A Really Good Day

I had a REALLY GOOD Saturday!

Some days are just SO successful that it makes the days when nothing seems to go right worth it.  I started by cleaning/reorganizing the old toolshed.

First, the sawhorses that I built last year were wobbly.  But investigating, I realized that the wood I used had dried and shrunk a bit and there were wing nuts under the attachments so I was able to twist them tighter and the sawhorses were firm again.  Big deal, right?  But it got the day started well and THAT matters.

Second, I moved some stuff around in there and actually gained some space.  Well, I gained the space because I took a bicycle out and an old regular lawn mower out.  I never used the bicycle because the tires kept going flat, so I'm selling it for 1/5 what I paid just to get rid of it.  I bought it to have an easier trip home after leaving the car at the dealership for repairs.  Just before THEY offerred free van rides home and back...  Good idea, bad timing...

And that old gas mower is in the basement now.  It won't start.  I KNOW all it needs is for the carburetor to be cleaned, and I know how.  But I don't really need it anymore.  I bought an electric one last year (I hate noise) at that one works well enough for trim work.  So I'll offer that for nearly free.  Somebody can probably really need it.

I'd offer both free, but that attracts resellers and that isn't my purpose.  I want them to go to someone who can just use them.  In fact, free to any military person.  I don't need the $20.

So I got the old toolshed organized better (similar pots together in boxes on shelves, etc, and that made the perfect space for the snowblower to be moved from the garage to the shed.  It had run out of gas JUST as I finished using it the last snow in February.  It is a beast to move manually, so I actually had to ADD GAS to it get it the 200' to the shed.  And then I wanted to let it run dry so there was no gas left in it (good idea for all gas tools so the gas doesn't evaporate and clog the fuel line).  I added just enough, because after it ran in the shed for 5 minutes, it went dry.

That left some space in the garage to bring the recycling bin in.  I hate it being outside because I tend to dump stuff in it at night (and I mentioned I hate noise).

The boxes of pots I set on the old toolshed shelves meant there was slightly more room in the newer shed.  Yes I have 2 sheds and they are full of yard equipment.  I could probably start a business.  Hey, at 68, I've accumulated a lot of stuff...

You could laugh and say "guys and their toys", but I actually use all that stuff (OK, the chipper/shredder is collecting dust, but that's because the local recycle center that opened AFTER I bought it accepts tree debris and gives back shredded mulch in return and I have a hauling trailer).  I should sell it/give it away.  But I have 1/8 acre of mowed brambles to dispose of, so it might be worth using one last time.

I mentioned planting 4 saplings a few posts ago.  To my delight, they are leafing out nicely.  But to keep them watered in their first "establishment year", I am using kitty litter buckets (really useful things for many purposes) with a tiny hole drilled in the bottom to water them gradually.  The tiny hole lets the water settle in around the roots slowly drip by drip.  Very efficient and quick to use.  I just fill the bucket in 2 minutes from the garden hose and let gravity do the work.

BUT, the tubs are bright yellow and they look out-of-place in the yard.  So I bought a $4 can of plastic spray paint (hunter green).  I didn't want to spray the floor or the lawn, so I hung the 4 tubs (one at a time) from a board and sprayed them at normal height.  Worked perfectly and I ran out of spray as the last side was covered.  Sometimes you get lucky like that.

So, being bored with all the success, I decided to mow the yard for the first time this year.  The 20 year old riding mower didn't want to start (it's the old battery) so I hooked up a charger while I went to do other stuff.

Which was reattaching the chicken wire to the garden enclosure frame...  Now THAT was a job!  It required being in two places at once (Firesign Theater joke:  "How can you be in 2 places at once when you're not anywhere at all").  But bar clamps and bungee cords helped and I have a lot of bungee cords.  I used nylon ties to hold all the wire together, but I need to go back soon and "sew" them together more permanently soon.  Those nylon ties get brittle and break in sunlight after a year.

