Mowing Again!

A few days old, but I didn't want to leave the subject of the mower repair hanging...

Yay!  I got my mower back Saturday.  I was about to haul out the old push mower, but the repair guy called Friday and said the riding one was fixed.  The grass was getting a BIT high.  Here are some pictures of the first swaths I cut...

The grass was 10" high! And I keep the blade 3" high for good grass health and weed suppression.

Another view of the tall grass.

And another.  I would have felt embarrassed, but my neighbor's grass was the same height and HIS mower is working.

It took an hour with the old push mower to get all these corners and edges mowed clean.  I sure am glad to have it back working!

My next big yard project is to reduce the amount of lawn I have...

Finished The Pond

Not much to show.  My hands got too muddy to take many pictures!

Basically, I had a dozen pots that were fallen over in the pond with the Sweet Flag leaves growing curved toward the light.  I had a large pot of mixed clay and pea gravel to refill smaller pots, broken terra cotta and golf ball sized stones for weight in the bottoms, and a new bag of pea gravel to cover the soil on the tops.

I found the corner of the sunken patio a convenient height to do messy work...

Here is a stage in the procedure.  The 2 pots on the right have had the stones put in the bottom, some clay/gravel soil added, then rooted portion from the original pots.  I am about to add new pea gravel on top and move them to the pond.

This is the small pond with Sweet Flag around the ledge.  There are 5 hardy waterlilies in the deeper center portion and several on the outer ledge.  The lilies on the ledge (and half of the Sweet Flag) will be moved to the larger pond as soon as I replace the damaged lining.

I have a small water pump for the small pond.  After it has circulated the water and filtered out the silt for a few days, I will add a few small goldfish.

At least I know now that I simply MUST lift all the pots each Spring and cut back the roots.  And next year I will cover it with plastic window screen instead of clear plastic sheet so the pond can breathe but the Spring Peepers can't mate!

A Great Day To Be Out Yesterday!

What is so rare as a day in Spring?  Well in MD, they really are rare!  The average temp this time of year is 70F, but that usually means days of 55 intermixed with days of 80.  Finally, yesterday was actually in the upper 60s, which is MY kind of weather.

I spent almost the entire day outside.  The major project was to clean out the small pond.  I have a larger pond, but that project is for another day.

I have to mention first that I covered the pond with clear plastic because the Spring Peepers drive me crazy at night.  If there was 1,000 it would be OK because the noise would average out.  But I get just a few and there is a loud crok every minute or so.  Its like the Chinese water torture!  So, for sleepfulness, I cover the pond when they are mating.

The first thing I do in a major outdoors project is set up a rest station.   Hey, I'm 60 years old!  Chair, radio, beer.  In the shade...

Here is the pond when I uncovered it.  Live plants...

But purple sludge!  My first thought was "red algae bloom" (toxic).  I washed my hands frequently.  I made a hole in the muck to get a hose siphon started.

It's easy.  I just laid out one hose downhill and attached another from the spigot to it.  Fill the first with water, disconnect, and get it in the "hole" in the pond fast.  Here is the downhill end of the siphon hose.

It took an hour to siphon (hence the need for radio and beer), but it was finally done.  Look at the mess I saw!

Meanwhile, as the siphoning was going on, I weeded the garden.  I dug up quite a bit on some invasive grass.  Nasty stuff that spreads by long underground runners.  I used to know the name of it, but it escapes me now.  Suggestions welcome.

When the pond was drained, I mucked out the bottom silt,  Its great stuff for the compost pile!  A pond skimmer net is good for getting that stuff out.

Because of the red algae(?), I sprayed it with chlorinated water.  I don't know if that will kill it, but it sure won't help them any (search for WC Fields and moths).  I scooped the remaining water out with an old pitcher and poured the rich silt-water on the neighboring flowers.

When I had the pond about as clean as I could get it , I refilled the pond center about 4" deep.  That's so I can set the surviving plants back in some water tomorrow when the chlorine has mostly evaporated out. 

They all need repotting.  I tried that last year and failed badly.  Some pots floated and some just fell over.  THIS time, I have gravel to mix with the soil and bits of broken flagstone for the bottoms of the pots to weight them down.

The repotting was necessary because, 3 years ago, I discovered that the entire pond was a mass of roots.  Stupid me, I didn't know that they grew roots out of the pots!!!  And it had been 5 years since I planted them.  I spent hours cutting the various pots apart (the roots were all intertwined).  And that was in the cold March water (I still shudder from the cold water)...

But this year, it is going better.  I have the stuff to repot them properly (read up on it at pond plant website).  And I am going to put a waterpump in there this year to keep the water circulating.  Does anyone know if those U/V filters really work?  I might try one.

Getting The Garden Ready

In between the near-daily rain last week, I got the garden beds prepped for the season.  I had some free County-supplied mulch in a pile for 2 years, and it composted nicely.  The stuff was like fine leaf-mould.  So I added 3" to each of my beds

I took pictures of doing one of my 6 raised beds.  Here is the composted mulch on top...

I added slow-release organic fertilizer.  I blend it from 2 sources, but it is about 10-10-10.  Then I turned the soil, twice, with a spading fork.

Then leveled it with a rake and tamped it lightly. 

Consider it repeated 5 times for the other beds.  I love the rake I found a few years ago.  Its not a "bow" rake.  This is a "leveling" rake.  It is exactly 24" wide (useful for measuring) and has a straight bar on the back to make everything smooth and even.

As soon as the weather is right (about another week), I am ready for the tomatoes, peppers, melons, etc!  Meanwhile, I am hardening off the seedlings.  One hour the first day, 2 hours the next, etc til 8 good sun hours.  I can hardly wait...

Marks (Murphy's) Law

I love my riding lawn mower.  But it seems to develop a new problem every Spring.  This year the choke knob broke off in my hand.

I'm one of those people who NEVER have normal problems.

My "Top 30" plant provider sent me the wrong plant 5 years ago and it turned out to be "wickedly invasive".

My twice-spayed cat STILL goes into heat.

Any repair problem is "Wow, I've never seen THAT happen before.

My "Murphy's Law" event is what "Can't happen",  does.

