My new neighbors appear to be new to home-owning. I've mowed my lawn 3 times. Theirs is 12-18" high! I was looking for an opportunity to ask them if they wanted me to use my riding mower on their yard (without seeming like a pest) while they shopped for a mower of their own. I mean, for all I know, they are saving up to buy a mower. When I bought this first house, I was down to "dollars and dimes".
So I was surprised to see the front lawn was mowed while I was out grocery-shopping 2 days ago. They even mowed the few square feet in the corner of my lawn I can't get to with the riding mower and often just use a string trimmer on (My own regular push mower won't start and the battery string trimmer needed recharging).
Today they took a whack at the back yard and I was amazed. They would push the mower forward 5 feet, then pull it back, then push it in a different direction, and pull it back again. I'm not sure what their idea was, but really tall grass is hard to mow.
They stay inside almost all the time. First, that makes it hard to figure out what the family structure is. For the first several months, it appeared to be a husband and wife and a child about 5. But the husband was almost never there. I figured out that the husband is there when the car is in the driveway (the garage must be full) and may not actually live there.
And a new surprise. A 16 or so female showed up along with the usual crowd of high-schoolers walking down the street from the bus stop further up the neighborhood. I haven't seen her before. And she was the one who started mowing the back yard in the weird pattern.
This has become a diverse neighborhood over the 32 years I've lived here. And I rather like that. There are sometimes very interesting smells coming from outdoor cooking. And I see interesting decorations around holidays. All that makes MY differences stand out less.
These neighbors are hispanic, I think. At least, I assume so from when I noticed from the mother taking the child inside when the hispanic guys started cursing at some tree limbs they were fighting with (I guessed by the tone of voice). I took Spanish in high school, and trust me, they did NOT teach us curse words. But you can generally make a good guess in almost any language, LOL!
I'm outside a lot, so I tend to be aware of my neighbors...
So the teenager was mowing the lawn in a strange way, and all of a sudden, I heard her cry out and saw through the fence she was lying on the ground holding a leg. The child yelled "Mama, Mama". I was just reaching for the 4' stepladder sitting next to the shed to get up over the fence to see if she was injured when the older woman (30?) of the house ran out. But she didn't seem distressed. So I guess the mower hit a rock and it hit the teenager's leg. She was up and mowing again in a couple minutes.
Have you ever just wished you could knock on a neighbor's door and say "Can I help you learn how to do yard-things"? But knowing you didn't speak the same language?
I guess I have to just watch and wait. *SIGH*
Showing posts with label Yardwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yardwork. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2018
Saturday, September 30, 2017
A Week In The Life.
Some of you know that I don't live a regulary-scheduled life, LOL!
So here is the past Tuesday through Saturday:
1. Stayed up all night Tuesday 8pm - Thursday 8 am visiting cat blogs, processing camera pictures, and shifting between a gardening forum and an atheist forum. Yeah, that 36 hours. Went through a 1.5 l bottle of wine and 4 packs of cigs (hey, it WAS 36 hours).
2. Visiting my cat-friends takes about 2 hours, and then I get email notifications to new posts and I comment. I always comment.
3. I love reading posts at the gardening site and spent a total of a few hours there. Sometimes there are questions I know something about and I answer. I've been veggie and flower gardening for a few decades, so I have some experience. I I have a good library to consult when I'm not sure. I consulted my Peterson Guide of Eastern Trees when somewhere was trying to identify the specific one in her back yard. It was one I have never seen, but the leaf shape was unique, so I mentioned it.
Sometimes there is new information I value. Sometimes I ask questions. I am new to growing Venus Fly Traps (for example) , so I'm the one asking questions there.
4. The atheist forum takes a lot of time. There are atheists, agnostics, and theists there, and many of the posts are long and factual. It takes some time to reply to those well. I probably spend a lot of time there. I joined this forum October last year and have over 4500 posts there now.
Mostly, I discuss everyday events with other atheists. Yes, atheists discuss almost everything from politics to cooking, to movies. But it does mean we don't have a religious view on them. Atheists may have a more reality-based approach to life, but we also love sci-fi and can do the "willing suspension of disbelief" as well as anyone if not better.
5. I tend to switch back between the gardening and atheist forums. I use up all the threads in one and go back to the other. I don't mean that I post fast. I give a lot of thought to each. My interest is to answer posts carefully, well, and in detail without be overly long.
You can always tell tell the theists' posts by length. They go on forever before they start quoting religious texts to get to their point. I treat them kindly, with facts. They can decide whether to change their minds if they want.
6. After a long time on the computer, I usually feed the cats (yes I fed them regularly before) but always make sure to feed them a good meal before I go to bed. Because staying up that long means I'll sleep 12 hours after.
7. When I got up Friday, I started on making a hinged top for the new compost bin. Sometimes you build things by measurement. But having the compost bin built, I simply put boards on the top and marked the edges for cutting. Friday, I cut a lot of boards to size. I glued and clamped some but even with mosquito repellent all over me, they were fierce around my eyes and fingers. I worked fast and ran.
8. Saturday afternoon (after another 12 hours in bed- I did have to catch up) I went out to complete the top. Fortunately, it was windy and the mosquitoes have trouble with winds over 10 mph. I got the entire top structure completed. OK, not the screening, the wood structure. The hinging was perfect. The 2 bins now have tops that lift up smoothly. All I have to do now is attach 1/2 wire mesh to the top and add a few spacer boards under it. That will leave no space for even a mouse to get inside.
9. Added a lot more garden stuff into the old toolshed with the new shelves. Every day, I will clear more basement space. Weeded the Fall garden a bit. Not many weeds left. A year of weeding as removed most and I suspect there aren't many viable weed seeds left there. Which means I can FINALLY tackle the part of the backyard overgrown with wild blackberries soon.
There is always SOMETHING that needed attention "last year", and I am always behind on some part of the yard. On the other hand, suppose I caught up with everything? What would I do? OK, fix up the house better...
I'll do that when Winter arrives...
So here is the past Tuesday through Saturday:
1. Stayed up all night Tuesday 8pm - Thursday 8 am visiting cat blogs, processing camera pictures, and shifting between a gardening forum and an atheist forum. Yeah, that 36 hours. Went through a 1.5 l bottle of wine and 4 packs of cigs (hey, it WAS 36 hours).
2. Visiting my cat-friends takes about 2 hours, and then I get email notifications to new posts and I comment. I always comment.
3. I love reading posts at the gardening site and spent a total of a few hours there. Sometimes there are questions I know something about and I answer. I've been veggie and flower gardening for a few decades, so I have some experience. I I have a good library to consult when I'm not sure. I consulted my Peterson Guide of Eastern Trees when somewhere was trying to identify the specific one in her back yard. It was one I have never seen, but the leaf shape was unique, so I mentioned it.
Sometimes there is new information I value. Sometimes I ask questions. I am new to growing Venus Fly Traps (for example) , so I'm the one asking questions there.
4. The atheist forum takes a lot of time. There are atheists, agnostics, and theists there, and many of the posts are long and factual. It takes some time to reply to those well. I probably spend a lot of time there. I joined this forum October last year and have over 4500 posts there now.
Mostly, I discuss everyday events with other atheists. Yes, atheists discuss almost everything from politics to cooking, to movies. But it does mean we don't have a religious view on them. Atheists may have a more reality-based approach to life, but we also love sci-fi and can do the "willing suspension of disbelief" as well as anyone if not better.
5. I tend to switch back between the gardening and atheist forums. I use up all the threads in one and go back to the other. I don't mean that I post fast. I give a lot of thought to each. My interest is to answer posts carefully, well, and in detail without be overly long.
You can always tell tell the theists' posts by length. They go on forever before they start quoting religious texts to get to their point. I treat them kindly, with facts. They can decide whether to change their minds if they want.
6. After a long time on the computer, I usually feed the cats (yes I fed them regularly before) but always make sure to feed them a good meal before I go to bed. Because staying up that long means I'll sleep 12 hours after.
7. When I got up Friday, I started on making a hinged top for the new compost bin. Sometimes you build things by measurement. But having the compost bin built, I simply put boards on the top and marked the edges for cutting. Friday, I cut a lot of boards to size. I glued and clamped some but even with mosquito repellent all over me, they were fierce around my eyes and fingers. I worked fast and ran.
8. Saturday afternoon (after another 12 hours in bed- I did have to catch up) I went out to complete the top. Fortunately, it was windy and the mosquitoes have trouble with winds over 10 mph. I got the entire top structure completed. OK, not the screening, the wood structure. The hinging was perfect. The 2 bins now have tops that lift up smoothly. All I have to do now is attach 1/2 wire mesh to the top and add a few spacer boards under it. That will leave no space for even a mouse to get inside.
9. Added a lot more garden stuff into the old toolshed with the new shelves. Every day, I will clear more basement space. Weeded the Fall garden a bit. Not many weeds left. A year of weeding as removed most and I suspect there aren't many viable weed seeds left there. Which means I can FINALLY tackle the part of the backyard overgrown with wild blackberries soon.
There is always SOMETHING that needed attention "last year", and I am always behind on some part of the yard. On the other hand, suppose I caught up with everything? What would I do? OK, fix up the house better...
I'll do that when Winter arrives...
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Catching Up
I'm surprized it has been 6 days since I last posted. Well, I've been busy and put my posting efforts into the cats' blog.
The time has been spent, mostly, in yardwork and finishing the compost bin. The compost bin is nearly finished; I'm really only deciding whether to put a solid top or a wire top on it. I made the mistake of looking that up on the internet. Naturally, people come down on both sides. Some want rain to fall in to keep the composting material wet, others say it gets too wet and better to moisten the material as needed.
Don't laugh, but I'm doing both. The lid will have a chicken wire top for normal rain to fall in, but also an attached plastic top I can drape over for torrential rains. It matters because composting microbes need air and too much water fills up all the spaces where air can enter. If there are 2 good ways to do something, I will generally find a way to do both.
But most of the outside work has been in the yard itself. I started several projects last Fall and some new ones this Spring and have a couple yet to start. The veggie garden has been a priority. As much as I like flowers, I would rather eat a tomato than stare at a flower.
The tomatoes are my favorites. I have 9 heirloom plants and 3 hybrids. All are in places where I haven't grown them before (to reduce diseases). The 3 hybrids are backups in case it is a really bad year for diseases. My 2nd favorite veggies to grow are Italian flat beans. Last year they just didn't grow; this year I am harvesting already and can expect to continue that until the 1st frost. Italian flat beans are not the grocery store beans; they have a deeper, nut-like taste. My 3rd favorite veggie is bi-color corn. Yellow corn is too starchy, white corn is too sweet; bicolor is just right for me.
And of course, I have cukes, radishes, carrots, melons, kohlabi, spinach, snow peas, leeks, scallions, chard, beets, etc. I need to plant my Fall crops of broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage soon.
The other major yardwork project is cutting down brambles in the backyard and killing wild ivy, wild grapes, and some persistent invasive vine from a neighbor's yard. And there seems to be poison ivy cropping up everywhere!
The flowerbeds are doing well, with one exception. My oldest bed, along a fence, has gotten overgrown with grassy weeds. That might be a Fall project (pull, cover, and smother) over Winter. The meadow flower bed is doing wonderfully this year; much better than I expected from the poor growth last year when first planted. The Hummer/Butterfly/Bee bed is newly-planted this Spring, but is showing some flowers now. The oldest bed (Spring bulbs of daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths; Summer plants of daylilies is doing well enough, but I want to cover the Spring bulbs with sheet plastic to kill the weeds while the bulbs are dormant. The daylilies are all along one edge and will of course stay uncovered.
My new Astilbe beds (1 in the front yard and 1 in the back) are struggling a bit. I think I should have planted them deeper. I put 3" of compost on the soil and planted them in that; it may not be what they needed to set grow out roots well. The compost always seems dry. The backyard Astilbes were getting too much sunlight and 1/3 have died. I set a shade cloth over them last week and am watering both beds every other day.
So there is a lot to talk about. I'll post on each part of the yard over the next week, with pictures. But I wanted to get things listed first if only to make it easier for me to decide what to post about each day.
And to add to the list of things I need to do, my sister is visiting in a week and I have a LOT of cleaning to do! She hasn't been here for several years and THAT visit was focussed on moving Dad from here to an assisted-living facility near here. So she hasn't actually "just visited" for almost 10 years. It is a big event for me.
So... More later.
The time has been spent, mostly, in yardwork and finishing the compost bin. The compost bin is nearly finished; I'm really only deciding whether to put a solid top or a wire top on it. I made the mistake of looking that up on the internet. Naturally, people come down on both sides. Some want rain to fall in to keep the composting material wet, others say it gets too wet and better to moisten the material as needed.
Don't laugh, but I'm doing both. The lid will have a chicken wire top for normal rain to fall in, but also an attached plastic top I can drape over for torrential rains. It matters because composting microbes need air and too much water fills up all the spaces where air can enter. If there are 2 good ways to do something, I will generally find a way to do both.
But most of the outside work has been in the yard itself. I started several projects last Fall and some new ones this Spring and have a couple yet to start. The veggie garden has been a priority. As much as I like flowers, I would rather eat a tomato than stare at a flower.
The tomatoes are my favorites. I have 9 heirloom plants and 3 hybrids. All are in places where I haven't grown them before (to reduce diseases). The 3 hybrids are backups in case it is a really bad year for diseases. My 2nd favorite veggies to grow are Italian flat beans. Last year they just didn't grow; this year I am harvesting already and can expect to continue that until the 1st frost. Italian flat beans are not the grocery store beans; they have a deeper, nut-like taste. My 3rd favorite veggie is bi-color corn. Yellow corn is too starchy, white corn is too sweet; bicolor is just right for me.
And of course, I have cukes, radishes, carrots, melons, kohlabi, spinach, snow peas, leeks, scallions, chard, beets, etc. I need to plant my Fall crops of broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage soon.
The other major yardwork project is cutting down brambles in the backyard and killing wild ivy, wild grapes, and some persistent invasive vine from a neighbor's yard. And there seems to be poison ivy cropping up everywhere!
The flowerbeds are doing well, with one exception. My oldest bed, along a fence, has gotten overgrown with grassy weeds. That might be a Fall project (pull, cover, and smother) over Winter. The meadow flower bed is doing wonderfully this year; much better than I expected from the poor growth last year when first planted. The Hummer/Butterfly/Bee bed is newly-planted this Spring, but is showing some flowers now. The oldest bed (Spring bulbs of daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths; Summer plants of daylilies is doing well enough, but I want to cover the Spring bulbs with sheet plastic to kill the weeds while the bulbs are dormant. The daylilies are all along one edge and will of course stay uncovered.
My new Astilbe beds (1 in the front yard and 1 in the back) are struggling a bit. I think I should have planted them deeper. I put 3" of compost on the soil and planted them in that; it may not be what they needed to set grow out roots well. The compost always seems dry. The backyard Astilbes were getting too much sunlight and 1/3 have died. I set a shade cloth over them last week and am watering both beds every other day.
So there is a lot to talk about. I'll post on each part of the yard over the next week, with pictures. But I wanted to get things listed first if only to make it easier for me to decide what to post about each day.
And to add to the list of things I need to do, my sister is visiting in a week and I have a LOT of cleaning to do! She hasn't been here for several years and THAT visit was focussed on moving Dad from here to an assisted-living facility near here. So she hasn't actually "just visited" for almost 10 years. It is a big event for me.
So... More later.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Productive Stuff
Some days I just have to catch up on household stuff. And yesterday and today were good for that. I let things collect sometimes and then get through them all at once.
