Thank you, Moira and Diane, for your thoughts. I have felt a little out of sorts lately (I don't know if it's the dreaming or something else) and it was nice to hear what other people think instead of going over it and over it in my own head without any real resolution.
I wonder if I had any cheese that day. I do love cheese. LOL.
LOL! Thanks, Moira. What I really want is my own bed. HAHAHA!
That's an interesting thought. We took a rug out of the kitchen recently. It had been under the washing machine and for some reason the wash water had slopped up out of the drain pipe and soaked the rug. Maybe there was something in there bothering me.
That is an awesome dream. I wish I could have nice dreams like that. I have the sorts of dreams (nightmares) that I either have to change the course of while I am asleep or wake myself up from because they are so bad. The weird thing is that recently my husband has started having dreams, too. He is not a dreamer. One night we dreamed about the same "central character", and believe me, it was completely off the wall. Must have been something we ate that night, for sure. Another night, he had a tornado dream. He said he finally understood why I so despise tornado dreams. LOL. Even my son has nightmares. I am afraid that he takes after me. I've had them ever since I was little. |
| Valia Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 10:08 am: |   |
I've been thinking along the same line as Diane, Dj. I have a problem with asthma affecting my sleep. If blankets or pillowcase push up in front of my face so that my moist, CO2-laden breath is reflected back, I have weird, brief, unpleasant dreams and wake up in a panic. Then I can't get back to sleep. I use all sorts of tricks to keep this from happening. |
That is interesting, too, Anne. I think the bad dreams would go away in the summer when I don't sleep under blankets, if that were the problem. Although it could be the heater, but I have a CO2 detector. Not to mention that I've had bad dreams my whole life. Your CO2 idea reminds me that when we lived in Florida, I discovered that I had really bad nightmares if I drank water right before going to bed. Maybe it's time to have our well water tested again. Or at least change the filter.  Thanks, Anne! I think I will go do that now.  |
February 18, 2008 (Monday)
It is rainy and windy today. It's about 56 degrees outside and it's only 6:30 in the morning. That is bizarre. The snow is almost all gone, but there are massive puddles everywhere because the ground is still frozen, particularly in front of the chicken coop and in the northeast corner of the new yard. I am going to have to fix those low spots before I plant any perennials or bulbs out there. ~~~~~~~~ I saw something on the news last night about the workers at some meat company who mistreated sick cows, beating them, spraying them with hoses, and shoving them around the lot with forklifts. Sickening. ~~~~~~~~ Lovely rain. Connecting at 21.6 kbps this morning. ~~~~~~~~ My throat still feels bruised from the other night, but at least now I don't wake up gagging when the blankets and my hair drape across my neck during the night. The pain from that still wakes me up, but I still slept better last night than usual, although I am still way behind on sleep. Today looks like a good day for a nap or to curl up in bed and take another look at a gardening book. ~~~~~~~~ I went out to check the chickens. Except for one Rock, they were all still in their tent. Guess they don't like the dreary day. It's a good thing I moved some of the stones to make a temporary finish to the path to the coop. Yuck. I came back in to get the camera so I could take some pics of the flooding so that I know what to fix later. After taking pics, I was on my way back in when I noticed that my Lime Fizz Irises were flooded. I wonder if the neighbors saw me standing in the pouring rain, with my snow hat on and my umbrella lying on the ground, digging in the muck with my bare hands. I moved a couple of rhizomes, but the others were stuck in frozen dirt clods that I couldn't pull up. I had to go grab the Poison Ivy shovel (which had been left out since last summer) so that I could dig them up. I dug the remaining rhizomes out and now they are all living on the mound of dirt behind their flooded hole. Hopefully they will survive the transplant. They would have rotted if I had left them where they were, so it's not like I had much choice. Anyway, I have since washed my hands with lots of soap and PI scrub, so hopefully I won't have to worry about an outbreak.
Coop Puddle
Coop Puddle and Picnic Rock Puddle
~~~~~~~~ I was glad to see that the puddle in front of the chicken coop had disappeared by the time I went out to tuck the chickens in. I still think I'll need to level that area out; otherwise, probably nothing would ever have a chance to self-sow in there.
February 20, 2008 (Wednesday)
I have decided to put the garlic, Cipollini Onions, scallions, and chives in with the rhubarb. If any of the rhubarb that I planted last year survived the drought, I'm going to transplant it to where the old rhubarb lives. I am also not going to start the onion family seeds inside. We'll see how that goes. I figure it isn't the end of the world if it doesn't go so well. ........ I'd like to move everything else (except for the strawberries, maybe) out of the berry patch and put them out front somewhere so that I can return the south field to a single purpose. I bet that would be a great and cheap area to enclose for goats. Poor goats. ~~~~~~~~ The utility workers were here trimming trees. They didn't send out an announcement this time. I wonder if someone has been getting cut off from the grid lately. I thought they were going to cut down the birch tree. They left one trunk, but cut the other. Sad, but it wasn't a good specimen to begin with. They trimmed some of the maple tree branches and then trimmed the pine by the mailbox. I wish they had just cut the whole thing down. It's a dead and dying disaster, but my husband likes its California look. If I could wield his monster chain saw, I'd cut it down myself. ~~~~~~~~ I tried to change the filter on the well water, but I couldn't budge the filter trap. That'll have to wait until later. I wonder why it is stuck. ~~~~~~~~ On a different note, I really need to move that Bee Balm to moist partial shade this year. Now where would that be? ~~~~~~~~ DAFFODILS!!!!!!! Yay, I am so excited! I saw them poking up by the rock wall at the top of the driveway. Those are always the first ones to come up. It was cold, especially since I didn't wear a coat, but I decided to check the lawn. I couldn't see any of the new Daffs in the lawn, but that doesn't mean they aren't there... just maybe hard to see. But I did see them in the bare patch I planted under the corner maple tree. Woohoo! They live! I also checked up by the cistern and the Daffs are coming up there, too. That's amazing. They are all on the same schedule for once and they're all up to about an inch tall.
February 22, 2008 (Friday)
It is snowing. We are supposed to get 6 to 10 inches today, although I am waiting for this morning's weather update to get the latest guesstimate. It's a weird change after so many days of looking through the windows and thinking that it looked like spring, just before the grass turns green. Even stranger considering that just yesterday I was outside sinking in the muddy muck. ........ The update still says 6 to 10 inches. ~~~~~~~~ I have a couple of new buds on my "Christmas" cactus. No sprouts in the seed department, though. ~~~~~~~~ I am so tired and I've had a headache for 12 days now. I really need to do something about these dreams. Maybe I will sleep in the guest room this weekend and see if that helps. In the meantime, I am going to blame the lack of sleep for my recent string of brain epizooties. ~~~~~~~~ The task panel seems to finally be happy to stay in the location requested. ~~~~~~~~ The chickens played outside in their pens yesterday until about 3 PM. I think they were disappointed to see the snow when I opened the door to the coop this morning. I think I forgot to mention it to them yesterday.
February 25, 2008 (Monday) IN THE BEE GARDEN
60 Minutes re-aired their coverage of the bee problem last night. I wish they had done a better job of updating the story. I get better info just reading the Internet.
I need to remember to plant my clover and bell beans this year. They are old; I wonder if they are still viable. What else do I have in there?.... That's all, and now that I look at it, I now know what it is that the mice stored in my ribbon box: clover seeds.
