Busy, busy and surgery

I really need to start scheduling blog time at least once a week, if not more.    I'm not sure I can remember everything that has gone on since my last post.  Let's see what I can remember -

I finally got my seeds started.  I need to come up with a way to do them inside earlier in the late winter.

Greenhouse Bookcase

I had to try again with a couple of the seeds. None of the parsley, cilantro and carrots took. I think it got too cold or they got over-watered.

I had some store-purchased baking potatoes sprout while in my pantry so I planted them as well.

Happy Potatoes!

An evergreen tree was growing up against the mailbox and I really didn't want to cut down the tree, so I moved the mailbox.  Only I hit a layer of rock and couldn't get the hole deep enough.  I went with plan B.

Straighter than it looks

I promise that the mailbox is actually straight.  It's survived two storms like this so I think it will work. I'll have to find someone with a small backhoe to put it in the ground permanently.  I've planted marigolds in the bucket since I took this picture.


The drainage trench before and after the driveway culvert was clogged so I had to burn leaves and dig dirt out.  That was fun, fun, fun.

Before the culvert, facing North

After the culvert, facing South and down hill

I spent two days digging this trench. I saved the dirt for other projects.  I was surprised that my lawn mower started so easily but it was a temporary situation.  I finally had the money for lawn mower gas this weekend and wanted to mow before the next storm. I filled the ride-on mower's tank and tried to start it. It wouldn't start. I called AutoZone to find out if I could jump-start/charge my lawn and garden battery with my car (2007 Chevy HHR) battery. They said "Yes."  The battery wouldn't hold the charge and now I have no power steering.  I ended up spending all day Friday and after work Saturday using a push mower to mow as much of the yard as I could get.  The mower used to be self-propelled but that part broke a couple years ago.  I have about 2 acres of yard and I got almost 1/2 of it done over those two days.  Where I didn't get is so over-grown and wild, I'm not sure the ride-on mower will be able to mow it. It will take more than one pass with the mower, that much is certain.

All of this, and more, was done with a bum knee.  I have a medial collateral ligament strain, a small moderate size joint effusion with small popliteal cyst, evidence of mild degenerative joint disease and a small amount of bone marrow edema in the medial tibial plateau.  All this means that my knee hurts due to ligament strain and inflammation/increased water content in bone marrow of the right tibia and arthritis in the knee.  Supposedly all the pain I'm in is the tibia issue, not the ligament. It took a month from time of injury to the time I saw the orthopedic doctor.  He gave me a shot that was a mixture of two local anaesthetics, a pain reliever and a corticosteroid.  It didn't do anything. I'm now scheduled for outpatient surgery tomorrow morning.  The procedure is a subchondroplasty.  Using an x-ray machine, they will find the right place, drill a hole through the tibia to the spot and inject a paste into the edema.  The paste immediately hardens, making the bone stronger and making the pain go away. If it works.  I will have a brace on for the first 72 hours and after that, I don't know. I assume I have to use crutches for a while. The stitches come out on May 15th.  Now I'm kinda glad I didn't get any chickens. I won't be able to move the coop for a while.

I have to be at the hospital by 830 AM for a 930 AM surgery.  It's coming up on midnight and I need to take my regular medicines then nothing - not even a middle of the night glass of water.  I'm a little worried, I think.  I don't think I've thought about it much.  I've been too busy and tired to think about it.  I am trying to get some last minute stuff done - laundry, dishes, etc.  I wasn't able to get my paycheck early so I wasn't able to do a last minute grocery shopping trip. Oh well.  I'll just use one of the motorized carts and try to not run anyone over.  Do you know if those can do wheelies?  'Cause that would be cool and I'd get to feel like a bad ass.

Amazon.com Wish List for Homestead

I started a wish list on Amazon.com for the homestead. I'm sure it will change and grow over time.  I've included items for my cats, dogs and bunny. They are a part of the homestead and getting help with their supplies frees up money to expand and improve the homestead.

http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/111PHKFEPG1NL/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_ws_1dGqtb1236ZB5

Interesting Saturday

I had a rather interesting day today. More interesting that usual.  First my alarm didn't go off when it was supposed to.  It's a new alarm clock but I think it got knocked onto the floor one too many times. It was set to go off at 745 AM because I work on Saturdays.  Luckily, my pinched nerve woke me up at 755 AM so I made it to work on time anyway.  I need to test the clock out this weekend. I can use my cell phone if I keep it plugged into an outlet.

