Getting Stuff Done.

Well, I slept too many hours for several days, so at 4 am, I was just laying in bed not tired.  So I got up and decided to DO SOMETHING!

Early morning TV is awful, even the usual political channels.  So I did something I haven't done in a while.  I turned on the stereo.  Which was actually funny because I had to figure out how to do it.  No, I'm not stupid, it's just that there are so many options that it took a while to find just "music".  LOL!

Made breakfast.  Fed the cats.  Cleaned the litter boxes.  Emailed my trash collection company about the busted-up bin.  Did 2 loads of laundry.  Emptied the dishwasher.  Well, what do you do at 6 am? 

I had a package to return to Amazon.  Loki had an issue peeing on the bed a few times and I ordered a mattress protector.  Didn't realize it was a form-fitted kind (I have a waterbed).  I could buy a flat one, but I've been using a tarp to cover the bed.  Seems to be working.  But today was the last day I could return it, so I went to Staples as soon as they were open.  

That requires a QR code inside the box and outside for Staples to create a label.  The outside QR printout was too large and fuzzy.  So they cut the box open.  The inside one scanned perfectly.  And the person there said they cut the boxes open anyway to stuff the returns into plastic bags.  Who knew?  And I already have an email crediting my account.  

But at least that was done.

So I went to Petsmart to fill up the cat's pantry.  9 cases of regular Stinky Goodness and 2 cases of Marley's kidney care Hills stuff.  $400!  If I didn't have more money than Donald Trump actually does (joke, maybe), that would be a problem.  I mean, 45 pounds of cats costs more to feed than I spend on my own food at 165 pounds.  And I eat well...

And I bought a new 'betta splendens' while I was there. 

I normally keep a blue and a red one (in seperate tanks).  I was sad when the blue one died last week after a few years (they don't live long even naturally).  They display wonderfully when they see each other, but it exhausts them so I keep a piece of cardboard between the tanks most times.

And then I bought a new refrigerator (LG LRDCS2603D).  I had been planning to for months.  High Consumer Reports rating among bottom-freezers. But website pics don't show everything so I wanted to actually look at one.   I walked in to Home Depot (local DIY store) to just make sure I understood the shelves and freezer divisions.  

I walked out with a receipt and a delivery date, LOL.  No, they didn't trick me or anything.  I knew what I wanted.  I just needed to put my hands on the shelves and crispers and temperature controls.  It will be delivered Wed 27th.

But it has an ice-maker.  Which needs a water line to it.  I can make enough ice manually to suit my needs for my 6 pm cocktail, but it sure seems easier. to just always have more ice without effort.  Many of my recipes say "bathe in ice-water".  I've never had enough ice to do that, so maybe that will be good.

I had to laugh about one part of the sale.  The top door is reversible but the standard is on the wrong side for my kitchen.  The charged a penny for reversing it.  Seriously, it is right on the receipt.  The ink must cost them a penny.  LOL!

The Home Depot guy said to make sure the waterline extension ended with a shut-off valve directly behind the refrigerator.  I don't know why but he stressed that.

But the ice-maker function meant I had to decide on a plumber.  Many calls and questions about labor cost structure.   I looked at Yelp and a few other sites.   I decided on one that had good local ratings and experience and cost structure.

One I declined charged $150 per hour from leaving the previous job. Who gets $150 per hour for just driving, LOL?  Another I declined specifically said the shut-off valve would be in the basement (see above), so I told him I didn't think he was the right person for me.  

I'm hoping I have a good plumber to do the work.  It is pretty straight-forward, so I don't expect any technical difficulties.  But I won't know the cost until he examines the existing pipes and run-lines.  But he will arrive prepared to do the work immediately.  

That will be expensive ice for a while, but I probably grow to love it...

I am probably best off just accepting the plumbing cost...  Waiting for contractors to arrive in a 4 hour window drives me crazy.  They all probably cost the same, so avoiding the aggravation of waiting around is probably worth just having one person come to do the work.  For some things, it is worth getting estimates from multiple contractors.  For smaller matters, not so much.

The ancient basement fridge (37 years old) is probably costing me a lot in inefficiency.  And the local electric company will actually pay me $50 to have them haul it away.  And good riddance to it.  I have had to chip away ice every few months from below the top-freezer for years.  