At any rate, for the bees, I want to plant big patches of native flowers: Rudbeckia, Goldenrod, Asters, Joe-Pye Weed, Lupine, Penstemon, Purple Coneflower, Sage, and Sunflower. Lucky bees... I have most of that already. LOL!
I am going to see if I can find out why the bees covet my Oregano so much. It was like beenip last year. Hmm, I see Marjoram (Origanum) on the list of garden flowers to plant. Guess that exlains the Oregano.
So, garden flowers to plant: Basil, Lavender, Echinops, Hyssop, Marjoram, and Zinnia. Again, I have most of that. Ha!
I have saved a list of bee favorites. What I have from the list to plant is: Campanula, Centaurea, Gaillardia, must retrieve all of the wild Crane's Bill Geraniums I can find before I turn them under this year, Kniphofia (guess I'd better just set up a whole strip of land to use up all those seeds - ugh!), Mentha (guess I had better do the same for that, somewhere where I don't care if it takes over; gives me a headache just to think of all that mint), Oregano - duh!, Papaver - yeah!, and Thyme. I should try to get some of the low-growing Thyme for the path to the coop. I should get some Borage, too. I love Borage.
I will cover whatever I use to catch rainwater this year and I think I will create a dripline from one rainwater basin to something shallow for the bees to drink from. I will also not be using the Agribon row covers this year. That stuff should be banned.
I think the bell beans will go in the north field for next year's pumpkin crop. I wonder where the clover should go? I need a permanent bee garden. Where? Let's see... 10 pounds of old clover seed, at 5 oz. per 100 sq ft... Wow, assuming 55% viability after who knows how many years of very dry storage, that's about 40 ft x 40 ft. Maybe I'll make an 8 ft x 200 ft bed along the south field. Then I won't have to harrow on the tipping-over point ever again. Feeling a panic-attack just thinking about it.
Let's say 150 lbs of bell beans per acre... and assume 50% viability for those poor things... Hmm, that would be 12 lbs for the north field, but I only have 10 to begin with and would actually need 24 since it's so old. Well, I guess I will go with what I have and this will be a test to see just how viable it really is. I could mix it in with the old Timothy seed just to help prevent weeds, since I can't find anything that says that is a bad idea.
Aside from that, I will use up another 122 types of seed. Ugh! That still leaves me with 102 types of seed to use up next year, not including whatever I collect this year. Oh, well, still getting somewhere. The bees will love me, if there are any here this year. I just hope they don't try to love me too much.
Aah, the mint... I have an idea... I'll plant it up against a stone wall somewhere. Then it can only go one way from there. If I plant it against the stone wall along the south field, I can harrow the free side to keep it from getting out of hand. That'll be nice. Yeah. I'd be tempted to plant it on the other side of the creek. I'd love to see those maintenance crews try to battle that. LOL. |
February 26, 2008 (Tuesday)
Why is it that every time I disconnect from the Internet and close my browser, that is when I remember why I got on the Internet in the first place? I am re-connecting now, but will probably forget why before I even finish typing this journal entry. Ugh. Such a headache. Again. Primroses... lest I forget what I was doing. ~~~~~~~~ I forced myself to go do a basement bulb check. I've been avoiding that like the plague, but it went pretty well. Some of the garlic have sprouted, but they look firm and clean still, no mold. So far. Don't want to jinx anything. Some of the heirloom dahlias are a little moldy, Little Beeswings in particular, but the Pompon Dahlias looked good (the ones that I could see). For some reason, some of my heirloom dahlias are not labelled. How did that happen? Some of them have sprouted and are growing roots, too. Ee. (No, not eek, just ee. I'm sure eek will come later. Like when I reach into the bags.) I need to go to the tractor store this weekend for chicken food, so I'll pick up some potting supplies and something for the dahlias and maybe the garlic. Need to research that. ~~~~~~~~ I went out to play musical chairs with the chickens. It has been snowing for a while and it is extremely lovely. The flakes are big and fluffy. I came out of the coop with a handful of eggs and just watched the snow fall. I could hear the flakes falling on my coat, whispering, "Pffff... pshhh... thip..." I watched them gather and clump on my outstretched hand. It was so peaceful and beautiful. I almost forgot I was standing in it. It wasn't until I came in that I saw that the hand that had held the eggs was the one that had caught the most snow. Of course that would happen, since I had been looking at my other hand, patiently waiting for each clump of flakes to find its way there. ~~~~~~~~ Don't really know about the garlic. Will pot it up and just deal with it. The dahlias, though... it sure is early, but who knows, maybe some Edward Scissorhands-style pruning until May and I will have short dahlias with tons o' flowers, right off the bat. Actually, that might not be such a bad idea. I had wanted to just grow them in pots this year, so maybe this is my big chance for that AND to have early dahlias. |
| Nibbs Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 03:35 pm: | |
Dj! This photo was sent to me by email and I thought of you right away! I hope you don't mind me posting a photo in your journal. Brings a smile to my face!
 |
Aaaawwwww!!!!!! How cute is that!! How in the world did that happen? Those must have been some pretty big eggs. LOL! Look at those cute little pink noses. I wonder what will happen when those kittens grow up? (Nope, I don't mind if people post pics here. This is more like a telephone than a journal, anyway. LOL! Thanks, Diane.) |
February 27, 2008 (Wednesday) STORYTIME
Ugh. Denise's (Dee_b) mention of being in a high rise in an earthquake is going to give me nightmares for sure. It reminded me of the summer I stayed in PR with my parents. They had an apartment on the 12th floor of a 13-floor high rise. I remember sitting in the living room talking with my Dad when all of a sudden it sounded like the people below us were hammering on their ceiling. It was really loud and annoying and I was just about to comment on it when my Dad said, "Hey!" in a really weird tone. He was looking through the sliding glass doors, and I glanced over instinctively. I could see that the building was swaying one way and the trees in the surrounding neighborhood were swaying in the opposite direction. I instantly knew what was going on and I turned around to see my Mom in the kitchen, where she was standing with an open pot of beans cooking on the stove. The water sloshed up and over one side of the rim, then sloshed up and over the opposite rim. She yelled something and then herded us down the stairwell like cattle. I remember thinking the whole time that either we were going to be killed in the stairwell or we were going to get to the bottom, walk out, and be crushed when the building fell on top of us. I did not like that one bit. We'd had earthquakes when we lived in PA, but they never really frightened me like this one or the one when I was an undergrad. I had been asleep when that one started, seem to recall it being morning, but who knows. I heard noise and thought the dog and cat were trashing the apartment. I saw something on my dresser tilting from side to side and then the cat and dog came flying up the stairs all at once and jumped on my bed together. They were freaked and so was I. I think the reason that one had freaked me out so much was that I knew it was the New Madrid fault line... the one that had sent the Mississippi running backwards at some point in history. That and the fact that it was the first time I'd ever been in an earthquake alone. Just not my cup of tea. I remember when my husband and I moved to CA and he just couldn't wait for his first earthquake. I could feel every little tremor and he never felt a thing; he slept through quakes like a baby. Then one day I was sitting on the bathroom floor, chatting with the turtles swimming in the bathtub, when a bigger quake hit. My husband came running into the hallway with a very disturbed look on his face and asked if that was an earthquake. I nonchalantly said that it was. I couldn't have pulled that off if I hadn't been sitting down already, propped against the wall, or if I hadn't felt the other little tremors over the previous few days. I never heard him talk about wanting to experience another earthquake after that. It's unfortunate that my two favorite states have my least favorite natural disasters. I guess I'd move back to FL before I moved back to CA. At least people know when a hurricane is on the way. ~~~~~~~~ On a different note, I am considering painting the chicken coop to match the house. I thought that a little white picket fence running even with the front stone wall would be nice, with a double gate. Maybe let my husband finish the Shining Path he started over there. I'd revamp the chicken pen with 4x4 posts painted white with copper post caps (or something else nice). I could make matching white arbors on each end of the coop, one to help fight the north winds and the other for more summer shade and for enclosing in the winter, like a sunroom for the chickens. Then I could use the area in front of the coop for my raised bed veggie garden. Sweet... The fence would probably keep the dog out of the garden! What a concept. I am really liking this idea. I think little boxwood hedges in the new yard would be nice, with one hedge running along the north end of the garden. A nice little natural boundary. Might need a fence, though, if the deer get pushy. Maybe I could just park the dog out there until the deer get the hint. ........ Weird. I've started reading about boxwood and so of course I stumbled across a blog in which the writer mentions Alice Morse Earle. This is not the first time I've come across a mention of her, but it always strikes me as odd to find her in my Internet travels, while looking up things to do with the house, since the house was owned by a Morse family for about 125 years. Anyway, back to reading the blog. ........ Oh, yes, well, I don't find it odd that she (Alice) thought that we inherit our memories from our ancestors. I dreamed once that dreams are just memories from people who live on other planets at the edge of the ever-expanding universe. Dreams that seem unworldly and futuristic seem that way because the people at the edge of the universe have existed for a much longer time than we have and are therefore more advanced than we are. They came to this planet eons ago, dropped some of their people off, and here we are today, having dreams about a future that actually happened millenia ago. Good idea for a book. ........ Ha! Funny that this guy starts to describe one of his own dreams. LOL. ........ So weird. He mentions someone named Wayne and I instantly think of Diane. Then he gets to mentioning Fritillaria, which I have been obsessing over lately because I love it and yet it hates my yard, and I so want to buy some more. Then he mentions Constance Spry. I had a friend named Connie in 6th grade, short for Constance. I always imagined old sailing ships and Pilgrims every time I heard her name, and now here I am, in the land of Pilgrims, reading too many coincidences from a guy I've never even met. And to think he thinks that Alice was something of an uneducated nut for thinking that people inherit memories from their ancestors. LOL. ........ Huh, so someone in the comments says they remember boxwood from their trips to Williamsburg. I wonder if that is why I am drawn to it. Once again, I am led to believe that I could not have escaped living in this place even if I had tried. ........ Ahhh, I just cannot wait to get my hands on some boxwood. ~~~~~~~~ So now I have come full-circle, re-reading what I wrote about not being able to escape living in this place, and now I remember why I originally got on the Internet this last time... to update the house pics in my photo album, which I still have not done. LOL! *sigh* I cannot connect to the Internet now. Naturally! Oh, well, that means I have a project for tomorrow. ~~~~~~~~ WOOHOO!!! Some of the best news in the world. We were contacted about getting our son into that school this fall. I guess we go there Friday to fill out the papers. WOOHOO!
February 28, 2008 (Thursday)
I wonder if yesterday's good news had anything at all to do with the fact that I had a dream last night that I wouldn't classify as a nightmare. It had a couple of parts I didn't like, but for once I wasn't scared or in danger of dying and would say I had a good dream. Plus, I didn't have any other dreams. Just woke up in the middle of the one, then went back to sleep and continued it where I had left off. I wonder if that's the secret -- getting things to go right in life so that I can have good dreams. It even had the ocean in it, WITHOUT TIDAL WAVES. I feel like a new person, not as tired as usual. Happy, happy, joy, joy. So, now what? Oh, yes, the album update. ~~~~~~~~ 8:36 AM - Time to make some chocolate pudding, while I wait for some garden catalog pics to load. ........ Reminder for future reference: Do not cook pudding while waiting for garden pics to download. Almost burnt the pudding due to sneaking peeks of pics. ~~~~~~~~ Speaking of (kanga)Roo Poo, I fed the plants in the plant room. I wonder how (not-kanga)Roo likes the smell of bat guano. I think it is interesting, but then I don't have to live in it 24/7. ~~~~~~~~ I just love watching Timothy do his thing. I wonder if that rabbit has any idea how lucky he is. A life of luxury. Never thought I'd see a rabbit stretch out, completely relaxed, like there isn't a thing in the world that would ever consider eating a rabbit. Stretching, yawning, soaking up the morning sun. Sometimes he uses those cute little feet to wash his face and adorable pink ears. Too cute. I love the way he pokes his nose up, waiting for a scratch between the ears, the little nose and whiskers twitching this way and that. It's like Tiki has come back as a rabbit. ~~~~~~~~ My son is so funny. He loves beans. Beans of all kinds. He wanted beans for lunch yesterday, but we were all out and I said so. But, having no doors on the kitchen cabinets makes the food supply open for inspection, and he went in there to look for himself, saying, "I have good eyes for finding beans." Funny, but sadly, no beans for those good eyes to find. Now I have forgotten what it was he just said today that was so funny, that reminded me of yesterday's search for beans. Oh, now I remember. I had broken two eggs open. He asked what they were for and I said that I needed them to make the pancakes. He explained to me that chickens go to sleep at night, and when they wake up in the morning, they make eggs. Haha, yes, that is exactly what they do. Chickens make eggs for breakfast. LOL. ........ That first pancake was the story of my life. I poured three nice little pancakes. None of them were round, but I didn't care. I flipped the first one over at exactly the perfect moment. Lightly browned, nicely puffed, didn't crack or splat or anything. Flipped the second pancake. Lovely. Flipped the third lovely pancake, and dropped it gooey side down on the first pancake. Aargh. Life goes on. I made enough pancakes for two days, thinking I wouldn't have to make any pancakes tomorrow. I could just reheat the extras. Oh, well, what can I say. They were such tasty little pancakes that only one remains. ~~~~~~~~ Whoa, -6 wind chill tonight? And -7 wind chill tomorrow? Lovely. Guess Hawk is in for a lube before bedtime. Huh? Three to seven inches of snow tomorrow night? I thought they said an inch or less. This is like last time when they said two inches and then decided it would be ten. Think it turned out to be neither one that time, too.
February 29, 2008 (Friday) LEAP DAY
I am one day past my direct winter sowing date and have decided to wait until at least mid-March to do it. It's a toss-up between what would be most apt to eat my seeds if I were to plant at this point: the mice or the birds. So, I am just going to wait. We have snow on the ground, anyway, and expect about six inches more tonight. Some of this stuff is going to have to wait longer than that just so that I can get the coop puddle under control. ~~~~~~~~ We went to the tractor store this morning. I only bought four packets of seeds. Stunning willpower. Two different strains of Russell Lupines and two different supplier's Double Chaters Hollyhocks. Russell Lupines aren't new to the yard, but Chaters Hollyhocks will be. I think I will grow them in the new yard, or maybe in front of the chicken coop, and transplant the Country Romance Hollyhocks to the front yard. I was thinking this morning that maybe I will paint the chicken coop with the red paint I bought for the house doors. That might look cute, especially if I can talk my husband into using the same shade on the barn when he gets around to that. I don't know... the Pumpkin paint is more peppy than the red.