So, naturally, the choke knob problem was "that doesn't happen".    Well, it did.  I pulled the choke out as usual a few days ago and the shaft snapped right off.  I could feel it.  And it just came out loose when pulled.  You can't start an mower that needs the choke adjusted when you can't adjust it...  I felt around inside the engine compartment to see how it was attached, but couldn't see a clue to how to get at it.  It turns out later that the entire gas tank has to be removed.  "Not something I want to mess with".

So I called a guy who will come and fix mowers on site.  I've used him before.  He does good work and is honest and his deal is "fix on site".  But to be honest, he usually has to take the mower away.  But at least he will do that.  He did something neat that I will have to remember.  He bypassed the choke by spraying carburater cleaner down the removed air filter!  That primed the starter!  Hey, I didn't know.  Maybe you did.  LOL!  I'm a gardener and woodworker.  When it comes to engines, I'm lost.   I have 2 gas chainsaws in the basement and I can't make them stay running.  That's why I have an electric one.  It always works!


So he started it right up (Starting the mower was not the problem when the choke lever worked) and drove it onto his truck.  If I had known that trick before he came, I would have mowed the lawn first.  It is already 4" high and growing.  When I get the mower back in a week, it will be 6-8" high.  This time of year, you CAN actually watch the grass grow!

Mis-Labeled Plants

I ordered Coreopsis Golden Gain and got THESE.

Any idea what they are?

Busy Time

My apologies, I am a bit busy these days.  At day, it is garden time, so I am either working hard or recovering from it.  And at night I watch MSNBC or videos.  And have I got a great video...  I saw bits of it when it was on Cable, but I have the whole DVD set now.

I'm obsessed with HackDotSign right now.

In the series, there is an interactive world-wide internet game called "The World".  Sort of a Sword and Sorcery world, but much more involved inter-personally than that.  The trick here is that there is one character who cannot logout and isn't sure what "the real world" is.  And he is a real jerk to most people.  Not in the mean or cruel sense but because he has no real-world connections and can't relate.

I think he may be in a real-world psychiatric ward or involved in an accident (in the show). 

And he has problems, a mystery he is trying to solve, and some mysterious friends no one else can see.  And some he can who are trying to help him but he can't understand that.  I watch a couple hours of that each night, but I think there are at least a couple of week's worth.

So I am kind of preoccupied for a while.  Sorry...  I'll visit when I can.

The cats are happy, they get to sit on my lap for hours.

If you ever saw the series, let me know that you liked or didn't like it.  OK either way.  And for whatever it means, I sure would like to be like the character "Bear".

And I don't know how it ends, so please don't mention anything about that.

Mark

A Bit Of A Report

Sorry I haven't been posting here regularly.  I get more involved in the Mark's Mews blog about the cats.  Their pictures are more interesting.  And I haven't been very active with home projects lately.  Weeding the gardens is not very exciting, and everytime I want to go to the local project store to get wood, it starts to rain.  So (for example), my plans to build new plant light shelves is still on hold...

And my gardening work tends to end up on the cats' blog.  I'll have to find a way to balance that.  "They" get to show off the results, so I will have to start posting more about the weeding and digging here.  Fortunately, I have a few dozen new plants on order, so I will have some new things to show soon.

One major effort is too enlarge the areas of successful plants.  When I started flowerbeds, I ordered "6 of this" and "9 of that".  The results were a bit chaotic.  I am moving more toward larger areas of the ones that have done best.  And bringing several small plantings of one plant together.  For example, I have 18 astilbes in 3 places and I think it would look better to have them all in the one place where they seem happiest.  The two other places, they just struggle to survive.  One place is too sunny and the other is too shady.

The back of the flowerbeds has always been unsatisfying.  I originally planted 5 butterfly bushes, interspersed with 2 euonymus shrubs, 2 spring flowering almonds, and some nandina.  And the butterfly bushes are so old that the yearly prune-back has made them weak.  Even perennials don't thrive forever.  The euonymus shrubs are twice the claimed size and are shading everything.  Plus they send up shoots everywhere.  It is time for a clean sweep of the background shrubs.  That is going to be a job removing them all, but it will be worth it.  And I may be able to use some of them in other parts of the yard.

I plan to plant new smaller red butterfly bushes, put nandina in between for winter color, and move the euonymus along front creek for privacy and erosion control.  They can grow full size there.  I haven't thought of a good place for the spring flowering almond shrubs, but they are only interesting for a couple of weeks each year  so they may not be much of a loss.

Meanwhile, I did do a lot of weeding the past week.  Every location has their own annoying weeds, but mine are purple deadnettle, some creeping grass that spreads through runners, and some damn little plant with tiny white flowers on it (and the seeds jump away when the plant is touched.  The good news is that I think I got at them this year before they could go to seed.  There are others like thistle and dandelion, but they never get to seed here, they just grow from windblown seeds in other yards and I can't stop that.

I don't have many weed problems, usually.  This was a great year for the purple deadnettles though.

They are all OVER the front lawn.  I'm never seen this before.  They apparently love sunlight because they only grew beyond the shadow of the house.  Well, they only live a few weeks, so it could be worse.

They do annoy me though, because I maintain the yard organically and it mostly works.  I apply corn gluten each Spring and Fall, and that stuff supresses initial root development, and mowing at 3" usually shades out most weeds.  Here's an example:

This is a view down my property line.  My yard is on the left.  My neighbor uses synthetic weed killer  and major fertilizer stuff and mows his lawn down like a pool table.   I mow my yard to 3" and use organic stuff.  Biggify the picture to see where all the dandelions and crabgrasses are... And my grass IS greener without anything added but the 9-2-2 corn gluten.

Yes, he doesn't have the purple deadnettle.  I have to think about that one...  But I bet if I took a core sample of his lawn and mine that the soil is richer many inches down in mine and almost dead in his.

And here's something else.  I have honeybees in MY yard.  I don't think they live IN my yard, but they sure come here to feed.

In fact, it was becoming hazardous to walk around the yard before I mowed the lawn deadnettles down.  Don't worry, they still have plenty to feed from, there are large unmowed areas.  But I have difficult childhood stinging issues and the memories remain...  So where I walk, it is mowed.

Oops, I Completely Forgot...

...to post about the storage/cat room.  I KNOW I wrote about it, so I must have deleted it somehow...  Or I transported to an almost-identical alternate universe AGAIN and in THIS one I didnt post about it (This seems to happen a few times a year - LOL!).  ;)

Anyway, at least I intended to (see here at  Feb 16th Item 4), and I DID do the project on March 9th.  So here is the missing post...