Why do I want 2 refrigerators you may ask?  The basement one is mostly a root cellar and for more freezing capacity.  I keep the cool part at 40F and the freezer part on full cold (0 F)for long-storage.  Buying large amounts of meat  a few times a year to freeze is both convenient and cheaper.  And I keep my garden seeds and "beer for bread" in the cool part too.

Now it's time to gt to the basement and plant some tomatoes and peppers and melons and flowers...

Well, after I call The Mews in and give them lunch.

A "representative" lunch...

Back Yard

 The back yard has flowers and blooms too.

Asters  are growing from a deck pot.

The sawhorses ready for more lettuce and small crops in trays.  I tightened a lot of bolts yesterday,

Some stargazer lillies (so named because the flowers point up) are coming up nicely.  I really love perrennial flowers!

I have some Autumn Joy Sedums to be moved to the flowerbed,  I had 3 for years, but they all suddenly died.  I'm happy I rooted some clippings just before that.

I have several dozen Nandina clippings are growing.  They will be a border along the drinage easement side of the front yard,  They are tough.  And evergreen with bright red berries in Winter.  

In a few years, they will look like this...  A whole hedge of them!

Back yard daffs...

A sourwood tree just starting to grow well...

Which will look like this someday...

There is a far back daffodil patch,,,

And some in the sides of the back.

A few hyacinths the voles haven't found yet,

Even a red tulip still uneaten...

The daffodils love it here.  The original 5 have multiplied, as have many planyings.  But this one is best at that..

And the y thrive even under the trees,

Sometimes, I just walk around admiring them.  

The back yard has a saucer magnolia too.  Actually, larger than the front one, but neighbors don't see it.

Some years, frost kills the blooms. But this was a good year.  Sometimes, I just stand on the deck and stare at them.

Front Yard

 The saucer Magnolia tree is in full bloom.  I love that tree!  

The front box of Daffodils is in full bloom too.  As are the Nandini shrubs.

There is a later bloom of daffodils just emerging.  I get to show the front yard off twice that way.  And those have some fragrance, which is nice.

Early Flowers

It's nice when some flowers nbloom or emerge at the same time...

The early daffodils are blooming.

Therre are still some crocuses.

And the daylillys are emerging.

And because I love daffodils and crocuses so much, I ordered 500 for planting next Fall.  And a few dozen hyacinths and tulips too.  I will be busy In October.  LOL...

The deer and voles don't eat daffodils (some bitter taste), so I plant tulips and hycinths among them.  They last many years that way.  

Looking Up

 While I was outside with The Mews, I laid back and looked up.  I thought the tree branches and the clouds were kind of nice.

Nothing important about these pictures, but a few of them looked "interesting"...

Sometimes, I think we don't look up enough.  We are actually evolved to see the horizontal landscape.  That's there the flowers, shrubs and gardens are (and food and predators in times past).  But there are also tall trees, clouds, and blue skies.  

So this is a small respect to "up".

Daffodils

 I musn't ignore the daffodils!  They are blooming well.  It was a wet Winter and they seem happy!  Yeah, they want it dry during the Summer/Fall but late Winter rain seems to suit them...

Yesterday, I had the first good blooms.

OK, those last are getting ready to bloom, but they will open in a series of weeks as there are early to late bloomers in the bed.  I did that deliberately.  I wish I had just mixed them all up instead so that there would be blooms all through the bed.  Seeing the bed in quarters of blooms isn't as good as I imagined.  So I think I will start sneaking different-time bloomers among the earliest and latest ones.

There are a few empty spots where some died out so I will mark those spots and plant opposite-time bloomers there.  When you change your mind about some things, there are usually ways to adjust over a few years.

Flowers

The Spring bulbs are starting full bloom.  Crocuses today.  The early yellow crocuses have started to fade, but the purple and striped lavender ones are showing their best.  

I was very pleased when the heat pump maintenance guy walked out of the basement to inspect the outside unit and said "wow, look at all the flowers"!  Not many people see the whole spread, and pictures of the whole are don't do them justice.

And I plan to plant more this Fall.