So, by then, the mower battery was charged enough (barely) to start the engine and I went to mow the lawn.  It coughed and sputterred all the way and the cutting was ragged.  I could run the mower up a ramp and sharpen the blades and try to tune the engine a bit.  I used to work at a drive-in simple repair shop.  Or I can drive it on the trailer and bring it to a small motor repair shop in town.  But this is the wrong time of year for that.  They are booked solid for a month!  I guess I'll sharpen the blades slightly and wait a month.  But at least I cut the lawn weeds down (though raggedly).

And then it started to drizzle rain.  So I put everything away and went inside.  The Mews were annoyed.  I don't let them outside when I am using equipment.  They panic at the noise but want to run TO me, which is exactly where I DON'T want them to be ( I don't want kitty-burgers).  And then, because of the rain, I didn't want them OUT then either.

So we played treat-toss inside while I prepared dinner.  They love that.  Kibbles bounce around funny and they get "the thrill of the chase".  Marley loves it, Ayla is best at it.  Iza is a bit inept at it (she has other skills like lap-napping) so I pretty much have to toss hers right under her nose, LOL!

I was cooking a steak.  I'm more into pork, chicken and shrimp, but it was a busy active day so I had a steak (I cut them into 3 ounce pieces).  Purists will gag, but I fry them.  I like to experiment with pan sauces (a splash of dry sherry, a dab on butter, a toss of cornstarch, with some herbs).  BTW, don't try adding mayonaise (as I did this time).  It doesn't blend well!

But it tasted good.  With a large tossed salad with oil/vinegar, corn on the cob, asparagus and beets, it was a really good meal.  Ayla and Iza got a small bit minced before I spiced it up (Marley doesn't like "Human food").

Then I watched a baseball game ("we" won) and they all sat around me napping, purring, getting chin scritchies.  All 3 within a foot of me for a couple hours, then we all went to bed.

A day DOESN'T get much better than that...

Cat-Blog Comment Problems

I may have A solution for some of us who have been having problems leaving comments on blog sites!!!

As many of you who mostly visit my Mark's Mews cat blog know, I have had on-and-off problems leaving comments at blogs.  It has driven me to distraction sometimes, but mostly, I worry that my blog friends will think I never visit them.  It was so bad that I couldn't even get Preview of my comments to show up, never mind sent.

I kept trying.  Sometimes I could comment for weeks and then suddenly I couldn't.  I don't know about you, but I have Statcounter.  Its a simple free program that shows you some very general data about visitors to your site.  If you recognize a visitor, you can label them so you see a friend's name.

I'm not pushing it.  It has some flaws.  It doesn't recognize every visitor (mobile phones maybe).  But it gives me a general idea of how many people visit the blog.

So, if some of my friends have that too, they see that I visit but never leave comments.  When in fact, I am trying like crazy to do so, sometimes several times at a single site I visit.

I thought I fixed the problem once by switching my feedly.com reading list from Safari to Firefox, and indeed it worked for a while.  But it would always stop in a few weeks.

Recently, I was looking around at some app settings after yet another frequent upgrade from Firefox, and I REALIZED SOMETHING (all caps to get your attention).

My Firefox was a Beta version.  You can tell by clicking on "Firefox" in the upper left corner and then clicking "About Firefox".  That tells you the version you have.  A "b" means Beta. 

I'm generally willing to go with a Beta version for the improvements, but I started to wonder about that.  Betas are not final versions and have flaws.  And also (and I think this is the most important part), other apps haven't adjusted their programming to the Beta version yet.  Apparently, at some point in the past, I agreed to receive Beta versions of Firefox.

Think about that.  My Firefox Beta app is ahead of the regular sites who sometimes have to make some adjustments!  That takes them some time.  And during that time, there may be programmibg conflicts.

And it seemed to me that the last time I updated the Firefox app was just when I stopped being able to comment on blog sites.

I had a hard time finding info on the Firefox Beta Program, but I eventually found a discussion of it by people like me who were trying to get off it.  Firefox didn't make that easy.  It seems they get a lot more information about your usage in the Beta Program than they can if you use the Regular versions.  And they share it with other companies.

I finally figured out that the solution was actually simple.  All you have to do is download their current regular version and move it to your apps folder.  I don't know about Windows, but in Mac it asks you if you want to replace the previous version.  Click YES.  Your bookmarks will transfer and you will be off the Beta Program.

