update

Resting

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Not a lot to say about today. Still in recovery and today had me dealing with more exhaustion and some pain.

I did head outside in the afternoon to get some fresh air, and take some garden tour video. Before I started, I spotted Slick’s babies.

They seem to like hanging out around the old burn ring, rather than the catio. The catio may be too exposed feeling.

The girls have still taken on my usual outdoor stuff. No watering of the garden today, though, as it rained all night. Just walking around the yard taking video was enough to leave me feeling exhausted.

I’m at war with myself between all that I want to be doing, and knowing that I need to not be doing any of it to I can recover.

I am a terrible patient.

😄

The Re-Farmer

A surgery update

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I am so glad we left early. Three constructions zones on our route, slowing us down.

We still got there well before my registration time. They took me in for processing and prep almost immediately, and it wasn’t long until I was in a stretcher, waiting to be brought in for surgery.

I fell asleep.

Twice.

After several hours, the doctor finally came by to let me know that there had been an emergency that came in and everything got delayed. She had one more person ahead of me, before I could get done. When I heard a nurse telling someone it was past 3:30 (my check in time was 11:45, but we checked in almost half an hour early), I asked someone to call my daughter and let her know about the delay. She was more worried about the surgery than I was.

The surgery itself took only about an hour. While in recovery, I was informed they did find and remove something unusual. I’m to go back to the doctor in four weeks for a follow up, test and biopsy results. I got a prescription for antibiotics and something to control bleeding, if necessary, that they wanted me to fill right away, but our pharmacy would be closed long before we reached town, so I will do that tomorrow. Meanwhile, I was given instructions for home, and what to look out for that I would need to go straight to the nearest ER for if it happens.

They kept asking me what my pain levels were like, on a scale of 1 -10. My response? A half. Maybe. Just a dull ache. Pain, of course, can be a relative thing, and compared to the past few months, there was almost no comparison.

After my daughter wheeled me to the truck, we made a quick side trip for some take out so I could eat and hydrate on the way home, since I wasn’t ready to be going in and out of the truck yet.

We also took a different route home, allowing my daughter to detour two of the three construction zone.

As for me, I feel absolutely fantastic. I am so happy!

It’s still possible I might go for another, more major surgery, depending on the biopsy results, but I suspect I won’t need it.

I can’t believe how much better I feel already. Wow.

My daughter, meanwhile, as informed me that she will do the morning routine. I am banned, no matter how good I might be feeling. 😂

I get to sleep in, in the morning.

What a novel concept!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: first tomato, peppers, some cuteness and the status of things

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Well, I’m glad I didn’t head to the city today for our second stock up shop. That will definitely wait until after the long weekend. Not only will I not have to deal with holiday crowds, but Tuesday is supposed to finally be cooler again.

I had an early start to the day, not by choice. It wasn’t pain that woke me up – it was cats going nuts! – though I did immediately get a headache. I don’t normally get headaches, and I don’t know what triggered it.

I topped up the inside cat kibble bowls which calmed them down a little bit, but they’ve been really bonkers lately. Since I was up anyhow, I went out to do the morning feeding and watering of the yard cats.

Look who I spotted!

Sprout’s baby has starting coming to the food bowls in its own, without mom around!

(As an aside, Gouda did show up again. I had a scare with Batman, but he showed up, too. Still no Havarti, no Domino, no Adam and no Flopsy. At this point, it is highly unlikely we will see them again. Others seems to have disappeared, too, among the tabbies we never got to name. All have gone missing in an unusually short time. 😢😢😢)

It was wonderfully cool, heading outside that early in the morning. It helped my headache a bit, at least. I was planning to go straight back to bed, but I found myself not only with the headache, but suddenly famished. As in, feeling nauseous and dizzy and ready to pass out, hungry. Also odd, because I had gone to bed early last night, but got up at around midnight because of the pain my left hip. The painkillers helped with the abdominal pain but did nothing for the wrecked hip. My older daughter was up and working on commissions while it was cooler, and she was kind enough to rub some of the topical painkiller on my hip joint for me. Then she was kind enough to make me some grilled cheese sandwiches. Since I was up anyhow, I turned on the computer and paid the bills. By the time she brought me the food, my hip was no longer hurting, and I could finally sleep. I went back to bed at around two, so it was only about 3-4 hours later that I found myself awake and suddenly famished.

