More Random Things

1.  I got my 2nd Moderna Covid shot yesterday.   What a STRUGGLE (I joke)!  Actually, I just drove 15 minutes to the shot center, was in and out in 20 minutes (and only that long because there was a required 15 minute observation period) and 15 minutes home.  Seriously, from the time I walked in the door to the time I had my shot and my vaccination card returned was only 5 minutes!

I had only the least sensation of any shot.  Well they DID stick a 1" needle in my arm, after all...  But at least that is all over for now.  When time has passed, I will get a Covid test to see if I had it asymptomatically last year.  If that would be detectable after the shots, of course.  I'm planning to have an annual physical in June; I'll ask about that then. 

I'm curious because I have felt oddly tired since last Fall and tend to lay abed for longer than I used to.  It might be several things.  Age, Covid itself, mere boredom from home-restriction due to the virus concerns, or even Season Affective Disorder.  I've had a mild problem with SAD for a couple decades.  

It varies.  Some Winters are mild and I am out more so little problem.  Other years Winter is harsher and I get less sunlight exposure.  I don't mind fluorescent bulbs and have "daylight" tubes in most fixtures, but I don't know if that helps much.  The only true sunlight is sunlight.  I know there are special bulbs available.  Everyone seems to have some odd minor problems...

2,  All the indoor seed-planting is complete.  Next comes some early outdoors plants.  Beets, spinach, beans, carrots, leeks, radishes.  My tomatoes will be a bit late as I got them planted late.  Some are for "normal" transplanting out and some are for grafting attempts.  I used to go to great lengths to plant heirlooms early with devices designed to keep them warm (wall-of-water cylinders and hotcaps), but I am convinced now that it doesn't seem to matter.  Tomatoes transplanted out "late" seem to catch up and possibly surpass the earlier ones.

My bell and hot peppers didn't emerge well this year.  They aren't any older than the tomatoes (which came up almost 100%) but some seeds don't store as well as others.  I may have to buy some pepper seedlings in May.

3.  John showed me how to drain the gas tank on the brushmower (and then of course I should add new gas).  And he told me I need "starter-fluid" to squirt into the carburator to get the engine running while new gas is pulled in.  Wait, does he mean "starter fluid" like some people use to light charcoal or some specific gas engine stuff with the same name?  I need to ask.  

4.  A half of an old tree in my neighbor's yard fell over into mine. It is substantial. Fortunately, none of it landed on the 4  small flowring trees I planted in Fall 2019.  Part of me says "sure I can cut it apart".  The sensible part says "call a tree company".  I'm not 35 anymore.  But I WILL wait until the backyard daffodils have lost their leaves and the bulbs are safely underground again.  

The tree guys do great work and they work hard, but they don't pay much attention to landscaping.  They have a goal.  Cut stuff up, drag it out. throw it into the grinder.

I'll call them when there is little to damage.  The fallen tree isn't actually causing an immediate problem.

Random Things

A few unusual things:

1.  I got a recall email notice from Chewy.com a week or so ago.  Turns out a bag of dry food I bought was a "possible recall" but gave a "lot #" to check on the back of the bag.  There was no lot # of the back or anywhere else I could find.  I called the manufacturer to ask where the lot # was supposed to be.  Their system was overwhelmed, so I left a message.  Along with the name/email/phone, I asked if some marketing idiot had arranged for the lot # to be printed on the top part of the bag that you have to rip off to open it.

A couple days later, I called Chewy to see if they knew where the lot # was printed.  They didn't.  You might think they had been asked about that previously and gotten the information, but apparently not.  On the other hand, I had a wonderful conversation with the Chewy representative about our respective cats.  She didn't know about cat-blogging and asked for the address, which she looked at on the spot!  She read the header (so I know she looked), and said it was a wonderful idea.  How a Chewy representative didn't know about cat-blogging seems odd.  But she said they were sending a new whole bag, so that was nice.

The manufacturer called back 2 days later.  She said the lot # can appear anywhere on the back of the bag but it is randomly placed and COULD be at the rip-off top in rare instances.  She assured me that it is intended to be seen.  I have my doubts that a modern processing plant would print the lot # randomly.  She did say that if the seller did not replace the product (that is the usual arrangement, I gather), they would.