When my parents stopped traveling, I sold the guest room furniture to make it a storage room.  But when I got my 3rd cat (Marley), I decided they all needed a playroom.  So I decided to combine the two ideas.  The long sold wall of the room would become storage and the rest a cat play room (The "Mewsroom").

I checked for the depth I needed for boxes, vacuum cleaners, the carpet cleaner, etc; located the wall studs that would accept those things.  Naturally, the nearest stud was 2" too narrow, so I had to move out to the next one.  That was more space than I really needed to store stuff, but I will probably appreciate it in the future (if I'm IN this dimension in the future).

So, the concept was to take about 2' of the room and hang drapes to make a storage space and make the rest of it a cat playroom.  I tried to find drapery rods that could bear the weight (I have some old but nice drapes), but rods are not designed to float 2' out from the walls and I didn't want to go into the stipple ceiling for vertical support.  I checked out a few other ideas at home stores.  But what I ended up with was a 1" iron pipe.

Now, the iron pipe comes in 10' length and the walls were 10' 3" apart.  Pipe couplings only add 1/2".  So I thought about that.  The 2 ideas I came up with were"

1. Attach 1.5" boards to the walls (1.5 plus 1.5 makes up the 3"), or
2. Hang the pipe from 3" corner braces

If I had used the boards, I would have have to fancy them up.  Plane them to size, sand them, chamfer corners, stain and finish them, etc.  I just didn't feel like doing all that.  Maybe I will next year.  I went with just hanging the pipe on corner braces.  Hey, I had other things to do, and the gardening projects can't be delayed at this time of year!

So, there I was deciding to hang drapes from a 1" pipe.  I decided that wouldn't work.  Drapery hooks don't slide over pipes.  But shower curtain rings do!  Which gave me a further idea.  Why not get some nice light outer shower curtains?

I attached the corner braces to the stud.  The board was there to hold the other end of the pipe.  I couldn't be at both ends. 

When I maneuvered the pipe onto both braces, there was enough movement for the pipe to slip off one.

So I added wood blocks on both to keep the pipe from moving.  I'll screw the wood in place one of these days...

Here is a clear picture of the shower curtain pattern.  Not to plain, not too busy, not too cute.

And the closet is looking better.

The lamp will be hung up soon.

Games I love, using some freed-up space!

Here are a few pictures of what I wanted to hide behind the curtains...

Here are some of what it looked like afterwards...

 That cats loved the changes...

Isn't that a nice curtain to hide stuff behind?

Plans

I have my tomato seedlings started.  Plus peppers, celery, lettuces, and a bunch of flowers.  More to come fast on the schedule!

But it bothers me that my plant stand only has 2 bulbs over each shelf.  I use daylight and/or plant light bulbs in them, but it seems my seedlings are always "leggy" (long and thin).  So I decided to change to 4-bulb fixtures to increase the light the seedlings get.

The stand for the seedlings is an awkward size.  Prebuilt shelf systems are 4' long.  But the fixtures are a couple inches longer.  So I have to build one to suit the fixtures.  The important considerations were strength, cost, and ease of construction.  I'm fine with general carpentry, so I sketched and priced several designs...

1.  All plywood - I can make it all 1/2" or 3/4" plywood with a good sanded outside surface.  The "pro" is that it is all same size solid pieces.  Stainable.  Three easy 16" wide sides, top, bottom, and shelves per sheet.  And plywood is stable.  Cons:  Would need 1"x3" board attached to the shelves to resist bending under weight.  And lots of ugly (to a woodworker) plywood edges.

2.  1" board - 1" board frame and shelves.  Pro - Easy wood to handle and cut.  Stainable.  Easy to make dado cuts for solid shelves.  Cons - Have to join two 8" boards to get the 16" depth I need for the 4-bulb fixture on all pieces (sides, top, bottom and shelves).  I can do that and it would be strong, but that's a lot of extra work.  And dado cuts into 1" nominal boards have to be shallow.  Boards more likely to be "unperfectly straight" in all dimensions.

3.  2" board - 2" board frame and shelves.  Larger "glue and screw" edges.  More solid in appearance and actuality.  Little support needed.  No concern about shelves bending under weight. Dadoes can be deeper, so more solid.   2" Boards are usually straight.  Cons - Heavier and inelegant.  Wider dadoes needed.  Bulky-looking.

I considered combinations of 1", 2", and plywood cases and shelves, but didn't see any advantage, and the imagined results were practical but ugly.  The cost of all the above ideas turned out to be from $105 to $128 so the cost is not a concern.

I have decided to go with a solid 2" frame and shelf design.  True, I will have to join 8" boards at the edges, but I have a joiner edger machine and biscuits to attach them flush.  Not as easy as plywood or 1" boards, but stronger.  And something I will be happiest with in the long range.  Those 2" boards will never sag under the weight of the 4 fluorescent bulb fixtures!  I built a plant shelf once; I don't want to have to build another!

The shelves will be of graduated heights.  Shelf #1 is 3" below the lights, shelf #2 is 7", shelf #3 is 10", shelf #4 is 13", and shelf #5 is 16".  That lets me move the seedlings to only a couple inches away from the lamps as they grow.  And with 4 bulbs, much sturdier seedlings anyway!

Oh, and the existing 2 bulb fixture plant stand?    I bought 2 new 4 bulb fixtures.  That will take care of 2 shelves.  The 2 bulb fixtures on the old stand will be removed and doubled under the other shelves so there are 4 bulbs under each one.

The old stand is destined to be moved to the Mews Room to become a cat exploration area with cat-sized holed cut out randomly in the shelves...

Pictures to follow as I build the new plant shelves this week!

Eyeglass Fun, Part 3

Writing yesterday's post reminded me that I had had 2 pairs of the previous prescription and ruined one.  The frames had a tendency toward loose screws.  I brought the previous back to For Eyes several times for that (after searching the office carpet for lost screws at least twice).  They simply re-installed screws (Duh, I can do that).

I finally decided to epoxy the lenses to the frame and end the problem.  Now, I'm a reasonably "ept" repair person.  But I sure chose the wrong way to do it!  With my slightly shaky hands, attempting to apply epoxy inside the frame rims and then getting the lenses back in while also trying to tighten the frame scres, I botched it big time!  I had epoxy smears all over the lenses...