My body is completely out of whack!

My attempt to get more sleep was only half successful. It was disorienting to get up, feeling like it should be coming up on noon, but it was early enough that my alarm to do a wellness check on my husband hadn’t gone off yet.

With having to move the hoses because I knew my SIL was planning to mow the lawn, the garden hadn’t been watered at all for two days. Being slightly cooler today, and the mowing done, I went out to do it early this afternoon. Everything got an extra deep watering today, and I set up the hose into the leaky barrel to do the food forest trees, too. They also got extra water, and the leaking barrel will continue to water the apple, gooseberry and probably the plum, too, slowly as it empties.

When I moved to the south side of the hose to water the garden beds there, I started a little creature and saw a streak of white bolting out from under the water bowl shelter and across the yard.

It was Sprout’s baby! It is starting to come closer to the house for food!!! Progress!!!!

While watering the tomato bed, I spotted a splash of colour.

Orange colour.

Our very first ripe tomato! 😂🤣 This is an Orange Currant tomato which is pretty much an orange version of the Spoon tomatoes we’ve grown before – the one kind of tomato I can eat raw. I didn’t eat this one, though. My daughter had gone to the truck to sew up a split seam on the driver’s seat for me, so I gave it to her.

She said it was very good!

I was getting close to finishing the watering when my brother and SIL arrived. They have their own planned out stuff to do, so I don’t expect to actually see them much while there are here. Especially since I have not been outside anywhere near as much as I normally would be.

Still, by the time I was done watering (which took almost 3 hours), I was feeling pretty good. Good enough that I brought the truck around and my younger daughter helped me load up the garbage and recycling.

Thankfully, she came with me to the dump.

By the time the truck was loaded, I could tell the pain was starting to return. By the time we drove the two miles to the highway, it was getting hard to sit up straight. I was still good to drive, though. When we got to the dump, we stopped at the recycling bins first, and I got out to help my daughter take care of those. By then, I knew I was done. I could get in and out of the truck, but I was not going to be able to throw anything into the pit. So when we drove to the pit, my daughter took care of throwing the garbage bags in while I stayed in the truck.

On the way home, we made a side trip to the general store. The only thing I didn’t get while doing the earlier stock up trip was butter, and I discovered we were almost out. I ended up giving my daughter my debit card so she could run in and get the butter, plus a couple other things, while I stayed in the truck.

When we got home, she asked me to drive into the yard so she could hose down the box of the truck, as one of the kitchen garbage bags had leaked. I was happy to do that, as it meant a shorter walk to the house. While she took care of things, I took some painkillers and hydrated for a while.

My older daughter had started supper and it was ready before we got back, which was much appreciated.

Thankfully, the painkillers actually kicked in, so I was up to heading outside again. I’d forgotten to change out the memory cards on the trail cams yesterday. I no longer switch them out every day, but every week or so, now that we have fewer security concerns. Sad to think that it took our vandal passing away for that to happen, but it really has been a weight lifted off of all of us.

Of course, I just had to check out the garden beds before going back inside. Which is when I spotted something that I’m amazed I hadn’t seen before, while I was watering.

We have peppers. Surprisingly large ones!

These are the California Wonder bell peppers. The biggest plant has these two big peppers on it – one of them is stuck upside down, between stems. I had need tiny peppers forming on other plants, but somehow missed these ones!

Tomorrow is supposed to get quite hot again, so I plan to go to bed extra early to do an early morning watering, and will likely do an evening watering, too. Tomorrows heat is supposed to last from about noon to 8pm, before it starts cooling down. The overnight temperatures, at least, are much more bearable!

Hopefully, that will help with sleep, too.

We shall see!

The Re-Farmer

Morning harvest, didn’t make it, and I think I’m addicted

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So, today didn’t happen as planned, but it sort of happened as expected.

For all that I felt so well yesterday, I had a mostly sleepless night. I finally just got up, fed the outside cats, and did my morning routine. I made sure to bring a container along, as the bush beans had not been harvested yesterday, so I knew there would be plenty to pick, today.

I pretty much filled the colander I was using. It was mostly yellow beans, as we have more plants of those, and they seem to be more prolific, but there were plenty of purple and green pods to pick, too.