March 1, 2008 (Saturday) ARTIFICIAL SPRING
I couldn't stand it anymore. New snow on the ground, pretty and fluffy, but I wanted to see something sprout. So, I have started seeds of Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), Japanese Beauty Berry (Callicarpa dichotoma), Sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana), Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans), and Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima). These are leftovers from last year, so who knows what -- if anything -- will germinate. ~~~~~~~~ I forgot to buy any growing medium for my dahlias yesterday. I am going to have to scrounge around in the garage and the barn today. Ugh. ~~~~~~~~ Couldn't help myself. I have also started Daylily 'Happy Returns' (self-collected) and Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia). ~~~~~~~~ Score! I found an unopened bag of potting soil in the garage. Woohoo!
March 2, 2008 (Sunday)
I am considering building some cold frames. I originally wanted to use them for starting vegetables, but the temptation to use them for flowers is almost overwhelming. I'll measure the old storm windows and count the cinder blocks to see how many frames I can build. Then it'll just depend on when my back, arms, and legs give out as to how many frames I build and what I'll grow. I think this might be tractor work. I don't really want to try to lug blocks in the wheelbarrow through the snow. ........ I am aiming to start veggies such that they go into the cold frames six weeks before they'd normally go outside in the open, but such that outside temps are not going below 20. I was thinking mid-March would be about right for setting out some veggies in the cold frames, and I could start them this week. I see 17 degrees scheduled for Friday night, but the rest of the nights are above that, so this might be just about the right timing. ........ Hmm, some other weather site only lists tonight as being below 20 (19 to be exact), so I'll have to see which site is more accurate this week. It looks like it'll be in the mid-40s tomorrow, so I guess that is when I will work on building the first cold frame. Only mid-30s today. ~~~~~~~~ I dumped the turtle water on the end of the compost pile. The flowers will love that. ~~~~~~~~ I bought only two packets of seeds today: 'Hens and Chicks' Poppies (Papaver somniferum) and Ipomopsis 'Hummingbird Mix'. When we got home from shopping, I discovered a possible solution to the outdoor mouse problem. I knew this, but it's one thing to see it in action: chickens make excellent mousers. That mouse didn't have a chance. The ladies were stealing it away from each other and running around with it like it was the best thing since sliced bread.
March 3, 2008 (Monday) THE VEGGIE GARDEN
I think I will plant 24 tomatoes (12 Grandma Mary's Paste and 12 Howard German) for canning, 24 peppers (something big, not the Klari Baby Cheese) for freezing, and 24 eggplant for freezing. What else had I said I wanted to plant? ........ Ah, yes, Alliums, garlic, corn, Yin Yang Beans, chard, spinach, peas, Romanesco Broccoli, and cherry tomatoes. Okay, so 64 Cipollini onions, 64 scallions, 36 Nira Chives, and 36 Blue Solaize Leeks, mostly all for seed-saving, although I think I will plant extras in there for eating thinnings; all of the garlic; 100 of the Painted Hills Sweet Corn for seed-saving and eating; all of the Yin Yang Beans for seed-saving; 72 chard (for seed-saving and eating); 112 spinach (some for seed-saving, some for spring and fall eating); 384 peas (Wando and Sugarsnap, some for seed-saving and spring snacks, others for fall eating); 6 Romanesco Broccoli (for eating and decor along the chicken coop path; see if I am allergic to it); and 8 cherry tomatoes (for seed-saving, eating, and sharing with the chickens). Think I'll stick in 16 celery, too. I'm not going to stake the tomatoes this year, so that's it for the square foot garden. Have to remember to get those Gladioli out of there. Think I might try a raised bed of carrots, too, maybe over by the chicken coop. THAT'S IT. NO MORE! Well, except that maybe I will turn the veggie garden into a potager and grow some of my flowers in among the toms. Plus Basil, Cilantro, and Parsley. But that's it. Happy, happy. ~~~~~~~~ 'Hens and Chicks' Poppies will go... ??? ... in the sq foot garden. I'll have to remember to collect and save the seeds. The Ipomopsis 'Hummingbird Mix' will go in the hummingbird garden and the two new packs of Lupines will go in the new yard. Oh, and the 'Meadow Pastels' Iceland Poppy will go by the old peony. I wonder why I hadn't already picked out a spot for that? ........ Flowers in the sq ft garden will be Calendula 'Pacific Beauty Mixed', Marigold 'Harlequin', Nasturtium 'Empress of India', Cosmos 'Seashells Mixed', Amaranth 'Hopi Red Dye', and Zinnia 'Liliput Mixed Colors'. Ta-dah! ~~~~~~~~ I am finishing off the mulled cider from last night. I hope there aren't any ladybugs in it. I saw one on the spoon. ~~~~~~~~ I almost forgot to mention Roo. His wattles are all back to red now, no more dead black skin on them. Hooray! Except for the right wattle being somewhat shorter than the left now, they look none the worse for wear. I can't wait for the above-freezing temperatures to return so that he can go back to the coop. I'm sure he can't wait, either. I have reached the point where the Roo alarm no longer wakes me up. I am wondering what would happen if the smoke detector went off.
March 4, 2008 (Tuesday)
I didn't do any work on cold frames yesterday. Oh, well. I'm thinking that I don't really need to, so no big deal. That can be a summer project for use in spring of '09. ~~~~~~~~ What a nice day! It's grey, but it isn't windy and I think it's 44 degrees. The snow is melting and pouring off the roof. One of the girls ran out the door for a snoop. Their water wasn't frozen and I opened the popholes. It's good to see the girls out and about, enjoying themselves. Three nice eggs. Now when is that endless rain supposed to get here and melt the rest of the snow away?
March 5, 2008 (Wednesday)
Rain. Lots of rain. The puddles are even bigger than last time. One of the stepping stones on the way to the coop is almost completely under water this morning. ~~~~~~~~ IMPORTANT: Reading back through my journal, I see that I forgot to buy seeds for big bell peppers. ~~~~~~~~ What a day! I actually weeded. I never thought I'd be so happy to pull weeds. It was just a few in the old rhubarb patch, but still it was something! I think I counted three old rhubarb that look like they may have survived the drought. It is still early, so hopefully there will be others, and hopefully the ones that are so early won't get taken out by any upcoming bad weather. Other great news is that I saw Crocuses coming up in the yard up by the house and down in the new Daffodil patch. Even better, I saw some of the new Daffodils actually coming up in the yard. At least some of them must have survived the drought. I saw a couple of Tiki's Snowdrops in bloom. I wonder why there are so few of them this year? Oh, the drought, maybe.