I made bread today AND rolls. I make bread every couple of weeks. I've tweaked the bread machine recipe until I LOVE my own bread and visitors who have any comment in surprise at the taste (yes, I'm bragging). I use beer instead of water; and I add 2 tbls of dried oregano and a tbls each of garlic powder and onion powder. It really makes a difference! Making rolls is a bit new to me so I follow the recipe exactly, but I will probably start changing the ingredients in those too. Bread and rolls freeze wonderfully, so I can store them.
The IRS sent me a notice that I owed them some money a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised since I use tax software. The notice didn't say exactly why. I called them yesterday and got to an agent after 45 minutes on hold. After going around in circles a few minutes with IRS terminology, I finally realized that I had simply forgotten to include a CHECK for the amount I owed above the withholding. 50 years of paying taxes and I finally messed up!
I figured out why afterwards. I had intended to use the electronic payment the software offerred but decided not to because of the fee. And then sent the tax form the next day thinking I had paid electronically. At least the penalty was only $13.
Next on the list was a recurring fee on my credit card for an anti-virus software for the Windows computer I bought in March and then promptly stopped using because I like Apple better. Researching the company, I found a number to call with questions. The area code made me suspicious, so I looked up the software name and discovered it was a scam.
The recurring fee was $8.99 per month and that is almost $100 and I have never paid that for anti-virus software. The scam-busting site stated clearly that it was indeed a scam program that prevented its own removal and also prevented other software from detecting it. Further, it gave false reports of infections. It could be downloaded directly OR unknowingly by a user visited a legitimate but hacked website without the user knowing about it.
Anyway, I contacted the credit card company and spoke to an agent who said they were removing the charges (I read them the scam-busting site description). But they warned me the company could dispute my claim and then we would all have to argue about by letter. I doubt the company will contest. Meanwhile, I have printed out special instructions for how to remove the software.
You can't remove the software from the infected computer directly, but you can download removal software to another computer and transfer it to the infected one at boot-up with a USB thumb drive. It's an annoying process, one of those deals where you have to press a couple of keys at start to enter a safe mode and do about 10 things after. I've done that sort of thing a few times.
The last annoying thing was to change my Federal tax withholding so that I wouldn't owe anything next year. I had printed out an IRS form and sent it to them in April, but it turns out you have to send it to the company that pays you.
I got to them online and struggled to log in. They are one of those places I visit once a year and the password expires in 3 months. So they wanted me to answer some previously given security questions.
I keep a printed list of all sites I visit with the user name, passwords, purpose, and security question answers in a notebook. I keep the list in Excel on a computer not connected to the internet, of course. My list didn't have the security question answers! And my best guess to the one they asked was not accepted. ARGGHHH!
Turns out I had an old page of sites in my notebook and found my password on a newer page. I really need to redo the list. It is full of hand-written changes and arrows to new passwords, etc, that it is nearly unreadable. That a new project...
But I found the newest entry and signed in. The site was so slow, I fed the cats while waiting for it to load. But after that, I changed the withholding easily. Yay!
Having taken care of the serious things, I balanced my checkbook, then turned my attention to the clutter on the dining room table. I have piles on clipped out newspaper recipes, interesting sites to visit, DIY ideas, and gardening suggestions. I have several boxes full of that stuff. One of these days I will go through them and save no more than a 6" high stack! But not today.
With enough space on the dining room table to actually eat at, I turned my attention to the basement. Lots of work to do there. I have been working on the new compost bin few a few weeks, and things clutterred up in the basement.
So, do the projects that stuff was sitting around waiting to be used. None took a lot of time, but there were many. First, mark the places in the Spring Bulb garden where I can plant more bulbs without disturbing the existing ones. You may have seen pictures of cardboard covering the tulip cages. Well, I had to wait longer for the hyacinth and daffodil foliage to die back naturally..
I surrounded the daffodil areas with rope and held it in place with tent stakes. Then I added more cardboard to the hyacinth cages held down with more tent stakes. I have daylillies arounfd the front of the bed, but they will still be growing when it is time to fill the rest of the area with more daffodils In a few days, I will cover the entire non-daylily area with black plastic to kill the weeds.
The Spring bulbs like to stay dry in Summer, so they will be happy. And I should be free of weeds there by October. The voles will like the cover, but they can't eat daffodils or lilies and the tulips and hyacinths are in wire cages! When they emerge looking for food, the cats will have fun...
Next was to put the 3 Venus Fly Traps into proper containers. I researched it. Those tiny 2" pots they come in are no good. They need deeper containers and more soil. Not "dirt" soil, but a mixture of relatively sterile peat moss and sand, 2 parts to 1 part. The containers for each one are 6" deep and wide. They also need at least 4 hours of direct sun (a surprise to me) and water "with few dissolved solids" (distilled or rainfall water). No wonder most people who buy them are unsuccessful at keeping them alive.
So I bought a gallon of distilled water, and I'm saving the rain from the large rain gauge. I'm also making a rain collection device. It's a plastic trashcan lid with a hole in the center attached to a 1 gallon container. Distilled water is only 88 cents at Walmart, but free rain water is even cheaper. I LOVE to make useful things!
Speaking of the Venus Fly Traps, I have had a blast feeding them. They catch some insects on their own, but I want them to grow well and send off baby shoots. Eventually, I want to have a wading pool bog of them. So I've been catching flies and small cabbage worms for them. Heh-heh-heh!
I and the cats are in and out of the house often enough so that houseflies get in. I've learned how to catch them by hand, I sneak up on them against the window and their escape paths are limited there. I catch them about 25% of the time. A quick flick of the hand close to the floor and they are stunned. Into the Venus Fly Traps they go. Watching the traps close on them (a slight rub with a toothpick triggers the trap hairs) is darkly fascinating...
The next basement project was to plant lettuce and boy choy and celery in windowsill boxes. I don't keep the boxes on a windowsill, but those are good containers for the top of the deck rails. I tie them down so Summer storms don't blow them off. I harvest individual leaves so they keep growing, but eventually they flower and are bitter, so I needed new plantings.
I have endive, red romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and arugula in 3 containers. Another container has bok choy (the grocery store stuff is old and tough). Another has celery that was already growing in small pots but I transplanted to give them more space to grow. If you have never just added celery leaves to a salad, you should try it. They are MUCH tastier.
Refilled the regular bird feeder with black oil sunflower seeds (a weekly thing) and refilled the finch feeder with nyger seed (a daily thing). Topped the 3'x5' pond with water; we haven't gotten much rain in June. I have Sweet Flag and Oriental waterlilies in there. I should add some goldfish.
Saw a groundhog in the backyard a few days ago, so I set up my live trap baited with a 4" piece of old honeydew melon. They love melons. Baited the squirrel live trap with peanut butter. They can't resist that. They get relocated.
I'm way late on planting the deck pots with flowers, so I reluctantly went to Walmart and bought 3 pots of marigolds; they were cheap. They are all just 4 individual plants in each pot and easily separated, so I will have 2 in each small container and 3 in the larger ones. I also have self-grown seedlings of Zinnias and Salvias which I'll add to the hanging baskets.
I also found 4 matching 16" pots at Walmart and I will plant some Australian seeds in those. The old pots are falling apart a bit and I wanted new ones that could stand being brought inside for the Winter. I would have planted them sooner, but they need a lot of sand in the soil mix and I kept forgetting to buy some (my pre-printed shopping list somehow doesn't have "sand" on it, LOL!).
Finally, I went out and measured the tops of my new compost bin. In spite of my best efforts, the 2-bin container isn't perfectly square and the tops have to be fitted to match what exists. So I will be constructing deliberately non-square frames. "Square" is theoretical; "Fitted" is reality.
So after all that, it was time for dinner. I splurged... Thawed out a 4 oz beef tenderloin steak, cut up fresh asparagus, made a nice tossed salad, and de-silked a bicolor cob of corn. Chopped up some cremini mushrooms, vidalia onion and red bell pepper. Cooked all. Got the steak to a perfect 130 degrees, the salad tossed with ranch dressing, and the aspargus and mushroom mix cooked al dente. The corn was perfect. Used the steak juice to make a sauce with horseradish, red wine, and garlic.
I think I earned it...
I made bread today AND rolls. I make bread every couple of weeks. I've tweaked the bread machine recipe until I LOVE my own bread and visitors who have any comment in surprise at the taste (yes, I'm bragging). I use beer instead of water; and I add 2 tbls of dried oregano and a tbls each of garlic powder and onion powder. It really makes a difference! Making rolls is a bit new to me so I follow the recipe exactly, but I will probably start changing the ingredients in those too. Bread and rolls freeze wonderfully, so I can store them.
The IRS sent me a notice that I owed them some money a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised since I use tax software. The notice didn't say exactly why. I called them yesterday and got to an agent after 45 minutes on hold. After going around in circles a few minutes with IRS terminology, I finally realized that I had simply forgotten to include a CHECK for the amount I owed above the withholding. 50 years of paying taxes and I finally messed up!
I figured out why afterwards. I had intended to use the electronic payment the software offerred but decided not to because of the fee. And then sent the tax form the next day thinking I had paid electronically. At least the penalty was only $13.
Next on the list was a recurring fee on my credit card for an anti-virus software for the Windows computer I bought in March and then promptly stopped using because I like Apple better. Researching the company, I found a number to call with questions. The area code made me suspicious, so I looked up the software name and discovered it was a scam.
The recurring fee was $8.99 per month and that is almost $100 and I have never paid that for anti-virus software. The scam-busting site stated clearly that it was indeed a scam program that prevented its own removal and also prevented other software from detecting it. Further, it gave false reports of infections. It could be downloaded directly OR unknowingly by a user visited a legitimate but hacked website without the user knowing about it.
Anyway, I contacted the credit card company and spoke to an agent who said they were removing the charges (I read them the scam-busting site description). But they warned me the company could dispute my claim and then we would all have to argue about by letter. I doubt the company will contest. Meanwhile, I have printed out special instructions for how to remove the software.
You can't remove the software from the infected computer directly, but you can download removal software to another computer and transfer it to the infected one at boot-up with a USB thumb drive. It's an annoying process, one of those deals where you have to press a couple of keys at start to enter a safe mode and do about 10 things after. I've done that sort of thing a few times.
The last annoying thing was to change my Federal tax withholding so that I wouldn't owe anything next year. I had printed out an IRS form and sent it to them in April, but it turns out you have to send it to the company that pays you.
I got to them online and struggled to log in. They are one of those places I visit once a year and the password expires in 3 months. So they wanted me to answer some previously given security questions.
I keep a printed list of all sites I visit with the user name, passwords, purpose, and security question answers in a notebook. I keep the list in Excel on a computer not connected to the internet, of course. My list didn't have the security question answers! And my best guess to the one they asked was not accepted. ARGGHHH!
Turns out I had an old page of sites in my notebook and found my password on a newer page. I really need to redo the list. It is full of hand-written changes and arrows to new passwords, etc, that it is nearly unreadable. That a new project...
But I found the newest entry and signed in. The site was so slow, I fed the cats while waiting for it to load. But after that, I changed the withholding easily. Yay!
Having taken care of the serious things, I balanced my checkbook, then turned my attention to the clutter on the dining room table. I have piles on clipped out newspaper recipes, interesting sites to visit, DIY ideas, and gardening suggestions. I have several boxes full of that stuff. One of these days I will go through them and save no more than a 6" high stack! But not today.
With enough space on the dining room table to actually eat at, I turned my attention to the basement. Lots of work to do there. I have been working on the new compost bin few a few weeks, and things clutterred up in the basement.
So, do the projects that stuff was sitting around waiting to be used. None took a lot of time, but there were many. First, mark the places in the Spring Bulb garden where I can plant more bulbs without disturbing the existing ones. You may have seen pictures of cardboard covering the tulip cages. Well, I had to wait longer for the hyacinth and daffodil foliage to die back naturally..
I surrounded the daffodil areas with rope and held it in place with tent stakes. Then I added more cardboard to the hyacinth cages held down with more tent stakes. I have daylillies arounfd the front of the bed, but they will still be growing when it is time to fill the rest of the area with more daffodils In a few days, I will cover the entire non-daylily area with black plastic to kill the weeds.
The Spring bulbs like to stay dry in Summer, so they will be happy. And I should be free of weeds there by October. The voles will like the cover, but they can't eat daffodils or lilies and the tulips and hyacinths are in wire cages! When they emerge looking for food, the cats will have fun...
Next was to put the 3 Venus Fly Traps into proper containers. I researched it. Those tiny 2" pots they come in are no good. They need deeper containers and more soil. Not "dirt" soil, but a mixture of relatively sterile peat moss and sand, 2 parts to 1 part. The containers for each one are 6" deep and wide. They also need at least 4 hours of direct sun (a surprise to me) and water "with few dissolved solids" (distilled or rainfall water). No wonder most people who buy them are unsuccessful at keeping them alive.
So I bought a gallon of distilled water, and I'm saving the rain from the large rain gauge. I'm also making a rain collection device. It's a plastic trashcan lid with a hole in the center attached to a 1 gallon container. Distilled water is only 88 cents at Walmart, but free rain water is even cheaper. I LOVE to make useful things!
Speaking of the Venus Fly Traps, I have had a blast feeding them. They catch some insects on their own, but I want them to grow well and send off baby shoots. Eventually, I want to have a wading pool bog of them. So I've been catching flies and small cabbage worms for them. Heh-heh-heh!
I and the cats are in and out of the house often enough so that houseflies get in. I've learned how to catch them by hand, I sneak up on them against the window and their escape paths are limited there. I catch them about 25% of the time. A quick flick of the hand close to the floor and they are stunned. Into the Venus Fly Traps they go. Watching the traps close on them (a slight rub with a toothpick triggers the trap hairs) is darkly fascinating...
The next basement project was to plant lettuce and boy choy and celery in windowsill boxes. I don't keep the boxes on a windowsill, but those are good containers for the top of the deck rails. I tie them down so Summer storms don't blow them off. I harvest individual leaves so they keep growing, but eventually they flower and are bitter, so I needed new plantings.
I have endive, red romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and arugula in 3 containers. Another container has bok choy (the grocery store stuff is old and tough). Another has celery that was already growing in small pots but I transplanted to give them more space to grow. If you have never just added celery leaves to a salad, you should try it. They are MUCH tastier.
Refilled the regular bird feeder with black oil sunflower seeds (a weekly thing) and refilled the finch feeder with nyger seed (a daily thing). Topped the 3'x5' pond with water; we haven't gotten much rain in June. I have Sweet Flag and Oriental waterlilies in there. I should add some goldfish.
Saw a groundhog in the backyard a few days ago, so I set up my live trap baited with a 4" piece of old honeydew melon. They love melons. Baited the squirrel live trap with peanut butter. They can't resist that. They get relocated.
I'm way late on planting the deck pots with flowers, so I reluctantly went to Walmart and bought 3 pots of marigolds; they were cheap. They are all just 4 individual plants in each pot and easily separated, so I will have 2 in each small container and 3 in the larger ones. I also have self-grown seedlings of Zinnias and Salvias which I'll add to the hanging baskets.
I also found 4 matching 16" pots at Walmart and I will plant some Australian seeds in those. The old pots are falling apart a bit and I wanted new ones that could stand being brought inside for the Winter. I would have planted them sooner, but they need a lot of sand in the soil mix and I kept forgetting to buy some (my pre-printed shopping list somehow doesn't have "sand" on it, LOL!).
Finally, I went out and measured the tops of my new compost bin. In spite of my best efforts, the 2-bin container isn't perfectly square and the tops have to be fitted to match what exists. So I will be constructing deliberately non-square frames. "Square" is theoretical; "Fitted" is reality.