It's  not like they would compare addresses, so I could get a 2nd free bag of food if I wanted.  But I'm honest.  On the other paw, I could give it to the animal shelter.  I may think about that.

2.  My parents had a Purple Martin (bird) multi-nest-site in the 70s.  They usually got nesting Martins.  When I moved here, I set up one myself (they are on poles in a cluster).  Martins like to be in groups.  Martins arrive from S America in March/April depending on weather.  Yearlings arrive first and are called "scouts, as they find artificial nesting sites first and the older birds find THEM and set up nests.  Here is a successful colony...

I got scouts several times but no mating pairs for a few years.  Starlings tend to take over the nesting sites (on the right in the picture).  Then a new design came out that discouraged starling.  I bought a new pole nesting system.  The entrance is crescent-shaped and starlings are well, "too fat".

I got scouts then too but no mating pairs.  I saw some successful colonies in the neighborhood, but none liked mine.  They like open fields and I had too many trees and even shrubs bother them.  I gave up, but the pole and nesting "gourds" remained in place because I had better things to do than dissemble it and sell or toss it.

So 3 days ago, my Good Neighbors asked if I would sell it.  Deb had this idea of sticking it in the backyard for their "swamp birds".  Well, I didn't want the thing, so I told them to just take it.  I mean they have been so helpful, it it wasn't of any value to me.  Deb wants to paint all the gourds different colors and hope they attract nesting birds.  

They refused "free" so I said $20.  Yesterday John said he would come over today and get it.  Hurray, junk out of the yard!  

3.  They both arrived and Deb showed me pictures of their new cat (to prevent me from trying to help John pull it up I suspect - she is convinced I am still too fragile).

I have a picture of the cat on my new iPhone XR but I haven't learned how to upload pictures from there yet (I bought a book to read about the XR and will study it soon).  But it is a nice little female black cats with a white bib, from a shelter.  I think she named it Olivia but now she pronounces it " O Love Ya".  

She has had cats before, but became excited for a new one after taking care of mine when I could walk or get to the litter boxes in the basement.  Not that The Mews came out often when a stranger was around, but I DID manage to hold Marley and Ayla at hallway length so she could see them.

Not that I would fall off a ladder deliberately, but if that resulted in another shelter cat being adopted, that was good "accidental" result.

4.  They invited me to join in their 25 cent weekly poker game.  Given their kindness, I assume it was for a fun activity.  But I'm not a gambler.  And I probably have no "poker face".  Besides, I can never even remember whether a straight beats a flush.  I probably have "tells" all over me.  That's death in poker.

I played "penny-poker" in college and usually ended with more pennies than I started with, but my winnings were from "high-low"; a game seldom played now.  That's where the best and worst hands split the pot.  I had NO problem assembling the worst hand!

So I told them I was happy to play Hearts, Spades, Cinch, or Gin Rummy (maybe even Bridge) 25 cents per hand.  They declined.  I play for pleasure of winning.  I am BAD when money is involved.

5.  I decided to try myself at some mild gardening outside today.  Parts of my garden and flowerbeds are over-run by invasive flowering vines a neighbor planted a decade ago.  Their's were on open ground so they mowed them to death when they realized they were a problem.  But they are in my flowerbeds and thriving.  MUCH harder to remove.

I attacked them in a raised bed today to test what my arms could still do.  It went well!  Hours later, I feel no soreness.  That is VERY encouraging.  Shovel and garden fork work went well.  I was able to dig out all the invasive vines (so far as I can tell).  There were some sapling in the bed I cut down last year but the stumps were still there.  I got most out.  

Enough to dig the soil loose and set up a 6" concrete remesh supported by a couple metal poles at an angle.  The point is that the metal mesh is facing the afternoon sun and the Romano pole beans will hang down for easy picking.

6.  John (The Good Neighbor) is experienced in gasoline engines and I am not.  I can fix a few things by logic, trial, and error, but he actual knows what he is doing.  I have a brush mower that I used once and could never start again.  I forget to drain off old gas in Winter and that causes problems.  Well, to be honest, I expected to use each one another time that year but didn't.  Gas gets "old" and accumulates some water as it sits.