March 6, 2008 (Thursday)
Another banner day. The leftover pancake that I made six days ago is still living in the fridge, ick, and I just discovered the lazy enchiritos that I nuked last night still sitting in the microwave this morning. Ick. I need a break from this place before I forget something important. ~~~~~~~~ Ah, well, the sun is shining. It was about 32 degrees when I went out to check the chickens and let them out this morning. Most of the snow is gone. Mostly just the snowplow piles are left and they aren't very big. The chicken water wasn't even frozen. Maybe I will let Roo out today. ~~~~~~~~ Moira's journal reminds me that last night I took the truck out for a short drive (more fun than sitting in the driveway to run it) and I went down a side street where someone had just recently cut down every big old Maple Tree in their front yard. It was shocking and upsetting. Sawdust was everywhere. The stumps hadn't been ground down. I was so shocked and dismayed that I didn't even notice which house it was. My eyes just kept roaming over the carnage, looking for any evidence of logic behind what I was seeing, but only finding more carnage. Sad. I should have just stayed in the driveway. ~~~~~~~~ I just completed two hours of outdoor work. Yay! I raked the driveway asphalt off the grass, along with a bunch of other rocks that I can only assume came from the pile of rocks I made last year and then never found a home for (just left them on the driveway all winter), then raked some of the snowplow snow piles off the grass to get it to melt faster, and finished off by picking up the downed branches all over the yard. Actually, the whole thing started off by putting Roo in with the girls. That turned out to not be such a great idea. Roo was on one side of the fence and Hawk was on the other, but they decided to fight through the fence. Hawk managed to put his entire foot through the fence several times, getting hung up each time because he went up past his spur, and couldn't pull it back out without my help. Eventually he bloodied his lip (and there I thought that chickens didn't have lips) and Roo bloodied the weird little knobby things on his head, so that was the end of that. I put Roo back in his cage and then went about doing the yard work. Looks like I will be doing some serious coop and chicken pen modifications this spring. *sigh* It's always something. ~~~~~~~~ As a side note, I think it's about time to cut my nails. I broke my thumbnail into the quick the other day. It still hasn't grown out far enough to cut. I have bent several others backwards by jamming them into things like cabinets and walls. Better deal with 'em before I do something painful to myself out in the yard and put myself out of commission.
March 7, 2008 (Friday)
I realized yesterday that I couldn't have put my cold frames where I had wanted to if I had actually gone out there to build them. We have old logs stacked beside the rock wall where I had wanted to put the frames. Oh, well. ~~~~~~~~ We have 32 degrees and frost this morning. ~~~~~~~~ I forgot to mention yesterday that I saw some of the new daffodils popping up down by the mailbox. That's very exciting news. ~~~~~~~~ Wow, they are predicting from 1 to 4 inches of rain between now and Sunday morning. That should be interesting since the ground is still saturated from the last rainfall and still frozen beneath that. Fun, fun. ~~~~~~~~ I put in three or four hours of garden work today. I raked the leaves out of a few beds, cut back the spent stalks of Oregano and Perennial Peas, and pushed over the old stalks of things like Purple Coneflowers. I designated some new planting areas and sowed 26 different types of seeds that were scheduled for outdoor sowing from Feb. 28 to March 14. I saved a few seeds from three of the packs for sowing later in case having sown them now turns out to have been a bad idea. I didn't get all of the scheduled seeds planted, so some of the seeds will have to wait until the storm is gone. Hopefully future planting dates won't be as much work. Now all I have to do is remember to not pull anything until I know for sure that it isn't a weed. |
March 8, 2008 (Saturday)
I think we got about 3/4 inch of rain last night. I put the kiddie pools under the downspouts last night to help prevent any flooding around here since the ground is still frozen. We are supposed to get another 1 or 2 inches this afternoon. I am tempted to put my rain gauges out, but I'm afraid I would forget them and they'll freeze if I leave them out overnight. Maybe I will try it anyway and put a note on the door so that I don't forget to bring them in before bedtime.
March 9, 2008 (Sunday) SPRING FORWARD
Yay, do a little dance! I have a Trumpet Vine sprout this morning. I can't wait to see how well it does. I need to remember to root the cuttings I get from the old one when I prune it this spring. ~~~~~~~~ This turned into a big day. Not only did we tidy the dog room and breezeway, but we also took a walk down to the pond. We were breaking some dead branches off some trees to clear a path and my husband decided it might be a good day for the chain saw. He went back for the saw and loppers and my son and I stayed and broke off branches. I ended up clearing a path all the way to an area of the pond that sort of has a shoreline, then looped the path around a little grove of apple and pine trees, and back onto itself. That end of the trail is very deer-worn, presumably because of the apple trees. My husband did some sawing down of trees in an area that had nothing to do with the trail. He claimed it was for the purpose of letting in sunlight. Whatever, but at least now we can easily get to the pond, hopefully traipsing through as little PI as possible. The only thing left to do is to wade out into the water to remove some of the overhanging branches and the growth that seems to be coming up out of the pond. Then we will have a glorious view of the pond and the lovely birch trees on the other side. At last, a place to holiday.
On a separate but related note, the jaunt through the hayfield was interesting. We had a couple of inches of rain overall, but the puddles by picnic rock and the coop were hardly anything, so I thought that maybe the ground had thawed enough to let the rain soak through. Well, part of the hayfield was a soppy mess. I've seen that area get puddled before, but we (I) go there so rarely that I had forgotten about it. I think I will choose a designated path to mow through the field to the break in the rock wall so that we don't come up against the puddle in the future. It's the sort of puddle that you wade out into before you realize you're actually in it, and then you have to make a snap decision to either backtrack through it or forge ahead.
March 10, 2008 (Monday)
Buds on the crabapple trees. Spring cannot be far behind. ~~~~~~~~ Oh, so the task bar has gone back to its usual, undesirable location. Well, it was a good run while it lasted. ~~~~~~~~ I am working on our federal taxes now. Between entering info from this huge stack of tax forms and waiting for updates to TurboTax to download, this should take all day. Joy. ~~~~~~~~ I have been so tired lately. I took a four-hour nap on Saturday, then went to bed early and woke up at the usual time and was still tired. Then somehow last night I didn't go to bed until 11 PM (which of course is really 10 PM on the schedule that I am accustomed to) and woke up at 7 AM (which is really 6 AM, Eastern Standard Chicken Time). I am still tired. Yesterday morning I awoke with major pains in my head. One felt like a fat wooden stake driven through the top of my skull and the others felt like golf balls wedged under the base of my brain. The pains went away and I didn't have a headache for most of the rest of the day. Thought I was about to have a breakthrough and finally have a headache-free day finally, except for the morning episode, but the headache came back late last night. Looking back through my journal, I see that this means that I have had a headache every day for 29 days now. No wonder I have a headache today. LOL. ~~~~~~~~ Oh, joy, the oil truck is here to refill the tanks. I thought they wouldn't be back until next fall. ~~~~~~~~ I finally finished the taxes. Well, not finished, but close. Just have to get my husband to call about one of his tax forms that doesn't have the required info on it. LOL. Like that's going to happen. ~~~~~~~~ Another Trumpet Vine sprout! Yay! Plus the other sprout that I potted up now has a green leaf. :-)
March 11, 2008 (Tuesday)
I just realized that I have a Japanese Barberry thorn in my finger. I'm surprised my finger hasn't blimped up yet since this has probably been in there since Sunday. I can't get the thorn out, so I'll have to see if my husband can needle it out of there tonight. ~~~~~~~~ I paid my business taxes today. My husband is working from his end to try to get the answers to my tax questions from yesterday. So far, that is a dead end. What a nightmare. Makes me want to plant some seeds just to take my mind off things. Oops, well, I guess I do have a bunch of seeds that I hadn't planted last time. Plus I have 10 types of seed to sow on Friday. It looks like it might rain or snow tomorrow and at the end of the week, so maybe I could try to do all of the sowing today.