Once back inside, I stayed long enough that knew the lab would be open, then headed out. The plan was still to go to Costco after I got my blood work and EKG done, so I made sure to grab ice packs. By the time I got to the hospital, though, I knew I wasn’t going anywhere else. I was just too tired and sleepy, on top of all my joints aching from tossing and turning all night.

At the lab, I was called in very quickly after dropping off my requisition papers. Blood was drawn first, and then it was straight to gown up for the EKG. The test itself took less time than it took to wire me up!

From there, I just stopped to get a bit more gas before heading home, had a light lunch, took some pain killers and tried to lie down.

It didn’t really work. Neither the painkillers, nor the attempt at a nap.

When I finally gave up, I was soon back outside again. It was a bit early, but I went ahead and did the evening cat feeding, as well as refreshing their water bowls and putting in new frozen water bottles. My brother and SIL had their own plans change a few times, but they will be coming out today; while my brother works on his tractor, my SIL planned to start mowing the lawn. It goes a lot faster with their big zero turn mower, that’s for sure! They’ll be going back to the city for the night, though, and coming back tomorrow.

I decided to do a bit of weed trimming.

One area I wanted to get trimmed is what will be a stone framed flower garden near the gate, around my mother’s angel statue. I had already started to place rocks down but wasn’t happy with it. I moved them all aside, then weed trimmed the area before laying them back out in what I think is a better set up. Eventually, soil will be added to make a slightly raised bed, as that area is low and becomes a pond at times. The plan is to sow varieties of flower seeds in there that do better being planted in the fall and going through a winter’s deep freeze.

After that, I did some trimming around the garage and the baler my brother parked beside it. I’ve got my first two logs meant for the outdoor kitchen in there, too, and it’s hard to get in there with a mower, so it was starting to get pretty overgrown.

By the time I was done that area, plus trimming around some rocks in the yard so no one would accidentally go over them with a mower, I was also just plain done. Even this small amount of physical activity has trigged a return of my abdominal pain. Something I’d hoped wouldn’t happen, after not having any of this pain at all yesterday. Even so, I hoped I could rest and go back outside, but as I sit here typing, I’m realizing that this is not going to happen after all.

*sigh*

I did, however, do something else today, for next year’s garden.

I’m starting to think I’m addicted to seeds. 😂🤣

I’d been going through the MI Gardener site last night and even went so far as to start a shopping cart going, but then headed to bed. I don’t actually need more seeds, but I wanted to try some new varieties, fill some gaps, and there was a modest sale on.

Well, today a 40% off seed sale started, so I went back and added a few more things and placed the order.

I am such a sucker for seeds!

This is what I ordered today.

Yes, I got more tomatoes. These mature in only 42 days, hence the name, 42 Day Tomato, which means they can actually be direct sown in the spring rather than started indoors.

I tried another variety of spinach, Verdil. I still have others, but we like spinach, but have not been able to actually get good results for a while. This variety is less prone to bolting.

I also got yet another variety of pepper, Diamond Bell. We’re still working out what varieties the family enjoys most.

The Honey Rock Melon is a short season variety that could also be potentially direct sowed, rather than starting indoors.

The Tendergreen Cucumber can be harvested small for pickling or long for fresh eating, and the girls have expressed a desire for a slicing variety.

I got yet another variety of corn – Double Red Sweet. Not a lot of seeds in the packages, so I got two. I just like the look of them, and like to try something other than your basic yellow corn.

I got even more carrot seeds. I’m coming to the conclusion that we can’t plant too many carrots. I chose an orange variety called Tendersweet, and…

… I got a yellow variety, just for something different.

Yes, I still have Atomic Red carrots, too. Variety is good.

I have had no luck with the tiny bok choi, as they always seem to bolt, so I’ve decided to try a Pak Choi cabbage that is less prone to bolting.

I was looking at the beets and decided to just get another Assorted Beet Mix – and then got another Sugar Beet packet. I still have some, but I want to try growing enough both to try making my own sugar, and to use as chicken feed, when we finally get our birds.

The Black Sesame seed is something I am curious to try, though it might not be next year.

I already got the plain garbanzo beans, and I figured I may as well try the black version, too.