I did that a few hours ago and immediately tried commenting.  I knew the instant I typed in a comment that it was different!    My avatar showed up.  Preview worked.  Publish worked!

My comment went through to the site.  And all I did was change from the Firefox Beta Program to the Regular Program...

I hope that works for anyone sufferring difficulties commenting...

A haiku of joy...

A problem of late
Became a problem no more.
I can comment now.

Hope this helps anyone else as it has helped me.

Garden and Yard Plantings

I mentioned the tree saplings yesterday.  But there are also veggie and flower seedlings to start inside each week (for the past month).  I started the tomatoes and peppers and cole crops weeks ago in individually set-up flats of plastic cels.  But 4 weeks ago, knowing I needed numerous flats at 7 and 4 weeks before last frost date, I set up 8.

That meant filling the cels with my self-mixed potting soil mix in flats set into sturdy plastic holders (those planting flats are thin and bendy), adding rainwater I saved in jugs (seed-starters can get obsessive) to soak the potting soil, and stacking them up on my basement potting bench. 

Hey, when it gets to actual planting day, that can save a LOT of time.  And in spite of giving individual attention to planting, assembly-line procedures make it go faster.  But there is ALWAYS something that has to be done you don't expect.

The first surprise of growing plants indoors is lack of good light.  Well, I set up a light rack years ago.  But of course, some bulbs burn out and for some reason that escapes me, they do it over Winter when they aren't even turned on!  At the end of the indoor growing season, they all worked; at the beginning of the new one, about 25% are dead.  Which is why I buy tube bulbs by the case (somewhere between 5000-6500 Kelvin and 2900+ lumens.  They last about 2 years (on 16 hours per day for a couple months) and gradually get weaker over time. 

I'll be buying LED tubes in the future.  They are 2x the cost (but coming down), last 4-5x as long, and stay at full lumens until they suddenly stop.  So, anyway, I had to replace several of the old bulbs and it can get awkward.  I seem to be a bit inept and changing them.  I suppose I need to just use more force turning them into the connections, but I'm always afraid they will break.

So I had 3 requirements (not counting changing the tubes).  First, I replanted cels where the seeds didn't germinate.  If I think I need 12 marigolds and only get 8, I replant quickly.  Seed companies are weird.  If I order celery seeds, I get 1,000.  and what do I need with 1,000 celery plants?  Yet if I order zinnias for a mass planting of 60, they put 25 seeds in a package and I need to order several.  LOL!

Second, I had to move flats around on the light stand AND 6-pack cels from flat to flat.  Some plants grow faster than others.  You want the seedlings close to the lights, so taller ones have to be together.  I keep a label in every 6-pack cel for that reason.  A flat of all the same plants only needs one thankfully.  But mostly I have mixed seedlings in a flat so they need to be moved around.

Third, I built wooden stands of various heights the size of the flats.  That allows a lot of easy height adjustment to keep the seedling near the lights.  And for other adjustment, I cut a few 2"x4" boards the width of the stands so I can raise them 2" or 4" easily.

So I had a choice (this was Monday) to plant some seeds outside or plant a lot more inside.  It was chilly and windy out; guess which I chose to do?  Yes, inside.  I'm planting a LOT of self-sowing annuals for either "just" flower or butterfly/bee/hummingbirds.  I tried scattering butterfly/bee/hummingbird (BBH) flower seeds and covering them lightly per package directions 2 years and they didn't grow much.  This year, I am starting a lot inside and will transplant them into the BBH bed in hopes of better growth.

I'm not depending on the transplants except for first year growth (and hopefully "self-sowing").  But I HAVE to have enough to attract them and get them used to coming here.  The meadow flower bed did reasonably well the first year and "OK" the next.  But I think it needs more help getting started, too.  So about half the seeds I started are for there.  Its not like BBH don't like meadow flowers too, just that they aren't as dedicated to producing what BBH need.  Though I suspect some will be good plants for caterpillars to eat. 