So after all that, it was time for dinner. I splurged... Thawed out a 4 oz beef tenderloin steak, cut up fresh asparagus, made a nice tossed salad, and de-silked a bicolor cob of corn. Chopped up some cremini mushrooms, vidalia onion and red bell pepper. Cooked all. Got the steak to a perfect 130 degrees, the salad tossed with ranch dressing, and the aspargus and mushroom mix cooked al dente. The corn was perfect. Used the steak juice to make a sauce with horseradish, red wine, and garlic.
I think I earned it...
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Minor Yard Work, Part 2
Yesterday, I stopped with some plantings completed and equipment batteries being recharged.
So, they were both charged. I used the hedge trimmer to cut the seedpods off the Spring bulbs. It worked wonderfully. I trimmed the tops off some leaves, but that won't cause any harm. The leaves with rebuild the bulbs just fine.
Then I pulled out the weed whacker. It's a powerful one. A Ryobi 40 volt lithium/ion battery. Lasts a good 30 minutes. Lithium/ion batteries take some getting used to. The battery doesn't weaken and slow down gradually; it just suddenly stops! Which is actually very nice; you KNOW when it is done, LOL!
I had 2 purposes for it. First was to cut down the weeds growing between the raised framed garden beds. That went easily. The second purpose was to cut down Some Damn Vine. The neighbor planted it in his backyard years ago. When he realized how invasive it was, he just mowed it in open territory until it died.
But by that time, it had crept into my backyard. My backyard is not so open and amenable to mowing. I have shrubs, I have piles of flat rocks (to be used someday, LOL), I have flowers. The stuff is worse than forsythia (and I have those from him too). I can dig out the forythia suckers that sneak in (an annoying annual project) but the vine is not diggable in any practical sense.
So I weed-whacked half of them yesterday (the battery drained). The idea is that when they are weakened by leaf-loss and start to grow new leaves I will herbicide them. I hate using stuff like that, but nothing else has killed them. I tried boiling water, vinegar, and a propane torch. The roots are too deep. I'm going to put large sheets of corrugated cardboard (saved from some flat assemble-yourself bookcases) against my garden enclosure to prevent drift on a windless day and spray them with coarse spray (less wind-drift) very close in short bursts.
Then I will lay the cardboard down on top of the whacked and sprayed vines and put boards on top to keep it in place. For a YEAR! I have a spot where I overturned a trash can on them last Summer. The vines are white, but not dead yet! If spraying AND covering them won't kill them, I don't know what will
Worse, they are among my fenceline flowerbed. I can't spray and cover there. Fortunately (in a sad way) most of the perennials in the invaded area have faded away over the years. The remaining ones are large and movable (daylilies, sedum 'Autumn Joy' or easy to move like columbines). The shrubs against the fence are either unwanted ('Golden Euonymous) or about dead (20 year old butterfly bushes).
So there, I'm going to empty the infested part and spray and cover it with black plastic.
The neighbor abandoned the house to the bank last Fall. I'm thinking of sneaking over there some night and hitting everything within 6' of the fence with Roundup before the place is sold. I'll have to remove a few fence boards to get at it unobserved...
But I did some positive things too. I had a LOT of pulled weeds and cut junk saplings. So I collected the tree debris into a pile (along with a big pile of Winter-fallen tree branches). I have a trailer-load of that. I'll bring them to a County recycling place and return with a load of free mulch.
That was enough for the day. So I went inside and pursued another yard project. I set up an edged island around a Saucer Magnolia Tree and a 3' boulder I had delivered in place 10 years ago. I always meant to make a planting island around them, but never did until last year.
I filled the space with 3" of fallen leaves and 3" of compost, assuming it would smother the grass. It mostly did, but there were some places the grass can through. I raked the leaves and compost off those areas, laid down packing paper (I save that stuff that comes in shipping boxes). It's 2' wide and up to 20' long. So I laid that down on the exposed grass (like I should have all over the island originally) and raked the compost back over it. That should pretty much take care of the grass.
I planted 50 red 'Fanal' Astilbe nearest the house there, but they didn't take as much space as I thought. Well, the whole new idea for the front yard is to plant stuff deer don't like. BTW, I got most of the Astilbes on eBay at a great price (this is no ad, just saying).. Most places are $90/25, eBay offerred them $60/25. And they were growing and healthy, not bare-roots).
So I went inside and really searched for truly deer-resistant shade-tolerant perennials. There are lots of lists and few agree. But I found a GREAT spreadsheet listing plants by degree of deer-resistance. Do take a look at it.
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/
The site divides plants into 4 categories of deer-resistance; and gives the common name, Latin name, and type (annual, perennial, groundcover, grass, shrub, tree). I was sad to see that Astilbes are only "Seldom Severely Damaged". But I got a good list of "Rarely Damaged" shade tolerant perennials to fill the rest of the area.
Some are ones I already have in abundance. Japanese Painted Ferns, Bishop's Weed, and Ajuga (Bugle Weed). But there were also some others I liked that I don't have. Lamb's Ear, Lenten Rose, Lungwort (Pulmonaria), and Spurge (Euphorbia). If you know anything bad about those last ones, please tell me.
So, they were both charged. I used the hedge trimmer to cut the seedpods off the Spring bulbs. It worked wonderfully. I trimmed the tops off some leaves, but that won't cause any harm. The leaves with rebuild the bulbs just fine.
Then I pulled out the weed whacker. It's a powerful one. A Ryobi 40 volt lithium/ion battery. Lasts a good 30 minutes. Lithium/ion batteries take some getting used to. The battery doesn't weaken and slow down gradually; it just suddenly stops! Which is actually very nice; you KNOW when it is done, LOL!
I had 2 purposes for it. First was to cut down the weeds growing between the raised framed garden beds. That went easily. The second purpose was to cut down Some Damn Vine. The neighbor planted it in his backyard years ago. When he realized how invasive it was, he just mowed it in open territory until it died.
But by that time, it had crept into my backyard. My backyard is not so open and amenable to mowing. I have shrubs, I have piles of flat rocks (to be used someday, LOL), I have flowers. The stuff is worse than forsythia (and I have those from him too). I can dig out the forythia suckers that sneak in (an annoying annual project) but the vine is not diggable in any practical sense.
So I weed-whacked half of them yesterday (the battery drained). The idea is that when they are weakened by leaf-loss and start to grow new leaves I will herbicide them. I hate using stuff like that, but nothing else has killed them. I tried boiling water, vinegar, and a propane torch. The roots are too deep. I'm going to put large sheets of corrugated cardboard (saved from some flat assemble-yourself bookcases) against my garden enclosure to prevent drift on a windless day and spray them with coarse spray (less wind-drift) very close in short bursts.
Then I will lay the cardboard down on top of the whacked and sprayed vines and put boards on top to keep it in place. For a YEAR! I have a spot where I overturned a trash can on them last Summer. The vines are white, but not dead yet! If spraying AND covering them won't kill them, I don't know what will
Worse, they are among my fenceline flowerbed. I can't spray and cover there. Fortunately (in a sad way) most of the perennials in the invaded area have faded away over the years. The remaining ones are large and movable (daylilies, sedum 'Autumn Joy' or easy to move like columbines). The shrubs against the fence are either unwanted ('Golden Euonymous) or about dead (20 year old butterfly bushes).
So there, I'm going to empty the infested part and spray and cover it with black plastic.
The neighbor abandoned the house to the bank last Fall. I'm thinking of sneaking over there some night and hitting everything within 6' of the fence with Roundup before the place is sold. I'll have to remove a few fence boards to get at it unobserved...
But I did some positive things too. I had a LOT of pulled weeds and cut junk saplings. So I collected the tree debris into a pile (along with a big pile of Winter-fallen tree branches). I have a trailer-load of that. I'll bring them to a County recycling place and return with a load of free mulch.
That was enough for the day. So I went inside and pursued another yard project. I set up an edged island around a Saucer Magnolia Tree and a 3' boulder I had delivered in place 10 years ago. I always meant to make a planting island around them, but never did until last year.
I filled the space with 3" of fallen leaves and 3" of compost, assuming it would smother the grass. It mostly did, but there were some places the grass can through. I raked the leaves and compost off those areas, laid down packing paper (I save that stuff that comes in shipping boxes). It's 2' wide and up to 20' long. So I laid that down on the exposed grass (like I should have all over the island originally) and raked the compost back over it. That should pretty much take care of the grass.
I planted 50 red 'Fanal' Astilbe nearest the house there, but they didn't take as much space as I thought. Well, the whole new idea for the front yard is to plant stuff deer don't like. BTW, I got most of the Astilbes on eBay at a great price (this is no ad, just saying).. Most places are $90/25, eBay offerred them $60/25. And they were growing and healthy, not bare-roots).
So I went inside and really searched for truly deer-resistant shade-tolerant perennials. There are lots of lists and few agree. But I found a GREAT spreadsheet listing plants by degree of deer-resistance. Do take a look at it.
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/
The site divides plants into 4 categories of deer-resistance; and gives the common name, Latin name, and type (annual, perennial, groundcover, grass, shrub, tree). I was sad to see that Astilbes are only "Seldom Severely Damaged". But I got a good list of "Rarely Damaged" shade tolerant perennials to fill the rest of the area.
Some are ones I already have in abundance. Japanese Painted Ferns, Bishop's Weed, and Ajuga (Bugle Weed). But there were also some others I liked that I don't have. Lamb's Ear, Lenten Rose, Lungwort (Pulmonaria), and Spurge (Euphorbia). If you know anything bad about those last ones, please tell me.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Minor Yard Work
It rained most of Saturday, was originally forecast to rain most of the afternoon yesterday (but didn't) and is forecast to rain most of today and tomorrow. On one, we need the rain; it's been a dryish Spring. On the other hand, I have a lot I need to do at this time of year. So I took advantage of the rain delay to take care of some minor work, expecting that I won't get much done outside today and Tuesday.
First on the list was the remove the seedheads from the faded Spring bulbs. Removing the seedheads prevents the plants from spending energy developing the useless seeds. It matters more to Tulips and Hyacinths than to Daffodils, but I did most of them anyway. There is a border of Daffodils that still have some flowers blooming, so I will wait on them.
A hedge trimmer does the job nicely. A string trimmer works even better. Naturally, both had weak batteries so I set them to charge.
So, noticing that the first mosquitoes of the year are out and about, I decided to set up traps. I have a lot of cheap black plastic pots that seedlings get shipped in, so I found 4 that 1 gallon plastic bags fit onto perfectly. If you knock down the 1st few generations of mosquitoes, it makes things better all season. Between the 4 pots, my 5' lily pond, and a tub in the far back yard, that made 6 traps around the backyard. Black pots work best; it looks dark and safe to the female mosquitoes.
I use Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) in water to kill the mosquito larvae. The stuff works great and is harmless to people, pets, and beneficial insects. It comes in "doughnut" shape and you can break them apart according to the amount of water to treat. The pond only needs a 1/4 of one per month; the smaller containers just need a sprinkle of a crushed 1/4.
The female mosquito finds a nice still pot of water and is happy to lay all her eggs there. She has done her duty. The Bt kills the larvae, so there are few adults around, so I am happy. I marked the small pots with an orange landscaping flag so I remember where they are. Seriously, if I don't sprinkle in some Bt into the pots each month, then I an BREEDING mosquitoes and I would be very unhappy. So the flags help me remember them.
I moved some fancy hostas from the front yard to a spot under the deck in the backyard last week. The deer ate most of the fancy hostas in the front the past 2 years. The hostas survived but smaller each year. So moving them was essential. The deer have never jumped the 6' fence in 30 years (I would have noticed plant damage and hoofprints). So the fancy hostas are safe there.
There are some large hostas in front that the deer never bothered, so I divided each of them in 1/4s and planted them where the fancy ones had been. Hostas are tough and accept crude divisions well. I like the new look too. It brings a uniformity to the front planting near the foundation framed beds (one is 8'x12' and the other is 12'x16'). They are not massed, but individual, so they are each visible from the street. I do the front yard to make the neighbors jealous; I don't actually spend any time there myself. LOL!
They looked like this before being divided...
They they looked like this in the original side after...
But don't worry, they perked right up after some watering.
So the new backyard underdeck hosta bed is planted, alternating 'June' and 'Paul's Glory' with some small ones surrounding them. But I was 1 Paul's Glory' short. I thought I would have wait a couple years and divide the largest one to fill the spot, but I realized I had a couple in an old hosta bed along the back fence, so I divided the largest one and moved the division to the empty spot.
Ah... Completion of symmetry!
First on the list was the remove the seedheads from the faded Spring bulbs. Removing the seedheads prevents the plants from spending energy developing the useless seeds. It matters more to Tulips and Hyacinths than to Daffodils, but I did most of them anyway. There is a border of Daffodils that still have some flowers blooming, so I will wait on them.
A hedge trimmer does the job nicely. A string trimmer works even better. Naturally, both had weak batteries so I set them to charge.
So, noticing that the first mosquitoes of the year are out and about, I decided to set up traps. I have a lot of cheap black plastic pots that seedlings get shipped in, so I found 4 that 1 gallon plastic bags fit onto perfectly. If you knock down the 1st few generations of mosquitoes, it makes things better all season. Between the 4 pots, my 5' lily pond, and a tub in the far back yard, that made 6 traps around the backyard. Black pots work best; it looks dark and safe to the female mosquitoes.
I use Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) in water to kill the mosquito larvae. The stuff works great and is harmless to people, pets, and beneficial insects. It comes in "doughnut" shape and you can break them apart according to the amount of water to treat. The pond only needs a 1/4 of one per month; the smaller containers just need a sprinkle of a crushed 1/4.
The female mosquito finds a nice still pot of water and is happy to lay all her eggs there. She has done her duty. The Bt kills the larvae, so there are few adults around, so I am happy. I marked the small pots with an orange landscaping flag so I remember where they are. Seriously, if I don't sprinkle in some Bt into the pots each month, then I an BREEDING mosquitoes and I would be very unhappy. So the flags help me remember them.
I moved some fancy hostas from the front yard to a spot under the deck in the backyard last week. The deer ate most of the fancy hostas in the front the past 2 years. The hostas survived but smaller each year. So moving them was essential. The deer have never jumped the 6' fence in 30 years (I would have noticed plant damage and hoofprints). So the fancy hostas are safe there.
There are some large hostas in front that the deer never bothered, so I divided each of them in 1/4s and planted them where the fancy ones had been. Hostas are tough and accept crude divisions well. I like the new look too. It brings a uniformity to the front planting near the foundation framed beds (one is 8'x12' and the other is 12'x16'). They are not massed, but individual, so they are each visible from the street. I do the front yard to make the neighbors jealous; I don't actually spend any time there myself. LOL!
They looked like this before being divided...
So the new backyard underdeck hosta bed is planted, alternating 'June' and 'Paul's Glory' with some small ones surrounding them. But I was 1 Paul's Glory' short. I thought I would have wait a couple years and divide the largest one to fill the spot, but I realized I had a couple in an old hosta bed along the back fence, so I divided the largest one and moved the division to the empty spot.
Ah... Completion of symmetry!
Monday, April 3, 2017
The Daily Grind
You would think that, being retired, I would have all the time I need
to do the things I want to do. Sadly, no. My activities expand to fill
all available time.
Thursday was a great example (I'm behind a few days in my posts).
I started off the day with a haircut. It had been 2 months...
I bought a new microwave oven a month ago. After a couple weeks, it arced and popped twice even burned a black tunnel through a sweet potato. It is more wattage and interior size than my previous one. Trust me, I know not to put anything metal in the M/W after 25 years of them, LOL! Keeping a pyrex measuring cup of water in it stopped the problem, but made me realize that it is designed to cook larger quantities of food than I routinely do.
