I’m quite pleased with how things went today.

My main goal was to get the raised bed cover in the old kitchen garden covered with plastic to create a cat proof space and greenhouse conditions over the rectangular bed. Not only we were able to get that done, but my daughter and I got the portable greenhouse I got on clearance a while back, set up too.

Of course, things didn’t go as expected, but nothing too extremely off.

With the raised bed cover, I had to bring over a couple of cinder blocks to support the small log I was using to weigh down the plastic at one end. That required chopping the end of the sump pump hose free of the ice, so it could be moved and not be under a cinder block. I’m actually glad that it needed to be done. So far, there hasn’t been enough seepage for the sump pump to be triggered, but the water level in the reservoir is slowly increasing. With the end of the hose completely encased in ice, if it did get triggered, it would not have been able to drain. The end of the hose is still filled with ice but, now that the black plastic hose it out and exposed to the sunlight, that will melt away rather quickly.

For now, the sides of the cover are weighted down with various things but eventually, I’d like to try something different to secure the plastic over the cover. I’ll have to think on that, first, and see what materials we have that I can use.

Then there was the little portable greenhouse.

The spot I wanted to set it up, as it was the most sheltered from the wind, while still getting lots of sun, had a pile of snow from clearing a path in the way. The eavestrough extension hose was also partially buried under there, which means the snow that melted off our entry roof drained under the pile of snow.

Once the snow was cleared off, my daughter and I took turns with an ax, chopping the ice away and shoveling it clear.

In the end, though, we couldn’t use the spot. Once the frame was assembled, we tried to find a good space to set it, but everything was just too uneven. The most level ground we could find was behind the kibble house, and even there, we had to set some scrap pieces of rigid insulation under one side to level it out.

Once we worked that out, we put the cover on. It gets tied to the frame on the inside, which my daughter did while I was on the outside, holding the cover in place. For the bottom ties, we had to tilt the entire thing so my daughter could reach the corners.

As careful as we were, we did end up with a couple of tears in the cover. One, I was able to use clear duct tape to secure together again. The other was right along a zipper in the doorway, so the tape isn’t going to work there. Ah, well. I don’t expect this to last more than a couple of years. The cover, I mean. I expect the frame to last longer.

Once the cover was tied down and the frame back in position, we used the ties and tent pegs that came with the package to secure it to the ground. The metal tent pegs were pretty wimpy, but three of them did the job. At the fourth corner, the frozen ground was simply too solid. After digging around in my garden supplies in the sun room, I found a single tent peg that was a lot strong, and was able to hammer that into the ground. Still not all the way, but enough to secure the line to the greenhouse.

This may have been the most level location, but it is very much in the way. Especially those tie downs! I knew the black cord would be a problem, and could just see myself tripping over them because they are both dark and very thin. So I got some bright orange paracord and wrapped that around the lines for visibility.

In the end, I decided to take some video of both projects and put it together, rather than post a whole bunch of photos on Instagram to embed here. So, here is a short little video of the set up we got done today.

I’m glad we were able to get both done today, before the temperatures drop over the next couple of days. It will make quite a difference for the winter sown bed. As for the portable greenhouse, I will be monitoring the temperature inside, but it will be a while before we have anything to put in there.

I want to get other seeds started over the next week or so. The replacement bulbs I ordered should be arriving on Monday, so I’ll have enough light for more seed starts, plus what we’ve already got going.

While I’m happy we got these done today, I’m afraid I may have over done it. I’ve been stiffening up and starting to hurt after just a few minutes of sitting down, and my left thigh is still feeling a mess from the cramping. Enough to make me very nervous about going to bed.

Well, while I was working on the video, it ended up being my right thigh that started to give me trouble, starting to cramp up on me! I was able to move around and stretch it out, so I’m hoping I’ve managed to avoid another bout, but now both my legs are feeling unstable. I’ve been working on staying hydrated, etc., but it just doesn’t seem to be making a difference. Even when I tried to nap this morning, I was in so much pain I finally broke down and took more painkillers – one of the ones from my previous prescription. As much as I was still hurting after taking those, it turns out it still worked better than the new ones. I think I’ll see about getting a phone appointment with my doctor to talk about that.

Tomorrow is Sunday, so that will be my day of rest. Hopefully, that will give me some recovery time. It also happens to be our anniversary – my husband and I will be celebrating 37 years of marriage. We’ll be doing a lunch date on Monday, though. We will both be going to the lab in the morning for fasting blood work, so we’ll be having a lunch date afterwards. With his mobility issues and pain levels, we certainly aren’t going to make multiple trips. Not even for an anniversary! Just going out once is going to be difficult for him.

*sigh*

It’s past 10pm now. I suppose I should try going to bed.

Maybe after doing a few more leg stretches…

The Re-Farmer