After he collected the Purple Martin House assembly, he looked at the 2 machines I couldn't get running.  He showed me where all the parts were and what I needed to do for each.  I have a general understanding of gas engines, but it is more theory than practical.  John knows practical.

He showed me the detachable tube that drains the old gas.  He showed me where access is and where to spritz starter fluid into the carburator.  

So I have a good idea know about what to do.  John assured me he would be happy to help when I got starter fluid, but this is a case of "Mark Try First".  LOL!  But I won't hesitate to ask for help if I fail. 

7.  John has side-gigs repairing stuff.  He does it on the driveway, so I see sometimes.  Everything from refinishing old furniture to gas-powered equipment.  So I offerred him the old riding mower.  It smokes. He said that's not worth fixing (bad rings and I barely know what that is), but then he said he had an engine that might fit.  So he is welcome to it.  Otherwise, it goes to the landfill where some company takes working parts.

8.  I have my 2nd Moderna Covid shot scheduled for Wensday.  That will be a relief.  Based on past history of vaccines, I will not have reactions.  I'll still wear a mask and maintain social distancing though.  I could be an asymptomatic carrier.  I wouldn't know without a test for previous infection and I think the vaccine shots mess up the test.

That's enough "weird" for today...

Water Supply Leak

Great, my lawn has bocome a swamp in one spot.  It's right along where the water comes to the house.  I assume the pipe is broken.  No spouts or fountains, just WET SOFT LAWN. 

I know the yard after 34 years.  It isn't rain.  The County is sending someone over to look at it later today between 8 am and 2 PM.  Wow, the cable company does better than that.  I sure don't want to be up at 8 AM and sit around waiting.  But I have no choice.  

Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be a cost to me.  The leak is before it gets to my meter.  But I bet they will tear up the lawn to repair the pipe.  And that involves landscaping.

The pipe leak seems to be near the edging around my Saucer Magnolia Tree (the focus of my Spring love)...

If they rip up roots and it dies, I will weep.  I've spent years shaping it gently one twig at a time!  But it IS an evaluation visit.  And it is County water leaking, not mine (I only pay for what gets into the house).

But this could get really yard-messy...

Well, at least the County finally answered the phone!  I left messages 3 times before with no reply.

 This time I got a human, a time, and an admission the water leak is not my cost.  It could be a LOT worse.

Seedlings UP!

 I was gratified to see some seedling emerging from the newly-planting trays today.  Some Cosmos flower seeds emerged, some lettuce seeds emerged, some radishes emerged.  Good start.  I expect tomatoes and peppers in a day or two.

I planted snow peas outside today.  I wasn't sure how to plant them; they need support and I didn't want to dedicate any tomato cages to them as I'll want those in a few weeks.  So there I was in the yard, and I noticed a 5'x3' piece of rebar 6" mesh.  Perfect!  I keep stuff around because it always gets useful "eventually".   

Attached it to a support pole after weeding the spot and loosening the soil.  I had the pea seeds pre-soaked overnight 3 days ago and saw which germinated (16 of 18).  Those got planted.  

I received 2 grafted Brandywine tomatoes from Territorial Seeds yesterday.  Those are under indoor lights to firm up the grafts and encourage rooting.  I have my own to graft, but I'm not good at it so having a couple professionally done is good backup.  And I have pots of direct non-grafting seedling for standard growing.

I was late on planting, but experience tells me that later-planted tomatoes catch up to early-planted ones so I thing I may have a good harvest this year.  One always hopes...

This year, I hope the many flowers I have planted indoors will thrive outside.  They usually do, but I have less-usual ones I hope to use to establish some self-sowing ones that may repeat for years.  It's a fight between the weedy grasses and the flowers each year.  

I've been rubbing the marigold flowers to separate the seeds the past few days while watching TV.  They grew well enough just scatterred around last year and I am hoping for the same this year.

There were whole square yards of them.  I hope for the same this year...

The weather is great.  Time to be outside more these days.

Unmoderated Comments

 I was surprised today to  learn that I had un-moderated comments on Mark's Mews.  I clicked on the dashboard button by accident today.  They went back more than a year.  I apologize.  I deleted a couple of ads, but the rest were all good.

In a way, it was nice to read them relating to many posts.  But obviously. I should have read them at the time.