I also wanted to try a new zucchini variety; Bianco Di Trieste. Because we never manage to have “too much” summer squash!

I have so many different types of melon sees, but I couldn’t resist getting some Tendersweet Orange watermelon – another shorter season variety.

I also have quite a few varieties of peas, but decided to try the Wando pea as well. We have yet to grow grow enough peas to do much more than snack on them, so I hope this variety does better. There aren’t a lot of seeds in the packages, so I got two.

I’ve been interesting in growing leeks for some time, and today I finally picked up Carentan Leek; a variety that has a shorter growing season.

And finally, I picked up some Copenhagen cabbage which, if I remember correctly, is the variety of cabbage I bought transplants for when I didn’t think the Purple Savoy cabbage would grow at all. So we will have both varieties again, next year.

Once of the things I’ll be doing closer to fall is going through my entire seed inventory and organizing it into things I can plant in the fall for winter sowing, things that need to be started indoors, and things for direct sowing.

Hopefully, after I’ve had my surgery, I’ll be better able, physically, to build and prepare beds. This forced inactivity is driving me nuts.

If I’m not careful, I might end up buying more seeds again…

I’m not addicted. I can quit at any time! 😂

The Re-Farmer

Harvest, Hodge Podge and Health

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Today had definitely turned out to be a hot one. Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter. It should also be our first stock up shopping trip to the city, so I’ll want to head out quite early, before things get too hot.

Knowing the heat was coming, I made sure to water the garden this morning, though I’ll have to ask the girls to do it tonight.

I was able to get a nice harvest this morning!

I decided to gather some potatoes this time, expecting to dig up a few smaller potatoes, since it’ll be a while before the potatoes mature and the plants start dying back.

I was wrong!

In the first image, you can see what I uncovered when pulling the mulch aside. Some nice, big potatoes growing, right at the surface! Thanks to the mulch, there was no exposure to the sun, so this just made it easier to get them.

In the second image, you can see the potatoes I got from under two plants. The single carrot is the Uzbek Golden Carrot that seeded itself in the purple cabbage bed.

Then there were the bush beans. There were so many pods! Especially with the yellow beans, but I got quite a few green and purple ones, too. I also grabbed a few more little carrots from the Rainbow Carrots Mix row.

While I was outside, my sister called my cell phone. She had gotten the text I’d sent her about my mother and had called to ask what the heck was going on between us. I explained a bit about what happened during my last visit. I had mentioned in my text the conversation I’d had with my mother, telling her about going to the hospital, so she asked about that, too. After making sure to tell her to NOT say anything to my mother, I gave her the Cole’s Notes of it. She asked for more detail about my mother saying she was sick, and I told her I had none. She went straight from saying “I’m sick. Very sick” to “come visit me.” My sister also thinks my mother is just wanting more visits so she’s pulling the sick card. Which doesn’t work very well, since she is in exactly the right place to be if she really were sick. From the strength of my mother’s voice, I don’t think she’s actually sick.

So my sister is somewhat caught up on things. She knew that we had health issues, but she had no idea things were as bad as they are (I mentioned both my daughters need very different surgeries, too) and, if my mother asks, that’s all she plans to say. My mother already knows this, but doesn’t care.

I did get the watering done while we talked. I told her about watering the garden twice a day when it gets hot like this. She told me, they haven’t had to water their garden at all this year! They live near a creek and their soil, as my sister describes it, is gumbo. Wildly different from what we have! After a while, I had to end the call because I needed two hands to be able to harvest the beans. 😁

Once inside, I covered the colander with the harvest in it and left it, as I needed to sit for a while and have breakfast. My daughters were sweet and brought something for me, as they were going to be using the kitchen for a while. After eating, I sorted through the harvest, plus got what we left in the fridge from before, and organized the vegetables into several bowls, based on what would take the longest to cook, then scrubbed all the potatoes. They are too fresh to bother with trying to peel them.

By the time I was done scrubbing the potatoes, though, I was needing to at least sit down for a while. My younger daughter had come down and I told her what I meant to do next. She was a sweetheart and did the rest of the cleaning, peeling, trimming and prepping for me. I tried sitting at my computer, but the pain kept getting worse. I was preparing to take the new painkillers and lie down when the phone rang.

It was a follow up from my ER visit and CT scan. The gyno wanted me to come in, and she was wondering if Thursday was okay.

