Good Friday

[Colliemom]

Good Morning on this sunny Good Friday. I see by reading through the posts, that all are well and keeping busy, staying home for the most part. Our Stay at Home order which was originally enacted on on March 24th was extended yesterday to April 30th. Things will be reevaluated agsin at that point. And it’s starting to pay off as we have had a significant drop in our daily cases. This time the order has a bit more teeth to it as well. We can still go out for groceries, gas, medicines, medical appts. And the like, but otherwise only essential workers should be the only people out. We can go biking, hiking, walking, kayaking, canoeing, fishing etc., but must keep to the social distancing order. We can travel to a park to recreate, but no long distance travel unless essential. But the biggest thing that is changed is, starting today, no travel to second homes in northern Michigan. We are breathing a sigh of relief on that, as this will reduce the influx of people coming north as the weather gets warmer. This is to help stop the spread.. Businesses are also to regulate the number of customers in their stores depending ben store size and bigger stores can have no more than 4 people per 1000 sq. Foot of store space. They are also not to sell non essential stuff. Only that which is necessary to the maintainance and up keep of ones home. Fines for violation of the order have been raised to $1000. A friend of my cousin had to pay a $500 fine for going out to buy mulch downstate. That was before the fine was raised. Expensive mulch.

I’m keeping busy here finishing up spring cleaning and other house projects that kind of got sidetracked when I had that accident. Thanks to my chiropractor, I am for all practical purposes back to normal. Have a couple more appts this week and should be done. Am back to long distance walking again, which is nice. and the dogs like it too. Am looking forward to getting into some landscaping work and deck painting once the weather Allows for that. Can’t do the landscaping stuff till we can buy that type of stuff Again.

Stste parks announce that campgrounds wll remain closed till May14th and all reservations in place to that date will be refunded. I doubt there are many, as most parks are not busy this early in the season, and some, especially in the U.P. aren’t open for camping season yet.

Time to get my day going here. Have a nice dsy everyone and stay safe.

[BirdbyBird]

Around here I bet you could order mulch and have it delivered. I see yard work all around me

[Cudedog]

Around here I bet you could order mulch and have it delivered. I see yard work all around me

Tina, this is food for thought. I am getting ready to put in a garden using the Ruth Stout "no work" method (have used this method in the past, and it works quite well - also conserves water - important in California - and keeps down weeds).

The only problem is that I need a of large quantity of mulch to do this "style" of gardening. I'll start looking around. I live in an agricultural area, should be some mulch around here somewhere. Hopefully, I can find someone to deliver some spoiled hay or rice straw or something like that.

Thanks Tina!

Anne

[Acadianmom]

Another boring day. Yesterday wasn't so boring. I could tell Sugar hadn't been feeling well for a few days. It would take her all day to eat her food. About noon when I took her out she was staggering going down the hill. I though she was going to fall. At 1:00 I called the vet's office and brought her in. Their lobby is closed so you have to call when you get there and they come out and get your pet. The vet thinks she is having complications from the heart worms. He put her on prednisone. It's a good thing I called yesterday because I forgot today was Good Friday.

If I had been thinking when I went shopping I would have gotten a slice of ham for Easter. I didn't get my coconut cake either. There was an article in the newspaper that one of the drug stores was selling home made masks that were being donated to raise money for the Christian Services Center so I went by and bought one. But like someone said on Facebook, I feel like a dork wearing a mask. I bet if they ever start selling masks in the stores it will be like trying to buy toilet paper.

If it wasn't so cool and windy I would go fishing. I have seen several posts on Facebook about people getting $500 fines for fishing in the lakes and my ex-sister-in-law told me the same thing. I went on the web site for the Wildlife and Fisheries and it's not true. I don't know why people start these rumors. If I didn't have all these animals I would be social distancing at the lake. The main reason I don't go is because my sister would want to come and they are not social distancing at all.