I contemplated the disaster.  It wasn't the frame, it was the simple little screw.  On the OTHER pair of glasses, I dabbed the tiniest bit of epoxy into the screw hole with a toothpick, tightened the screw and the problem was solved forever! 

Man, I can be stupid sometimes!!!

I will do that with the new frames as a pre-emptive measure...

Eyeglass Fun, Part 2

Well, better news about the new eyeglasses today!  Previously, I mentioned how I had 3 botched appointments with the Dr at For Eyes.  I had exams there before and they were excellent.  But they seemed to have lost the ability to manage the appointment schedule (an estimated minimum 1.5 hour extra wait each time), so I went right around the corner ta another place.

THAT exam went just fine, but their frame selection was AWFUL!  All the frames were expensive designer types at ridiculous prices ($200+ for one frame, and I wanted two)  And being "designer frames", they were the size of postage stamps.  Sorry, I don't want to even SEE the frames when I wear them.

And I told them that when I went in for the exam.  It's why I didn't go there first to begin with!  So I got done with the exam, paid for it, and they wanted to say "bye-bye".  Wait, I need the prescription!

"Oh gosh, the Dr is with another patient now and you'll have to wait..  Um, wasn't it obvious I would want the prescription?  Probably, but they wouldn't get paid for that.

Revenge time:  I spent 10 minutes pacing rapidly around the waiting room.  That disturbed them.  Finally, a clerk came over and said they would have the prescription faxed to where ever I wanted.  Good!

So I went back to For Eyes, with the great selection, walked in, and said I want your 2-for-1 deal on these (showing them my current frame).  They had them at 2 for $109, great.  They got the prescription faxed, I paid and left.

I picked up the new glasses today.  They fitted them perfectly in 5 minutes and I was out of there!  They work great; I can read small print again, and the newspaper and computer are easy to see.

Too bad the good appointment scheduler at one place didn't work at the place with the good frame selection.  They'd all be rich.

But all's well that ends well (to coin a phrase, LOL) and I can now laugh about it.  Until next time...

Seedstarting Fun

Is there a rule in life that nothing can ever just go smoothly?  I ask because I went to start my garden seedlings a couple of days ago and it was harder than it should have been.

Now, maybe I am fussy about my seed-starting, but I have 40 years experience at it and I know what works best.  You start seeds indoors, and you want sterile, unfertilized non-crusting soil. That means something called "seed starting soil".  It is finely sifted, loose, and no fertilizer that encourages fungal growth to kill the seeds.

It was time to start my tomatoes, peppers, etc.  The home stores did not have seed-starting soil available!  What???

 They said the demand wasn't high at this time of year.  But THIS is the time to start seeds!  The garden-department guy just looked at me weirdly, like maybe I was a communist.  After visiting 2 other home stores, I went home defeated.

But I checked my supplies.  Seed-starting soil is milled moss, vermiculite (or perlite), and sand.  I had the first two, but no sand.  And I found a bag of potting soil with almost no fertilizer (0.07%).  I made my own!

The potting soil and the sphagnum moss had chunks of stuff in it.  I tried using a kitchen sieve, but it was too fine.  The kitty litter scoop on the other hand worked GREAT (cleaned and dried).  3 parts sifted potting soil, 1 part sifted sphagnum moss, and 1 part vermiculite, well stirred, and I was in business! 

The sifted-out stuff will go in the regular potting mix for houseplants and outdoors containers.  They won't mind the extra material at all.

So I have my heirloom tomatoes, hybrid bell peppers, broccoli, and various annual flowers going just fine now.   The tomatoes, etc are upstairs where it is warm to germinate best.  The flowers are in the basement where THEY germinate best, and the petunias (that need light to germinate are under artificial "daylight" lights. 

At least the new season is started!

I guess that, in the future, I will have to buy my seed-starting soil later this year for next year!  Glad I have a storage shed...

Eyeglass Fun

Well, the old eyeglasses have gotten weaker and scratched, so it was time to get replacements.  It started last Fall.  I went to the place that gave good service previously and arranged an exam appointment.  When I arrived, the Dr was three (30 minute) appointments behind.  So I cancelled and went home.  I'm not one to sit and wait.

In January, I made another appointment.  The Dr was again behind by three appointments.

Last week, I made an appointment for the first appointment of the day.  He can't be behind schedule then, right?  Wrong!  Some twit in the office made earlier appointments KNOWING he would be behind schedule from the start!

I walked out, went to the nearest other eye Dr and scheduled a new first appointment on condition that there COULD NOT BE earlier ones.  I was assured there would be no earlier ones.

And there weren't!  I had a thorough exam and even was shown pictures of my retina and blood vessels on a computer.  Mine are (fortunately) GREAT/PERFECT/YOUNG-LOOKING. 

I should mention I am farsighted and need only reading glasses for the computer and newspaper.  To those of you who need glasses all day, I AM truly grateful for my otherwise good vision.  Not like it is something I accomplished myself; I have to say I had good parental genes.

The Dr said I had no serious eye problems, but I AM getting older and "chit happens"...

I looked at the frame selection and was seriously disappointed.  All were small frames (the new fashion?) and ridiculously expensive celebrity-name brands costing $200 and up.  PFFT!  I told them I would have to take the prescription elsewhere.  So they knew that.

So it came time to pay.  No problem there, except they gave me a receipt for the eye exam and said, "well that's it".  Um, prescription please?  Stunned silence at the desk.  "You need a prescription?  Well the Dr is with a patient and it will be about 30 minutes".  Man, once they had all the money they were GOING to get from me, I ceased to exist.  After pacing around the small shop for 20 minutes, though, I guess I got annoying.  a clerk offerred that they could fax the prescription to where ever I choose a frame.  How kind of them...

5 minutes later, I was back at the original place, showed them my current eyeglasses (large enough so that I can't see the annoying frame), found the identical ones (two for $99), and told them to get a faxed prescription.   They did and I was out of there in 10 minutes.  The glasses won't be ready for a week, but that's is OK.

So one eyeglass place cant manage a schedule in three attempts but has great frame selection and is good about taking a prescription order, and the other is good about managing a scheduled appointment but has limited and expensive frames. 


A pox on all their houses!  Or maybe they should merge.

Various Stuff...

I help the cats blog so much I start to lose track of my own stuff at times.  So it is time to catch up a bit.