And I decided there was no way I was going to get along with having a pyrex cup of water in the M/W for the next 8-10 years. So I called Amazon about returning it. I order a LOT of stuff from them, so they are forgiving about the occasional return. They emailed a return label.
I repacked it so carefully I even put the peel-off plastic wrap back on! I keep EVERYTHING from a box for 90 days, just for reasons like this. But I had to get it back to UPS eventually and I wasn't looking forward to it. The darn box was so big I could barely get my hands around it to carry it to the car, and the distance from customer parking to the UPS input desk seemed more than I wanted to do. But I have a little handcart and that made it a lot easier.
Then I pulled it in the the input desk, the guy said "Wow, what are you shipping"? I said I had a bad shoulder (sometimes a small lie eases conversation). He casually picked it up and placed in on his counter. Hey, he looked 25, and I'm not. It's something you start to get used to in your 60s.
That taken care of, I drove home, where I discovered that another UPS guy had delivered a 50# bag of Nyger seed for the goldfinches. I buy it that way because it is really cheaper per pound. But the M/W was only 35# and this was 50#. Yet I could lift it because it was a smaller box! I could get my arms around it.
Ladies, when you complain that you can't reach to top shelfs of kitchen cabinets or lift heavier objects, I understand. I'm 66 and 5'6". I know the problems. I have a few 2 step stepladders around the house for a reason. Every time I buy a new pair of pants I have to bring then to an alterations guy saying make the inseam 25". And he goes "Are you sure"? Yeah...
Anyway, I was able to carry the 50# bag of Nyger seed to the basement (not easily). So at the workbench, I had a 50# bag of nyger seeds and two 35# buckets of kitty litter and 2 cases of wine. And 4 litter boxes to clean. I knew what the next couple of hours was going to be like.
I used to buy kitty litter in 12# plastic jugs. I saved them. It is worth the effort to transfer it from the buckets to the jugs. And I found a 12" funnel to help. So I set the 12# jugs on a bucket on the floor and lift the 35# tubs to dump it into them through the huge funnel. I can handle a 35# tub of litter but not a 35# box with a M/W in it. Smaller! 30 minutes of pouring and I have 5 12# jugs easier to handle for the next few weeks. Done!
Now I have the 50# bag of nyger seed (I should actually weigh those some day to make sure the supplier is honest). I got it up on the workbench laying flat, put a 5 gallon bucket right underneth a corner overhanging the bench and cut it open carefully. As I saw the spilling seeds were going right into the bucket slowly, I cut it open a bit more. When the bucket was 3/4 filled I lifted the cut corner to prevent further flow. Stuck a brick under the corner.
Remember the kitty litter jugs I mentioned I saved? I have more. I use them for nyger seed too. They are rectangular and fit perfectly into my freezer with little wasted space and that keeps the seed lasting longer. Goldfinches won't eat "old" seed, which is one reason I won't buy the smaller bags in department stores. They sit around, get heated, and the birds don't want them. The 50# bags come straight from a producer and straight into the freezer.
So with the workbench FINALLY cleared, I could FINALLY clean the litter boxes. I try to do that daily, but I KNOW I've waited too long when they gather around waiting for the cleaning. Or maybe they just find it amazing that I do that and like to watch. Who knows what cats think?
I have found it easier to just lift the litterboxes to the workbench one at a time. It is easier on my knees and I get to sweep away the loose litter around them. I sweep the spilled litter (not output) into a dustpan and toss it back in a litterbox. Waste not, want not. The cats don't mind; litter material is litter material.
But that wasn't the end of the afternoon. I had 3 flats of flower seedlings emerging on the bottom shelf and the lights were 12" away. Way too far. But 2 bulbs were burned out. I have what I think is a very good rule. Cats and plants get what they need before I do. They can't take care of themselves indoors.
So I had to haul out 3 flats of seedlings, find 2 bulbs, and replace them. The bottom shelf is the worst. I had to place bulbs toward the back of the shelf and so crawled in on my back over the shelf. Which is bad. When I twist around like that, I usually get some back or rib muscle spasms.
They didn't want to go in. It took 3 frustrating minutes to get one in, only 1 to get the other. But 4 minutes on your back in discomfort is never fun. But I did it and crawled back out. Sure enough, soon as I stood up, muscle cramps! Never fun. But I won't stop gardening because of that. Its worth it.
After that, since it was still daylight and heavy rains are coming today, I re-planted snow peas where the previous planting didn't come up. I planted 20 originally and 9 came up. So I planted 11 more.
And then, just to make sure all my seedlings were growing close the the indoors lights, I took all the flats off the shelves and rearranged the 6-packs. Some seeds were 2" tall and some just emerging, so the re-arrangement was needed. Now I have flats of newly-emerging seeds and taller ones grouped together. and each growing as close to the lights as possible.
All are as close to the light bulbs as possible. Matched in heightss
Then I made dinner, watched an hour of political talk TV and came here! To blog personally and catly.
Quite a Day!
Thursday was a great example (I'm behind a few days in my posts).
I started off the day with a haircut. It had been 2 months...
I bought a new microwave oven a month ago. After a couple weeks, it arced and popped twice even burned a black tunnel through a sweet potato. It is more wattage and interior size than my previous one. Trust me, I know not to put anything metal in the M/W after 25 years of them, LOL! Keeping a pyrex measuring cup of water in it stopped the problem, but made me realize that it is designed to cook larger quantities of food than I routinely do.
And I decided there was no way I was going to get along with having a pyrex cup of water in the M/W for the next 8-10 years. So I called Amazon about returning it. I order a LOT of stuff from them, so they are forgiving about the occasional return. They emailed a return label.
I repacked it so carefully I even put the peel-off plastic wrap back on! I keep EVERYTHING from a box for 90 days, just for reasons like this. But I had to get it back to UPS eventually and I wasn't looking forward to it. The darn box was so big I could barely get my hands around it to carry it to the car, and the distance from customer parking to the UPS input desk seemed more than I wanted to do. But I have a little handcart and that made it a lot easier.
Then I pulled it in the the input desk, the guy said "Wow, what are you shipping"? I said I had a bad shoulder (sometimes a small lie eases conversation). He casually picked it up and placed in on his counter. Hey, he looked 25, and I'm not. It's something you start to get used to in your 60s.
That taken care of, I drove home, where I discovered that another UPS guy had delivered a 50# bag of Nyger seed for the goldfinches. I buy it that way because it is really cheaper per pound. But the M/W was only 35# and this was 50#. Yet I could lift it because it was a smaller box! I could get my arms around it.
Ladies, when you complain that you can't reach to top shelfs of kitchen cabinets or lift heavier objects, I understand. I'm 66 and 5'6". I know the problems. I have a few 2 step stepladders around the house for a reason. Every time I buy a new pair of pants I have to bring then to an alterations guy saying make the inseam 25". And he goes "Are you sure"? Yeah...
Anyway, I was able to carry the 50# bag of Nyger seed to the basement (not easily). So at the workbench, I had a 50# bag of nyger seeds and two 35# buckets of kitty litter and 2 cases of wine. And 4 litter boxes to clean. I knew what the next couple of hours was going to be like.
I used to buy kitty litter in 12# plastic jugs. I saved them. It is worth the effort to transfer it from the buckets to the jugs. And I found a 12" funnel to help. So I set the 12# jugs on a bucket on the floor and lift the 35# tubs to dump it into them through the huge funnel. I can handle a 35# tub of litter but not a 35# box with a M/W in it. Smaller! 30 minutes of pouring and I have 5 12# jugs easier to handle for the next few weeks. Done!
Now I have the 50# bag of nyger seed (I should actually weigh those some day to make sure the supplier is honest). I got it up on the workbench laying flat, put a 5 gallon bucket right underneth a corner overhanging the bench and cut it open carefully. As I saw the spilling seeds were going right into the bucket slowly, I cut it open a bit more. When the bucket was 3/4 filled I lifted the cut corner to prevent further flow. Stuck a brick under the corner.
Remember the kitty litter jugs I mentioned I saved? I have more. I use them for nyger seed too. They are rectangular and fit perfectly into my freezer with little wasted space and that keeps the seed lasting longer. Goldfinches won't eat "old" seed, which is one reason I won't buy the smaller bags in department stores. They sit around, get heated, and the birds don't want them. The 50# bags come straight from a producer and straight into the freezer.
So with the workbench FINALLY cleared, I could FINALLY clean the litter boxes. I try to do that daily, but I KNOW I've waited too long when they gather around waiting for the cleaning. Or maybe they just find it amazing that I do that and like to watch. Who knows what cats think?
I have found it easier to just lift the litterboxes to the workbench one at a time. It is easier on my knees and I get to sweep away the loose litter around them. I sweep the spilled litter (not output) into a dustpan and toss it back in a litterbox. Waste not, want not. The cats don't mind; litter material is litter material.
But that wasn't the end of the afternoon. I had 3 flats of flower seedlings emerging on the bottom shelf and the lights were 12" away. Way too far. But 2 bulbs were burned out. I have what I think is a very good rule. Cats and plants get what they need before I do. They can't take care of themselves indoors.
So I had to haul out 3 flats of seedlings, find 2 bulbs, and replace them. The bottom shelf is the worst. I had to place bulbs toward the back of the shelf and so crawled in on my back over the shelf. Which is bad. When I twist around like that, I usually get some back or rib muscle spasms.
They didn't want to go in. It took 3 frustrating minutes to get one in, only 1 to get the other. But 4 minutes on your back in discomfort is never fun. But I did it and crawled back out. Sure enough, soon as I stood up, muscle cramps! Never fun. But I won't stop gardening because of that. Its worth it.
After that, since it was still daylight and heavy rains are coming today, I re-planted snow peas where the previous planting didn't come up. I planted 20 originally and 9 came up. So I planted 11 more.
And then, just to make sure all my seedlings were growing close the the indoors lights, I took all the flats off the shelves and rearranged the 6-packs. Some seeds were 2" tall and some just emerging, so the re-arrangement was needed. Now I have flats of newly-emerging seeds and taller ones grouped together. and each growing as close to the lights as possible.
All are as close to the light bulbs as possible. Matched in heightss
Then I made dinner, watched an hour of political talk TV and came here! To blog personally and catly.
Quite a Day!
Friday, February 3, 2017
Yard Work
I've been busy outside in the unusually decent January weather. We went 10 days here without it getting below freezing and THAT is a rare event. The average low temp is 26F here now.
So I took advantage of the weather and got a trailer-load of compost from a local nursery. I load the stuff into buckets in a yard cart and use the riding mower to haul it to the destination. Buckets are easier to dump than shovelfuls...
And spread it out. There are some weeds poking up, but most will be smothered.
This is where I planted annuals for several years, but this year it will be for heirloom tomatoes. Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and a few new ones. The cages are ready to use.
I have been meaning to set up an island planting are in the front yard for 20 years. I planted that saucer magnolia tree and the big rock there years ago with the island idea in mind. I FINALLY got around to doing the island edging.
I was amazed at how well digging the slot for the edging went. When I moved here 30 years ago, the soil was all clayish. Planting crocuses 3" deep in the lawn was a struggle. But I have been leaving the lawn clippings stay on the lawn all those years. It really matters! My edging spade went down 6"with almost no effort. 30 years, 6" of good soil!
The neighbor has a maple tree planted between our houses. Maples are nice trees, but not next to houses. They have surface roots and are famously foundation-breakers. I mentioned that to the previous neighbor and they cut the tree down. But maples are hard to kill and it came back with multiple trunks. I should have poured Roundup on it when first cut down to kill it, but I assumed it would die on its own.
Bitter laughter... It came back as a multiple-trunked tree. I am going to use my "Saws-All" to cut the roots at the property line this Spring, pour in some Roundup hoping to kill the tree, and put cuttings of leftover edging against the roots hoping to keep then from regrowing to the existing roots in my yard.
But meanwhile, the tree dropped all its leaves. I had 2 thoughts. First, the heavy layer of leaves would kill all the grass on my side yard and the neighbors. The neighbor abandoned the house in foreclosure, BTW...
Second, I would have to look at all the dead grass on the neighbor's lawn (I raked all the leaves from my lawn). So, I raked up all his leaves too. He doesn't care; he is gone. And I could use them...
I filled up the edged area around the Saucer Magnolia after I set in the edging, and I will move the leaves I raked up from my yard to add to that.
And then I will add 3" of compost from the nursery on top. Compost on top of decomposing leaves; the worms will love it!
I'll plant some deer-resistant annuals there this Spring, but the main plan is to fill the bed with daffodils, ivy, and any perennials that deer don't like.
And anything that means less mowing is always good!
So I took advantage of the weather and got a trailer-load of compost from a local nursery. I load the stuff into buckets in a yard cart and use the riding mower to haul it to the destination. Buckets are easier to dump than shovelfuls...
And spread it out. There are some weeds poking up, but most will be smothered.
I have been meaning to set up an island planting are in the front yard for 20 years. I planted that saucer magnolia tree and the big rock there years ago with the island idea in mind. I FINALLY got around to doing the island edging.
Bitter laughter... It came back as a multiple-trunked tree. I am going to use my "Saws-All" to cut the roots at the property line this Spring, pour in some Roundup hoping to kill the tree, and put cuttings of leftover edging against the roots hoping to keep then from regrowing to the existing roots in my yard.
But meanwhile, the tree dropped all its leaves. I had 2 thoughts. First, the heavy layer of leaves would kill all the grass on my side yard and the neighbors. The neighbor abandoned the house in foreclosure, BTW...
Second, I would have to look at all the dead grass on the neighbor's lawn (I raked all the leaves from my lawn). So, I raked up all his leaves too. He doesn't care; he is gone. And I could use them...
I filled up the edged area around the Saucer Magnolia after I set in the edging, and I will move the leaves I raked up from my yard to add to that.
I'll plant some deer-resistant annuals there this Spring, but the main plan is to fill the bed with daffodils, ivy, and any perennials that deer don't like.
And anything that means less mowing is always good!
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Flowerbeds
I have tried perennial beds of flowers in small groups, perennial beds of flowers in larger groups, and annuals grown from seeds under lights. I'm trying something new.
I have 6 flower beds. The oldest one had perennials that have mostly died out. The 2nd was for annuals. The 3rd was perennials that have never grown well. The 4th, 5th, and 6th are newly edged areas where there used to be a ridge.
The soil in the last 3 is dismal. Rocky, gravelly, clay, 1/2 sunny. One got Spring bulbs and daylilies and annuals throughout this first year for them. One got scatterred seeds of wildflowers and nothing much bloomed. One was left unplanted because I intended to transplant an invasive purple lychimastia there and never got around to it.
That's one reason I bought a trailerload of compost 2 days ago. The worms will bring the compost down into the soil, and nutrients will leach down from above. I am spreading compost around o the new and old beds whenever it isn't too cold out.
So I ordered a packet 500 sq ft of perennial and annual wildflower seedss for the large bed that do well in poor soil. I have some existing plants the same as in that mix to transplant. The compost will help.
The second smallest bed gets no help. If the Lychimatia doesn't survive transplanting there, good riddance and I will try something else (I already thought I had killed them once). I'm giving them a last chance where I can mow around to control invasive spreading.
The 3rd bed is the Spring bulb and daylilly bed. It is about 400 sq ft and I will cover that in 2" of compost and then 2" of shredded woodchips leftover from a tree I had removed. THe bulbs will appreciate the nutrients from the compost as it leaches down to the roots over Winter, and the woodchips will supress weeds and won't bother the Spring bulbs.
That leaves the older 3 beds.
There isn't much left of the oldest 75'x8' perennial bed I planted and added to over the past 20 years. It needs a whole new start. I'm going for a cottage garden! That is one that has a LOT of various self-sowing annuals and some long-lived perennials. From organized patches of matching flowers, I am going to randomness. Sometimes you just need to change things.