As in, the day after tomorrow.

!!!!!

Obviously, I said yes. If I’d had anything booked that day, it would have been cancelled. As it is, it will be in between our regular city stock up trips, so that worked out perfectly.

Then I was able to lie down for a while. I wasn’t laying down to try and sleep. I just needed to not be upright. My SIL started messaging me and we chatted for a while about things. She was very happy to hear I got an appointment so quickly! So am I. I’m getting hit with this pain daily. It’s oddly predictable, too. Very strange.

My husband offered me a muscle relaxant after seeing my face when I walked past to the washroom. It’s one of his “take as needed” meds – and it was bad enough that I actually said yes, since the tramadol was doing nothing. In the end, the muscle relaxant didn’t make a difference, either. The pain just got worse, then started to subside again on its own.

So frustrating.

Once I was able to get up, though, I started on the Hodge Podge after getting the remaining marinated pork belly into the oven.

It’s been a long time since I’ve made Hodge Podge! It’s a great way to use up a lot of different vegetables at one. Of course, I had to modify the basic recipe to match my ingredients, but that’s what Hodge Podge is all about.

So for mine, I had the:

fresh new potatoes
bush beans
Spring Blush peas I’d picked before the plants started producing
the remaining garlic scapes we had that didn’t fit on the pan for dehydrating
the little carrots
the few turnips I’d picked previously (most of which my daughter had to toss because they were worm damaged)
a bunch of Golden Boy celery
couple of onions from the grocery store we had left.
salt, pepper and a bit of powdered beef soup stock mix.
chive blossom oil and butter
butter
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream

I started it off by cutting the onions into big chunks and started to cook them down in a half and half mix of butter and chive blossom oil. Then I added the carrots, turnip, celery and garlic scapes to the pot. Once they had about 5 minutes to soften, I added the potatoes, chopped large, then added just barely enough water to cover the potatoes.. Once the potatoes were almost done, I added the peas then, after a minute or so for them to cook, added the bush beans.

The bush beans are easy to know when they are done. I have the tri-colour mix, and the purple pods turn green when they are cooked through.

Once that was all cooked, I drained some of the water away before going to the next step. I added in a big chunk of butter – about 1/3-1/2 cups. After stirring that in, I added the 250ml container of sour cream.

I’m quite happy with how it turned out!

That done, I had to sit down, as the pain had gotten worse again. I am currently fighting myself. I want to go straight back to bed and pass out, but it’s way too early. I’ll been to take my evening meds. I haven’t even eaten the supper I’d made, yet!

I am so looking forward to the appointment coming up. Hopefully, I’ll actually get something useful out of it!

The Re-Farmer

Frustrating, but that’s good? Maybe?

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Today was a rather long day. Thankfully, my daughter was with me to do most of the driving and help me get around.

I had started my fast last night, and we were planning to leave early for my CT scan appointment. We ended up leaving even earlier than originally planned, which turned out to be a good thing. The drive to the hospital itself is just under an hour, normally, because it’s right at the edge of the smaller, closer city.

There was construction on the highway, which delayed our arrival a bit. We still got there early. I had forgotten to bring a 1L bottle of water from home, but we had some 500ml water bottles in the truck, which was good. I borrowed my husband’s disabled parking placard when we parked at the hospital, and my daughter manhandled my walker out of the truck for me. I had been fine this morning, but during the drive in, the pain started to kick in again. By the time we got to the hospital, I was really appreciating that walker!

We made our way to the CT waiting area, where I had a form I needed to fill out first, which gave me time to chug a bottle and a half of water. Someone came by and asked me if I was the one from the ER in the town nearest us, and I confirmed. She thought I was supposed to come in with an IV port, and I said I had been told that would be done here.

I was called in soon after and they set me up in the scanner and the IV. I was forewarned about what I would be feeling with the dye that was normal – and what I should let them know about immediately if I felt them, as they were NOT normal!

The scan itself went very quickly. They ran me through a few times, with the robot voice telling me when to take a breath, hold it, then “BREATHE” again. My daughter could actually hear that last “BREATHE” from the waiting room!