It is time to start my garden veggie seeds.  The basement is, quite frankly, a mess!  All Winter long, I just kept "doing things" and never mind the clutter.  There was always time to arrange things for the early seed plantings.  LOL, guess what time passed?  Yeah, it is time to plant seeds and I am SO unready for it.

Grandiose plans for better seed/light planting shelves are now forgotten and I have to make do with the old structures.  I have almost no southern light to help the plants, so I depend on fluorescent bulbs.  Even the best ones are inherently weaker than real sunlight.  I had thought to widen the shelves to increase the 2 bulbs to 4.  I had thought I might add mirrors behind the shelves and in front to increase the reflected light.  But I didn't.

So, what I did today was the best I could.  I cleaned and reorganized enough space in the basement to collect all my gardening seed-starting materials into one place.  I was actually leased with the results, though it is not worth a picture.  If you want to picture it, just imagine a workbench with 10 sq ft empty space where there was none yesterday.  :)

Well, at least I have THAT!  And I sorted through my various bags of soil amendments to see what I had for a good seed starter blend.  The local garden centers don't even have sterile soil-less mixes available yet.  I am thrilled to see that I do have vermiculite, milled peat moss, fine sand, and some sterilized loam left over from last year.  At least that will get me started!


On other news, Marley the cat is getting used to the new home.  He is the fastest adapter I have had in decades.  The others hid for several days, but Marley was ready to come out and find his place in the house after the first day. 

He plays  with Iza mostly.  Iza outweighs him 12 lbs to 6 pounds, but he is fearless.  It was a shock to Iza at first because she was "Top Cat" mostly by virtue of weight.  Marley pounces from anywhere!  At first, Iza was quite upset and poofed her tail and whapped him hard, but lately it has become more cooperative play with them taking turns chasing and then curling up together.

Ayla is the "odd cat out".  As a small cat (yet the oldest) she never has been one for aggressive play.  I think she is getting used to it though.  She isn't doing the "chase and wrassle" that Iza and Marley do, but she does a certain kind of "you can't catch me" game with Marley.  She hisses mildly, then provocatively hops OVER him several times then runs off.  I think she is showing him that he really can't pounce her because she is just SO much more agile than he is.

That doesn't stop him from trying, of course.  He's only 6 months old and braver than he is experienced.  Marley chasing Ayla is like Marley chasing a shadow.  When when she lets him get close, suddenly she is up on the top of the closet door and he is looking around for her on the floor.

The crocuses are starting to bloom!  Yay!  Spring is coming. 

I made a hamburger yesterday.  That may seem bland.  But I ground up the meat (short ribs) myself.  I sauteed mushrooms, red and green bell peppers, and some onion.  Then I made a mayo/mustard mix with some minced garlic.  What a great topping!  I've had worse (good) steaks!

Tomorrow, it is back to cleaning the basement.  There is so much more to do!

Some Mid-Winter Garden Clean Up

There were a few days of warm weather here recently, and I took advantage of it to do some garden cleanup!  Most of the perennial flower stems get left up deliberately, as the finches really love getting at the seeds.  But most of those have been all eaten or broken off and on the ground.  And I keep a nyjer seed feeder filled for them all year, so they are fine. 

The other stuff (old tomato, pepper, asparagus, and corn) could have been cleaned up at any time, but I was too slow for the first hard freeze.  So when I realized the ground had thawed enough to pull them, I did so.

"BEFORE" PICTURES: 

Peppers...

Asparagus...

Tomatoes...

 Monarda...

 Herbs...

"AFTER" PICTURES: 

Peppers...

 Asparagus...

Tomatoes...

 Monarda...

Herbs.  Well, I only had to take the dead parsley plant out.  Actually, I think I will plant something else in that spot.  I hardly ever use parsley.  The others are perennial (sage, thyme, oregano, chives)...

There are still other parts to clean up, but it was getting dark and the ground will be frozen again for at least a week.  The sedum and baptisia need cutting razing, and I'll need to cut the butterfly bushes back soon. 

But I may replace the butterfly bushes.  They are 15 years old and seem to grow weakly the past 2 years.  Thinner branches come from the trunks.  I think there are better varieties available recently.  More compact, but with steadier repeat blooms.  And as my selection of other plants has changed over the years, the purple butterfly bush flowers don't stand out as well as they used to.  I think red would be better!

Also, you can see in some of the pictures that the soil level has dropped as organic amendments have been used up and some washout has occurred.  Fortunately, I have a good pile of mulch that have been composting for 2 years and is now friable "soil".  Time to add all that into the beds.

It's not that I haven't added good organic fertilizer to the beds the past years, but bulk counts too.  And nothing beats good compost for THAT!

Busy, Busy

I'm glad to see the weather getting a bit better and the days longer.  I am finally becoming more active again!  The warmer weather is a bit of an anomaly (will have gotten above 60 three days this week if the forecast is accurate); the normal is 45 and we have been below that all month!  I can't wait for daylight savings time to start in under 4 weeks.  I don't schedule my day by sunlight, I schedule it by TV.  Hey, I LIKE late-night TV, so it staying lighter by the clock helps me get more done.

I've gotten more done this week so far than most whole weeks in darker Winter.  I can't really say "Seasonally Affected Disorder" because I have never sought a medical diagnosis, but I know the symptoms and they fit me.  I just assume I have a moderate case of it.

So, it is Wed night.  What did I accomplish the past 3 days?  (This isn't a competition, just a personal list)