March 12, 2008 (Wednesday)
I just remembered that I still have that thorn in my finger. ~~~~~~~~ I have been revamping things and now I think that I will either put in a retaining pond this year or get a water tank. I'll go see how much that would cost right now. ........ Hmm. Can't decide which I want to do. I think the tank would be easier at the moment, except that I don't know how we would get up to the eaves of the barn to put up a gutter. Then again, I need a taller ladder so that I can finish painting the house this year. Don't want to deal with scaffolding again. I wonder how high up the eaves of the barn are? I suppose I could estimate since I know how wide the boards on the siding are. I won't be counting boards today, though. It is raining. ~~~~~~~~ Forgot to mention that I had two more Trumpet Vine sprouts this morning. This is so exciting. ~~~~~~~~ Oh, brother! I seem to have huge gaps between my synapses these days. I decided to take the expired Cardoon, Levant Cotton, and Lotus plants out of the plant room. ........ Just realized I had another brain misfire... I was thinking that I had watered the cotton and that was why there was a huge worm thrashing around in the top of the pot when I put it out in the dog room. I hadn't watered it, though. That wouldn't have made any sense; the plant was dead. I wonder what the worm was doing? For that matter, I wonder what I was thinking? ......... Anyway, in the course of shuffling pots around, I found a zip-type bag on the floor, filled with yucky brown water and mold. Upon closer examination, I discovered that it was my bag of Bittersweet berries. Dated 3/1. How did I manage to forget about that bag for the last 11 days? They were supposed to be soaking to remove the fleshy red coating from the seeds. Agh! I considered tossing them, but in the end I opted to clean them and continue the process. What a fiasco. I wonder what else is sitting around lost and neglected? Well, I haven't been too good about changing the water out of the daylily seeds in the crisper every day, but at least they have been getting changed and the water hasn't looked disgusting at any point. I should go through my list and see if I am overlooking anything, although sometimes (like right now) I just prefer out of sight, out of mind, as opposed to any further rude surprises. ........ Wow, this is totally messed up! It was raining, then just like that it turned to little balls of ice throwing themselves against the window panes. It sounds like someone throwing handfuls of sand against the glass. It's 46 degrees outside. Some of the particles falling out of the sky float around like snowflakes. Weird. ........ It is weird to watch it snow, but hear rain running through the downspouts. What is going on out there? ........ I just remembered that I still need to put the cross that Mom gave to me out in the memory garden. ........ Giant poofy flakes now, but still hear water running through the downspouts. How can that be? Oh, the snow must be melting when it hits the roof. Sure sounds like a lot of water! ........ Whew! That wasn't too bad. I only found one batch of seeds residing in the incorrect location. I don't know how they ended up in the plant room instead of the crisper. Oh, well, 11 days behind schedule on those now. ........ Okay, breathing deeply, I am now going to delete several sheets from my gardening spreadsheet. I hope I don't delete anything important, but I am running out of new descriptive names to use each time I come up with a grand new idea for how to lay out the gardens. Hahahaha! ........ That wasn't quite as painful as I had expected. Yay! Now, time to plant some seeds. ........ I am two weeks behind the curve on my broccoli, parsley, and cabbage, but I am not going to fret about that. Besides, the broc is just for decor anyway. I may start another crop of broc at the beginning of May to sample in the fall. Aside from that, at least I am now up to date on everything, except for what I didn't finish planting outside last week. So, LUNCHTIME! ~~~~~~~~ I brought the worm pot back in from the dog room so that it could stay warm in the kitchen. I hope the worm appreciates my efforts. ~~~~~~~~ I could not get to sleep last night. I went to bed at 10 PM, but I stayed awake and thought about the gardening situation. I looked at the clock after some time and it was 12:15 PM. I am sure that I was awake for at least another hour after that. I awoke at 7:30 AM after dreaming something about GB. Haha!
March 13, 2008 (Thursday)
I thought I'd do something simple, like placing my cell trays in their flats and stacking them so that they'd be ready for the next step. That part was easy, but since I was there, I decided to tighten a 40" light bulb in one of the plant light fixtures. That turned into a real chore. It was on the top shelf and I couldn't get the bulb to seat properly while it was hanging, so after much angst I had to take it down to adjust the bulb. Just as I was rehanging it, something happened and the whole light fixture when swinging across the plant stand. Somehow, one of the S-hooks from the opposite end had come off and shot across the room. Took me forever to find it. Then when I put it on and got that placed into position, it happened again and shot in the opposite direction across the room. My arms feel like dead weights from doing so much work above my head. I can't believe I didn't trash any light bulbs, seeds, or sprouts with everything flying around like that. ~~~~~~~~ I marked out my new garden patch outside. It is broken up into rotation quadrants and has the chicken coop path running through the middle of it. Part of it might be kind of close to the coop, and therefore a bit shady, so I'll have to watch that this summer and see how bad it is. I might also end up cutting down a tree by the other rock wall to allow more afternoon light. ........ Speaking of rock walls, I sure would like to remove that rock wall that is closest to the house. It is totally messing with the fung shui of the whole place. I just keep thinking of how nice it would be to extend my outdoor view by about 70 ft. We'll see. Also, I think that either my vision is really messed up - which could explain my headaches - or my husband ought to wear his glasses more often. When I laid out the garden, I tried to align the inner boundaries with the door frame on the chicken coop. Everything went swimmingly until the last stake. Naturally! For some reason, that fell right in the middle of the stone path. It should have landed right at the edge of it. Depending on where I stood when I eyeballed the path and the coop, it looked like the path was either lined up to meet the door or was shifted way over to the right. I hope it's the path that is messed up, not my eyes. ~~~~~~~~ I put in a couple of hours of outdoor work this afternoon. I cleaned up the leaves, grass, rocks, and bits of asphalt along the edge of the driveway and dumped it on my junk compost pile. I saw a Bluebird down there by the barn. Hooray! Then my son and I pulled up some of the Motherwort beside the barn and dumped that on the semi-junk compost pile. I also moved the stones that had sat in a pile on the driveway all winter. Now they are beside the giant rocks beside the chicken coop path.
March 14, 2008 (Friday)
Today I have 1 broccoli sprout, 5 cabbage sprouts, and 2 Trumpet Vine Sprouts. The wings on the Trumpet Vine seeds that sprouted on the 12th developed a fuzzy mold, so I put some vermiculite on top of them. ~~~~~~~~ I have so much to do today. I have to get caught up on the seeds that I didn't finish from last time, plus start some Skullcap and other seeds inside, and spread some other seeds outdoors. ........ Oh, hmm, not as bad as I thought. Some of the things that I thought I had to do have already been done. So, only 8 things to spread outside. ~~~~~~~~ Whew, that turned into more work than I thought and I still have four things left to plant inside today. Maybe just one more day won't hurt. As part of what I did get done today, I started a mini-hummingbird garden and a weed garden by the path to the chicken coop. I know, weeds, how hard can that be? LOL! With the way things go around here, I'm sure that trying to raise a weed garden will be harder than trying to keep weeds from growing in a regular garden. In any case, if anything lives, that will be such a huge improvement over the bare dirt that has been there for so long. On the other hand, if things don't work, then I have an excuse to do something entirely different, like plant a totally orange garden. :-) |
As a correction to the previous post, here are the pics for March 9.
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March 16, 2008 (Sunday)
Happy day in chicken land. I discovered that the remaining Easter Egg hen really is the one that lays the green eggs. I thought the one that died last year was the one that did that. So, I have to rethink my plan of no more chickens. I know her babies won't necessarily lay green eggs, but still. Besides, peeps are cute and Hawk would probably make a good dad. He certainly loves Butter, and vice versa. Just have to decide how to work the whole thing out. I need a third pen anyway with Roo and Hawk not getting along. This place could stand a little joy. ........ Some of the Daffs are about three inches tall now. I guess they enjoyed the mid-50's weather on Friday. ........ Yesterday was another weird day. It was about 40 degrees or so, but it rained and snowed and was grey all day. Of course it is all gone today. Today is grey, but at least it isn't windy or rainy or snowy.