Anne, there was something on TV last night about a company that was building raised beds for people. You might be able to find a company that is doing that near you. I have thought about making a couple but something else to mow around. I'm getting like Harold. lol Every time I wanted to plant something or build something he didn't want to mow around it.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

Good afternoon gals

Am still laying in bed. It has been raining off and on for 4 days now. Got about an inch of rain here which for us is a lot. Makes up for the lack of rain over the winter. I guess the mountains have gotten several feet of snow which is great for the reservoirs and helps with keeping wildfires at bay for a bit. It cooled off a bit too so had the heat on a little overnight. Should be nice over the weekend tho.

Feeling a little better mentally today. I avoided the news on TV and the internet yesterday so that helped a little. I hate being in that dark place.

I think not being at work for so long has affected me as well. When I am at work, I really enjoy talking to my customers and the social interaction there. I also feel more self-confidence when I am doing something I am good at and helping people feel better. I really miss that.

The gourd farm I order from has offered their on-line gourd project classes for free now (Usually around $25 each) so watched several of those yesterday and probably more today. Very good information of lots of different techniques and how to use to tools for different effects.

In Minnesota, everyone has been chomping at the bit to get their boats in now that the ice is out. But the state has now decided that dock installers are non-essential so many people can't get their docks put in for their boats. Some of the bays like the one I grew up on, are small enough that the docks stay in all year but many in the bigger bays take them out for the winter so the ice doesn't destroy them in the spring when it shifts around. Those people are not happy! Boating season is a huge deal in MN. It is the one thing people most look forward to after a long winter.

Hope you all get the supplies you are trying to order. I think I am good here for awhile.

[Colliemom]

Tina, lawn and garden places as well as landscaping companies are deemed non essential under the Stay at Home order and are closed, So no deliveries. Big boxes like Lowe's, Home Depot etc. sell gardening supplies, mulch by the bag etc., but they are not allowed to sell non essential stuff. That also includes paint etc. . Paint stores are also closed. If you go to Home Depot, Lowes etc., and buy gardening stuff you could be fined. My cousin’s friend downstate got a $500 fine for buying mulch as it’s non essential. We can only go out to get gas, groceries, medications, go to medical appts. etc. The less contact with people the better.

[Redetotry]

I'm surprised you can't buy mulch and have it delivered. I think they have the garden plants etc out in front of Lowes and pretty sure Home Depot is open. if a store is open and selling stuff can't see how they can fine someone. But these are strange times.

Here almost everyone wears a mask and many also wear gloves. Even my DH wore one to the store yesterday!! They are asking people who go outside to wear masks so I see people out walking with theirs on. I'm going to start doing that, at least have it so I can pull it up as people stop to talk and then get involved in their conversation and start to move closer than they should.

Martha, I'm glad you got your kitty to the vet, was it a reaction to the medication or does she have heart worms ? Barbie glad you are feeling better.

[Cudedog]

Anne, there was something on TV last night about a company that was building raised beds for people. You might be able to find a company that is doing that near you. I have thought about making a couple but something else to mow around. I'm getting like Harold. lol Every time I wanted to plant something or build something he didn't want to mow around it.

Martha

Hi Martha. Thanks for the tip!

I have done all kinds of vegetable gardens over the years - tilled, raised beds, mulch gardens - the works. In my old age I have become indolent and lazy. This time I won't be using a rototiller, and I won't be building raised beds.

I'm not even going to dig up the lawn that is already growing in my back yard.

I am kind of a pack rat, I have a garage full of delivery boxes that I have never gotten around to breaking down for trash pickup.

What I will do is break these boxes up, put them flat on the ground on top of the grass (I'll first mow the grass really short on a hot day so that the grass stubs dry out), then I'll pile straw on top of the flat boxes. Then I'll water everything till straw and cardboard is wet. The boxes and straw will smother the grass underneath as the boxes and straw begin to decompose.

When I am ready I'll go along and cut "plant holes" through the cardboard into the dirt, mix in a little steer manure into each hole, and put my veggies in. I'll use a drip watering system.

That's the plan, anyway!!