I will be more careful about that in the future.  I LOVE comments and read them carefully.  

Mark

The Indoor Lettuce Garden

OK, so yesterday I posted about the veggies and some flowers to go outside in a month or so.  Today I'm posting about the indoor lettuce garden...

I HAD a great lettuce garden going before The Ladder Incident.  Radishes, Bok Choy, Carrots, and 4 Lettuces.

Great Neighbor Deb watered them twice when I thought about them, but they usually slipped my mind.  Priorities were groceries, clean cat litter boxes, and laundry.

When I was able to get down to the basement again (barely), the indoor garden was in trouble.  I managed to water them a few times, but noticed "dust" on the leaves.  Turned out to be an infestation of nearly invisible tiny aphids.  It was too much to cope with at the time.

Thankfully, some plants survived anyway.  Last week I took the trays outside and sprayed them with Neem Oil (a tree-based organic insecticide most effective on small soft-bodied pests like aphids and mites but safe for humans).  The nights were warm, so I left them out 2 days.  Them I sprayed the HELL out of the plants with the garden hose and left them out another 2 days.  

The surviving plants looked bad!

BUT, they were clean of all aphids!  I harvested those.  Fine salads...

I emptied all the tray soil into a large 2'x3' plastic tub and sprayed Neem in the soil to get at any surviving aphid eggs and to let the soil dry a bit.  I don't actually know if aphids lay eggs in the soil, but I was being thorough.  And apparently it doesn't bother earthworms.  I found some beauties in the soil when I repotted the trays!  I moved the worms outside to rich soil.

Then I refilled and replanted the trays.  Bok Choy, Radishes, Red Romaine/Red Leaf/Green Leaf/Green Head/and Endive Lettuces will come my way in 6 weeks!  The nice thing is they are "cut and come again".  They regrow new leaves several times.

I'll show pictures when they are growing again (but they will look about the same as the top pics).  It was nice to be able to get my hands in soil again!  

I have snow peas soaking overnight for planting outside tomorrow.  There is still time for them to fruit before the hot weather hits.  I will be able to plant some seeds directly outside in a couple weeks.  Spinach, Pole Beans, Corn, Beets, Carrots, etc.  Can't wait...

Gardening can be a cruel hobby.  Last year, I had everything planted indoors and out on time but it stayed cold and wet all Spring, so most died and some couldn't be replanted (too late to mature or ran out of seeds).  I hardly got any heirloom tomatoes, no corn or spinach, and few peppers.  THe pole beans were OK.  

This year, the weather was good but I wasn't.  Still, hope springs eternal.  I'm not beyond the point of expecting some good harvests.  

Getting Back To Normal Activities

I was surprised to realize I haven't posted here for a while.  I suppose I got used to just posting about falling off the ladder and healing from it.  Well, I'm about as healed as I will ever be, so there wasn't much to say about that.  I'm walking, driving, shopping, doing household chores about like before.  The collarbone ain't ever gonna be re-attached to the shoulder bone though.  An operation is bad enough; the recovery requirements are worse.  

But I DID get back to gardening yesterday and today.  I got tomatoes and peppers started indoors  (yes, I'm late by a month).  I have 2 groups of tomatoes planted.  Some are planted normally for direct transplanting outside in 6 weeks.  

But some are planted 2 to a larger pot.  Those have an heirloom tomato and a special rootstock tomato for grafting.  I am (so far) a complete failure at grafting tomatoes but I keep trying.  The idea is that a vigorous rootstock tomato (that on its own produces poor fruits) can be topped with a less vigorous heirloom tomato with great fruits.  

The rootstock makes a larger root system, is disease resistant, and absorbs more nutrients to send up the heirloom stem.  There are 2 basic grafting methods.  One cuts off the tops of both seedlings and you clip the heirloom top to the rootstock bottom.  

The other has you shave both stems slightly and clip the shaved areas together.  That leaves both seedlings with roots for nutrients while the graft heals.  Then later, you cut the bottom of the heirloom and the top of the rootstock off, leaving one grafted plant.