1.  5 loads of laundry.
2.  Make a quart of spaghetti sauce from scratch.  Well, OK, I didn't grow the vegetables.  If you really want to say "from scratch", you have to start with "1. Created The Universe".  You know what I mean.
3.  Found 3 bags of unused Spring Bulbs (crocus, daffodil, and tulips) and potted them up.  I used all the pots of various soils leftover from last Fall.  They are stashed outside covered against squirrel attack.  There aren't enough "chill days" left this Winter, so I will have to make room in the basement refrigerator in late March to make up for the delay in planting.
4.  Bought hardware to hang drapes across the Mews Room wall to hide vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaner, boxes of surplus linens, cases of cat food, boxes of old magazines I want to keep, my telescope-on-tripod, and "other stuff".  That doesn't mean just attaching a curtain rod.  I'll explain that when I actually install it in a few days.
5.  Cleaned up part of the basement.  Much more to go, but I made a good dent in it.
6.  Collected boxes to bring to the recycle center. 
7.  Tied up 5 bundles of newspapers to bring to the recycle center.
8.  Read a week's worth of newspapers (I get behind sometimes).
9.  Stacked 15 tubs of used kitty litter behind the car so that I can load it Thursday to bring to the landfill.  That's not as bad as it seems.  The kitty litter is tied in plastic bags in the tubs the new litter came in.  In the cold garage, in the tightly-lidded tubs, there is no smell at all. 
10. Took, uploaded, processed, cropped and resized about 300 cat pictures.
11.  Reorganized all my garden seeds in my "numbered vial system" to add the new ones and get all the scatterred types together.  Now all my tomatoes are together, my lettuces together, etc.  Retyped the entire list and printed it out in triplicate so there cannot be any confusion.
12.  Spent AT LEAST 1 full hour each night with 1 or more cats napping on my lap.  Equal amount of time tossing cat toys around and playing with the cats too.
13.  Wrote a long letter to Dad.
14.  Contacted 14 catalog companies to arrange for them to stop killing trees in order to send me paper catalogs I don't want.
15.  Visited home store to get prices and available materials for several projects:
- A.  Computer paper storage rack.  I have letter paper, copy paper, card stock, photo stock, color paper, small paper, lamination sheets, etc.  Currently all just in one big stack.
- B.  Pressure-treated plywood for making new sides for the hauling trailer.  It has an open metal frame, but to haul topsoil, mulch, etc, it needs solid sides and bottom.  I used exterior plywood 5 years ago, but it is about rotted.
- C.  Hardboard/masonite for topping my workbench and radial saw top.
- D.  PVC for making a cat hammock frame.

I'm Still Here!

Sorry I haven't posted here very much lately!  Many causes... 

1.  I've been focussing on the cat blog most days trying to post every day AND visiting all my cat blogging friends.  That has become important to me; I really like seeing what other people's cats are doing.  And I have learned that MOST cat bloggers are really clever and creative writers. 

2.  I just tend to stop doing anything interesting in Winter.  The temp outside is 30 and I just think "I don't wanna go OUT there.  That's kind of shameful; I grew up in Massachusetts and (as kids), we used to make tunnels UNDER the snow!  I have become a WIMP...

3.  You would think that Winter would be the perfect time for wood-working activities.  But the basement is 58.  I just try to avoid it in Winter.  Besides, who wants to wear a coat and gloves while building stuff?

4.  Daylight matters, too.  Doing projects is easier during the daytime.  But in Winter, I tend to stay up late at night and get up at Noon.  By the time I feed the cats, make lunch, and read the newspaper, it is 4 pm and getting dark. 

5.  I have discovered MSNBC!  Progressive talk TV to counter Glenn Beck, Hannity,  and Fox Channel in general!  On weekdays (they don't have the talk shows on weekends), I am locked to the TV from 6pm to 10 pm.  I DO some stuff because I listen more than I watch (and as a consequence, the house is actually cleaner than it used to be and I prepare food better).

6.  And I like to watch both Daily and Colbert on The Comedy Channel.  I have a deep and abiding love of intelligent sarcasm.  Its the Johnny Carson opening monologue on steroids!

7.  I have a good list of projects for this year once the weather improves.  Nesting end tables, sturdy TV trays, a dictionary stand, enclosing the patio below the deck with 2"x3" mesh fencing so the cats can go out without danger, replacing the 4x4 posts under the deck with 6x6 posts, relining the pond and regrading it so the rain flows around it rather that into it, and building a boat shelter so the damn boat doesn't fill up with rain and falling leaves.

OUCHIES

I'm the kind of person who is always mildly injured.  It's not that I'm clumsy (I'm not), but also not because I plays rough sports.  I just push myself or engage in risky actions.  And even then, I don't mean that I go rock-climbing or parachuting.

It's the small daily events that get me.  I got annoyed at a squirrel once and tossed a rock at it and messed up my rotator cuff for 6 months.  I ordered some large stones (small boulders?) and hurt my back moving them around a small pond I built.  Once I was cutting a branch off of an apple tree and didn't realize the branch was torqued.  When cut through, it sprang up against my hand pushing against the saw blade.  I cut the the finger to the bone.  These things happen.  I'm active and live alone. so I always have to do things that should really take 2 people.  There is always some strained muscle or sore joint...

So today I am am humorously writing about a fingertip.  "A fingertip"?  Yes.

On New Year's Eve, I set a small fire in the basement fireplace.  Nothing big.  I don't have any good fireplace wood.  I used some clean wood scraps and some newspaper.  I just felt a fire was traditional.  Well, in the course of feeding newspaper to the fire, I brushed the hot grate with a finger.  OUCH!

But that sort of thing is common.  I work in the garden, sometimes I get a blister.  I work in the yard, sometimes I strain a muscle.  BFD.  I pretty much ignored it.  2 days later, I noticed the tip on a finger was numb and hard.  I remembered the grate incident.  But it didn't swell up like burns usually do.

It just sat there.

Today, 17 days later, it suddenly fell apart!  17 days???

It went apart like sunburned skin.  All of a sudden and nothing first, the skin was flaking off.  I've had burns before.  I managed to drop a pot of spaghetti water once and burned both legs badly.  And having a fireplace, I've had my share of minor burns.  But not delayed like this!

It isn't painful yesterday.  I was able to rub the old skin off and the new skin isn't sensitive.  But it sure was weird!

If a blister had formed the day after and it hurt and swelled like such things usually do, I wouldn't have bothered to mention it.  But the delay and lack of the normal irritations of a burn made this very strange.

Cable TV Annoyances

It started with the remote control slowing down as I tried to change channels.  Then, the TV Guide part started working slower too.  Finally, I couldn't enter the 3-number channel numbers.  It would transmit 1 number (sometimes 2) never the last.

I changed the batteries (rechargeable) and then changed them again.  No good.  I cleaned the window on the remote control, on the TV, and on the cable box.  No good.

So, I took the remote control (which needed to be replaced because the battery cover has to be taped on and you can't read the buttons anymore) to the local cable site.  The place is more fortified than my bank!  2" plexiglass (or whatever they use these days),  a double-covered opening to speak through (have they never heard of microphones?), and a double-locked box through which can pass equipment.  You open your side and put the equipment in and close it.  The cable person locks your door amd opens his to retrieve it.