Still, the meadow bed is mostly for ME to enjoy looking at.  And partially, the meadow bed is so that I have something to enjoy looking at while I renovate my 25 year old perennial bed along the fence.  It has slowly lost ground (literally, LOL) to invading fosythia, poison ivy, some vine I don't recognize, old age. and changes in sunlight.

Parts of it are undisturbed and thriving (hurray for Stoke's Aster and Autumn Joy Sedum and some individual plants like Brunerra Jack Frost), but it mostly need to be ripped up and started over.  Ans this time as a cottage garden, I think.  Tall flowers (that self-sow) so thickly-growing that they shade out the weeds.

I've change my flowerbed habits several times over the years.  It's always a decision with ups abd downs.  Annual flowers need transplanting every year, but they bloom all year.  Perennials last years (for most) and decades (for some) but flower briefly.  Self-sowing annuals might be an interesting combination.  The pictures I've seen of self-sowing cottage gardens suggest that they might flower like annuals bur last for years.  I know that in a house I rented for 4 years. Four O' Clocks (annuals) reliably filled the space all the time I was there.

I may be an interesting growing season...

Tree Saplings and "Stuff"

I once read that an optimist is "someone who plants small trees when he is old".  Well, yes I am and I did.

I MAY see these 4 trees grow and bloom and I MAY not.  That makes little difference to me.  I just like to DO THINGS that suggest the future.  I sometimes think of the future without me alive in it.  It takes some thought...  But I can picture the yard with newly-planted saplings at least grown to blooming age.

I planted 2 Sourwoods and 2 Korean Dogwoods.  The Sourwoods have a bad-sounding name, but where they grow, they are gorgeous.  Burgundy leaves and bunches of gold seeds in the Fall.


The Dogwoods are great in the Spring and the Korean dogwood doesn't suffer the disease that is infecting American dogwoods.  So I hope to see Spring and Fall colors.  It may take some time for them to grow to full color in their seasons.


One day, this property will not be mine.   I'll be gone in some way or another.  But I have a vision of the yard.  I should have striven for that idea years before, but you do what you can as you can and not look back TOO much.

My personal vision of the yard involves perennial flowers, some spots where there are mostly self-sowing flowers, and some places where are specific plants to help the hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees thrive.  And that is aside from the thistle seed feeders for the goldfinches and the sunflower seed feeder for the cardinals and purple finches et al.

It may seem odd that I dislike Robins, but they eat my earthworms and I kind of resent that.  But they need their food too, so I leave the lawn-clippings on the surface for the earthworms to eat as best they can.  Nature balances when you let it.  If I didn't have healthy soil, I wouldn't have earthworms, and if I did't have earthworms, the Robins wouldn't be marching across the lawn finding the least careful worms.

I do sort of wish the Robins hunted voles though...  I would love the Robins better then, LOL!

The best thing is that I'm 68 and I still have PLANS!  LOL...  The day I don't think about "next year" is the day they haul me away.    I think the best way to stay sane while aging is to imagine "next year".  New flowers, new tomatoes, etc...

A Visual Joke...

I was sent this, and I cracked up.

A Better Day

So the cement held on the pvc pipe repair.  And I pulled on it hard.  Good.  Now I just have to straighten and reinstall 2 others.

I plan to add more supports so that (hopefully) this doesn't happen again.  As best I can guess, enogh leaves fell on the chicken wire covering that the large snowflakes that fell didn't fall through it and accumulated enough weight to bend even the metal pipes in the pvc pipes.  I'll have to be careful about that in the future.

I built the structure with metal pipe inside pvc pipe because there were some complicated connections and metal pipes didn't offer those and pvc pipes did.

I still have some pipes to straighten.  But now that I've done the worst-bent one, the rest should be a BIT easier.  Not "easy" but "easier".  Part of the problem with the first one was that the temperature outside was close to the minimum 45F that the cement cures at rapidly.  The next couple days are supposed to reach the 70F mark (yay Spring) so I can do better with the other bent pipes.

So of course I wasn't sitting around just waiting for the temperature to rise.  I had planned for the brambles in the back 1/4th of the yard to be gone in Fall 2017, but the one guy I found who said he could do that THEN ended up in the hospital from a job injury (and decided to retire).  I did it myself last Fall (really brambly awkward work).  But I did it.