March 17, 2008 (Monday) St. Patrick's Day
Off to the plant room. I didn't do much, if anything, in there yesterday. I went so far as to get out of bed last night and check everything because I had forgotten to check the plants before I climbed into bed. I don't know if Roo is deaf or what, but he didn't even wake up when I flipped the light on, closed all of the draperies, and rummaged through the plantings. ........ But first, yesterday I cleaned out the rabbit cage and gave him (her?) a glass loaf pan for the hay snacks. I was tired of the hay being strewn all over the cage, plus all over the floor. So what does he do with it? Sits in it. Some people! LOL. ~~~~~~~ What a difference one day of neglect makes. My Trumpet Vine pots were very dry, despite having watered them when I got out of bed last night. I think the two that had the mold problem might have died. On the bright side, I had two new ones this morning. That is 8 out of 11. Not sure where the other three went, but it doesn't look like there is anything left to sprout as far as Trumpet Vine seeds go. Other highlights include the following new sprouts: 3 broccoli, 16 cabbage, and 3 cauliflower. Although it was exciting to have so much to see today, I wouldn't suggest skipping a day. Those roots grow very quickly and it's a bit nerve-racking untangling all the new sprouts from each other and the vermiculite. ~~~~~~~~ On a separate note, I made pancakes again yesterday. I was stacking them on a plate toward the back of the stovetop. I put one on the heaping stack, then went back to get the next one, and the one I had just piled onto the stack slipped off the plate, went over the edge of the stove, and headed for the floor. I reached out as quickly as I could and caught it with the spatula. I couldn't believe it. ~~~~~~~~ I forgot to mention that some dogs went running through the yard on Saturday. I'm glad the chickens weren't out in their pen, and glad that my son and I weren't out there. The dogs looked quite similar, although they were not of any breed that I have ever heard of, and they were wearing collars with tags, so I had wondered if they were victims of a home foreclosure. I also saw an orange cat outside, wandering along out back where I feed the wild birds. I was not happy about that, but it can eat all the mice and 'munks it can find. I wonder if it was dropped off by the same people who discarded the dogs? |
March 18, 2008 (Tuesday)
Supposedly, we could get up to an inch of snow tonight, up to half an inch of sleet tomorrow, up to 3/4 of an inch of rain tomorrow night, and then a small amount of rain on Thursday, the first day of spring. ........ Off to check the plant room. ........ Wow, I spied in my Trumpet Vine tray and couldn't see any sprouts. I thought a bug or mouse had somehow found its way into the plant room and eaten all of my sprouts, but then I dragged the tray down to where I could see better and not only were all of my sprouts still there, but the two that I thought had died were poking up, too. Hooray! Yay! I also had one more cabbage sprout. I think it might be about time to trim one of my fuchsias. I suppose that I should figure out what pot(s) I want to put my heirloom dahlias in and start them now. I also need to trim my Chilean Jasmine. That thing grows like a weed. I wonder how it will look at the end of summer? ........ Ooooh, wow, I saw a white Crocus bud on my way back from the mailbox. It's in the bare patch down below the big corner Maple Tree. Considering how shady it is down there, I'm surprised that's the first place I'd see a Crocus bud.
March 19, 2008 (Wednesday)
Where to begin? Well, last night I discovered something interesting. If I adjust the blankets and position myself such that it is so dark that I can't even see my hand in front of my face, my headache goes away. I know it's almost impossible for me to sleep well if there is any light at all coming into the room, but I'm surprised that the amount of light might have something to do with my headaches. Makes me wonder if the fluorescent bulb over my desk is another culprit. Secondly, I awoke to some creature making its blood-curdling burbling noise right outside my window this morning. Luckily, I was having a bad dream so it didn't manage to make me any more frightened than I already was. I never have been able to figure out what kind of animal it is that does that, although I suspect it is either an owl or a turkey. Lastly, we don't have any snow this morning and it doesn't seem particularly cold outside, although I did see traces of some sort of crystalline precipitation here and there on my way to the chicken coop. It is currently raining. ~~~~~~~~ Yay! Since I knew what to look for this time, I saw three white Crocus buds in the lawn and one by the mailbox. They are all bigger than the one in the dirt patch, which fits in with not expecting to see them in the dirt patch first. They were just hard to see in the lawn. I hope that people driving down the road don't think they are bits of trash when they finally bloom. I've never thought that they looked like trash on our lawn, but then again, I always knew what they were. That reminds me that someone stopped by last week and told me that she had asked her friend if she'd seen my orange house and her friend burst out saying that she loved it. :-) It's certainly hard to miss and it's definitely nice that people like it.
March 20, 2008 (Thursday) First Day of Spring
I saw several more white Crocus buds this morning on the way to check the mail. Some of them are ballooning rather rapidly, so I wonder if this year's planting season might start a few days earlier than usual. ........ I have 1 new broccoli, 2 new cauliflower, and 14 parsley. I have a whole lot more parsley waiting, but I'll transfer them when they each get a little green leaf. I have several flowers and buds on my Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter cactus. At this rate, I should take several cuttings from it to produce plants to flower at different times all year long. ~~~~~~~~ I was thinking that my head has been feeling a little better yesterday and today and thought that maybe I was onto something with this darkness theory, but then I remembered that my husband is going away for a couple of days and my backaches, neck aches, and other pains usually go away when I don't have to deal with him, so it's hard to say which change is having the most (if any) influence on how I feel. Guess we'll see what happens when he comes back. ~~~~~~~~ I have cleaned the bathroom as a prelude to my solo existence for the next couple of days. ~~~~~~~~ Looks like we will have lows in the upper teens during the nights this week. ~~~~~~~~ It is expensive to dispose of old tires around here. The people responsible for disposing of all of the tires before we bought our house did not do a good job, so we have a ton of them stored in the barn. I'm sure there are others lurking about, too. I was looking at planters online for more gardening inspiration and found a site that discusses making tire planters that are a little different than most: http://mercer.extension.psu.edu/Agriculture/TirePlanter.htm. I know just where I'd put them, too, and a lot of them are very hard, stiff, and old and will just have to stay in their original form. HAHAHA! ~~~~~~~~ Some inspirational Google image search term combinations:
* "english garden"
* parterre
* "knot garden"
* potager
* +raised +garden
* "container garden"
* +roof +garden (or +rooftop +garden) (or "green roof")
Ideas for some rooftop Zone 3 plants for the chicken coop: Royal Fern, Daylilies, Coneflowers, Sedum, Echinops, Asters, Liatris, Vinca, Peonies, Clematis, Nepeta, Hosta, Baptisia, Helenium, Coreopsis, Gaillardia, Daffodil, Allium, Alyssum, maybe a mini Hollyhock or mini Delphinium. I guess I could select my favorite perennials for the base planting, then get some cascading annuals to sink into the planting during the gardening season. Or I suppose I could just go with hay all over and leave blank spots in which to sink some potted annuals. ~~~~~~~~ It has been so windy. We had snowflakes and something like ice hitting the office window.