I also have to give some credit to the squirrels!  Apparently they sometimes dig up a few and plant them elsewhere.  I only say that because there are some crocuses where I know I never planted them.  And I'm pretty sure they don't spread any seeds.

The only expansion of crocuses I know about are when bulbs multiply where planted.  I tend to plant them in groups of 5 or 7, a few inches apart.  Some when I see several in the same exact spot, I know they have multiplied.  When I see a single one blooming in a spot I didn't plant them in, I have to suspect the squirrels...

I should dig up some of the more numerous clumps and spread the bulbs around.  Free bulbs are good and I could probably double the number of patches.  But part of me says "don't mess with success" and disturb a happy crocus spot.

Basketball

 I don't watch professional basketball at all.  It isn't the game I remember from decades ago.  It is surprisingly violent.  The refs don't call most fouls, travelling is routine, and it seems to me that most dribblers palm the ball most of the time.  It's almost a cross between hockey and rugby.

But I watch my alma mater University of Maryland basketball teams.   When I started there, the men's team was average and there wasn't a women's team (I think).  The University got a good coach who raised the game to higher levels (just as I was leaving, of course) and for many years after.  

Funny story there.  I don't know why Mom got so wrapped up it the team.  But she got more emotionally involved in the games than I did, so it wasn't just because of me.  She would get all wound up, but she couldn't watch for long.  She would watch the game a couple a minutes and then leave for a few minutes cheering or yelling until she checked the score again.  She said actually watching the game was too exhausting! 

I watched in later years when they were near the top, and not much when they weren't.  I was a real fair-weather supporter.  In fact, I am a real homey but also a "watch when winning" about all local teams.  I'm not going to spend a lot of time watching a local team  when they are like 2-11. It's just too hard.  😭

But I discovered the U of Maryland Women's basketball team.  First, it was more like the game I remembered.  Second, they won a lot.  I've been watching them often for about 10 years now.  Most years, they are automatic for the NCAA ("National Collegiate Athletic Association" for my foreign friends) tourney, and they won the title in 2005-2006 season.

This year has not been so good.  They went 19-12 overall and 9-9 in The Big Ten Conference.  But yesterday the played Ohio State in the conference tourney and won 82-61!  Ohio State was ranked #1 in the conference and #4 nationally.  Winning was an upset.  Winning by 21 points was a crush!

Just winning the game was a major thing.  U of MD Womens team has a hard time with ranked teams (they are ranked somewhere in the 30s themselves).  Ohio as #4 is certainly going to the NCAA, so this won't exactly ruin their season.  But it gives a big boost to Univ of MD's chances of getting in.  

The Univ of MD has a 17 year streak of being in the NCAA tourney and it  would be a shame to see that end.  I don't expect them to advance far (they suddenly lost 3 starters this season), but I'll sure watch them do their best.

Here's the kicker...  I didn't see them beat Ohio State.  I assumed a game against the top conference team would be a prime-time game.  But it started at 2 PM and I was busy outside (expecting to watch the game later.  ARGGGH!  😞

Routine Heat Pump Maintenance

I had a new Trane heat pump installed late last Summer.  I had gotten tired of basic brands failing to the point of needing replacement every 5-8 years.  Somewhat painfully expensive, but it was about the best available (quiet, efficient and should last 12-15 years).

I am a bit slack on maintenance.  

So, funny story!  The installer called me and said it was due for "Fall" maintenance.  They said they sent a post card and I hadn't responded.  And that it had to be scheduled by the following week or I would miss out on this year.

Well, statements like that immediately raise red flags in my mind.  Sounded like spam.  So I checked my files and found the company that called was the installer (I had forgotten their name) and the phone number did match the one on the installation record.  

So I called, expecting they wanted to schedule a maintenance visit for next October.  I could understand that they wanted to make sure the heat pump kept running during the 5 year warranty.  So, OK, I can write a visit for next October on my calendar..

Turns out that they have a different definition of "Fall" than I do.  So a confusing conversation ensued.  I'll repeat it as best I can...

Company:  We need to schedule a Fall maintenance visit.  It's included in your purchase.

Me:  OK, when?  (I'll accept a free maintenance visit)

Company:  Monday.

Me:  Monday when?

Company:  Next week.

Me:  For "Fall" maintenance?

Company:  Yes.