The 2nd oldest flower bed is becoming a tomato bed next year. Tomato soil diseases accumulate and fresh soil is good every few years. I dumped 16 buckets of compost there 2 days ago. Over Winter, worms and rain will leach and move the compost into the existing soil.
The 3rd oldest flower bed needs the most care. The original perennials never grew well and grass took over several years ago. I'm covering it with 2" of compost and a layer of that brown paper that is used to pack stuff from Amazon. I plan to make that an astilbe bed. There are a few astilbe flowers there and the like the conditions. I found a reputable seller that offerred bright red astilbes in bulk at a good price. Something like 45 seedlings to full the 60 sq ft space (18" spacing). I love Astilbes!
Come Spring, I'll cut X's in the paper cover to plant the Astilbes. The paper should decompose in Summer.
Lastly, I took advantage of the 55 degree weather to pull up all my soaker hose. They were slowly getting buried by pant debris. They broke in pieces. Well, it was cheap stuff. Next year, I will buy better. Drip irrigation really DOES water the yard better. I just need to get better quality drip hoses.
Always looking forward to Spring for new and better flowers and supports.
I have 6 flower beds. The oldest one had perennials that have mostly died out. The 2nd was for annuals. The 3rd was perennials that have never grown well. The 4th, 5th, and 6th are newly edged areas where there used to be a ridge.
The soil in the last 3 is dismal. Rocky, gravelly, clay, 1/2 sunny. One got Spring bulbs and daylilies and annuals throughout this first year for them. One got scatterred seeds of wildflowers and nothing much bloomed. One was left unplanted because I intended to transplant an invasive purple lychimastia there and never got around to it.
That's one reason I bought a trailerload of compost 2 days ago. The worms will bring the compost down into the soil, and nutrients will leach down from above. I am spreading compost around o the new and old beds whenever it isn't too cold out.
So I ordered a packet 500 sq ft of perennial and annual wildflower seedss for the large bed that do well in poor soil. I have some existing plants the same as in that mix to transplant. The compost will help.
The second smallest bed gets no help. If the Lychimatia doesn't survive transplanting there, good riddance and I will try something else (I already thought I had killed them once). I'm giving them a last chance where I can mow around to control invasive spreading.
The 3rd bed is the Spring bulb and daylilly bed. It is about 400 sq ft and I will cover that in 2" of compost and then 2" of shredded woodchips leftover from a tree I had removed. THe bulbs will appreciate the nutrients from the compost as it leaches down to the roots over Winter, and the woodchips will supress weeds and won't bother the Spring bulbs.
That leaves the older 3 beds.
There isn't much left of the oldest 75'x8' perennial bed I planted and added to over the past 20 years. It needs a whole new start. I'm going for a cottage garden! That is one that has a LOT of various self-sowing annuals and some long-lived perennials. From organized patches of matching flowers, I am going to randomness. Sometimes you just need to change things.
The 2nd oldest flower bed is becoming a tomato bed next year. Tomato soil diseases accumulate and fresh soil is good every few years. I dumped 16 buckets of compost there 2 days ago. Over Winter, worms and rain will leach and move the compost into the existing soil.
The 3rd oldest flower bed needs the most care. The original perennials never grew well and grass took over several years ago. I'm covering it with 2" of compost and a layer of that brown paper that is used to pack stuff from Amazon. I plan to make that an astilbe bed. There are a few astilbe flowers there and the like the conditions. I found a reputable seller that offerred bright red astilbes in bulk at a good price. Something like 45 seedlings to full the 60 sq ft space (18" spacing). I love Astilbes!
Come Spring, I'll cut X's in the paper cover to plant the Astilbes. The paper should decompose in Summer.
Lastly, I took advantage of the 55 degree weather to pull up all my soaker hose. They were slowly getting buried by pant debris. They broke in pieces. Well, it was cheap stuff. Next year, I will buy better. Drip irrigation really DOES water the yard better. I just need to get better quality drip hoses.
Always looking forward to Spring for new and better flowers and supports.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Brambles Be Gone
I had arranged for a person with a serious brush-cutter to come and cut down and remove the 1/8 acre of trashy undergrowth last month. When I called to see why he hadn't called for a day to do th work, he said he was in the hospital with appendicitis. No more hard work for him this year...
I expressed my sympathy. I had the same operation at 18, so I knew how he felt.
But that didn't solve my problem. I need those brambles removed. And he was the only person I could find willing to do a "small" job.
I guess I am going to have to use the gas-powered steel-bladed I've had sitting around for 3 years. It scares me. The instructions suggest that using it can injure the operater unless used perfectly and with fancy leggings to clog the blades.
Lovely...
On the other hand, most injuries are caused by carelessness, and a certain level of fear is a good protection from carelessness.
Those brambles have to be eliminated. I want that part of my yard back! They grew when I cut down a few tall trees that were blocking some sunlight to my veggie garden. It's the Law Of Unintended Consequences".
Improve the sunlight to the veggie garden improved the sunlight to the rest of the backyard. And apparently, the brambles were just WAITING for a little extra sunlight.
I have 4 specimen trees waiting to be planted in there. They will grow to about 20". Not enough to shade the veggie garden, but enough to shade out the brambles again...
The weather forecast suggests warmer than average temps around Christmas here. I hope to take advantage of that to cut down the brambles. After that, I can mow them. The terrain is uneven back there, but a regular old manual rotary mower I have can handle it. Push the mower, tilt it up on the back wheels, lower it down on the bramble shoots and move on. It will take an hour a day for a week, but that should kill all the brambles.
If not, I'll keep doing it.
I expressed my sympathy. I had the same operation at 18, so I knew how he felt.
But that didn't solve my problem. I need those brambles removed. And he was the only person I could find willing to do a "small" job.
I guess I am going to have to use the gas-powered steel-bladed I've had sitting around for 3 years. It scares me. The instructions suggest that using it can injure the operater unless used perfectly and with fancy leggings to clog the blades.
Lovely...
On the other hand, most injuries are caused by carelessness, and a certain level of fear is a good protection from carelessness.
Those brambles have to be eliminated. I want that part of my yard back! They grew when I cut down a few tall trees that were blocking some sunlight to my veggie garden. It's the Law Of Unintended Consequences".
Improve the sunlight to the veggie garden improved the sunlight to the rest of the backyard. And apparently, the brambles were just WAITING for a little extra sunlight.
I have 4 specimen trees waiting to be planted in there. They will grow to about 20". Not enough to shade the veggie garden, but enough to shade out the brambles again...
The weather forecast suggests warmer than average temps around Christmas here. I hope to take advantage of that to cut down the brambles. After that, I can mow them. The terrain is uneven back there, but a regular old manual rotary mower I have can handle it. Push the mower, tilt it up on the back wheels, lower it down on the bramble shoots and move on. It will take an hour a day for a week, but that should kill all the brambles.
If not, I'll keep doing it.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Got Stuff Done
Its been a working week.
I planted 250 daffodils. And I did it RIGHT. I have a drill auger that gets down about 8". I tossed loose soil back in the holes, set down the bulbs, filled the holes with 50/50 topsoil/compost, and sprinkled 0-6-6 N-P-K fertilizer on the top to seep down over the winter.
100 of them were to fill in the area not planted last Fall. Guesing where the planted ones were was done by pictures I took last Spring. I lined up the pictures using background landmarks. I got it very close. I only augered up ond existing bulb. And I filled in the entire unplanted area. So next Spring should be good.
But that left 150 Hillstar daffs. I REALLY over-estimated the number of daffs I needed to fill the existing bed. So where to put the Hillstars?
Oho! I have never found a good plant to use as the border for my fence-side flowerbed. The Dusty Millers died, the annuals had to be replanted each year, and the crocuses got eaten by the voles . So the Hillstars went into the border.
I came up 5' short, but that's OK, I'll fill in.
Meanwhile, I got 2 bucketloads of 50/50 topsoil/compost from the local nursery (about 2 cubic yards). My framed beds settled since I filled them the first time last year. That was some work moving the stuff from the trailer to the beds.
Last year, I shoveled it from the trailer to a yard cart towed by the riding mowers them shoveled it into buckets to carry and dump into the framed beds. That was a real pain.
So this time, I shoveled the mix from the trailer into buckets I loaded into the yard cart and drove the trailer to the framed beds. Then carried the buckets to the beds. Much easier. I have 3/4 moved.
And I need to empty the trailer. One tire finally just broke after 15 years - rubber fatigue!
And now I have a real problem. I can't drive the trailer to a repair place with a flat tire, and the bolts on the wheels are 15 years of rust. ACK!
Well, I have to remove the tire (both actually - the other tire has to be about to fail). I'll soak the wheel bolts in Liquid Wrench (a lubricating oil that claims to loosen rust), heat the bolts to cause uneven expansion that might loosen the rust connection, and then use an air-powered impact wrench to finally break the nuts free.
I HOPE.
And I need the trailer to be working again soon to pick up a mower I couldn't get started and brought to a repair shop... So that I can mow down some backyard brambles. So that I can lant 5 specimen trees in the backyard.
Everything is connected. Empty the trailer, remove and replace the tires, pick up the mower, rent a brush-cutter (hauled on the trailer), use the mower to cut the bramble stubs lower, dig holes for the specimen tree saplings, keep the brambles cut low until they die, and surround the saplings with old carpet so the roots don't have competition until they grow tall enough in a few years to shade out the ivy.
I had the whole backyard cleared out 5 years ago, and I let it go for 2 years. I'm paying for that lapse now!
Next year is going to be killing all the wild ivy, the unknown vines, and the mock strawberries.
The good news is that I learned how to use my battery-powered string trimmer properly. Used hard at an angle, it can clear weeds to ground level. It gets long stringy grass wrapped around it if I'm not careful, and that drove me crazy at first unwrapping them. But I learned how to disassemble the head in 20 seconds and slide all the wrapped grass right off.
Experience is wonderful!
Now I think I might be ready to use the gas-powered steel blade whacker on the briars and brambles in the far back yard... Without losing a foot in the process.
I planted 250 daffodils. And I did it RIGHT. I have a drill auger that gets down about 8". I tossed loose soil back in the holes, set down the bulbs, filled the holes with 50/50 topsoil/compost, and sprinkled 0-6-6 N-P-K fertilizer on the top to seep down over the winter.
100 of them were to fill in the area not planted last Fall. Guesing where the planted ones were was done by pictures I took last Spring. I lined up the pictures using background landmarks. I got it very close. I only augered up ond existing bulb. And I filled in the entire unplanted area. So next Spring should be good.
But that left 150 Hillstar daffs. I REALLY over-estimated the number of daffs I needed to fill the existing bed. So where to put the Hillstars?
Oho! I have never found a good plant to use as the border for my fence-side flowerbed. The Dusty Millers died, the annuals had to be replanted each year, and the crocuses got eaten by the voles . So the Hillstars went into the border.
I came up 5' short, but that's OK, I'll fill in.
Meanwhile, I got 2 bucketloads of 50/50 topsoil/compost from the local nursery (about 2 cubic yards). My framed beds settled since I filled them the first time last year. That was some work moving the stuff from the trailer to the beds.
Last year, I shoveled it from the trailer to a yard cart towed by the riding mowers them shoveled it into buckets to carry and dump into the framed beds. That was a real pain.
So this time, I shoveled the mix from the trailer into buckets I loaded into the yard cart and drove the trailer to the framed beds. Then carried the buckets to the beds. Much easier. I have 3/4 moved.
And I need to empty the trailer. One tire finally just broke after 15 years - rubber fatigue!
And now I have a real problem. I can't drive the trailer to a repair place with a flat tire, and the bolts on the wheels are 15 years of rust. ACK!
Well, I have to remove the tire (both actually - the other tire has to be about to fail). I'll soak the wheel bolts in Liquid Wrench (a lubricating oil that claims to loosen rust), heat the bolts to cause uneven expansion that might loosen the rust connection, and then use an air-powered impact wrench to finally break the nuts free.
I HOPE.
And I need the trailer to be working again soon to pick up a mower I couldn't get started and brought to a repair shop... So that I can mow down some backyard brambles. So that I can lant 5 specimen trees in the backyard.
Everything is connected. Empty the trailer, remove and replace the tires, pick up the mower, rent a brush-cutter (hauled on the trailer), use the mower to cut the bramble stubs lower, dig holes for the specimen tree saplings, keep the brambles cut low until they die, and surround the saplings with old carpet so the roots don't have competition until they grow tall enough in a few years to shade out the ivy.
I had the whole backyard cleared out 5 years ago, and I let it go for 2 years. I'm paying for that lapse now!
Next year is going to be killing all the wild ivy, the unknown vines, and the mock strawberries.
The good news is that I learned how to use my battery-powered string trimmer properly. Used hard at an angle, it can clear weeds to ground level. It gets long stringy grass wrapped around it if I'm not careful, and that drove me crazy at first unwrapping them. But I learned how to disassemble the head in 20 seconds and slide all the wrapped grass right off.
Experience is wonderful!
Now I think I might be ready to use the gas-powered steel blade whacker on the briars and brambles in the far back yard... Without losing a foot in the process.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Getting Busy Again, Part 2
So I had to get the mower to a repair shop. Home Depot has equipment repair services, but I prefer to support local business when I can. There is a local place called "Tool Solutions" and I have brought some equipment there in the past. They got my riding mower running last time, tuned up the engine, sharpened the blades, and just because it bothered their sense of "equipmentness", they scraped all the dried grass clipping from the bottom of the deck. It is just 3 people, and it is good to support people doing work like that out of a small shop.
I attached the trailer to the riding lawn mower (it has an attachment on the back for things like trailer hitches and baggers), drove it out to the front yard, and hooked it up to the car. Got the push mower up onto the trailer, secured it, attached it to the car, and drove the the repair place.
And since I was going off with the trailer, I put a large tarp and a bunch of bungee cords in the back of the car. I wanted to get a few bucket-loader loads of 50/50 topsoil and compost from the local nursery. The soil in my framed beds settled during the year and there is room for 4' more soil (leaving 2' from the top). And I can always add any extra on other spots.
2 bucket loads is about 60 cubic feet. It is sure cheaper than buying "by the bag"! I have done this before and learned a few things about transporting soil, compost mulch, etc. The trailer came with boards on the bottom with spaces between. I used to put a tarp on the bottom to keep stuff falling out through the spaces, and put another on the top to keep stuff from blowing out. I kept ripping up the bottom tarp shoveling the stuff out.
I got tired of that, and 2 years ago, I fitted pressure-treated plywood on the bottom. And I figured out a trick for the top tarp. I set up the top tarp so it was slightly under the front inside of the trailer. The contents hold the front of the tarp in place, so there is no driving-wind flapping and ripping. Even the landscaping guys were interested in THAT idea. Then I just use bungee cords to hold down the sides of the tarp tightly in opposing directions. Logic is wonderful.
So I left the house with a mower needing repair and returns with 60 cu ft of topsoil/compost. A good day.
It feels good to get busy again at practical projects...
I attached the trailer to the riding lawn mower (it has an attachment on the back for things like trailer hitches and baggers), drove it out to the front yard, and hooked it up to the car. Got the push mower up onto the trailer, secured it, attached it to the car, and drove the the repair place.
And since I was going off with the trailer, I put a large tarp and a bunch of bungee cords in the back of the car. I wanted to get a few bucket-loader loads of 50/50 topsoil and compost from the local nursery. The soil in my framed beds settled during the year and there is room for 4' more soil (leaving 2' from the top). And I can always add any extra on other spots.