I had to do it.  I had 5 saplings to plant that I bought in Fall 2017 and had set in my garden "temporarily", LOL!  I went out to dig holes for them in Winter and it was like digging a hole in ice.  So I moved 4 of them Tuesday.  At least I could dig the soil.  I transplanted them carefully.  I LOVE my solid steel spade!  I sharpened the edge and it cuts through all soil and vine roots well. 

Today, I took 4 kitty litter buckets (I save them) and drilled a tiny hole in the bottom of each.  Why?  Well, when I fill them from the hose, they drip water slowly into the soil.  It soaks in rather than run off that way.  And I don't have to stand around 30 minutes soaking the area.  Plus, the buckets remind me where the saplings are so I won't mistake them for the junk saplings that spring up on their own.

More to do in the days to come of course, but that was a good start!

A Hard Day

My enclosed garden structure is falling apart.

I didn't think that was possible  because the PVC  tubes were so closely bound by the chicken wire and nylon ties.

But 2 winters ago, enough large snowflakes fell on the top to bend the framework.  It was little enough so that I could ignore it intending to push them straight (there are metal pipes inside the PVC for strength), but I never got around to it.

And a 2nd pvc pipe broke and fell this past Winter. So I went out to fix it.

It was a horrible experience!  Nothing I tried, worked.  You can't be on both ends of a 10' pole at once, but I built it to begin with, so I did in a way.

This is the original framework.  PVC tubes with metal pipes inside for strength...

Not enough strength.  I covered it all with chicken wire. And some large snow collected on it.  I didn't expect THAT.  It bent everything!

One pole just fell.  I straightened it.  And spent 3 hours trying to put it back in place... It was utterly maddening.

I THINK I have the PVC pipe with metal pipe insert cemented into place but I went nuts doing it.  I finally had to cut the chicken wire loose to allow me to get at the PVC connections to push the cemented parts together.  And finally used seriously-stretched bungee cords to keep the 2 ends tight together.

I'll see how well the bonding worked tomorrow.  I'm wondering if I have the wrong kind of cement.  I'll find out tomorrow.  If the parts aren't fused, than I need a different kind that has a primer AND cement combined.

And here I thought I was going to plant spinach, carrots, and leeks today after a small repair job...

Flowers! Spring!

It is finally Spring.  And not just by the calendar, by flowers.  I am thrilled to have some...

The first daffodils...

These all come from one bulb I planted.  I remember that spot...

Crocuses growing where I didn't deliberately plant them.  Squrrels or just is soin I used from elsewhere?

My favorite crocus...

This last one is a very old planting in bad soil and that was covered by overgrown brambles and vines and still survive.  THIS year, they get full sunlight and attention...

Lost Comments

My dear , readers, and commenters...  I have just learned (thank you Megan) THAT friends' comments have been ignored.  It wasn't deliberate, and in fact I check the moderation comment list almost daily.  So something obviously went wrong. 

And the graphic I use for Mark's Mews (the small wavey red of yellow title you see at my comments) is gone too.  I MAY have been slightly hacked.

So I am immediately running the computer through my anti-virus and computer security software.  It will take a day.  It is slow but thorough.

At last resort, I have my "time machine", which is is the Mac backup system.   Which of course I disconnected several months ago (for perfectly good reasons) and the forgot to reattach.  Perfect timing.  But at least my Mark's Mews graphic is in there.

See you all soon, I hope.  Bye for now...

Heart Cat

There will never be another Skeeter in my life.  He was the first who really was special.  I won't denigrate the ones who came before, because they were good companions who I loved, but there wasn't that "special connection".  They were GOOD CATS!

Skeeter was special.  I had reached an age and situation where I could appreciate him more than the others, but I have come to understand that it was my fault, not theirs'.  They shared my apartments or the rented house, but they never quite attached themselves to me.  Skeeter was the first here in my real house who did.  He slept under the covers against me.  And the other cat, LC, was really sort of HIS cat.  I loved and cherished them both.

