Saturday, May 13th

[Colliemom]

Good Morning. Mix of sun and clouds this morning. 55°. After yesterday’s 83, we are cooling off into 70’s today.

Karen, thanks for update on Shirl. Missing her cheery posts.. And wondering about Lyn too. Judy, I wouldn’t be happy with low Lake, no views and dusty roads either.

Nothing new here. Same old. Load of laundry is already in the washer and heading to the dryer shortly. I usually put laundry in when I get up, so it’s washing while I get breakfast, check forum news, emails, etc. Killing two birds with one stone so to speak.

Just wanted to pass along, that the neighbor who fell from the ladder, died from his injuries. His family made the decision to take him off life support. Such a tragedy. He was only 61. So now we wait and see what the family is going to do about a funeral or whatever. He was very active in the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Assoc. here, as well as just retiring from 20 years with the National Guard. So that might factor in.

Heading for the basement shortly to do some touchups and varnishing on the remaining woodcrafts. Hoping to get them out front today, but if not, tomorrow. Have a nice day everyone.

[Shirlv]

Morning All, 79° and rain. Sorry if I caused concern but I am fine. Truth is I can only handle so much negative BS so need to take a break from the internet. I’m drinking coffee and tall lady just went by with her friend. I have been looking for anything positive. I watch all of Skye Life, hearing the big Scotsman laugh makes me smile too. Going to wrestle a huge Boston fern that is screaming “get me out of this pot”. Might end up with two or three ferns. Lol. Be safe

[Irmi]

Good morning Sue, Shirl and everyone!

Sue, that is so sad about your neighbor. I haven't caught up on all the posts yet as we just got back from a resort on the gulf coast. Shirl, thanks for checking in. I hope you get your fern repotted.

We left Monday to go to a resort on the gulf coast and had a water front apartment. It had a full kitchen with all appliances, large living area, dining area, large bedroom with a king size bed and bathroom. There is a campground not too far from where we stayed but after driving through, we knew our coach would never fit besides it wasn't on the water, which was our view from our patio. The weather was gorgeous all week with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the low 90's. As soon as we got home yesterday, I got our laundry caught up.

I'll sit tight to see what the rest of you are doing.

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning. Sun is shining and supposed to be 94 today. Laura is camping about 10 miles from me so I spent the day with her after she got all set up. I will head her way again later this morning and spend the day together again. We are planning on mainly hanging around the campsite. Might make a run to town as she wants to fill up with gas before she heads home tomorrow morning. Going to bbq today. I brought my Xpen over so now the dogs are happy hanging out close to us. Her little trailer is so darn cute. She will have lots of fun times in it I am sure. She is at an RV park that used to be a drive in. Now it is a campground with drive in movies from your camper or over by the big screen Happy Gilmore was the movie of choice last night. She dewinterized it yesterday without any trouble, got her cable working, so she is enjoying all the comforts of home ha ha
My painters will be here today. Steve came over yesterday and did some masking and taping. He and Chris will be here today to start the big project. LOL I will be gone whew. I will be here tomorrow tho. I will mainly just stay out of their way, seems safest LOL
Off to the shower and get ready to start my day.

WAVING at SHIRL, glad to see you. I got my danged raised beds finished yesterday, beans planted, onion sets good to go.......SPRING IS HERE finally

[Cudedog]

WAVING at SHIRL, glad to see you. I got my danged raised beds finished yesterday, beans planted, onion sets good to go.......SPRING IS HERE finally

[Waving at Shirl also] Welcome back, Shirl! You were missed.

I had been looking for onion sets around the holidays (onions can tolerate some cold weather/freezes, and it doesn't really get that cold for extended periods here where I live - although sometimes it feels like it!

Just couldn't find any. Was in the grocery store right before Christmas, I noticed in the Produce Department that they had a pile of red "pearl onions" that are used for cooking (LOL - they just looked like very fat and healthy onion sets to me!) so I bought a bag of about 60 of the pearls (they are about the size of a marble).

