stubbed toes and mud pies

[flowerbug]

yesterday Mom scored some wonderful fabric for free including some material that will work well for batting plus some patterned frog prints. guess who washed his binkie yesterday and determined that it was due to be thrown away? moi? guess who said she couldn't use that material and was likely to pass it along to someone else?... guess who might be getting new froggy binkie? not sure when, but we have those three things together now and they won't be leaving unless i'm dead...

the binkie i will be retiring was made from a previous futon cover so it has survived many years and we could recondition it by cutting off the problem areas... i may consider this as it is a nice weight and feel (as i've been using it as my main binkie for 10 years or so). i have another one up in my closet just like it, but i don't want to use it up too soon... so we'll rotatervate to a froggy one for some time...

 

[flowerbug]

i tried to get some pictures but generally failed to get much that are good enough to post. the most amusing pictures are those of a lone squirrel which was sitting on Igor (the cement chunk with mirrors on it that sent the sunbeam shining on the basket above the fridge) with his tail hanging down (looking to the North).

the garlic is doing ok.

the onion patch still needs to be redone and i'm unlikely to get to it anytime in the next few weeks.

the strawberry patch hasn't been fixed at all. i need to get that turned under. not too likely that's going to happen...

little bits of weeding here or there are possible and happen, nothing too major though. not at all like what i was hoping to get done. that's how it goes at times. you make progress where you can and hold the line in other areas and fall back and punt if push comes to shove...

 

[flowerbug]

in the home repairs, cleaning, customer service and spider hunting combination of things... the digital tv tuner box went out (perhaps after too many lightning strikes). we bought it way back when the channels changed from regular broadcasting to digital.

the large tv and stereo cabinet had to be moved and that also meant cleaning up the dust and spiderwebs (and i found one of the common house spiders (a few egg sacs with almost nothing in them) back there and one wispy cellar spider). cleaning up the floor of all the spider poo was accomplished by spraying some vinegar water and then wiping it up a moment later with some TP. repeated once or twice more.

i got everything reconnected but when it came to getting the new device entered into the universal remote control there was no code that worked well and there wasn't anything in the instructions manual about what code to use and then looking online i've not found much either. thinking i might get some help from their e-mail answer i sent them a note asking for the four digit code number to use and get a very terse reply saying that maybe the code for SHARP may work. nope. SHARP doesn't even make tuners and all the SHARP codes i tried didn't do a thing...

 

[flowerbug]

washed windows on the outside yesterday. glad that's done. today i get to do the inside (which will take a lot more effort (because i have to move stuff out of the way and i can't use a bucket and squeegee)).

 

[flowerbug]

i heard coyotes out there this morning a little after i woke up. ok, it was still night, but i was awake having fallen asleep earlier. i don't hear them often, but they are around. i wish they'd come and eat all the rabbits...

 

[flowerbug]

the ledges above three of the four spaces (above the windows and patio doors) are now all filled in and caulked, so i will give them some time to dry and cure well before i get the stain out and finish them to match.

so after all these years it finally got done (well almost done at the moment).

i also need to restain the cover for the crawlspace entrance which has somewhat peeled off. the forecast for the next week has a lot of rain in it so i need to cover that up to keep it dry. that may be one of the reasons why the previous stain didn't stick very well (along with the base coat being a different type of stain).

today's forecast is for no rain and moderate temperatures so i will get some gardening done and by ghods i'm gonna plant some peas and beans! i'm so late on the peas i dunno if they'll do much and the beans will be early and risking them being taken out by frost but i always plant the ones i have plenty of seeds for so it's not a risk of losing any seed lines i value. just asking Momma Nature if i can get some early fresh beans for eating or not... we'll see what she answers...

 

[flowerbug]

yay! finally got some things planted in a garden!

 

[flowerbug]

weeding plenty of pathways and some of the gardens inside the fenced area. plenty more that will need to be done, but all in good time, we have a few weeks yet before i have to put out the tomatoes and peppers. the onions i could do earlier if i had them, they probably could have been set out a month ago.

 

[digitS']

Flowerbug, do you use guidance from your awareness "...of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate ..." (copied from "Phenology," Wikipedia)?

I am thinking about my watching for the blooms of the Oregon Grape to cue the planting of peas and potatoes and the full leafing out of the Black Locust trees for a guess on the passing of the last frost.

There more common choices – oak leaves and squirrel ears, lilac blooms, etc. I have recently wondered about Robins and their nesting.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

Flowerbug, do you use guidance from your awareness "...of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate ..." (copied from "Phenology," Wikipedia)?

no, i've just gone by the weather forecast for the next week towards the end of the month of May. sometimes this is modified by Mom's insistence or rain events, i can't plant in mud very easily...