06.25.09
A Gardening fail
Just ‘cuz I spent more years than I’d like on a farm, and helped with the garden more than I’d like, it doesn’t mean I’m able to grow anything.
The tomatoes are going well - no blooms yet, so obviously no produce, but it’s looking pretty promising. The cukes (what lasted when I first planted) and squash are going well too. Lettuce, on the other hand, and herbs - not so much.
Ever hear of hydroponics? I could pretend that I was trying to learn about that. But the fact of the matter is that I didn’t realize the flowerbox style planters I had had drain holes that were PLUGGED. And we got a TON of rain last week. When it cleared enough to go check on everything, I went out to find all the lettuce under at least 2″ of water. Oops! The water’s been drained, and the plugs removed and the lettuce isn’t exactly dead, but I’m not sure if it’s bouncing back either. Time will tell
The herbs have been living in the house and were all gangly looking. I decided once it had gotten more consistently warm (but not blistering yet) that it was time to take them out to be conditioned. The next day, nearly all of them were dead 
What’s left is back inside for the moment, seeing what happens to them.
The last thing planted is some mint in a few pots. Still waiting on those to come up. If for some reason they don’t come up - it’ll be time to quit. My recollection is that mint grows even if you don’t want it to.
The other thing I was planning to plant was some sunflowers - but the birds attacked the seed packet and relieved me of the seeds, so I either go get some more or skip that for this year.
Amber’s acting all lethargic like she did last late summer/early fall. Last time she just kept slowing down. This time it’s starting with her bugging the heck out of her ears… rubbing them and digging at them to the point that she’s opened up all kinds of next to her ears. We started trying to massage the ears with damp cloths which she seems to really like us doing, but then she started slowing down in the last day and a half or so… and the clinch-pin is not eating again. Made a vet appt for tomorrow morning and I’m hoping it’s easier (read cheaper) to sort out than last time. And if she’s gotta take any drugs, you can bet I’ll make them write an Rx to take to Walgreens.
One good thing about tomorrow is that I’M ON VACATION. Yeah - for a single day…. a day that I didn’t know I was even eligible for until 2 days ago and then had to make sure I took before next Wednesday or I’d lose it. I could have sworn that I had to be there 6 months before I’d get my first day. 6 months is Monday. Nope… for some reason I looked at accruals in the timekeeping system on Tuesday and saw that I had 7 hrs! Since I’m scheduled for training activities next Monday and Tuesday, and vaca has to be scheduled in advance and the daily phone schedule set a day ahead, it meant the ONLY day I could take was tomorrow. So I requested it and hoped there’s be “enough bandwidth” to approve my request. Luckily it was approved so that means I don’t have to sweat getting out of the vet TOO fast. Not that I want to be there long - that just means more $$$’s, usually, but it’s one less stress factor.
On the knitting front - I’ve been working on the Sockotta socks but it’s time to turn the heel. I was gonna try Wendy Johnson’s directions. I started it and then realized that I hadn’t set up properly. Put them down and started a pair using Paton’s Kroy Stripes (in the cyan stripes colorway) that are turning out great too. With the vacation day tomorrow, I hope to have the time to focus on the Sockotta pair to get those heels done so they are back to mindless knitting, ie knitting that can be done at work.
Are you tired yet of the MJ coverage on TV? It’s not even 12 hrs yet and is totally overshadowing FF’s death. Word of both deaths spread so fast today, what with everyone having a cell phone and getting/sending text messages. I grew up w/ his music and did like lots of it, but didn’t like the personality or persona or something once he passed his teens or so… Now the rumor mills and spin doctors are going crazy and we’ll probably never know what really happened, but then again, is it really our business?
If I don’t get to bed, it’ll be impossible to get to the vet on time, so I’d better shut up for now.