2 bucket loads is about 60 cubic feet. It is sure cheaper than buying "by the bag"! I have done this before and learned a few things about transporting soil, compost mulch, etc. The trailer came with boards on the bottom with spaces between. I used to put a tarp on the bottom to keep stuff falling out through the spaces, and put another on the top to keep stuff from blowing out. I kept ripping up the bottom tarp shoveling the stuff out.
I got tired of that, and 2 years ago, I fitted pressure-treated plywood on the bottom. And I figured out a trick for the top tarp. I set up the top tarp so it was slightly under the front inside of the trailer. The contents hold the front of the tarp in place, so there is no driving-wind flapping and ripping. Even the landscaping guys were interested in THAT idea. Then I just use bungee cords to hold down the sides of the tarp tightly in opposing directions. Logic is wonderful.
So I left the house with a mower needing repair and returns with 60 cu ft of topsoil/compost. A good day.
It feels good to get busy again at practical projects...
Monday, November 14, 2016
While I Was Gone
I moped around the house for a couple days and stayed in bed a lot. Then I got up and did some hard angry work.
I took out the 10" electric tiller that I bought a few months ago for work in small spaces and attacked the area where I want to plant 200 daffofdl bulbs. That didn't work out too well. The tall grass wrapped around the tiller blades. So I spent 15 minutes cutting and pulling them loose. Then took out my weed whacker and cut all the grass to ground level. Then went after the soil again.
That didn't work out any better. The ROOTS just wrapped around the tiller blades. So I removed THEM. It was rather therapeutic. Burned off some anger. I attacked them with a ground digger knife and pliers and by hand.
But the small electric tiller is obviously only designed for bare ground and flowers. So I pulled out the big gas one. Which wouldn't start. Old dried gas I suspect. I'll try it again tomorrow after some new gas has a chance to dissolve the old gas. And if that doesn't work, I can take apart the carburator. I learned a trick from a repairman about shooting spray carburator cleaner into the system that often works. Failing that, it goes to a local repair shop for real repair and tune up, and it has been a few years so it needs it.
I did get a lot of angry energy used up pulling on the starter rope.
The manual rotary mower wouldn't start either and I read online that that usually means the blade disengagement bar on the handle is stuck. I couldn't find anything wrong with it, so that has to go for professional work too.
I better check the snowblower too. When you need it is NOT the time to go looking for fast repairs.
I have a small cast iron Lodge grill good for cooking a couple of steaks at a time. I didn't use it for a couple of years. I stayed under my covered smoker grill, and with a cover of it's own. I pulled it out a few weeks ago and it was COMPLETELY rusted under 2 covers!
Perfect "angry energy" project! I wirebrushed that sucker for 3 hours. THAT got a lot of anger out. Still wasn't good enough. It will never be free of rust again. But I have a 1,000F temperature wood stove Rust-Oleum paint I can use on most of it.
According to online advice, the cooking surface will have to be soaking in 50% white vinegar and water for 4 hours, rubbed dry with a clean cloth, and then oiled and seasoned in a 300F oven like any new cast iron skillet. If that all works, I will buy a tightly sealed plastic bin to keep it in afterwards. If it doesn't, I'll buy a new one. Maybe I can just buy a cooking rack replacement.
I had a nice little steel one decades ago. Just the right size for 6 charcoal briquets and one steak. I wish I still had that. I can't find one like it. Some stuff just seems to disappear over the years. Maybe it burned through the bottom. I can't recall.
Still need some projects to burn off "angry energy". Maybe it is time to bring out the steel spade and start scraping under the roots of weedy grass in the flower garden. I still can't kneel well, but if I sit on the ground and push on the back of the spade with my feet, that should work.
I took out the 10" electric tiller that I bought a few months ago for work in small spaces and attacked the area where I want to plant 200 daffofdl bulbs. That didn't work out too well. The tall grass wrapped around the tiller blades. So I spent 15 minutes cutting and pulling them loose. Then took out my weed whacker and cut all the grass to ground level. Then went after the soil again.
That didn't work out any better. The ROOTS just wrapped around the tiller blades. So I removed THEM. It was rather therapeutic. Burned off some anger. I attacked them with a ground digger knife and pliers and by hand.
But the small electric tiller is obviously only designed for bare ground and flowers. So I pulled out the big gas one. Which wouldn't start. Old dried gas I suspect. I'll try it again tomorrow after some new gas has a chance to dissolve the old gas. And if that doesn't work, I can take apart the carburator. I learned a trick from a repairman about shooting spray carburator cleaner into the system that often works. Failing that, it goes to a local repair shop for real repair and tune up, and it has been a few years so it needs it.
I did get a lot of angry energy used up pulling on the starter rope.
The manual rotary mower wouldn't start either and I read online that that usually means the blade disengagement bar on the handle is stuck. I couldn't find anything wrong with it, so that has to go for professional work too.
I better check the snowblower too. When you need it is NOT the time to go looking for fast repairs.
I have a small cast iron Lodge grill good for cooking a couple of steaks at a time. I didn't use it for a couple of years. I stayed under my covered smoker grill, and with a cover of it's own. I pulled it out a few weeks ago and it was COMPLETELY rusted under 2 covers!
Perfect "angry energy" project! I wirebrushed that sucker for 3 hours. THAT got a lot of anger out. Still wasn't good enough. It will never be free of rust again. But I have a 1,000F temperature wood stove Rust-Oleum paint I can use on most of it.
According to online advice, the cooking surface will have to be soaking in 50% white vinegar and water for 4 hours, rubbed dry with a clean cloth, and then oiled and seasoned in a 300F oven like any new cast iron skillet. If that all works, I will buy a tightly sealed plastic bin to keep it in afterwards. If it doesn't, I'll buy a new one. Maybe I can just buy a cooking rack replacement.
I had a nice little steel one decades ago. Just the right size for 6 charcoal briquets and one steak. I wish I still had that. I can't find one like it. Some stuff just seems to disappear over the years. Maybe it burned through the bottom. I can't recall.
Still need some projects to burn off "angry energy". Maybe it is time to bring out the steel spade and start scraping under the roots of weedy grass in the flower garden. I still can't kneel well, but if I sit on the ground and push on the back of the spade with my feet, that should work.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
2nd Yardwork Project
The next most important project is the bulb bed. It is a 20' diameter edged circle. I planted 100 tulips there in wire cages (to protect them from voles) last year. They looked great this Spring. I also had 200 daffodils of 2 varieties (one early and one late). Voles don't bother daffs, so that was just drilling holes with an auger and setting them in.
I ordered more daffs for this year. 50 more each of the existing ones and 150 of a different one for the unused space in the circle.
I should have marked the space where the existing daffs were planted. Well, you know, you think you won't forget exactly where they are but you do. I have pictures, so I should be able to guess pretty well where to plant more of the same ones safely. And where I can start planting the new ones next to them. I HOPE, LOL!
But over the Summer, weeds grew. I want a clean planting area for all the new bulbs. My gas powered roto-tiller is just too big for the area, so I bought a small 10' tiller.
I tried it out today. What a disaster! Every grass leaf and root wrapped around the tiller blades 2 10' rows and the things was stuffed like a hard ball of cotton. It took 20 minutes to pull them all out. But it did do a decent job of tearing up the soil an inch deep, which was exactly what I wanted. But that was way too slow and difficult.
So I used my electric string-trimmer to beat down all the long grass leaves. That was an amazing 3 wheelbarrowfuls of plant debris!
So I tried the little electric tiller again. It was actually worse. The previous use has a lot of grass leaves in it, this time it was all roots. It took 30 minutes to pull them all out. They get wrapped and tangled very tightly.
So that wasn't the way to go. The little electric tiller is great for small areas of bare dirt. But it doesn't chop up roots.
So I raked off all the weed-whacked debris. Then I decided to pull out the serious tiller. It is kind of big for the job. I couldn't get it to start. So I thought about mowing the area. I can use the drill auger to make holes for all the new daffs if weeds are down to ground level. I couldn't get the push mower to start. Last option was the riding mower but that is really awkward changing from forward to reverse (you have to stop the blade each change).
So Monday, I bring the gas rototiller and the gas push mower to a repairshop. There is a good local one. Fair prices. I hope they aren't busy.
And then I can get back to MY interests which is USING the equipment to do things I need doing.
I ordered more daffs for this year. 50 more each of the existing ones and 150 of a different one for the unused space in the circle.
I should have marked the space where the existing daffs were planted. Well, you know, you think you won't forget exactly where they are but you do. I have pictures, so I should be able to guess pretty well where to plant more of the same ones safely. And where I can start planting the new ones next to them. I HOPE, LOL!
But over the Summer, weeds grew. I want a clean planting area for all the new bulbs. My gas powered roto-tiller is just too big for the area, so I bought a small 10' tiller.
I tried it out today. What a disaster! Every grass leaf and root wrapped around the tiller blades 2 10' rows and the things was stuffed like a hard ball of cotton. It took 20 minutes to pull them all out. But it did do a decent job of tearing up the soil an inch deep, which was exactly what I wanted. But that was way too slow and difficult.
So I used my electric string-trimmer to beat down all the long grass leaves. That was an amazing 3 wheelbarrowfuls of plant debris!
So I tried the little electric tiller again. It was actually worse. The previous use has a lot of grass leaves in it, this time it was all roots. It took 30 minutes to pull them all out. They get wrapped and tangled very tightly.
So that wasn't the way to go. The little electric tiller is great for small areas of bare dirt. But it doesn't chop up roots.
So I raked off all the weed-whacked debris. Then I decided to pull out the serious tiller. It is kind of big for the job. I couldn't get it to start. So I thought about mowing the area. I can use the drill auger to make holes for all the new daffs if weeds are down to ground level. I couldn't get the push mower to start. Last option was the riding mower but that is really awkward changing from forward to reverse (you have to stop the blade each change).
So Monday, I bring the gas rototiller and the gas push mower to a repairshop. There is a good local one. Fair prices. I hope they aren't busy.
And then I can get back to MY interests which is USING the equipment to do things I need doing.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Yardwork
Well, I may have had some problems after the yardwork yesterday, but I did get some good work done that I will enjoy seeing later.
I have 3 edged areas in the middle of the backyard. One is for wildflowers (nearest my garden, so I am hoping to attract a lot of native pollinators). The 2nd was originally intended for a lovely but invasive plant with the idea that I could mow around it, but it spread seeds around so I am killing it (it will take some time). The 3rd is my favorite so far.
That is the area where I planted tulips and hyacinths in cages to protect them from voles and squirrels. The tulips all came up nicely, but no hyacinths. Well, they were planted late. I worried that the hyacinths all rotted (or oddly, grew stems larger than the wire cage mesh and were cut off). The 200 hundred daffodils were planted freely as they are ignored by pests.
So this Summer, I gave thought to other plants to grow there. A single-season flowerbed is sort of wasteful of space. Spring flowering bulbs want to stay a bit dry Summer and Fall (or they rot) so you can't surround them with plants that need regular watering.
So I thought about lilies. They are tough, they have tuberous roots that collect and hold what little water they need, and I had lots of them rescued from an area that was dug out 2 years ago. Really, they survived plopped in small 6" pots and ignored except for natural rainfall. So they were good to add among the tulips for Summer color.
Well, it is probably too late for blooming this year, but I managed to plant 30 of them around the outer edges of the circle the past week. And then, knowing they wouldn't bloom this year, I considered what I had that could survive no special watering this year and might provide some color.
I should mention that my regular flowerbeds need serious work. I didn't give them the attention they needed last year and couldn't do it this Spring (my bad knee). And I had planted 3 dozen marigolds, 2 dozen zinnias, and 2 dozen salvia indoors under lights in March, expecting to use them in the regular older flowerbeds.
Well, marigolds are pretty adjusted to dry soil, so I started planting them around the lilies today. And then added most of the salvias and zinnias when I ran out of marigolds. If they live on natural rainfall and bloom "HURRAY"! If not, there wasn't anywhere else to put them.
So I planted most of them among the lilies and will hope for "something" from them. And even then, they were the lesser of all the seedlings. I used the best in 7 deck planters last week. So no loss and some possible gain. I bet in a month, I will have some good flowers to show. I don't grow wimpy flowers.
That 3rd 20' diameter edged circle is the one closest to the deck, so I will see it better than the other 2 most of the time. And the main birdfeeder is in the center of it, so that draws my attention there as well. And to not disturb the plants, I have a small path to the feeder from the side and stones to set my ladder on for refilling it.
This Fall, I will take some leftover largish flat rocks I bought for edging the old flowerbeds and make a path to the birdfeeder. I intend for the area to be filled enough with future plantings to need places to step.
And cramps or not, I have more annuals to plant, so I will be out there again tomorrow...
I have 3 edged areas in the middle of the backyard. One is for wildflowers (nearest my garden, so I am hoping to attract a lot of native pollinators). The 2nd was originally intended for a lovely but invasive plant with the idea that I could mow around it, but it spread seeds around so I am killing it (it will take some time). The 3rd is my favorite so far.
That is the area where I planted tulips and hyacinths in cages to protect them from voles and squirrels. The tulips all came up nicely, but no hyacinths. Well, they were planted late. I worried that the hyacinths all rotted (or oddly, grew stems larger than the wire cage mesh and were cut off). The 200 hundred daffodils were planted freely as they are ignored by pests.
So this Summer, I gave thought to other plants to grow there. A single-season flowerbed is sort of wasteful of space. Spring flowering bulbs want to stay a bit dry Summer and Fall (or they rot) so you can't surround them with plants that need regular watering.
So I thought about lilies. They are tough, they have tuberous roots that collect and hold what little water they need, and I had lots of them rescued from an area that was dug out 2 years ago. Really, they survived plopped in small 6" pots and ignored except for natural rainfall. So they were good to add among the tulips for Summer color.
Well, it is probably too late for blooming this year, but I managed to plant 30 of them around the outer edges of the circle the past week. And then, knowing they wouldn't bloom this year, I considered what I had that could survive no special watering this year and might provide some color.
I should mention that my regular flowerbeds need serious work. I didn't give them the attention they needed last year and couldn't do it this Spring (my bad knee). And I had planted 3 dozen marigolds, 2 dozen zinnias, and 2 dozen salvia indoors under lights in March, expecting to use them in the regular older flowerbeds.
Well, marigolds are pretty adjusted to dry soil, so I started planting them around the lilies today. And then added most of the salvias and zinnias when I ran out of marigolds. If they live on natural rainfall and bloom "HURRAY"! If not, there wasn't anywhere else to put them.
So I planted most of them among the lilies and will hope for "something" from them. And even then, they were the lesser of all the seedlings. I used the best in 7 deck planters last week. So no loss and some possible gain. I bet in a month, I will have some good flowers to show. I don't grow wimpy flowers.
That 3rd 20' diameter edged circle is the one closest to the deck, so I will see it better than the other 2 most of the time. And the main birdfeeder is in the center of it, so that draws my attention there as well. And to not disturb the plants, I have a small path to the feeder from the side and stones to set my ladder on for refilling it.
This Fall, I will take some leftover largish flat rocks I bought for edging the old flowerbeds and make a path to the birdfeeder. I intend for the area to be filled enough with future plantings to need places to step.
And cramps or not, I have more annuals to plant, so I will be out there again tomorrow...
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Other Complaints
Sort of continued from yesterday...
Aside from the heat pump problems, I've had damaged/loose tiles around the bathtub for almost a year. At first, I couldn't get any highly-rated company on Angie's List to come out. The job was too small. Then it gradually got too big. Them I couldn't get a bathroom remodeler to come out because the job was too small.
I have a plastic trash bag duct-taped over the loose tiles. Well, it FINALLY got big enough of a problem for one remodeler to come look Wed. Quite frankly, I hadn't looked under the plastic covering lately, and it was worse than I thought.