Someday I will manage to get that to work.  Other people do.  I've watched youtube videos of it and they show the routine success.  They get a lot more true heirloom fruits than usual.  You can even buy them (I have 2 grafted Brandywine tomatoes on order for delivery in a couple weeks.  But they aren't cheap ($10 per plant), but they really do produce better so I REALLY want to learn how to do it myself.

I also late-planted a bunch of flowers indoors.  Some are standard ones like zinnias, marigolds, and salvia. Others are more unusual but are tall cottage-garden "self-sowers" so if I can get them established outside they might spread and shade out weeds for many years.

I have to confess that my lovely indoor lettuce garden failed while I was injured.  But that is for another post!

Covid-19 Vaccination Shot

 I got my first Moderna vaccine shot today.   The Maryland State site never worked for me, but the Charles County one was a breeze to use.  I went to it, gave my address, it showed me the available appointments for the nearest County location, I chose the first available time (2:00 pm). 

I got a confirmation of my registration request at once and another approving my request and confirming the date and time a few days later.  I did a timed drive to the location yesterday (20 minutes and easy enough to find).  Got there 10 minutes early today with no problem.

It was funny, though.  The appointments were for 9 people at a time, every 4 minutes and I had the first time.  Cool, I would be in and out in 10 minutes.  So Imagine my dismay when I entered the building and found a waiting line of about 100 people.  I confirmed it was the correct line.  No one was moving!

But, HURRAY, promptly at 2 pm, the line started moving and I was in the vaccine room in 10 minutes.  There were 9 shot stations.  I didn't even have to fill out a form!  I got my shot 5 minutes later and was sent to a waiting room for 15 minutes to make sure I had no reaction.  

As I left, I observed that there was no line left at all.  Had I known, the secret would have been to arrive LATE!  I would have walked right into the room and saved 10 minutes of standing around.  LOL!  

But I was back home 75 minutes after leaving home, so I sure can't complain.  What a wonderfully smooth process.  They even gave me my appointment for the 2nd shot at the shot station as I left.  I'll have to see if there is a site I can visit to leave a very positive comment on my experience.

Day-To-Day

One good thing is that my normal temperature tolerance is returning.  For a decade, I have kept the day temperature at 72 and the night temp at 68.  After the ladder fall, I had to keep it 74F day and night and I was often wearing a sweater.  I am OK at 72 day in normal clothes and at night it felt "too warm" at 72 recently.  I think I'll try 71 at night.  

I keep reading about the clavicle re-attachment operation and recovery work.  It's beginning to seem like a good idea.  The shoulder is possibly getting worse.  It is so weak and I feel something moving often and it hurts some.  That's the worst time.  Other times, it doesn't bother me.  The Dr said I can decide anytime at this point.

It would be extremely limiting for 6-8 weeks and require actual knock-out anesthesia (which I fear) and more daily help than I could ask of good neighbor Deb (so daily onsite medical care visits on insurance) and probably a lot of expense.  

What I can't quite find out is how "back-to-normal" the operation would make me.   Athletes have this done, but they have training rooms, onsite medical staff, and no expense.  On my side, it is live with this for 20 years or go through a REALLY hard 8 weeks and I'm not sure which is worse.  Mild for a long time or really bad for a short while.

My Primary Dr has the same injury, and he said he decided not to have the re-attachment operation.  That is a reasonably professional opinion.  The Orthopedic Surgeon is neutral about it.  But I'm used to such full freedom of movement.  When I read the newspaper, I keep getting "ouchies" feeling "something" moving around in there.  

Maybe the minor "ouchies" go away after a while, or maybe not.  If I lived with or very near to family, I would probably go with the operation.  But some decisions are hard when you live alone.

I have a last scheduled visit with the Orthopedic Surgeon in 5 weeks.  I think I will see how things improve or don't by then.  I can get by that long without too much difficulty.  But if things are not better, I will have to discuss details of the operation and recovery with her.  

It might be that the assistance I need after a clavicle re-attachment operation is less than I fear or it may be worse.  And I might seek a 2nd opinion.  6-8 weeks in a serious compression sling is no small matter. But neither is maybe 20  years of less ability to engage in hobbies that would cause constant minor pain.

I know, "what is 8 weeks"?  Well, it is "forever" if you can't do anything yourself.  It has been just over 8 weeks since I fell, and THAT has seemed like "forever".  