Me: But Fall is 8 months away!

Company:  Yes, but if we don't schedule it now, we close the books next week!

   --------

OK, to shorten the confusion, I'll mention that they live with Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer maintenance schedules.  So in company lingo, they just say Fall and Spring.  I finally figured out they were talking about Last Fall and This Winter!  LOL!

So of course I scheduled a visit.  The guy who came did a good job (so far as I can tell).  Blew out some dust, tightened some screws, hooked up some equipment that (as I asked him to explain for future understanding) tested air-flow, temperature input/output, and internal electrical connections, etc.

Everything was working fine.  😍

But there was a slight problem left over from the installation.  The installer disconnected my self-installed humidifier.  I don't know why, but it was deliberate because he installed a sheet metal patch over the hole where the control was and left the wires hanging.  

I'll be kind, and assume he meant to reinstall it after he had the basic system instaalled and test.  But the fact remains that he didn't.  And I had been struggling to understand the circuit diagrams in order to reconnect the wires and replace the control dial.  And failed.  A picture is worth a 1,000 words but a circuit diagram is useless to me.  

So since I had a guy here, I asked if he could just connect the wires easily.   I mean, it was their company that disconnected them.  And I apologized in advance if humidifiers weren't his problem.  He said he knew all about them and looked at the wires and parts.  Took the cover back off the inside air blower.  Looked for where the humidity-detector should attach.  

Couldn't reattach it with what he had.  System is 240 volts, and the humidity-detector is 120, so it needs an adapter.  Plus "spade-joints" (a kind of wire terminator plug on - yeah I don't know those either).  Well, his maintenance kit doesn't come with those.  

I am scheduled for Spring/Summer maintenance in June.  He said to remind the Company then, that I need those.  OK.

The good news is that this has been a damp Winter and the humidifier wasn't needed much (in past pre-humidifier years, my lips cracked, the cat were static-shocked during petting, and I could turn on my bedside fluorescent light by just touching the metal base).  And I had an old single room humidifier in the bedroom set up again.  So an easy Winter.

So I got through Winter anyway, even with the central air one not working.  But I sure intend to make sure they get it rewired properly at the Spring/Summer maintenance visit!

I am still cracking up over the confusing phone call scheduling yesterday's visit...  You have to accept the strange conversations in life sometimes.

Art?

Had to share this.  

I grow a lot of lettuces, celery, bok choy, etc in planter trays.

And I was starting a new season of them last week.  But the trays have a wire hook in the middle to keep the sides from spreading.  They got filled with dirt and the hooks didn't fit in anymore.

So I used a cheap drill bit to both pull the dirt out and enlarge them slightly.  Now, the wire hooks fit in great.  

Emptied all the dirt into a large tray.  Mixed in some organic slow-release fertilizer.  Add fresh potting soil on the top 2 inches.  Leveled the soil in the trays.  And because the dry peat moss part of the soil doesn't get wet easily at first, poured hot water into all the 10 trays.

Ready to plant tomorrow under bright fluorescent lights.  But fluorescent lights don't last forever.  I get a year from them (they are on 14 hours a day).  So I spent an hour replacing tubes that were dead.  Getting the old ones out is sometimes hard.  Getting new ones in is harder.  Frustrating sometimes.  But I got that done.

But I'll have fresh lettuces etc to put outside on the deck (see last year's picture above) in time to get more standard garden veggies under the lights soon.

So what I wanted to share was that I was out of red leaf lettuce.  And buying a single seed packet online is ridiculous (about $14).  And they want to send you 500 seeds.  As if I needed 500 seeds.  I plant a dozen per year.  

So Walmart had a 50 seed packet for $2.  Perfect.  A bit of red lettuce in my daily salad goes a long way for appearance.  

Planting indoors is now on it's way!

I mentioned "art" didn't I?  I almost forgot.  Drilling the tray for the hooks to fit was a bit of a project.  I have a drill press and that helped.  Drilled dirt out and enlarged the holes slightly.  The results were interesting!

Here is the cheap drill bit after all the drilling...

And here is the bit spinning around...

I think that looks sort of artistic...

Do you?

The State Of The Mews

Trying new things to fix "fuss&upset"...

