A Second Thought and Two Minor Frustrations

A new thought occurred to me after reading all the kind comments regarding the kind farmer displaced from our summer market. It’s very possible he and his family found another lucrative venue.

Frustratingly, I wish I’d started vegetable gardening years ago. Online resources have been a tremendous help but I can’t get back the missed growing seasons. Ah well, it is what it is.

While organizing supplies I discovered my all-purpose fertilizer bag ruined. I’m sure it was mice. ~sigh~ Not wanting to handle the soiled packaging more than necessary, I don’t know what drew the rodents. The destruction could have been worse. One year our sedan stopped running because nesting rodents chewed through some wires.

There were nibbles all over this bag...

A vermin nesting in an engine compartment is rather amusing, isn’t it? Did you know that some invasive creepy crawlers will happily ingest wallpaper paste?

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Springing into Action

Last spring my husband was undergoing serious health issues. I still attempted vegetable gardening. Besides rotten weather conditions derailing my efforts, I also confused some of my seedlings.

What grew most successfully were cherry tomatoes. That’s fine except that we grew tired of the rather limited ways of eating them. Only one super sauce hybrid plant survived to provide a single, solitary fruit. After tasting that perfect tomato I was devastated by its singular harvest.

This March I’ve started eight seeds of the super sauce hybrid tomato and eight of the Jungle Parrot sweet bell pepper. Last summer those peppers were tasty but not very sweet because I didn’t foresee cross pollination with hot peppers. Oh, well.

Two tomato seeds sprouted already...

To avoid confusion when moving seed pucks for logistical reasons, I color coded all sixteen with paint on the ends of toothpicks as shown above. Fingers crossed, I’ll get the desired harvest. Despite technological advances like our heated seed starting mat and various other gear, there are zero guarantees.

A lifelong professional at our farmers market once confessed, “If farming was easy, everyone would do it.” He’s a cool dude and I missed him and his excellent produce last summer. Since our town moved the market his truck and heavy wagon have nowhere to park.

Isn’t that a shame? Should I implore our city to allow him space elsewhere?

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A Lazy Spring Update

During these last few nice days I’ve been busy preparing for the growing season. Yesterday I sowed several Swiss chard seeds outdoors. It’s a very pretty and cold hard plant offering tasty spinach-like leaves. Today I watered them due to high, drying winds.

Not This Spring Harvest, Yet...

Reliable Yellow Crocus

A Surprise of Spreading Purple!

Do you enjoy spinach or other greens? Have you ever eaten decorative edible flowers?

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My Interesting Wednesday

On Monday morning my friend Scars reached out with a text message stating he planned on attending an Ohio State House of Representatives review. The Agriculture Board considered a new bill regarding the supplement kratom. He asked if I’d consider attending in support. My initial instinct to refuse, I’m glad my decision changed.

He said my presence alone kept him from simply leaving on multiple occasions and thanked me countless times all throughout this venture. And I understand why. I don’t know how he endured the walk from our parking spot (the attached garage was full) followed by many minutes wandering both outside and within the massive building. Amongst throngs of folks all were kind, including the security staff, but nobody we met within this maze could help us find the right room. But we persevered and he attained his goal of meeting an online friend just a few minutes later than planned.

To my surprise the proceedings seldom bored me. I found the process enlightening by not only personal testimonials but also judicial, scientific, and medical terminology. Not a single attendee opposed the new legislation. Most of the Representative’s questions seemed appropriate and keen, giving me hope.

Time dragged on, however. Mere minutes before Scars succumbed to crippling numbness in his left leg and extreme back and hip pain, the Lead Chairperson called his name.

Did you know Asian grown kratom tree leaves have been harvested medicinally for centuries? And why is kratom considered a dangerous controlled drug like heroin while being regulated under agricultural rulings?

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Another First World Problem

I am overweight AKA fat and also morbidly obese in medical terminology. ~sigh~ I recall being thin and even dream about those days sometimes for whatever reason. It is what it is.

Thus when I buy a shirt online the garments are often too long, sometimes way, way too long. This happened when I supported a dog rescue website. The t-shirt I looked forward to wearing out and about hangs absurdly down to my knees.

I considered having it tailored. While this would have supported a small local business I decided to instead spend the money on an embroidered baseball cap. The super soft “Tell Your Dog I Said Hi” shirt is now loungewear and the phrase makes me smile.

I appreciate the worn look and chose this nice green color...

I like all sorts of hats. And this cap will get plenty of use.

The message here might stimulate conversation, as well... 

Have you ever been diagnosed with a terrible sounding medical condition? Wouldn’t it be nice if clinical terms excluded depressing words such as morbid and chronic?

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Misheard

I discovered a fun post by Blue Country Magic featuring often misunderstood song lyrics. I forever misheard a line from the pop band Toto’s “Africa”. Instead of I guess it rains down in Africa, the words are I bless the rains down in Africa. I have no idea what that means.

This theatrical masterpiece gets an honorable mention...

Metallica caused another such conundrum, this one far more embarrassing. For decades I thought the tune “Sad But True” was actually Sound Patrol. It makes zero sense but the notion remained until car radios began listing this information. ~rolls eyes~ Yes, I’m so old that I remember tuning in with a dial, a fidgety operation until you reached the exact desired frequency.

The Beatles are on my personal list, as well. Georgia on My Mind sounded like Jo Jo on My Mind, as if Jo Jo was an old flame in the song “Back in the U.S.S.R.” A crisp digital version on my iPod Touch corrected this misconception. The same technology changed my perception of many Meatloaf tunes.

Are you familiar with seventies era ‘rabbit ears’ TV antennae? The youngest child was charged with both adjusting the wires and switching channels, something my husband and I both did. Now we teasingly call ourselves the original remote controls. Isn’t it amazing how many experiences we share despite an eight year age gap?

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An Early Morning Mystery

After Dandelion joined me on the bed this morning I didn’t notice at first that she had dark brown staining behind her right ear. I can only imagine Terra or Polly swatted her ear and drew blood sometime overnight.

She ate kibble as if nothing happened...

My husband asked if I wanted to make a vet appointment. She acted her normal self, even alongside the sisters, so I didn’t see the point of stressing her. Dani later cleaned up a good portion of the stains.

The three have been doing so well. I hope this is an anomaly. At least Dandelion’s blood didn’t spatter the ceiling as happened years ago. That night she ran high onto a cat tree and swatted at her tormenters with her wounded paw. Ugh… Worse still, our beloved angel Tilly once received a mysterious slash to her neck.

We had no idea at the time, though she acted a bit uncharacteristic. My parents were visiting and the four of us went out for breakfast when my husband decided to leave and check on her. He discovered her downstairs, bleeding.

Aren’t I lucky to have married a man with great instincts and even greater compassion? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all beings who lack communications skills could express themselves?

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Pre-Vet Visit Nail Trim

Despite the side-eyed expression, she was a doll...