Tilling tends to plant weed seeds that are already there, that you don't want, broadcast fertilizer fertilizes the weeds, and overhead water waters them. The weeds couldn't be happier!

All of this organic matter decomposes over time (the second year of doing this is always better than the first). As time goes on, I'll just add autumn leaves on top of the straw, and whatever other kind of organic matter I can find. (LOL - in the autumn here people "very thoughtfully" bag up their fallen leaves. All I need do is go around the block and grab the bags - asking permission first, of course).

One year I used newspapers covered with straw. The only problem with the newspapers was that if I didn't keep everything wet the newspapers would tend to blow away. By the following year, the newspapers were gone. They had not blown away, they had just decomposed.

I spent the morning emailing around, looking for straw. Had a call-back from the agricultural extension service (govt.) in my area, they gave me a phone number for a possible source. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Anyway, it's something to keep my mind occupied.

Anne

[Acadianmom]

BJ, it was my dog I took to the vet. She must be feeling better today. At least she is eating.

Martha

[JudyJB]

Anne, you can also use some grass clippings as long as you have not used a weed killer on the lawn in the past couple of months. Whatever you use, be careful not to make it so deep that it molds because if it does, it will stink! Of course, in your dry climate it probably will not mold and smell as it can in Michigan. (I know all of this because of a neighbor who piled 10" of grass clippings and leaves on his garden. You could smell if all through the neighborhood!

[snowball]

I actually got the things done for the most part that I wanted/needed to do... some stuff off the table getting ready to move on, the things I bought a place found for and the yarn gone through.. I kept certain colors that I plan on using later bagged up a bunch which is now in the truck..now to figure out how to get it to the person I told that I had yarn and keep protocol. I didn't see any problems getting anything at Wal Mart yesterday if it was there... the books that I normally get hadn't been put out so don't know if not delivered or not put out or what will have to figure out a way of finding them... I guess I don't understand if say Lowe's is open and they have mulch why not be able to sell it??? If you plan your trip into a store it shouldn't take that long to get it... I typically know where I am going in Wal Mart and if I don't forget something make a circuit around the store...
actually was able to get an appt for Shadow for a grooming on Mon... go glad he is in desperate need...
I am not sure that it is an essential business but if allowed to be open I will take precautions and take him in...
you all take care
sheila

[BirdbyBird]

Yes......there was a reminder on the news last night that pet grooming is not an essential service......several shops in Ohio were given warnings....Just tell that to all the "doodle" owners that have no idea how to maintain a mat free coat....between grooming appointments.... My table in the house is always up. These dogs have no hiding place......

[Cudedog]

Anne, you can also use some grass clippings as long as you have not used a weed killer on the lawn in the past couple of months. Whatever you use, be careful not to make it so deep that it molds because if it does, it will stink! Of course, in your dry climate it probably will not mold and smell as it can in Michigan. (I know all of this because of a neighbor who piled 10" of grass clippings and leaves on his garden. You could smell if all through the neighborhood!

Thanks, Judy!

I have a large-ish back yard, and have been saving all of my grass clippings. My neighbor has a gardening service (that is still coming!) that mows his grass about once per week - his yard is 1/3 acre, so his yard produces a LOT of grass clippings, which go in his green plastic trash can for pickup.

WHEW!! I was actually on the point of asking him for his clippings, until I read your post!! This guy uses every chemical under the sun (I see the exterminator truck in front of his house on a weekly basis!!) so his clippings are a definite "no-go". I don't use anything myself - no herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides - nothing.

About mulching with clippings - have done "deep mulch" in the past. Yes, it will stink as it decomposes - but here, only if you turn the mulch. It is so hot here in the summer - 110 or even 115 degrees is not at all that unusual (it is fairly normal to have days on end of 110) so what happens is that the top "layer" stays pretty dry, so the smell is minimal. Even if you turn it, wet smelly side up, the top soon dries again, so after a short time not much smell.

LOL! In a climate like Michigan I can imagine the smell would be pretty gross!!

Thanks very much for mentioning it!!

Anne