March 21, 2008 (Friday)
No headache today, just a little pressure around my left temple. It is still very windy this morning. I think it is supposed to be like this all day. ........ Last night when I went to tuck in the chickens, I thought it seemed odd that Hawk and Butter were in with the girls. I thought I had put them both on Hawk's side for the day. I could understand Butter being on the wrong side because she is pretty much helpy-selfy, but Hawk is too plumpdillyicious to fly his way over or squeeze his way through, so I thought maybe I had just forgotten to move them to Hawk's side, even though I was pretty sure I'd seen them out in Hawk's pen during the day. After I came back in, I was looking at the pens and realized that the girls' lean-to had blown over. I would imagine that had happened earlier in the day and somehow made it possible for Hawk and Butter to get to the girls' side more easily, but I don't know how I didn't notice that all day or why I didn't notice it when I went out there for tucking time. No wonder everyone just seemed to disappear for the day and never came back out. They must have been standing under it when it happened. ~~~~~~~~ I have 2 new cauliflower today and 22 or so parsley. I lost track, but I think that's correct. I moved the cauli, broc, and cabbage into the living room where it is much cooler. I need to set mouse traps or something so that they don't get eaten. ........ Do I dare? Will my truck strand me if I go to the store to find some pretty pots to plant my dahlias in? I guess I'll wait. I don't even have the cell phone. That'd be a very long walk home in this temperature and wind. ~~~~~~~~ I set the Havahart trap. Actually, it has been set for a while, but it hasn't caught anything. My husband had set it a long time ago and filled it with peanut butter, bread, and dog food and keeps moving it around, but no luck. I put some peanut butter on the trap door and moved it. We'll see if that lures them in. I can't stand the Tomcat traps, but I finally got up the nerve and set two of those, too. I much prefer the cheapo brands of mousetraps because they aren't nearly so spring loaded, but for some reason my husband keeps buying the Tomcats. I tripped the first one before I could even set it down, which is what usually happens, but I hold onto them for dear life so that they don't crush my fingers when they go off and that saved me this time. After that, I messed with the springs and the entire contraption, trying to loosen the thing, but just couldn't, so I finally just nervously fidgeted the lever into place and used the pliers to lower it onto the floor without tripping it again. That worked and then I did the same thing with the second one, except that I used the peanut butter knife to lower it onto the floor because it's much flatter and wouldn't cause as much of a drop as the pliers had. That worked much better. So, poor mousey(s), I am waiting for you... Choose wisely. You better hope you go for the Havahart. Normally I reuse the cheapo traps, but these Tomcats make me so nervous that I usually ditch them, mouse and all. This time, I don't know. Depends on how many mice I catch today and whether or not the Havahart steps up to the plate. ~~~~~~~~ Yesterday, I started playing the danger game... browsing plant and seed sites. I have too much to do and nowhere to put anything else at the moment, but I wanted to see if I was missing out on anything. So far I've seen a lot of things I'd like to have, but I have not succumbed to a purchase. I am playing again today. ........ Okay, I am done looking now. When I see pretty Ranunculus, things start to get too dangerous. ~~~~~~~~ Tekla escaped from his cage. I was alerted by Blue Bayou screaming about it. It was quite an ordeal to get Tekla back into his cage. He's the mean and dangerous one. I used blankets and boxes to catch him, after chasing him around the bird room and out into the hallway/landing. I had to hunt down some more quicklinks to help keep his food and water doors closed. Overall, it was more excitement than I felt like dealing with today. I don't know which was scarier, chasing him and then trying to grab him, or him chasing me and trying to bite every inch of me, or me closing the bird room door to get away from him and him trying to chew his way through the door to get to me. Bad, bad bird. I was lucky this time. I've been bitten by him before and I'd rather run my hand through a sawmill than go through that again. |
| Stormdancer Posted on Friday, March 21, 2008 - 05:07 pm: | |
Hi DJ sounds like you are having a time at your place!! What type of bird is Tekla? Had to laugh when you said you'd rather run your hand through a sawmill than get bit by him again...must be one bada** bird!!
A thought regarding your headaches... I have a sister who is allergic to everything including herself...she recently has had a severe allergic reaction (seasonal allergies mostly), but while trying to sleep one night discovered one of the things she's definitely allergic to in her room...Rough Cedar trim...they had taken it out of the rest of the house but it remains in her bedroom...needless to say she's going to be taking it out of her room as well. Its only been three years since she was tested and learned cedar is one of the allergens that tear her up...she is kicking herself at this point.
Have you tried using heat or ice when you are having one of these? I sometimes spend hours on the heating pad and it brings a good bit of relief when I'm having an allergy issue. Personally, mine has alot to do with humidity and temperature. When it gets cold my sinuses give me a fit. Once the humidity drops, same thing. Guess that's one of the reasons I enjoy Florida so much...only a few weeks out of the year when it really whips my butt...lol |
Hi, Karen!  Tekla is an Umbrella Cockatoo. Pretty sure he's an ultra-male. He sawed into one of my fingers about 5 years ago and it was horrendous. He grabbed on, worked his beak back and forth on my finger, sawing deeper and deeper, never once taking his eyes off of my eyes and I was screaming bloody murder. I have a nice little scar from that. I was pregnant at the time and I think he sensed that and didn't approve. Ever since then, he's been of the attitude that he doesn't want to do anything except kill me. Before that, he was such a good bird and did all sorts of little tricks with me. 
I have wondered if it might be an allergy. I am most suspicious of my pillow, mattress, or any articles of clothing possibly containing latex. However, I am thinking that mostly I am probably just allergic to my husband. LOL. I've felt pretty good the last couple of days with him gone, compared to usual. *sigh* He'll be back this afternoon, so we'll see if the headaches come roaring back full steam ahead. Otherwise, I think that the amount of darkness might be the answer, although I will have to look around and see if anything else might be causing an allergy. My face does feel weird, like a sinus problem. I haven't considered heat or ice, but the ice sounds like it would feel really good. Naturally, that's the one thing we never have around here. LOL! Guess I'll have to fill something up with water and freeze it so I can try it out. ... I wonder if my bed frame is cedar. That would be funny.  |
| Stormdancer Posted on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 08:57 am: | |
Hi DJ...Wow Tekla sounds like he really was jealous and hasn't forgiven you yet...
LOL...know what you mean about the hubby...hmmm, Latex causes you problems?...what about your mattress pad/cover?
Our new one is a "breathable" one, but I think it could have latex in it...
I never have ice either...LOL...mostly I use the freezer packs...on occasion I've pulled frozen food out and wrapped it in a hand towel...ziplock bags work well and you can freeze them flat. Of course any item that will hold water has been used to make ice at my house.
When I use the heating pad for sinus problems I have it behind my mid back...found it by accident when I was using it for a sore muscle..all at once I felt the pressure pull out of my face...been using it since...I hate taking medication. Breathing steam has also helped relieve the pressure.
Of course you could also have an allergy to just about anything including things you've been around for years (yes...husbands count here!! LOL)...my DH has been around dogs all his life and in the past year has discovered that when he is wallowing our dogs and really tossing the dander around it throws him into a sneezing, eye watering attack...we have three dogs and two are always in the house. |
I will have to check that. I'm not sure what it's made of. ... I was just thinking that I can't stand my pillow. Actually, I can't stand just about every pillow. It has been years since I had one that didn't make my neck hurt. I've tried foam, feather, polyfill, and what's that grain that some pillows are filled with? Even that didn't work.
Haha! Anything in a pinch!
That is interesting. Maybe I will get out my heated massage chair pad and enjoy the rest of what little time I have alone.
Hmm, I hope it's not something like that. I do spend a lot of time around our rabbit and he is a new species to the household. It could be Roo, too. I've noticed that he is really powdering up the plant room, although not quite like Tekla who has the effect of using a bag of flour as a piñata, and he's never |