I expected bad news and I got it! Now let me mention that this "starter house" (where I have lived for 30 years) was not the best-built of houses. The builder took shortcuts all over the place. Apparently, one of those shortcuts was around the bathtub. The seal around the tub faucet was leaky, the tile was poorly applied, the grout cracked, and the wall behind the tiles was truly waterproof.
The remodeler popped one seemingly sound tile right off and pushed an awl right through the wall behind it. Everything seem rotted... So he came by yesterday with a basic proposal, subject to change after they remove the tiles and see behind the wall.
They propose to remove all the tiles, replace the backer board wall, repair some damaged drywall, replace the tub faucet and showerhead (upper tile loosening suggests it is leaking inside the wall), and re-tile higher than it currently is (which is below the showerhead). And replace the bathtub itself.
I asked about why to replace the bathtub, and he said that, at 30 years old my cheap one won't last much longer and it would require pulling off the new tiles and some drywall to replace it then at twice the price.
I did some internet research and I know the routine for bathroom remodelers. They get the initial job, then find all sorts of further problems (replace studs, scrape and spray mold, replace the floor, discover insect damage, etc). I'm resigned to that. There are some repairs you just HAVE to have done even when you know you are being taken advantage of.
At least I have some advantages myself. I know wood, so they won't be able to lie about the condition of the studs. I know the floor is solid; I can see it from the basement and there is no waterstain. But also, I chose this company because their Angie's List rating is A+ for price and quality of work. So they not only have a good rating, they care about their rating. And if *I'm* not happy, they won't be happy!
At $5700 for the contracted work, they BETTER make me happy. But it will be 3 weeks before they get to me on their schedule. And they estimate 10 days of work (not every day, some parts have to sit a couple days to set).
And then there is my right knee. It has been a month since I first twisted it. At first, it was pinful just getting it and out of bed. And getting up and down stairs was an adventure in caution. At least now I can walk almost normally. Stairs are still annoying, but not actually painful. Putting on my right sock and shoe are still awkward (but just an "err" and not a "GRRRR". But it all means that I have not been able to do any gardening work in this extended mild temperature we have had all April and early May. It will heal...
But then there is the weather. After 3 weeks of drought late March and early April, we have had 10 days of daily off-and-on drizzle. 5" of drizzle and not any heavy rain but 1 hour. So, good knee or bad, I wasn't going to get to do much work in the flower or vegetable gardens. The vegetable garden is newly redone, so it doesn't need much work and the early crops were in and the warm weather crops will wait.
But the flowerbeds are all gone to heck. Weed grasses and regular weeds are nearly taking over. This was going to be a Spring of renovation. Too many of my perennial flowers have slowly died back (perennials don't live forever) and I was planning to dig up everything worth saving and rototill large areas to start over with some perennials that DO seem to live forever and add lots of annuals this year while I decide what to do in the future.
I went big into perennials 15 years ago, but they are disappointing. Most only flower a week or two. Some flower longer, but are shorter-lived (3-5 years). Some are very special in their short blooms (oriental lilies, tulips, daffodils, etc), and some have great foliage (Hostas, Brunella). But I like the ones that flower all season or at least all Fall (Coneflowers, Goldenrod, Astilbe, Clatis, Asters).
I'm going back to annuals ( Zinnias, Salvia, Marigolds, Coleus, Impatiens). More work each Spring to plant under lights inside and transplant, but I have time for that. And growing seeds from scratch gives my better varieties than the local Walmart sells.
But if my knee doesn't heal soon, I won't be able to get down and scrape the weeds off the soil (and dig out the deep-rooted ones) and plant all those seedlings.
Mom used to tell me that "getting old isn't for sissies". I understood that theoretically a decade ago; now I know personally. I'll turn 66 in 2 weeks. LOL!
I've stayed young long. You know how, in high school, there were those who matured fast? Well, they aged fast too. I always took some comfort in that. Well, age is starting to catch up with me... Small matters to be sure. But I bet I need a knee transplant in 10 years. My knees have always been a bit loose.
Most people fidget in some way. They doodle, they hum, they tap their fingers. I shake my ankles. Sound weird? Put your right ankle up on your left knee. Now shake your ankle up and down constantly. That's what I do at the computer. I'll bet I loosened that knee badly over the decades...
"tempis fugit, momento mori".
Aside from the heat pump problems, I've had damaged/loose tiles around the bathtub for almost a year. At first, I couldn't get any highly-rated company on Angie's List to come out. The job was too small. Then it gradually got too big. Them I couldn't get a bathroom remodeler to come out because the job was too small.
I have a plastic trash bag duct-taped over the loose tiles. Well, it FINALLY got big enough of a problem for one remodeler to come look Wed. Quite frankly, I hadn't looked under the plastic covering lately, and it was worse than I thought.
I expected bad news and I got it! Now let me mention that this "starter house" (where I have lived for 30 years) was not the best-built of houses. The builder took shortcuts all over the place. Apparently, one of those shortcuts was around the bathtub. The seal around the tub faucet was leaky, the tile was poorly applied, the grout cracked, and the wall behind the tiles was truly waterproof.
The remodeler popped one seemingly sound tile right off and pushed an awl right through the wall behind it. Everything seem rotted... So he came by yesterday with a basic proposal, subject to change after they remove the tiles and see behind the wall.
They propose to remove all the tiles, replace the backer board wall, repair some damaged drywall, replace the tub faucet and showerhead (upper tile loosening suggests it is leaking inside the wall), and re-tile higher than it currently is (which is below the showerhead). And replace the bathtub itself.
I asked about why to replace the bathtub, and he said that, at 30 years old my cheap one won't last much longer and it would require pulling off the new tiles and some drywall to replace it then at twice the price.
I did some internet research and I know the routine for bathroom remodelers. They get the initial job, then find all sorts of further problems (replace studs, scrape and spray mold, replace the floor, discover insect damage, etc). I'm resigned to that. There are some repairs you just HAVE to have done even when you know you are being taken advantage of.
At least I have some advantages myself. I know wood, so they won't be able to lie about the condition of the studs. I know the floor is solid; I can see it from the basement and there is no waterstain. But also, I chose this company because their Angie's List rating is A+ for price and quality of work. So they not only have a good rating, they care about their rating. And if *I'm* not happy, they won't be happy!
At $5700 for the contracted work, they BETTER make me happy. But it will be 3 weeks before they get to me on their schedule. And they estimate 10 days of work (not every day, some parts have to sit a couple days to set).
And then there is my right knee. It has been a month since I first twisted it. At first, it was pinful just getting it and out of bed. And getting up and down stairs was an adventure in caution. At least now I can walk almost normally. Stairs are still annoying, but not actually painful. Putting on my right sock and shoe are still awkward (but just an "err" and not a "GRRRR". But it all means that I have not been able to do any gardening work in this extended mild temperature we have had all April and early May. It will heal...
But then there is the weather. After 3 weeks of drought late March and early April, we have had 10 days of daily off-and-on drizzle. 5" of drizzle and not any heavy rain but 1 hour. So, good knee or bad, I wasn't going to get to do much work in the flower or vegetable gardens. The vegetable garden is newly redone, so it doesn't need much work and the early crops were in and the warm weather crops will wait.
But the flowerbeds are all gone to heck. Weed grasses and regular weeds are nearly taking over. This was going to be a Spring of renovation. Too many of my perennial flowers have slowly died back (perennials don't live forever) and I was planning to dig up everything worth saving and rototill large areas to start over with some perennials that DO seem to live forever and add lots of annuals this year while I decide what to do in the future.
I went big into perennials 15 years ago, but they are disappointing. Most only flower a week or two. Some flower longer, but are shorter-lived (3-5 years). Some are very special in their short blooms (oriental lilies, tulips, daffodils, etc), and some have great foliage (Hostas, Brunella). But I like the ones that flower all season or at least all Fall (Coneflowers, Goldenrod, Astilbe, Clatis, Asters).
I'm going back to annuals ( Zinnias, Salvia, Marigolds, Coleus, Impatiens). More work each Spring to plant under lights inside and transplant, but I have time for that. And growing seeds from scratch gives my better varieties than the local Walmart sells.
But if my knee doesn't heal soon, I won't be able to get down and scrape the weeds off the soil (and dig out the deep-rooted ones) and plant all those seedlings.
Mom used to tell me that "getting old isn't for sissies". I understood that theoretically a decade ago; now I know personally. I'll turn 66 in 2 weeks. LOL!
I've stayed young long. You know how, in high school, there were those who matured fast? Well, they aged fast too. I always took some comfort in that. Well, age is starting to catch up with me... Small matters to be sure. But I bet I need a knee transplant in 10 years. My knees have always been a bit loose.
Most people fidget in some way. They doodle, they hum, they tap their fingers. I shake my ankles. Sound weird? Put your right ankle up on your left knee. Now shake your ankle up and down constantly. That's what I do at the computer. I'll bet I loosened that knee badly over the decades...
"tempis fugit, momento mori".
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Waiting For...
Baseball season to start on April 1st...
The last-Fall-planted tulips to bloom... The buds are up on short stems, but that's good enough for the 1st year. The wire cages they are planted in should give them protection from voles and squirrels for many many years to come.
The last-Fall-planted daffodils to send up blooms. Just small leafs so far. And being toxic to nibbling varmints, they don't need cages...
The last-Fall-planted hyacinths to show up at all. Not a leaf in sight yet...
Next week's seed-planting inside. This time of year, there are always something to plant each week inside or out.
The wind to die down tomorrow. I need to spray liquid corn gluten before the lawn soil warms up more. The corn gluten stops seeds from sprouting. The past 2 days were so windy, I couldn't spray it without the spray drifting to the vegetable garden and I have lots of seeds to plant there before the inhibitory effect ends in 6 weeks.
The NCAA basketball tournament to end. It's painful. The U of Maryland Men's and Women's teams had such high promise this year, but things didn't go their way. They sure gave us exciting seasons though...
Cleaning the riding mower. I figured out a way to elevate the riding mower to clean the underside of grass clippings and get at the blades to sharpen them. You can't exactly tip a riding mower on its side to do that. But I have ramps that will let me get at the underside. I always did, I just didn't realize it.
Pruning low-hanging tree branches. I finally got the chain saw blade on again and adjusted. I have a LOT of branches to remove.
Seeing the first dandelion flowers. I bought a COOL TOOL that lets you step on weeds, pry them up, and just flip them away. I tried it out on some other weeds and it works GREAT! Not an ad, just an appreciation for a good tool.
BTW, you can't just pull up dandelion plants and leave them to die. The stems have enough food to ripen the seeds. So you have to bag them...
Time to shift from long-sleeve flannel shirts to short-sleeved cotton. It's "iffy" this time of year, but short-sleeve season is coming and I love the free-arm feeling.
Open doors! The cats will love it and so will I. It doesn't last long though. Around here it goes from 50 to 80 in a month. I can kill the occasional wandering wasp...
A warm day to wash the car outside. It needs it. At 11 years old and only 24K miles, I want to keep it looking decent. A new one would have too much computer nonsense in it.
I'm sure there is other stuff, but memory fails after 5 am...
The last-Fall-planted tulips to bloom... The buds are up on short stems, but that's good enough for the 1st year. The wire cages they are planted in should give them protection from voles and squirrels for many many years to come.
The last-Fall-planted daffodils to send up blooms. Just small leafs so far. And being toxic to nibbling varmints, they don't need cages...
The last-Fall-planted hyacinths to show up at all. Not a leaf in sight yet...
Next week's seed-planting inside. This time of year, there are always something to plant each week inside or out.
The wind to die down tomorrow. I need to spray liquid corn gluten before the lawn soil warms up more. The corn gluten stops seeds from sprouting. The past 2 days were so windy, I couldn't spray it without the spray drifting to the vegetable garden and I have lots of seeds to plant there before the inhibitory effect ends in 6 weeks.
The NCAA basketball tournament to end. It's painful. The U of Maryland Men's and Women's teams had such high promise this year, but things didn't go their way. They sure gave us exciting seasons though...
Cleaning the riding mower. I figured out a way to elevate the riding mower to clean the underside of grass clippings and get at the blades to sharpen them. You can't exactly tip a riding mower on its side to do that. But I have ramps that will let me get at the underside. I always did, I just didn't realize it.
Pruning low-hanging tree branches. I finally got the chain saw blade on again and adjusted. I have a LOT of branches to remove.
Seeing the first dandelion flowers. I bought a COOL TOOL that lets you step on weeds, pry them up, and just flip them away. I tried it out on some other weeds and it works GREAT! Not an ad, just an appreciation for a good tool.
Fiskars Deluxe Stand-up Weeder (4-claw)
BTW, you can't just pull up dandelion plants and leave them to die. The stems have enough food to ripen the seeds. So you have to bag them...
Time to shift from long-sleeve flannel shirts to short-sleeved cotton. It's "iffy" this time of year, but short-sleeve season is coming and I love the free-arm feeling.
Open doors! The cats will love it and so will I. It doesn't last long though. Around here it goes from 50 to 80 in a month. I can kill the occasional wandering wasp...
A warm day to wash the car outside. It needs it. At 11 years old and only 24K miles, I want to keep it looking decent. A new one would have too much computer nonsense in it.
I'm sure there is other stuff, but memory fails after 5 am...
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Plant Growth And New Seeds
1. I am so relieved that the new late-planted spring bulbs are coming up. Counted 110 tulips today, about 100 early daffodils, and the first few late daffodils. No hyacinths yet. Because the top of the soil was so hard, I watered the area to soften it. The Winter rains and melting snow have the ground well-moisted deep, but the surface was very dry and hard.
2. While trying to water the new spring bulbs with a sprinkler, I discovered it stuck in one position. Something else to take apart and repair.
3. And I say "something else to repair" because I had to take apart my submersible pond pump a few days ago to find why it wasn't working. Good ones cost a few $100. Turns out there is a simple rod that broke. The material is uncertain; it's a bit rough to be plastic, a bit smooth to be ceramic; maybe its resin. Anyway, it's what turns a "impeller" (think "propeller"). I gather that the difference is that the first pushes and the second pulls.
And thereby hangs a tale. The pump stopped working and I don't know anything about pond pumps. The pump didn't even have a brand name on it. But I looked at the specification plate, and saw a UL (Underwriters Laboratory) number. So, thinking the UL number might provide some information, I searched it.
WOW! The UL number actually did lead me to the pump! Not the actual manufacturer like I hoped, but to the generic model. It turns out that many companies sell the same items under their own name. But all the parts are the same!!!
And there in one listing was a replacement impeller that looked identical. Not just the broken rod (which would have been easily and more cheaply replacable) but at least the unit is WAY cheaper than a new pump. It should arrive in a couple days.
4. So why did I want the pump working? To spray liquid corn gluten all around the yard. Corn gluten stops weed seeds (and any other seeds) from germinating. Some weeds germinate in Spring, others in Fall. I try to do it in both Spring and Fall, and I have to admit that I have a LOT fewer weeds in the lawn than my neighbors who use more serious chemicals.
And a benefit is that corn gluten is 9-0-0 fertilizer. All nitrogen, which is just what your lawn needs. But back to why I wanted the pump working...
The liquid corn gluten comes in containers you just hook up to a hose and spray around the yard. Only they don't work. THEY JUST DON'T WORK. I'm not surprised. The supplier is selling the liquid corn gluten and saying it is easy to apply. They don't want to spent money on disposable applicators! So, of course, they don't work.
The product reviews are constant in the complaints about the sprayer function. So, I thought, why do it THEIR way? I poured a bottle of the stuff through a fine mesh sieve (many users complained about corn grit blocker the sprayers) into a barrel filled with water.
So (brilliant me), I would just use the submersible pond pump to spray a diluted mix all over the yard using a fan nozzle (so that I would see if the output holes where getting clogged). And then the pump didn't work!