Then they warned me that the dye was being released and… yeah, I was glad they warned me about the sensations in advance! I’ve had a CT scan before, but it was so long ago, things were a bit different, and I hadn’t needed a dye, so this was quite new. Once the dye had time to do its thing, they ran me through the scanner a few more times.

When it was done and they returned to help me get up and leave, the guy that inserted the IV port asked if I wanted it left in.

???

Which is when I was told that I would have to go back to the ER in town to get the results of the scan, and if I were to be getting surgery, they’d be needing to put an IV in, so did I want to leave the port?

After asking a few questions and him leaving to check something, I decided to leave it in. We had expected that I’d see the gyno for a curettage, presumably after the results were viewed, but if the results were being sent to the ER from yesterday, that obviously wasn’t going to happen there. As far as I know, the hospital I went to last night does no surgeries at all, might possibly do biopsies, but that’s it. I told him we were planning to go to the Walmart nearby after this scan, and that I’d intended to break my fast. If I were going for surgery, though, I needed to keep fasting. For the length of time it would take for the results to get to the ER in town, we did have time to hit the Walmart, first.

While my daughter was putting the walker back into the truck, I updated the family and noticed the time. It had just turned to the time of my appointment! Talking about it to my daughter, we were extra glad of that. While she was in the waiting room, she started chatting with woman that had joined us just as I was called in. She asked what time her appointment was, and she told her she was there for me, and what time my appointment was at… which was the same time as her appointment! So it seems the ER managed to squeeze me in. We were extra glad to have left so early!

I would have been okay to drive to the Walmart, but the pain was getting worse, and I now had an IV port in my elbow, protected by a “sock”. So my daughter did the driving from then on.

Usually, when shopping, I use the cart as a walker. This time, I relied on the walker and my daughter did all the lifting and loading. We had just ran out of kibble for the outside cats this morning, so we got a couple of their largest bags – we only need to last a couple of days before our first city shop – and some more canned cat food for the inside cats. Given that we now had to go back to the ER in town, we made sure to pick up some quick and easy ingredients for supper, just in case. We made sure not to get anything that was frozen; I remembered to grab some freezer bags, but there’s only so much they can do – especially in the heat of the truck box! We figured, if necessary, we could stop by a local grocery story, if we wanted.

That didn’t happen.

From there, it was back to town and the ER. I wasn’t expecting to go back, so I’d already cut off my wrist band. I got a new one while explaining why I was there, and then sent to the waiting room. Someone came by not long after to take my vitals, and then it was back to the waiting room.

By then, I was really starting to hurt, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. As time went on, it was the fasting that became more of an issue. I finally went back to the admissions person and talked to her, explaining that we didn’t know if I’d be going for surgery and still needing to fast or not, but I was starting to feel dizzy and faint from not eating. After asking a few more questions, she got on the phone and I went back to the waiting room.

Then the doctor came by, calling my name. When he saw me, he did a double take and I just had to laugh.

He recognized me. I’ve seen him several times in the past, about my mother!

By the time, my daughter had gone to the truck and brought back a bag of beef jerky from our stash. She’d gone back to get another water bottle when I was called in, so I asked for the door to be left open, so she saw us and joined us part way through.

The first frustrating thing was finding out that I was supposed to see the gyno after getting the CT scan. The staff there obviously didn’t know this when they sent me back to this ER.

The other frustrating thing was that my CT scan showed nothing. No problem at all. There is just that one ultrasound that showed a problem.

Meanwhile, I was in enough pain that I was having difficulty sitting up straight.

So, nothing was going to happen today. I could eat. I could get rid of the IV port. I could go home. I will get a phone call with an appointment, soon, for a consultation regarding our next steps.

As he left, he told me to go back to the waiting room and someone would come by to remove the IV port. Then I could leave.

I was already tearing open the package of beef jerky. It wasn’t a large package, but it was enough to keep me from feeling sick and ready to pass out!

Then we waited.

And waited.

Finally, my daughter went to the admissions person. I just needed the port removed, and we could leave – and I was ready to take the thing out myself, except I had no gause and medical tape, and the port needed to have proper disposal.

The admissions person sent my daughter to the nursing station. She soon came back to tell me someone would be coming over soon. About a minute later, someone did.

Half a minute, and it was done. I was freeeeeeeee!!!!!

