universities don't have both teams reaching that far in the same year.  

So cheers to both Maryland teams,  And respect to their opponents who pushed their games right down to the last seconds.  

University of Maryland Men's Basketball Team

It was a real NCAA Tournament thriller.   MD started out so badly, I stopped watching for a while.  But just before the halftime, I returned and they were only a few points behind.  The second half went back and forth, a few points up a few points down.  It came down to single points changes right at the end.  

I should mention that Maryland has had wretchedly bad luck with close games this season.  They lost 7 games, and 6 were in the last 10 seconds.  Normally, a team would win about half of super-close games.  Not Maryland.  It was like the Grim Reaper was stalking them.

So their opponent was 2 points behind and sank a 3-point shot with 3.5 seconds left to play.  So Maryland in-bounded to ball and the player who got it had to shoot immediately.  He sank the shoot beautifully.  Maryland won!

Sometimes there is justice and mercy in sports.  😂

I feel sorry for the other team, but Maryland suffered that kind of loss too many times this season.  It was time for some luck!

 

Grocery-Shopping

After I went to the eyeglass place Wensday, I had some food-shopping to do.  One place is Nick's, which is a small combination liquor/butcher/deli store with a small amount of fresh produce and some canned/jarred goods.  It has a mainly Italian food orientation.   

They always have some meats on sale, trimmed and custom-cut.  Among this week's sale was Delmonico at $10.99/lb.  I bought half on one cut 1" thick.  I'll divide those in half and freeze them individually.  4 oz of steak is all I need at dinner (surrounded by several veggies and a salad).  Bought 2 lbs of large frozen shrimp for $10.99.  

Their small produce row is nice.  Only place I can find truly ripe Golden Delicious apples.  And I know they sell certain produce (celery hearts, bell peppers, summer squash) at much better prices than my Safeway store, so I buy those there.  And they are the only place I can find good eggroll wrappers.  And Claussen pickles.

They also accept special orders of wine by the case (and at a discount).  In order 4 cases at a time of Mondavi Private Selection 750 ml Merlot.  They call me when the order arrives and even load it for me when I pick it up.  The store manager even knows me by name.  Well, I buy mostly filet mignon, ribeye, and delmonico.  So he ought to remember me!  😁. But really, he is friendly to his customers (and a good businessman).

One odd thing about the wine orders...  Most of the liquor staff just write down my choice/name/phone number in a small receipt pad.  But there is this one guy who insists I write it down for him.  Well, my printing is not great these days, and trying to do it on a shopping cart handle is worse.  

So I sat down and typed the info into Word.  Copied it 5 times in a page, printed it, sliced the copies up, and put them in my wallet.  Tried one out Wensday.  The guy looked at it and said "that works".

I stopped buying from their deli counter though.  When Boar's Head deli meats were recalled last year, they wouldn't stop using that as their main meat source.  And I don't trust Boar's Head deli meats anymore.

My other store is Safeway.  There are 2 in town, so I just go to whichever is more on my errand path.  The have the best produce section I've found.  And I can download digital coupons to my store loyalty card.  They have really good discounts on those.

Their meat is ridiculously expensive, yet sometimes kind of tough (which I why I get mine at Nick's).    Their deli meats are more expensive, but they don't sell Boar's Head, so I trust it better.  And since my lunch is a half sandwich (surrounded by celery/carrot/cucumber/pickle sticks), the higher cost doesn't mean much.

Safeway also gives "points" for purchases.  You can use them on your grocery bill, but I have never figured out how the calculate that.  But they have their own gas station and sometimes I accumulate enough points to get 50 cents off per gallon.  That's nice!  

So I got home and put all the groceries away.  Took an hour.  Today will be cooking day for sausage, mixing day for meatloaf, and storing day for uncooked steak.  I should explain that.  I pre-cook sausage, chicken and pork and freeze them.  I never pre-cook steak!  Steak needs that "fresh from the grill or air-fryer taste" taste...

It was a good shopping day!  

Eyeglasses - Good News

 I brought the frame and newly-popped lenses to the For Eyes store yesterday and explained why to them.  I said the situation had gotten ridiculous and they probably owed me a replacement.  To my astonishment, both people at the order/repair desk immediately agreed.  No fuss, no debate, no fight...  😌

I asked if I needed to consider plastic frames, but they said no.  And one said they (the lens-makers) probably ground the lenses slightly too small, so they didn't entirely fill up the space.  I asked what made them think that.

Well, apparently it does happen often enough that they notice it.  And 2nd, the screws in the frame were still tight.  The lens shouldn't have been able to just pop out.  The replacement will be free.  The bad news is that it will take up to 2 weeks.  I'm glad I keep my old glasses!