Here's hoping the replacement impeller solves that problem. The corn gluten really DOES inhibit initial seed roots, but you only have a couple of weeks to apply it (when the forsythia are starting to bloom - the same time the weed seeds germinate).
5. Planted 6 more flats of seeds today. A flat equals 35 cells (cell = 1.5" square x 2" deep) for me - I leave one cut out for watering. This weekend was bell peppers, zinnias, and marigolds. I've given up on most perennial flowers. They don't bloom for long, most die after a few years, and I have time to grow and plant annuals. THEY bloom all season, and I love seeing all the flowers all season.
6. Cuttings of the 3' Knockout Rose and the 3' dwarf butterfly bush aren't sending out new shoots after 3 weeks in pots, but they aren't dying either, so that is encouraging. The original plants are sending out new branches, so that it good. At least if the cuttings don't root, the original plants are still doing well. Planted outside in early May, they should branch out more and I will have another chance to get cuttings to root.
Gardening/rooted shoots is fascinating. And "something for nothing" is always good. The azalea cuttings from last Fall are all doing well and are doubled in height and branches from last month.
2. While trying to water the new spring bulbs with a sprinkler, I discovered it stuck in one position. Something else to take apart and repair.
3. And I say "something else to repair" because I had to take apart my submersible pond pump a few days ago to find why it wasn't working. Good ones cost a few $100. Turns out there is a simple rod that broke. The material is uncertain; it's a bit rough to be plastic, a bit smooth to be ceramic; maybe its resin. Anyway, it's what turns a "impeller" (think "propeller"). I gather that the difference is that the first pushes and the second pulls.
And thereby hangs a tale. The pump stopped working and I don't know anything about pond pumps. The pump didn't even have a brand name on it. But I looked at the specification plate, and saw a UL (Underwriters Laboratory) number. So, thinking the UL number might provide some information, I searched it.
WOW! The UL number actually did lead me to the pump! Not the actual manufacturer like I hoped, but to the generic model. It turns out that many companies sell the same items under their own name. But all the parts are the same!!!
And there in one listing was a replacement impeller that looked identical. Not just the broken rod (which would have been easily and more cheaply replacable) but at least the unit is WAY cheaper than a new pump. It should arrive in a couple days.
4. So why did I want the pump working? To spray liquid corn gluten all around the yard. Corn gluten stops weed seeds (and any other seeds) from germinating. Some weeds germinate in Spring, others in Fall. I try to do it in both Spring and Fall, and I have to admit that I have a LOT fewer weeds in the lawn than my neighbors who use more serious chemicals.
And a benefit is that corn gluten is 9-0-0 fertilizer. All nitrogen, which is just what your lawn needs. But back to why I wanted the pump working...
The liquid corn gluten comes in containers you just hook up to a hose and spray around the yard. Only they don't work. THEY JUST DON'T WORK. I'm not surprised. The supplier is selling the liquid corn gluten and saying it is easy to apply. They don't want to spent money on disposable applicators! So, of course, they don't work.
The product reviews are constant in the complaints about the sprayer function. So, I thought, why do it THEIR way? I poured a bottle of the stuff through a fine mesh sieve (many users complained about corn grit blocker the sprayers) into a barrel filled with water.
So (brilliant me), I would just use the submersible pond pump to spray a diluted mix all over the yard using a fan nozzle (so that I would see if the output holes where getting clogged). And then the pump didn't work!
Here's hoping the replacement impeller solves that problem. The corn gluten really DOES inhibit initial seed roots, but you only have a couple of weeks to apply it (when the forsythia are starting to bloom - the same time the weed seeds germinate).
5. Planted 6 more flats of seeds today. A flat equals 35 cells (cell = 1.5" square x 2" deep) for me - I leave one cut out for watering. This weekend was bell peppers, zinnias, and marigolds. I've given up on most perennial flowers. They don't bloom for long, most die after a few years, and I have time to grow and plant annuals. THEY bloom all season, and I love seeing all the flowers all season.
6. Cuttings of the 3' Knockout Rose and the 3' dwarf butterfly bush aren't sending out new shoots after 3 weeks in pots, but they aren't dying either, so that is encouraging. The original plants are sending out new branches, so that it good. At least if the cuttings don't root, the original plants are still doing well. Planted outside in early May, they should branch out more and I will have another chance to get cuttings to root.
Gardening/rooted shoots is fascinating. And "something for nothing" is always good. The azalea cuttings from last Fall are all doing well and are doubled in height and branches from last month.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Garden Enclosure
Well, with the decent weather, I am turning my attention to finishing the Garden Enclosure. And I have to thank Marley for kick-starting me into that. I had noticed some scratching around going on inside the enclosure, and finally noticed Marley INSIDE the enclosure.
Well, I knew I hadn't finished connecting all the strips of screening everywhere, but I thought it was pretty much complete. So I went out last week and used a few nylon tie strips to finish it.
Usually for bundling wires, they are good for pulling chicken wire tightly together too. I will be using 100s of yards of thin wire like thread to REALLY attach all the chicken wire strips, but I thought it was all pretty good already.
Til Marley appeared inside. So I called him to see where he came back out. And tightened THAT spot. And he got in again, so I tightened THAT spot! After several days of that, I went out to get the job done right.
I was SHOCKED at how many openings I found Marley could get through. I understand why he was attracted to it. 6 large boxes of deep soft soil... He must have thought he had found his Forever litter box!
Well, I'm glad he found the opening before I planted the seeds and the squirrels found the openings! They would have nibbled off my seedlings as if there was no enclosure of all.
So I decided I better get the enclosure sealed against even the squirrels. First, since there were vines around the edges of the enclosure, I sharpened my sickle of the grinding wheel. Nothing fancy, just a shot around the curve. But it cut a piece of paper in half cleanly.
So I used it to slice through the vines at the bottom edges of the enclosure, then got to work with the 8" nylon ties. They are being used to hold the chicken wire tight around the top and bottom PVC pipes, around the upright PVC pipes, and to hold the 4' chicken wire strips together tightly.
And I spent time cutting the ground level excess chicken wire to extend 2' out from the bottom so that groundhogs can't go up to the enclosure and dig under it. They are not clever enough to back up 2' and dig from there. I hope! If they are, there are other things I can to to stop them.
But the nylon ties are temporary. They will deteriorate in sunlight after a few years and start popping loose. Which is why my next step is to start threading long lengths of galvanized wire through the seams of the chicken wire like stitching a hem.
The nylon ties are 2' apart. The wire will thread through every couple of inches. If I can get the wire through all the seams (hoping I don't miss some), no varmint is going to eat my seedlings again!!!
If I seem obsessive about this, it is due to sad experience. Varmints in suburban areas are generally desperate for food. In their natural environs like open fields or oak-filled forests, they have plenty of food. In my yard, the only good food they can see is MY GARDEN! The ones in my yard are the losers who have been driven out of their natural habitat by other varmints.
I really do feel vaguely sorry for them, but not sorry enough to let them eat all my veggies...
So back to Marley. When he can't get back into the enclosure, I know I will have stopped the groundhogs and hopefully the squirrels.
Marley got extra treats tonight for his efforts to get inside the garden enclosure... LOL!
Well, I knew I hadn't finished connecting all the strips of screening everywhere, but I thought it was pretty much complete. So I went out last week and used a few nylon tie strips to finish it.
Usually for bundling wires, they are good for pulling chicken wire tightly together too. I will be using 100s of yards of thin wire like thread to REALLY attach all the chicken wire strips, but I thought it was all pretty good already.
Til Marley appeared inside. So I called him to see where he came back out. And tightened THAT spot. And he got in again, so I tightened THAT spot! After several days of that, I went out to get the job done right.
I was SHOCKED at how many openings I found Marley could get through. I understand why he was attracted to it. 6 large boxes of deep soft soil... He must have thought he had found his Forever litter box!
Well, I'm glad he found the opening before I planted the seeds and the squirrels found the openings! They would have nibbled off my seedlings as if there was no enclosure of all.
So I decided I better get the enclosure sealed against even the squirrels. First, since there were vines around the edges of the enclosure, I sharpened my sickle of the grinding wheel. Nothing fancy, just a shot around the curve. But it cut a piece of paper in half cleanly.
So I used it to slice through the vines at the bottom edges of the enclosure, then got to work with the 8" nylon ties. They are being used to hold the chicken wire tight around the top and bottom PVC pipes, around the upright PVC pipes, and to hold the 4' chicken wire strips together tightly.
And I spent time cutting the ground level excess chicken wire to extend 2' out from the bottom so that groundhogs can't go up to the enclosure and dig under it. They are not clever enough to back up 2' and dig from there. I hope! If they are, there are other things I can to to stop them.
But the nylon ties are temporary. They will deteriorate in sunlight after a few years and start popping loose. Which is why my next step is to start threading long lengths of galvanized wire through the seams of the chicken wire like stitching a hem.
The nylon ties are 2' apart. The wire will thread through every couple of inches. If I can get the wire through all the seams (hoping I don't miss some), no varmint is going to eat my seedlings again!!!
If I seem obsessive about this, it is due to sad experience. Varmints in suburban areas are generally desperate for food. In their natural environs like open fields or oak-filled forests, they have plenty of food. In my yard, the only good food they can see is MY GARDEN! The ones in my yard are the losers who have been driven out of their natural habitat by other varmints.
I really do feel vaguely sorry for them, but not sorry enough to let them eat all my veggies...
So back to Marley. When he can't get back into the enclosure, I know I will have stopped the groundhogs and hopefully the squirrels.
Marley got extra treats tonight for his efforts to get inside the garden enclosure... LOL!
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Busy, Busy
It's THAT time of year again. The best time. Planting seeds...
But that wasn't all today. It was one of THOSE days. Odd jobs... Things that should have been done before. I ahd all the cat-cards from Christmas stacked up and Iza trashed the pile. So I stacked them (and lost some of the addressed envelopes with the cards) and got them up out of her reach.
But she is a real paper-chewer, so I had a pile of wasted printed paper I use for temporary notes and she chewed up those. I better get her some jerky to chew up.
I tossed her mousies until she tired and wandered off into the bedroom to nap.
Saw Marley and Ayla snuggled up like spoons there. Naturally, my camera was in another room. As soon as I left to get it, Marley followed me out. No picture of THAT! I keep the camera in my pocket a LOT, but not that time.
Finished enclosing the garden. I thought I had before, but I saw Marley in it earlier today. He found a loose seam and was in enjoying the loose soil as a litterbox. Quite frankly, I don't want my carrots fertilized by cat-poop, but I will sifting it soon for planting.
Getting near time to mow the lawn, so I'll drive the riding mower up on boards to clean the old grass clippings from under the deck, sharpen the blade, and then take out the spark plugs and such to pretend I know what I'm doing while I clean and gap them. They are always just fine, but I have to look. You do what you know to do and hope for the best.
I suppose the mower would work better if it was worked over by pros. And I know some good ones. Every few years I go in for an "annual" tune-up. Maybe next year; the mower still works.
I think I need to pull out the chipper/shredder and see if I can start it. Been 5 years since I used it and I have a lot of brambles to get rid of. I could haul them to the recycling center in exchange for shredded mulch, but handling brambles is not fun. Easier to shred then here.
Sanding plaster patches on the walls. 2 year old electrical work patches and I've ignored them too long. You can ignore things a long time when you live alone. But I will have family visitors some month soon and can't let those patches be unsanded, primed, and painted.
The front door and garage door need to be painted. I've dithered about the color. The new house siding is medium green and the shutters dark green. The doors are white. Should I paint the doors to match the shutters or leave them white?
I've had a fantasy about painting that garage door a really weird color/pattern. Like a 60's Warhol.
Kind of daring for me, and my "cat" would probably look more like a rat. I can't sketch worth a tinker's dam! Should I dare try?
If my front door wasn't surrounded by brick, I would love to have a round hobbit door installed... But maybe I can make it look like wood. Fantasies that will never happen...
The older shed needs a new roof. I recall shoving 4x8 sheets of 1/2" plywood up there when I was 35. I can't lift the stuff now. But cut in half, I could manage that. And conveniently, I half 1/2 sheets stored in the basement from what used to be the attic flooring (which I can't use for storage now because there is 18" of blown insulation everywhere up there) and THAT would be manageable for the shed roof.
My azalea cuttings from last Fall before the soil ridge was removed are all doing fine. Amazingly, 34 of the 36 cuttings (12 white, 12 purple, and 10 red) have taken root. I'm not sure where I will put them all, but I sure have plenty to use.
Backyard covered with wild blackberries and english ivy and poison ivy. I hate to use herbicides, but if ever there was a good reason, this is it...
That's enough for now.
But that wasn't all today. It was one of THOSE days. Odd jobs... Things that should have been done before. I ahd all the cat-cards from Christmas stacked up and Iza trashed the pile. So I stacked them (and lost some of the addressed envelopes with the cards) and got them up out of her reach.
But she is a real paper-chewer, so I had a pile of wasted printed paper I use for temporary notes and she chewed up those. I better get her some jerky to chew up.
I tossed her mousies until she tired and wandered off into the bedroom to nap.
Saw Marley and Ayla snuggled up like spoons there. Naturally, my camera was in another room. As soon as I left to get it, Marley followed me out. No picture of THAT! I keep the camera in my pocket a LOT, but not that time.
Finished enclosing the garden. I thought I had before, but I saw Marley in it earlier today. He found a loose seam and was in enjoying the loose soil as a litterbox. Quite frankly, I don't want my carrots fertilized by cat-poop, but I will sifting it soon for planting.
Getting near time to mow the lawn, so I'll drive the riding mower up on boards to clean the old grass clippings from under the deck, sharpen the blade, and then take out the spark plugs and such to pretend I know what I'm doing while I clean and gap them. They are always just fine, but I have to look. You do what you know to do and hope for the best.
I suppose the mower would work better if it was worked over by pros. And I know some good ones. Every few years I go in for an "annual" tune-up. Maybe next year; the mower still works.
I think I need to pull out the chipper/shredder and see if I can start it. Been 5 years since I used it and I have a lot of brambles to get rid of. I could haul them to the recycling center in exchange for shredded mulch, but handling brambles is not fun. Easier to shred then here.
Sanding plaster patches on the walls. 2 year old electrical work patches and I've ignored them too long. You can ignore things a long time when you live alone. But I will have family visitors some month soon and can't let those patches be unsanded, primed, and painted.
The front door and garage door need to be painted. I've dithered about the color. The new house siding is medium green and the shutters dark green. The doors are white. Should I paint the doors to match the shutters or leave them white?
I've had a fantasy about painting that garage door a really weird color/pattern. Like a 60's Warhol.
Kind of daring for me, and my "cat" would probably look more like a rat. I can't sketch worth a tinker's dam! Should I dare try?
If my front door wasn't surrounded by brick, I would love to have a round hobbit door installed... But maybe I can make it look like wood. Fantasies that will never happen...
The older shed needs a new roof. I recall shoving 4x8 sheets of 1/2" plywood up there when I was 35. I can't lift the stuff now. But cut in half, I could manage that. And conveniently, I half 1/2 sheets stored in the basement from what used to be the attic flooring (which I can't use for storage now because there is 18" of blown insulation everywhere up there) and THAT would be manageable for the shed roof.
My azalea cuttings from last Fall before the soil ridge was removed are all doing fine. Amazingly, 34 of the 36 cuttings (12 white, 12 purple, and 10 red) have taken root. I'm not sure where I will put them all, but I sure have plenty to use.
Backyard covered with wild blackberries and english ivy and poison ivy. I hate to use herbicides, but if ever there was a good reason, this is it...
That's enough for now.
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