I'm not kidding.  My bank doesn't have that kind of security.  It has no barriers and they have real money behind them!

But be that as it may...  I told them my remote control seemed to be failing.  The guy said "put it in the box".  I started to do so and he shouted "No, in the BOX, man, I don't want it".  Huh?  He meant in the trash can on my side of the Embassy-quality security barrier.  I pointed out that the logical "box" was the one for returning or receiving equipment.

Strangely, he seemed pissed at my incomprehension.  OK...  not one to fight the system, I dropped it in there.  Then he said he was passing me a new remote control through the "box".  Silly me, I looked at the trash can.  No, it can through the FT Knox quality plexiglass-survive-an-atomic-bomb box. 

No, I did not even point out the silliness of the terms.  I wanted to get the hell out of there!  I just took the new remote and went home.

Never mind the huge sign that said that NO EQUIPMENT WILL BE PROVIDED WITHOUT PROOF OF IDENTITY, and I hadn't.

So I got home and the new remote control had no effect.  I tried newly charged rechargeable batteries in case the provided ones were dead.  No change.

*GLOOM*

It had to be the cable box itself (only months old).  So I pulled the TV stand out from the wall and detached the cables, leaving them in place to make it easier to reattach them.  I CAN figure out cabling (and did it succesfully when I added a DVD player/recorder to the system last month), but it wasn't easy.  So I am very careful.

I brought the cable box to Comcast.  And standing there, I had to listen to a customer making small talk to the service guy (obviously trying to get a date).  Hey, don't do that on MY time, OK?  So, I explained the problem to the service guy (eventually).  He spoke very quietly through the barrier.  And as I tried to hear his words, another customer came to the other window and started YELLING about his bill problem.  And the other guy was OBVIOUSLY wrong.  I almost offerred to throw him out.

I did pass my cable box through "The Security Box".

But I struggled to hear my own customer service representative (with a BAD accent).  He was trying to tell me that he didn't have my type of cable box in stock and that I might have to wait for several days.

Sorry, no, that wasn't acceptable. and "could I at least have my previous box back"?  Slow channel selection is better than none...  He said he couldn't give me a damaged box back because I said it was "damaged".  He said the only ones available were for "better systems" but he could give me a lesser box until the right one was available.  I have everything they OFFER!

He said the "better one" was HDMI.   I pointed out that the box I gave him was HDMI!  He didn't believe me, but disappeared into a room for (and I measured it) 5 full minutes.  He finally came out with a cable box identical down to the last to the last outlet and input and said "I'll give you this one", as if he was reluctantly granting me a heart transplant.

And remember that sign below the counter about not giving out cable equipment?  They never did ask me for mine.  If I had stolen a discarded broken one, I would have gotten a new working one!

Strange people...

So I got home with the replacement cable box.  I hooked it up properly (I thought).  This part is my fault.   You have to call the cable company and go through a bunch of questions to get a signal sent to the new unit to activate it and wait (up to) 45 minutes.  I called and the voice-only system said it send the signal.  45 minutes later, there was still no signal.

I hadn't fully seated the power cord properly.  My fault all the way.  I had to talk to the VOICE again and get a new signal sent.  At least it worked this time.  The cable system is working again.

I shouldn't even mention that coding the new Universal Remote meant I had to go through a bunch of nonsense.  But the cable TV instructions were in invisible print and I had to copy it from their site to PDF and from there to WORD and expand it to 20 point font just to read it.

And I will add that the "Universal Remote" isn't.  It will not control my TV except to shut it off and on.  It won't control my new DVR at all.  For me to watch a DVR, I have to use 3 separate remotes...  LOL!

But at least I can finally change channels on the cable again with A remote..

Snowblower

My purchase of a fancy snowblower in October has been paying off well!  Here around Washington DC, we have had three 1" snowfalls so far.  We barely missing some serious snowfalls!  I take all the credit for that.

The snow demons KNOW I now have a serious snowblower and they avoid the area just to spite my desire to try it out...

It's like when I watch a local sports team.  If I watch, they lose.  If I don't watch, they win.  If they are winning and I turn on the game in the middle, they immediately fall apart and lose.

So my ownership of the snowblower should provide assurance to the rest of the DC area.

Cash donations from grateful local residents are encouraged...

UPDATE:  I just heard that 71% of the US is covered with snow.  Consider THAT you people who deny climate change...  The only State free of it is Florida and their usual crops are dying.

Because of the comforting and healing ceremony in Tucson yesterday, I have decided to just "let it be".  I can't think of anything I can add to that.

Many speakers said wonderful things, and they did it better than I can.  President Obama's speech was particularly good.  So I don't think I will be posting on the subject as I thought I would.  If disturbing information arises in the future on this tragedy, I may.

Tucson Mass Killings

I have been trying to learn and understand about the mass killing in Tucson Arizona.  I want to write about it.  I haven' decided how.  I have been thinking some poetry lines.  I have been thinking some prose.  I have been thinking of some lists of quotes about the event.  I haven't decided how to approach the posts about it over the next few days.  Probably all of them...

I don't want it to be political in main purpose, but some political thoughts will emerge.  Politics IS involved in some ways. But I have listened to extremists at both ends and I don't want to go there.

I think I will try for a poem to mention the loss and sadness first, but simple prose might be easier soonest.  This whole event both angers and saddens me; I don't know which will show up before the other.

But I do apologize for taking over my own blog for a specific purpose (temporarily).

Cavebear

Garden (And Other) Catalogs

For years I received dozens of gardening catalogs.  I never knew much about which ones were good companies except by trial and error.  Fortunately, a few years ago, I discovered a website dedicated to catalog company evaluation by serious gardeners.  You can find it HERE

The site offers its Top 30 Rated Garden Catalog Companies, the newest comments, and a way to search for any other garden catalog to see their rating/comments.   I have found it to be a wonderful way of evaluating companies and finding new good sources.

Getting a lot of gardenomg catalogs with poor ratings and you want to stop receiving them (or any other particular types of catalogs)?  I have learned ways of doing this.

First, you can go to Catalog Choice.  You have to set up an account, but it is free and I can't detect that I have gotten any spam as a result.  They have a list of catalog companies.  You click on the company, enter some address label information, and they contact the company that you don't want that catalog.  It is voluntary for the company, but MOST of them comply (they don't want to waste money sending you a catalog you actively don't want).  I would guess I've had about a 75% success rate.  Plus, if your unwanted catalog company isn't on their list, they will add it AND let you know when it is available for cancelling.  Some just will not remove you from their list, but I have really cut down on the number of unwanted catalogs I receive.