But it means this problem may go away.  😄

Eyeglasses

The new glasses keep dropping a lens out.  I had to visit the store again Friday.  The other lens fell out the next day.  I'll visit again tomorrow.  But this is 5 times in 4 months.  I think it is time they simply replace them.  

I would accept plastic frames.  They aren't as adjustable over the ears, but the lenses stay in better as there is no screw to come loose.

I would use a toothpick to put a small dab of superglue in a couple of spots in the frame and on the frame screws.  But my fingers are too uncertain these days.  The store refuses to do that.

The store tried to suggest it is because my lenses are thick.  C'mon, my uncorrected vision is 20/40.  That's not exactly "coke bottle" lenses.  I can read the computer monitor even without them.  The newspaper is harder though.

One of the maddening parts about this is that I kept my glasses from 2014.  And it was nearly the same prescription.  I only got new ones because 2014 lenses had become abraded/cloudy due to a decade of going in and out of shirt pockets!  And I wanted some recommended features like U/V protections, anti-blue reduction, and scratch-resistance.  

ARGGGHHH!

Best Gadgets

I don't mean jets, cars, and medical equipment.  I mean those simple minor things in life...

1.  Wine foil-cutters.  And the electric cork remover.  LOVE that thing!

2.  My drill auger.  Fits into any electric drill.  Couldn't plant many bulbs without it!

3.  LED bulbs.  My electric co-op sends them for free to reduce energy usage.  And I haven't had to replace a bulb for years using them.  And they don't care if you turn them on and off.  

4.  Spray bottles.  Large one for misting my plants.  Small food-grade ones for olive oil.

5.  Square-drive screws.  Not slot-heads, not even phillip's heads.  These have a square in the top.  The square-drive screwdriver doesn't slip loose.  Second best is hex-head screws.

6.  Teflon pans.  I have cast iron, stainless steel, and glass ones, and I use them.  But Teflon is so great for gentle cooking.

7.  The Jar Opener.  Mine is a triangle with serrated edges and a handle.  It opens anything.

8.  The mechanical can opener.

I can't find the exact image, but this is close enough.  You turn a bar at the top, and then a clip pulls the top off.  The electric types need to be hand-cleaned each use.  This one just goes on the top shelf of the dishwasher.

9.  "Very fine" felt-tipped pens.  These write in my small check register spaces.  A ball-point can't.

10.  Knitted Cotton Underwear.  Not to be too personal, but when I went rom "tighty-whities" to those, I got a whole new world of comfort!

11.  Small Calculators.  The first desktop types were a wonder, but pocket-sized is great!  I have a small plastic container "shopping kit". In it is a hand sanitizer, a small tissue pack, some twist-ties, and a calculator.  Because the stores sometimes label similar products in ounces or pounds and I don't divide by 16 in my mind easily.

12.  My Kitchen Scale.  I buy some meat in bulk and then cook it.  Then slice and divide it.  If I want portions in only 4 ounces, the scale helps greatly.  Putting a plastic container on it and hitting "On Zero". eliminates the container weight.  And I use it for other things.  

13.  Potato-Slicing Device.  

OK, this is for something called a Hasselback Potato you slice mostly through and then bake.  But it is great for slicing anything thinly.  I cut a small bit of plastic to fit the bottom and I can slice all the way through a tomato.

14.  The Bread Slicer.  Like the item above it allows me to cut my loaf into perfect slices.  

15.  The Back-Hanging Aquarium Pump.  I used to use those inside cotton-filled filters that had to have the filler replaced every few days.  And it tended to trp my fancy guppies babies.  The outside-hanging one has washable filters easily removed and rinsed clean.

And a tight intake filter that saves the small new-born guppies.

16.  Headband Magnifying Glasses.  I sometimes need more resolution than my reading glasses will provide.  I have a 10X jeweler loupe that is better, but I have to hold it it one hand when needing 2 hands free.  So my headband frees both hands.

   

17.  Bar Clamps.  

I don't know who invented these things, but I couldn't live without them.  They are designed for clamping wood-working projects, but they are useful in all kinds of ways.  I had a walking shoe where the tip of the sole was separating.  I had some "shoe glue" but that can be tricky to hold the sole in place.  

So a put a shoe tree into the shoe, applying the "shoe glue" to the separated sole, and then clamped several small bar clamps to the shoe using the shoe tree are "firmness".  Worked like a charm!

And some can be reversed to use as "spreaders".  Weirdly helpful sometimes.

18.  The Orange Peeler.  

Such a simple thing.  But it really works.  The top edge cuts just through the peel (I do it in 8 cuts), and the bottom curve fits under the peel to separate the cut peel off!  

I think that is enough for today, LOL!