I think what I will do right now is find a Physical Therapist on my health insurance plan.  I've been stupid not to have done that before.  But my Primary Care Dr showed some exercises and I looked up some on the net.  But maybe having someone actually show me what to do would help.  

I know, I know, see an expert...  So I will.  

I keep talking myself in and out of doing this operation...  I have to decide at some point and I'm unconfident of either decision.  I've learned just enough to see it both ways without a resolution.

If the problem was more serious, I would have an operation.  If it was less, I would just live with it.  This seems right on the balance point.

Indecision is awful!

Shopping And Healing

Or maybe not so much healing.  I had stuff I needed, so I went out.  Walmart was an experience.  I needed a bunch of odd stuff.  And I sure discovered I'm not healing much more lately.    One thing I really needed was cat litter.  I've given up trying to lift those 35 pound tubs, so I get the 12 (whatever) pound jugs.  The big tub cost isn't lower enough to make it worth scooping it all into smaller containers anyway.

I used to just casually pick up 2 of the smaller jugs at a time.  Now it takes both hands for one.  My shoulder reminds me it isn't like it was.  I even have to remember to pick up a 6-pack of soda with the left hand.  The right arm is USUALLY OK, but sometimes there is the OUCHIE if I bend it wrong.

I had a real cartful this time.  I usually go through self-checkout, but I decided to stand in line so the cashier would bag everything.  Emptying the cart into the car was a pain.  

Then I went grocery shopping.  That wasn't a lot of fun.  After walking through the football-sized Walmart, I was starting to get a bit stiff at the hips.  Sometimes I realize I'm not as healed as I think.  And to make things worse, a lot of stuff I went there for wasn't available.  

No Corn On The Cob, no peaches, no plums, no chunky horseradish, no baby bok choy (I buy it for the leaves to use in making egg rolls and the mature stuff is all stalks), no muenster cheese (love that), no whole milk in half gallon, and no pepperoni sticks (the pre-sliced stuff is nearly $14/pound and I have a meat slicer machine).

I found other stuff and went to check-out.  One register open and 6 carts ahead of me, meaning about 15 minutes.  Standing up is wearisome these days.  

When I got home, the unloading was hard.  I wish I had an elevator in the house.  Most days now, I can manage the stairs one foot per step like normal, but I was stiff.  So it was both feet on each step one at a time and I had a LOT of bags.  It was slow going and I was pretty much worn out.

And then I had to put everything away!  *SIGH*  The 4' shuffle from the counter to the fridge gets long after enough "back-and-forths".  I just wanted to sit.  But because I wasted meat recently by delaying to cook and store it, I needed to bake the chicken thighs and bacon immediately.

There is a series of TV ads that make fun of Boomers acting like their parents.  Acting in certain ways, not understanding computers, giving unwanted advice in stores, etc.  I get that, smart phones are not my accustomed way to communicate and I think of writing an email before I think of texting.  But they also ridiculed sighing with pleasure when sitting down in a chair.  I don't get THAT!  It is just a physical ease to sit down after standing for hours.  I make the same sound myself after standing for hours and then sitting.  My knees relax; my back relaxes.  So I sat for 15 minutes.

And got up to cook.  At least this time it all went perfectly!  I baked boneless chicken thighs sprinkled with smoked paprika, with lemon wedges and sliced shallots at 400F for 40 minutes.  That produces a flavorful liquid, which I drained off and mixed with lots of green olives and cornstarch which I heated until thickened  to make a sauce which I poured back over the chicken and set in the fridge when slightly cooled.  It's a North African recipe I found once and quite interesting.

Meanwhile, I set a wire rack over a baking pan and spread the bacon strips over it.  In the same 400F oven, I let them bake 12 minutes setting them on newspaper to soak out grease.  I put them in a container in the freezer.  They keep great.  I also keep the bacon grease for some cooking.

THEN I sat down for a couple hours.   Whew.  It was a long day...  I'll probably lay in bed for 12 hours!  I often do 9-12.  I'm still tired these days.  And the heated waterbed is SO soft and comfy.  And The Mews all gather around slowly during the night.  By dawn, they are all there.  Even Laz and Ayla are often sometimes just on opposite sides of me, against me.