Second, if you go directly to the company's website, look for their Privacy Policy.  There is almost always an "unsubscribe" option in there.  That has been successful, even for companies that do not respond to Catalog Choice requests.  Perhaps they are more legally or policy bound to honoring direct requests.

Third, if you are receiving a catalog you like, but don't really need to receive it every month (face it, some products and prices just don't change that often), some companies will allow you to change the frequency of mailing.  Changing it from once a month to twice a year saves throwing out a lot of catalogs.  Who doesn't want to save a few trees?

Fourth, you may be getting the same wanted catalog twice.  Companies sometimes get your address in different forms and don't know they are sending you 2 or 3 of the same one.  It is worth checking the address labels.  Even slight differences can fool a company.  Look for a Customer ID on the label.  Many, but not all, have those. If you see different ones and want the catalog, cancel the others.  The companies usually have a "duplicate mailing" option for cancellation.  They respond to that reason very well.

Hope this helps...

2011 Gardening Season

The 2011 gardening season has begun! I've received my good seed&supply catalogs.

Now,  it is time to go through my seeds and decide which need to be restocked or replaced (because of age).  Fortunately, I have a system for storing and tracking them.


First, all the seeds are kept in capped vials with a number on the top.  Yes, those are "specimen containers".  I found them cheap 10 years ago somewhere.  The tray makes for easy carrying and finding the numbered vials.

The seed tray is kept in a basement refrigerator that I also use as a root cellar and bulk frozen food storage.  They last longer sealed and chilled...  The open vials remind me that that seed is used up.  The 0-99 series is for flowers and herbs, the 100+ series is for veggies.


Second, a list has the seed name and type, the year of purchase, and the vial number.  I keep it on Excel because the columns are easy to manage.  But I also print out 2 copies for safety.  One stays in the seed tray, the other in a 3x5" card file (more on that below). 

BTW, that's only 1/2 the list.  I had to fold it to make it large enough to be readable here.

The smaller the seeds, generally the shorter they last.  So I'll go through the list looking for ones that seem old or I don't like.  For example, I'll be replacing all the corn (111-115) this year.  The Bon Appetit is too old, and I didn't like the Golden Bantam.  Far too starchy for me.

The third part of my system is calendar and a 3x5" card file.  That is for specific weekly instructions for each crop.  On the calendar, I simply find the average last frost date and write "0" on the closest weekend.  Then going backwards I write -1, -2, -3..., etc for each weekend; forward from there it is of course 1, 2, 3... so I have "weeks til" and "weeks after" the average last frost date.  Those are the basis for the card file instructions.

Each file card has  a specific crop, a specific numbered week, and instructions for what to do with that crop that week.

For example, this card reminds me that in week -4 (4 weeks before the average last frost date), I need to transplant my tomatoes from the small cell packs to larger individual pots and set them deeper in the soil.  So there are 4 cards for tomatoes.  One to plant, one to transplant inside, one to harden them off outside, and one to plant outside.

Each week has it's own tab in the card file box.  Week 0 might have individual cards for tomatoes, cabbage, leeks, radishes and cucumbers; week 2 might have cards for radishes, corn, broccoli, beans, and melons.

I have a separate series of cards for Spring planting and Fall planting (counted from average first frost date in October.  Some crops have many cards for the same purpose (for succession planting of radishes every 2 weeks for example).

The cards are, of course, geared to my specific location (Southern MD USDA Zone 7A) and gardening habits (using protective covers outside on some crops).  It may seem a bit complicated.  Some people just remember this stuff easily, I don't.  And some people trust their gardening by the weather each year, I don't.  And some people don't like to keep records, I do.  It works well for me.

If you have any questions about it, leave me a comment or email me:  yardenman-2118 AT comcast DOT net.  (replace the caps with the symbols)

Reflections on 2010

2010 was not a good year.  It was a hard year for many people, but I'm not talking about that.

And, since I am alive, healthy, and my 2 current cats are young and happy, I'm not talking about that either.  I'm looking at the "related" losses.

My dear cat, LC, went over The Bridge in January.  While she wasn't "the cat of my life", she was a good cat.  Friendly, neat, undemanding, and companionable.  Mostly, she was Skeeter's friend.  And since Skeeter was "the cat of my life" until Dec 2008, her companionship to him made HIS days wonderful and I thank her for that.  After Skeeter left us, she was a good friend to me.  Both of them lived past 16 years old and are missed.  Burying her in the frozen January garden was very hard, physically and emotionally.  And when she went, that was the last contact with Skeeter.

The garden was a disaster last year.  The Spring was cold and rainy, the Summer hot and dry.  The small crops never grew, the cukes and pole beans just sat there at a few inches, and the heirloom tomatoes died in July.  I got only a dozen tomatoes and I LOVE tomatoes.

My youngest sister died in August.  She had some brain blood vessel problem that took her life short.  She was a dear friend, a fellow organic gardener (much better than me), a wonderful mother to 3 kids, and I miss her very much.  She was 16 years younger than me and I was her adored older brother.  I wish it had been me instead.  I'm just a single old guy and my loss would mean little.  She had a family who needed her..

I lost my Mom in September.  She was old and had Parkinson's and other problems.  But she was the person who taught me to read and write, and to love Broadway musicals and classical music when I was older.  She taught me to cook. She did so much else, but you get the idea.

A tale of a vegetable peeler...  When I set up my first apartment around age 20, Mom gave me a few items.  One was a cheap vegetable peeler.  It was old when she gave it to me 40 years ago.  Over the years, it has been honed to perfection.  It takes the thinnest peels off carrots and tosses them off.  A new one I bought does not.  Every time I use that old peeler, I think of Mom.  And I have a few other kitchen tools like that.  Goodbye Mom, I love you.  And I will remember you every day by the things I have from you.  Things that you used and touched...


So I sadly say farewell to those I have lost this year and hope that 2011 is kinder to those I know.  And if this happens to be my year to go, I want everyone to know ahead of that time that I enjoyed our time together.  I loved it all.  No one knows when the last day comes, so I want to make sure to thank everyone "in case".

Well, let's see what 2011 has to offer.  I hope it is kinder...