There are four of us who work Saturdays 9 to 2.  Two of us in Osceola and two in Lowry City. Today was the city wide garage sale in Lowry City and one of the four took the day off to have a garage sale.  Another one of the four is still new and doesn't have keys so the one I normally work with in Lowry City was supposed to go to Osceola instead. She forgot and showed up in Lowry City.  I sent her on her way and called down.  I LOVE working alone but if the library isn't busy (and Lowry City never is), it's hard to stay awake.  I spent the day working on the Christmas CD inventory (which means I have Christmas music playing in my head whether I want it to or not) but I struggled to keep awake. There's a pop machine in the building that, thankfully, has Coke Classic (the only pop/soda I will drink) but it was out!  No Coke for me!!!  Because I was working alone, I couldn't run over to the gas station to get one so it was after 2 PM before I had my first caffeine of the day (I don't drink coffee or tea - can't even stand the smell of them).

At 1 PM I had a brain-fart. I worked 9 to 1 on Friday and counted down to 1 PM today thinking that we closed at 1. We don't. On Saturday we close at 2. Sigh.  That last hour was TORTURE.

But 2 FINALLY rolled around and I immediately went to the gas station and got two cans of Coke Classic. Ahhhhhh.

It was pretty nice out today - sunny and in the upper 50's.  I changed into my yard work clothes and ball cap so I could finally have some fun.  My plan was to do some burning but we had a day of solid rain on Thursday so it was just too wet. Some burned but not much. Oh well, on to plan B.

I took down the downspout on the northwest side of the house, cut it down and put it back with my rain barrel under it.  Only took me 8 years to do that task.  ::eye roll::  Since I had the ladder out, I thought I'd go up and clean the gutters but I'm terrified of my extension ladder.  It's a 20 footer and I just can't climb it more than half way and that's not high enough to get on the roof.  I just can't do it.  The house I used to have had a lower roof line over the carport so I was able to just use an A-frame ladder to get on the roof and I'd get up there all the time.  I've managed to get on the roof here once.  I tried three times to get on the roof but I just couldn't do it.  It pisses me off of but the ladder has won.  I'll have to find a handyman who can come out and clean the gutters and take down the unused old satellite dish.  From what I saw of the roof, it doesn't really look all that great.  The shingles look OK but I think the plywood under it is bad in places.  We had a second layer of shingles put on back in 2006.  We probably should have had a tear down done. Oh well.

We had enough rain to give me back my pond even though it is temporary.  Izzy the cat

and I wandered over to it and I gave the neighbor's property (all wooded and overgrown with no one living there) the finger as usual.  I think I already reported that she had a backhoe come out about 2 years ago and had her side of the pond dam trenched out, resulting in the pond draining taking all the fish with it.  Apparently, the man I bought my property from put the pond in 30 years ago without her permission and she has just been waiting for the opportunity to drain it.  There's a strip of land, now overgrown, that is flat and more than big enough for a huge garden and a spot for a couple goats but it's on her side. When I bought the property, it was mowed and taken care of and the old man told me it was part of the property. That's why I bought it - flat land for garden, room for livestock and my dogs plus a pond.  Nope. Turns out that the best part - the flat part - was her land. She had a survey done several years before but not only were the above ground markers gone but she didn't record it. There wasn't a recorded survey of my property at the time.  I didn't know any better and neither did the realtor.  We just believed the old man.  So I'm left with land that slopes to the south and to the east, is very acidic due to lots of black walnut trees and is very rocky below ground.  All this makes the garden I've been planning next to impossible. I just don't have the money to bring in a load of dirt and a load of manure/compost and whatever else I need.  Container gardening only gets me so far. I have pots of various sizes but not enough of the right size. And, again, no money to get more.  Since I have to work Saturday's I miss all the garage sales. But the garage sales never happen when I have money. Like now.  After getting my 2 cans of Coke, I have less than $1.00 in cash/change and just over $3 in the bank. And this must last me until the 15th.  The next 10 days will be interesting.

Luckily, I clean a friend's house every Sunday or Monday for $20. I'll need that next week for cat food and produce for the bunny.  I have the ingredients to make a loaf of bread so I don't have to worry about buying that but I'll run out of milk before the 15th and I'll get close with gas in the car.  Just gonna keep my fingers crossed as usual.

Sorry, got off topic there. Let's see... where was I? Pond. Yeah, pond. OK. So Izzy and I gave our neighbor the finger and returned home. The bird feeders were empty so I filled them back up - just sunflower seed. The suet cake was only about 2/3 gone. I have another one in the fridge (makes it not so messy to put out).  On my way back to the garage with the container of bird seed, I spotted weeds in the old daffodil garden so I started weeding.  Ditch the cat

helped. By helped, I mean laid on the weeds I was trying to pull out.  He's soooo helpful.  He and I played our game of "Chase/Tag" on the way to the garage.  Then I put the car away, took a shower and have been chillin' ever since.  Everyone has been fed. I can hear the bunny eating more of his salad.  The dogs and cats are snoozing.

I have "Ghost Adventures" Season 3 playing and am going to rip some of my music cd's onto my computer. I have good songs on my iPod but I need to add more songs or I'll go nuts. I want to have more songs available when I start mowing the yard.  I always  listen to my iPod when I mow and usually whenever I work in the yard.