Anyway, what with one thing and another, they sat in the bag on my kitchen counter for a month or so, finally got a spot prepared for them out in my back yard, so put them in the ground at about the beginning of February - not really knowing whether they would grow or not.

Well, I have been harvesting onions! They are about three feet tall, haven't made much of a bulb (maybe they are the kind that don't make much of a bulb, I don't know) and are already sending up buds getting ready to bloom.

Not sure what to do with them (advice appreciated) I would like to leave them in the ground to see if they bulb up, but on the other hand I can pull them up now, slice-and-dice them, and put them in the freezer.

And strawberries. . . OMG, strawberries. This is the 3rd year my strawberry plants have been in the ground (I started with about 40 "bare root" plants that came in the mail - I didn't realize that strawberry plants are almost like weeds, they send out "runners" everywhere. They have spread to places that I hadn't intended.

If I could count the plants I have now - and I can't, I'm too lazy and there are just too many of them - I'm guessing that I probably have at least 400 or 500 strawberry plants now. I have probably harvested at least 20 pounds of strawberries in the last week (I wash, stem, and freeze them in ziplock bags), with a lot more coming on.

My garden is 100% organic - I don't use chemical fertilizers, no herbicides or insecticides for me - so I do have some loss (about 10% - 20%) on the berries, mostly from birds and snails/slugs.

The wild bird population is very much reduced from what it was when I first move here about 12 years ago; I am actually happy to share strawberries with the birds.

The snails and slugs not so much! I have garden fabric out there that reduces the weeds by about 95%. At night - when the snails and slugs leave their trails on the garden fabric - I go out and sprinkle epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) around here and there. This doesn't get rid of all of them, but it does reduce the population quite a bit.

Anne

[Othersharon]

Greetings from wet central PA! I didn’t mow yesterday partly since it was 83 and partly because forecast said no rain today. Well, that changed from 30% to 60% to now 100% in a matter of a few hours! So no mowing and no walk for now. I’ve been trying to get out for a nice walk with Buddy every day to get rid of some of his puppy energy. Trying to get out of my driveway is interesting since they are working on a repaving job of the road in front of my house. Not sure how long it’ll last. Yesterday morning I had an appointment but luckily the flag man was close so I was able to get out easily but wasn’t so lucky in the afternoon trying to get into the line of traffic to get back into the driveway! Luckily a coal truck driver took pity on me and let me into the line of cars so I could make it home! Then about 2:30 this morning the street sweeper came by twice so there went sleeping. Once I was awake there was no going back to sleep so I was up for awhile and then just snoozed for a couple of hours until I gave up! The price I pay for living on a state road! But I’m sure it’ll be nice when it’s all finished. Buddy killed my Fitbit and chewed the band the other night. I was charging it and didn’t notice he had it, thought he was chewing on his bone I had given him earlier. So not happy with him. When I got it I didn’t want the insurance on it since there really wasn’t a reason for it but that was pre Buddy! Nothing is safe from his mouth and it’s not like he doesn’t have toys and things to chew on! Had a nice dinner with my 2 sons and young son’s 2 boys the other night. His oldest just graduated fro Penn State last Saturday so it was nice to catch up with them all. Don’t know where the time goes! Well, since I can’t be outside for awhile I suppose I should get busy and get caught up on some housework that hasn’t gotten done this week! Really no excuses other than I don’t wanna! Hope you all have a good day and have a good Mother’s Day tomorrow!

[Redetotry]

Good morning, It is going to be warm and sticky here today. I went out early to spread corn meal again on the very large ant hill I discovered in the front yard. It is at least 3" X 3' and had spread under the shrubbery so getting to it all wasn't easy. I bought strawberries at the market this morning and I'm glad I only bought 1 quart as they are waterlogged and not sweet. Anne I sure wish I had some of yours especially since they are organic. The organic ones at the market didn't look ripe enough. I mash the ones I freeze and I don't add sugar, then freeze in small glass jars since DH doesn't like them They will last for two or three years when frozen in glass. I also store any I plan to eat in a glass jar in the fridge. It's amazing how much longer they last. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night because all my spots seemed to be extra itchy so think I need a nap.
Karen thanks for the report on Shirl! I too was worried. Sharon sorry about your Fitbit!