But here is the difficult part.  Ayla, Iza, and Marley are more closely attached to me than even Skeeter was.  This is hard to explain, but for most of Skeeter's life, I was away at work.  Ayla, Iza, and Marley have been with me 24/7/365.  That has changed my thoughts a bit. 

I think what I'm trying to say here is that there is not just one Heart Cat in life..  And not all cats will be Heart Cats.  But there can be more than one...

I'm sitting here at the computer and Iza is sitting at my feet.  She really can't bear to be away from me.  I'm really her total focus in life; Tonkinese are amazing that way.  She has to sleep next to me, she has to follow me around the house, she has to sit next to me while I eat dinner.  I can't move without checking to see where she is.  If I fail, I bump her with a foot.  In bed, I have to be careful when I toss or turn because she is there.  She is THAT close to me all the time.  I cherish her affection deeply.  How could she not be a Heart Cat?

Ayla isn't always around me (she avoids Iza), but she wants my attention every morning.  Her territory is the bedroom.  When I get up, she is there on furniture wanting my touch.  Head bumps, strokes, nuzzles...  She follows me every place except into the shower (there ARE limits).  She needs me to hold and stroke her for assurance that she is my Small Beloved Princess and that she is as important to me as Iza is. 

And after 2 failed spays and frustrating constant heats in her younger days Pulling her off me sometimes like a pile of thorny brambles), how can I not assure her that her love is not returned.  I am so happy with her finally free of the "heat".  I can hold her over my shoulder for a long time and she purrs so happily when I do.  When I sit up in bed, ready to face the day, she comes and nestles on my lap for as long as I will allow,  and when she sits on the sunny bathroom windowsill, she desires all my attention for as long as I can give it.  She eats in the bedroom and guides me (as I follow her around holding the foodbowl) to the spot she desires for that meal.

Whenever I enter the bedroom, she calls to me,wanting my attention.  We went through so much difficulty together before she was finally spayed successfully on the 3rd try.  How could she not be a Heart Cat?

And Marley.  Good old Marley.  Marley does not sleep with me often.  But he is always a calm presence here.  He is usually on the ottoman in front of me while I watch TV, he is often on my lap.  If he was the only cat, he would attached to me like Skeeter was.  He is the cat who appears on my lap when I don't notice it until he is asleep there.  He is welcomed by Iza and Ayla equally, and naps with both.  When I am restless, he calms me.  He sneaks under the blankets sometimes but never disturbs my sleep, staying near but just out of touch so that I know he is there but I can turn around and he won't mind.  He is so much like Skeeter, but maybe more so.  How can he not be a Heart Cat?

The truth is that each one is.  I can't be so lucky to have 4 Heart Cats, so it has to be that we choose any early cat and decide on that one, and then deny the title to all that come after.

I think I will try to stop thinking in terms of Heart Cats, and allow them all to be, in their own ways.  The current ones surely are deserving of that title...

A Funny Story

I was reminded of this because of Daylight Saving Time.  It doesn't involve that directly, but it does involve time...

I shared one apartment with 2 other guys.   I was actually the person with the lease, but I was broke, so I found another broke guy to share the large bedroom with me and a guy with a good job to take the smaller single bedroom. 

I'll call the guy with the good job "Jim" (well that was his name).  His routine was to return from work, eat a TV Dinner, and drink Colt 45 beer until he eventually passed out in bed.  Got up every morning where to all accounts he was very good at his job as the Parts Manager at a car dealership. 

One Saturday afternoon, he had been drinking beer since morning (watching someone get up at 8 am and guzzling a beer is stomach-churning) and sat in a chair just waking up at twilight.  So I pulled a trick on him. 

Since he needed to get up around dawn, and dusk was about the same, my roomie and I pretended to be leaving for OUR jobs.  And roused Jim and told him he was going to be late for work!  He panicked and rushed out of the house.  Give us some credit here, we made sure he was actually functional and sober, just accepting our actions based on half-light. 

When he came back, realizing it was getting darker not lighter outside, and we were both sitting around watching TV instead of leaving for work ourselves, he was stunned. 

We cracked up.