We had a rather long day today, and it’s not even 5pm yet.
My younger daughter had her doctor’s appointment in the city, which meant we had to be on the road by 8:30am to get there, with extra time to be delayed by construction or whatever else came up. We had time enough to stop at a gas station along the way to pick up drinks and a couple of sandwiches for the girls, who hadn’t had breakfast before leaving. I noticed the gas prices in this town were still $1.729/L, and I hoped prices would be better while in the city, as we’d need to top up before heading home.
I’m glad we left as early as we did because, even with my daughter navigating and the map app talking out directions, I missed a turn. It was at one of the more bizarre intersections – of which there are many – and it was either turn right, or turn extra right. I didn’t catch the extra right in time. Then, because it’s one way streets all over the place, we ended up taking a completely alternate route – that turned out to make it easier to get into the parking we needed, than if we hadn’t missed the turn.
I truly dislike driving in the downtown area of the city. Some of the worst street planning out there and, for where we were driving, it can’t even be blamed on things like being split up by rivers and tributaries. Then there are the crappy drivers and the crumbling streets.
*sigh*
Still, we got there with about 10 minutes to spare. After getting through the security gauntlet to get into the building, which included my daughter justifying why we were there without our own appointments, I signed in for the parking spot we were in, then we waited. My older daughter ended up going in with her sister for what turned out to be two consecutive appointments; one with a doctor, one with a nurse practitioner. It ended up being more than an hour before they came out again, with another appointment for next month, plus some lab requisitions. There’s a lab right in the building, so we just waited until my daughter was called in. That went quickly, and we were soon heading out. Which was great “fun”, trying to find and read inconsistently placed street signs, including one that was half hidden by a set of street lights, and not get hit by drivers oblivious to everything around them. Oh, and dodging construction. Or course.
Have I mentioned I really dislike driving in this city? I don’t think I could say it enough.
My older daughter ended up not being able to eat the sandwich we’d picked up on the way out, so she was really hungry. So chose a different route out, so we could take the street we do one of our stop up trips on. Gas prices were $1.799 all over, except for one gas station we saw on the way in, at $1.639 – but it was a co-op franchise that we stopped going to after their cheap, dirty gas cost us over $400 in repairs in our previous vehicle, plus repairs on our lawn mower. There was a Domo along the way that was at $1.749/L, and today was discount day, so we got gas at $1.609/L instead.
This station is right near the international grocery store we like to go to, and that’s where we went for lunch. My daughters got themselves some steamed dumpling dim sum, and I got a large Chinese meal that I only ate half of, taking the rest home.
From there, we went to a Superstore that was along our way out. We have already run out of the torpedo buns we all like so much, so we got three more bags, along with a couple of pounds of butter, since I’m not sure when we’ll be at Costco to stock up on butter next. The girls found a giant Italian sandwich for their dad as a treat, and we happened to cut through the aisle with energy drinks, so I got some Beaver Buzz for home.
Of course, it was while we were doing all this that I got a message from my husband saying a doctor had called for me and would call back at around 2. I didn’t think we’d be home by then, so I told my husband that, if it was about an appointment, to take whatever they give me, except for November 3, and 4, when the girls have their next medical appointments.
When we got home, I missed the call back by mere minutes. The doctor hadn’t been able to talk to my husband because he’s not on the last as my “next of kin”. But she would call back tomorrow at around 10.
Which suggests to me it was the specialist getting back to me, not cancer care. I’ll have to make sure to let her know, she can speak freely to my husband about my file, if I’m not around.
We had barely settled in when my younger daughter headed out to start digging holes. Her sister followed soon after.
They were able to finish the first section that was planted in, where I’d already dug 3 holes yesterday, which is what you see in the first image above. Then they moved to the northernmost end of the new rows and started working across there. My younger daughter did the digging while her sister did the transplanting. In the second picture, you can see the 6 transplants along the north end are in. The next photo shows just some of what my daughter had to deal with while digging!
So. Many. Rocks, all over this area.
The last image is taken from the south end of the new rows. The transplanting will be done from the north end, so that when the south end is reached, we will be planting small ones out of the trays, rather than the big pots. We’ve got a total 77 haskaps in the large pots, but there are a total of 90 spaces to plant in. So, to fill the whole area, there would be another 23 plants from the trays, plus another 5 or so spots between the Silver Buffalo berry to fill. I’m pretty sure we can fill all those spaces, and still have plants in the trays left over.
I did pop out later on, though I was banned from doing any digging. Depending on which app I look at, we’re going to drop to either 2C/36F or 0C/32F tonight. I brought out the fabric to cover four beds – the peppers, eggplant and Chocolate stripe tomatoes in the main garden area, and the self seeded tomatoes in the old kitchen garden. My older daughter came out to help me while updating me on their progress.
I remembered that I still had an unopened package of frost cloth I got at a dollar store, years ago. I got multiple packages but, when I tried to use them, they tore apart. I figured I would try using it to see if I could protect the winter squash, which are more exposed on the chain link fence.
It wasn’t quite long enough to cover from end to end, but the developing squash, at least, are covered. The edge on the inside of the chain link fence got squished between the squash plants and the sunflowers, then it got secures with clothes pins to the chain link. The sunflowers might actually help hold it in place, too.
That was about my limit for today, as pain levels were starting to increase, and I wanted to not let it get worse. When my daughters came in, they updated me with their progress. All of the transplants got watered, as well as all the pots and trays. Later on, I’ll rake around the transplants and make water trenches, as with the first ones that got done, but that’s not as urgent as getting them in the ground and watered. After getting updated, I went out and took pictures, before we lost the light.
I really hope a lot of these survive. With the silver buffalo berry, we had a bundle of 30. Over the span of several years, we’ve lost only 5, and they were in great shape when they were planted. The haskap are not in great shape, so it’s reasonable to expect a higher loss rate. Still, it would be nice if they all made it!
Tomorrow, we do more digging.
Well. My daughter will probably do more digging. If I’m still banned from digging, I’ll see if I can finally get back to cleaning the sun room for the winter, which has had zero progress in the past few days! Too many other things dragging us away. After tonight’s drop in temperature, things will warm up again for the next while, with no rain, so we should get some decent progress done.
Little by little, it’s getting done.
The Re-Farmer