[Acadianmom]

Sue, sorry about your neighbor. Makes me not want to get on a ladder.

Good to see you post Shirl. There are ferns along my son's house that the termite guy wants removed. I keep thinking I will go put them in a pot so they don't get killed. I have never had much luck with ferns so probably wouldn't be saving them.

I have a friend that has a condo in Orange Beach on the gulf. It has a nice view but we only walked on the beach. If we went swimming we went in the lazy river. I don't see a lot of point in driving 5 hours for the view and I can swim in a lazy river here. I went to the beach in the motorhome with the boys some and it didn't take long to get enough of the sand.

I mowed a few passes on the area at the bottom of the hill and the path to the pond yesterday. If it doesn't rain today I might try to make a few more passes this afternoon. I just don't want to get the mower stuck.

CC just jumped on the bed and attacked Annie for no reason. It made her fall between the wall and the mattress and I had to pull her out. CC is such an a$$. He will walk by another cat and just slap them and run.

I got a package in the mail yesterday from my son's ex-wife. I don't know where she gets all the stuff she sends me but about the only thing I can use is a freezer container for food and the Farmer's Almanac. I'll have to see if it can tell me when the fishing is good.

I have thought of a few things I want from the store so will go to town this afternoon. I need to find something for lunch so I don't get fast food in town. Sugar needs some more ground meat and rice. She is having diarrhea again off and on. I might bring her to the vet next week.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

Sue, that is so sad about your neighbor! Such a tragic accident! I imagine they were very excited to start traveling in their new RV this summer, and then this happens! Sounds like the funeral will be very large with military and bikers being there.

Nothing much new here. I never did find my motivation yesterday. Maybe today.

Glad Shirl is OK. Hope we hear from Lyn soon!

Funny thing the other day when I was at WM. I "remembered" that I wanted to get a bigger wall clock so I started looking at the clocks. Then I wondered why I wanted a bigger clock . Then it occured to me that I had just dreamt that I needed one, the night before! Lol! I better be careful if I dream I want a Porche or something!

Just got my SS check deposited in my bank account today. Anyone know why they are doing that on Saturdays now instead of Wednesdays? No complaints tho, since I really needed it a little early. I applied for another cannabis job last night. It is part time and it is for trimming, so I would be using a scissors to cut up the plants (I am very good with scissors! ). Obviously, a sitting position. If I get an interview, I will certainly ask about the music situation and make sure I can always be sitting rather than standing. The ad did say they are willing to make accommodations for people with disabilities, so that is what caught my attention besides being part-time.

Dave is stopping by soon to fix a piece of loose glass on a window. In my living room above the wall of windows on the back wall, there are stained glass windows on the vaulted ceiling area. On the outside of those, there are fitted pieces of dark glass that go over those to block some of the sun. One of them keeps slipping out of place. He has fixed it before and we noticed a couple months ago that it has shifted just an inch or so out of place. I saw this morning that it has now dropped down about 3 inches and am afraid it will now fall and break. They are an unusual shape and would be hard to replace. So he will put it back again and hopefully fasten it down good. He needs to use a ladder to get up there, so now I am worried about that after what happened to Sue's neighbor!

Gonna do some reading and then get the garbage and water bottles to the dumpster and recycle bins. The more I read about ADHD, the more "aha!" moments I have. It is a very complex disorder, way more so than most people know about, including myself.

Window is now fixed! Yay!