Marley still has kidney problems and alway will.  But the kidney care Hill's Science diet (and some portion control for weight) has helped.  And he will be 14 in August.  Elderly cats usually develop some problem.  I can't do anything about that.  

Lori is still upset about Loki and Binq.  I can't do much about that either.  But things are slowly getting better.  Lori and Loki sniff noses and butts sometimes.  They walk past each other calmly sometimes.  They eat near each other sometimes.  

There are still hisses and raised paws, but not like at first.  I have seen them sitting calmly a foot apart a couple of times.

Lori is still having stress-diarrhea issues.  I say "stress" only because the Vet says it has gone on too long and meds should have solved any physical issues by now.  There could be something more serious physically and if Lori and Loki resolve their psychological issues and Lori still has diarrhea, we will try more serious tests (disease, blockage, whatever).  I want her around for a long long time.

But I can say the diarrhea problems are less frequent.  There are now several clean days to each bad one.  Which (to me) seems to fit the "stress" idea.  And to be fair to Loki, Lori initiates about half the "fusses".

Loki is still a problem.  He arrived with "eye-goop" and abdominal muscle spasms.  Those have both gone away.  Meds cleared the head infection and I have no idea why the abdominal spasms occurred or why they stopped.  Some problems stop and you know why (meds) and some stop and you never do know why.    

One day he just stopped having those abdominal spasms.  I didn't even notice at first.  It's like when an itch stops.  All of a sudden, you just realize it ended...

Loki's biggest problem is that he suddenly started peeing on my bed a month ago.  I didn't know which cat it was, but every few days, the sheets/blankets were wet.  First once a week, then every few days, then every day.  

I finally caught him "in the act".  I yelled (wish I hadn't; he must have had a reason).  Well, I was frustrated!  I don't know how many of you have ever had a waterbed.  I've been sleeping on waterbeds for about 40 years.  I love the "give" as my body settles onto it.  Some people hate them.  But because water absorbs warmth from the body, you need layers of sheets and blankets beneath you even with a heated one.

So I have 3 sheets and 3 blankets below me and 1 of each above.  Well, I was getting tired of laundering sheets and blankets every couple of days.  I put a plastic tarp over the bed, so that if he peed there his own pee would pool around his paws.  I thought that would discourage him.  Not at all...

THAT didn't even stop him.  And a few days ago, while I was right there next to him, he was sitting on the bed and I recognized the "litter box blank stare"!  And the pee rolled to the edge of the bed and wet the bedcovers.  I had to wash everything again.  And my washer/dryer can only handle 1 blanket and one sheet each cycle.  Took all day!

I decided that Loki was "too much trouble" and needed to be returned to the Shelter in hopes he would find a new home that didn't cause him stress.  I've thought that several times in the past month.  

I go between "Loki is never going to be quite domesticated" and "I need to find some way to keep him here".  I am angry one day and trying to be tolerant the next.  Loki loves me personally.  He seeks (and gets) all the attention I can give divided among 4 cats.  He seeks me out and follws me everywhere.  He is definitely happy around me.  And he is happy around Marley and Binq.

It isn't a litter box problem.  Loki happily poops in them.  And I know the "1 box per cat" guidance (so I have 4) and I clean them every day before I make my own dinner (makes it easy to remember to do).

So I've changed tactics.  The tarp stays on the bed as pee-proofing of the blankets and sheets below.  And that works because I put an old sheet on top of the tarp.  That way, any pee is soaked up by the old sheet.  I will launder an old sheet every day for his life if I have to.  

Because it isn't his fault that he is having a peeing problem.  It is mine to help solve (OK maybe the Vet too).  

I have occasionally mentioned that I am constantly amazed that some animals can share our human artificial spaces.   Dogs need to be walked, rabbits poop anywhere, I don't even know what ferrets do.  Cats usually just need a litterbox.  

That's part of the human/cat bargain.  We provide shelter/food/attention and they use the clean litterboxes.  But they have to use the litterboxes.

The old sheet on the tarp covering the bed has stayed dry for 4 days.  That is great news.  

Maybe, a few months from now, all The Mews will snuggle together, Loki will stop peeing on the bed, etc.  

Meanwhile, I will go about planting the garden and cleaning the house...  *Sigh*