[JudyJB]

Anne, I almost lost a friend at work once because I gave her some violet plants and did not warn her about their creeping! She said it took her two days to dig them up, and she said nasty things about me the whole time! For the strawberries, get some of that metal corrugated edging and make a small separate bed for the strawberries, burying the edging so the roots cannot get past it. And the neat trick for slugs is to get some old saucers, push them slightly into the soil so the edge is at soil level, and then fill them in the early evening with beer. By morning, you will find a saucer full of drunk or dead slugs! Very satisfying. You can put several saucers out and drink the leftover beer or just put the rest in your refrigerator for the next night!

This morning, I tried to drive to El Vado lake which is right next to Heron Lake. I went to the nearby town and got a propane fill then followed my GPS and my cell phone and both took me down the wrong road. I should have taken a picture, but it was dirt and got narrower and narrower until it became just two narrow ruts!! And my GPS told me to turn right to get to Highway 95, except it was someone's driveway and had a big locked gate!!! I managed to pull into the driveway partway to turn around, avoiding the ditches on either side and the less deep ditch on the other side of the road. Headed back the way I came and stopped at the Heron Lake visitor center and asked if El Vado campground was paved or dirt. They said the park roads were paved but not the campground, so I decided to just head north to Colorado. It would have been another 25 miles drive to backtrack and get on the right road, and not worth it for all the dust!! Hate not being able to open windows in a campground without getting grit in my teeth and dust everywhere inside.

So, I am in a commercial campground in Alamosa, CO, and it is cold and rained heavily here, but I just ate dinner and am going to get some sleep--had only a couple of hours last night, so heading to bed early. Here for two nights, but am going to try to find something around Leadville for Wed and Thurs. Will be in Dillon/Frisco, north of Breckenridge about 15 miles, for two weeks starting Friday.

[snowball]

I made the meatballs today the one or two that I sampled tasted really good made the amount that they said it should but seem small did one wrong thing forgot to spray the foil on the pan... so they stuck or at least the sample did it was also hot but by the time they cooled and I'd made the dessert so could get back to them they no longer were sticking
thought about making meatballs subs but decided on taco's had gotten some frozen taco meat out of freezer didn't get any iceberg lettuce which I know has no value to it but I like it's crunch so was going to cut up a bit of romaine then saw the Napa cabbage I had so used it was really good might add it to salads differently lasts longer than iceberg lately it's been going bad really fast.. I hate lettuce when gets rusty looking
been a busy day for me anyway
sorry to hear about your neighbor Sue
so good to see you Shirl
been waiting for a pkg ordered some of the hose that connects to the nose and so far haven't arrive glad I still have one..
it's about time to go to my room
you all have a great day
sheila

[Cudedog]

thought about making meatballs subs but decided on taco's had gotten some frozen taco meat out of freezer didn't get any iceberg lettuce which I know has no value to it but I like it's crunch so was going to cut up a bit of romaine then saw the Napa cabbage I had so used it was really good might add it to salads differently lasts longer than iceberg lately it's been going bad really fast.. I hate lettuce when gets rusty looking
sheila

Sheila, I love iceberg lettuce. For me, there is no other kind. My dog Joe love iceberg lettuce also, and he begs for it when he sees me making a salad - and when I give him some, he chomps it right down.

My iceberg keeps fairly well for me, but it may be where the lettuce is originally sourced as to how long it keeps.

When I get it home, I take it out of the plastic wrap, remove a few of the outside leaves (I toss them) then put the lettuce head in a zip-lock bag, and put it in the refrigerator. It easily keeps a week to ten days.

Anne

[snowball]

I will have to try that Anne when you pay 2 dollars a head it needs to last more than a few days
sheila

[MandysMom]

Boy, Sheila, I wish lettice was only $2 a head!
Velda

[Pooker]

If you put a sheet of paper towel in with the lettuce or other produce you store in plastic bags, it absorbs the excess moisture so the item doesn't rot as fast. This is my DIL's hint. She gets a tad overzealous with it and wraps celery, green onions, greens, etc. with paper towels and sometimes we forget what's in the towel because they all look alike!

Typical ups and downs of a So Cal spring. A handful of days ago our high was 60! Last day or two our low has been 60!

Evie