From there, my daughter wanted to make sure I ate, but I also had the new prescription for tramadol to pick up. A Subway shares a parking lot with our pharmacy, so that’s where we went. Once parked, my daughter went in to drop off my prescription while I made my way to a picnic table in the shade by the Subway, skipping the walker this time. When she got back, she told me they needed half an hour to fill the prescription, which was plenty of time to eat.

One of the things I expressed my frustration over as we talked was how – once again – I’m having issues, but tests are coming back “normal”. According to most tests I have done, I’m really healthy overall. At least my osteoarthritis shows up on X rays. This has been a “problem” for years, to the point that I’ve stopped going to doctors for some things completely, like my chronic cough that I’ve had for about 25+ years now. That, thankfully, has gotten better on its own, though it’s still there. I just ignore it now.

When it came to the pain itself, what the one ultrasound shows doesn’t really explain the pain. My daughter suggested that, if the gyno starts talking curettage with me, I might want to request just having everything removed. Which is exactly what I’d been thinging myself. I don’t need those lady parts anymore. I’m done with them, and they’re trying to kill me.

That’s a conversation to have when I get a call from the gyno.

Speaking of calls…

While in the waiting room at the ER, my daughter got a call from the clinic in the city she had an appointment at this morning. She’d left a message last night, and they were following up. She explained about me going to the ER yesterday, and that she was driving me around for tests today. Usually, when people don’t show up for appointments without letting them know at least 24 hours in advance, they’ve started to charge for the time. Too many people just don’t show up for appointments, and that really messes with their scheduling (and often results in other people stuck in waiting rooms longer). When there is a legitimate reason like this, though, those charges get waived! The earliest they could reschedule her for, though, is in October!

Once my daughter and I were done eating – and I was feeling SO much better, even though I was still in pain – we went in to get my prescription. There was someone at the pick up counter, so I quickly went through the supplements as I was out of zinc. Which resulted in someone else getting served ahead of me, and she ended up taking a really long time, talking about her insurance loud enough for all to hear. I couldn’t stay standing anymore. Thankfully, they have chairs right by the pick up counter. While I was there, the pharmacist that owns the place, who knows all of us quite well by now! – saw me and told me my meds were ready. So she took care of me before the other person was even done.

I only have a week’s worth of the tramadol, if I take them 3 times a day, though they are “as needed”. Which means I should be hearing from the gyno within that time.

Here’s hoping.

Once we got what we needed, I took one as soon as we were back in the truck!

Then we could finally go home, with my daughter driving. When we got to the gate, I was banned from getting out to open it. She backed the truck up to the house so I wouldn’t have far to walk, then she and her sister took care of unloading. By this time, it was time to feed the outside cats, so they stayed out to do that, too – now that we had more kibble for them!

I stayed up long enough to get on my computer and update my brother and SIL, planning to lie down and let the tramadol kick in.

Then the phone rang.

It was my mother.

Actually, it was a very frustrated sounding nurse who had made the call for her, let me know my mother wanted to talk to me, and handed the phone over.

The last time I talked to my mother was when I visited her and walked out because she was being so nasty to me again.

After exchanging greetings, I asked how she was doing. I was pretty sure I knew what she was about to tell me.

I was write.

She immediately launched into how she was sick. She was feeling soooooo sick.

She wanted me to come visit her.

*sigh*

I had not intended to tell my mother about any of what’s been going on, because she is always really terrible about it when we mention any health issues we have, but when she told me to come visit her (told, not asked), my response was “I just got back from the hospital.”

She said she didn’t understand.

So I said again, I just got back from the hospital. Less than half an hour ago.

What was I telling her? she wanted to know.

I told her, I went to the ER yesterday. Today I went to the city for tests, then back to the ER for the results. They’re trying to figure out what’s wrong, and I’ve been home for less than an hour.

Oh, I didn’t understand at first, she tells me.

She then told me to tell my brother and sister to visit her.

She would have kept me on the phone, but I told her I would pass on her message, right now, and was able to get her to let me off the phone.

*sigh*

Shortly after I hung up, my daughter came by saying “that sounded like a Babcia call.”

Yes. Yes it was.

I’d just finished messaging my brother and SIL about getting home and updating things easier on a keyboard rather than tapping on a phone, so I updated them about my mother’s call, too. Then texted my sister, who doesn’t use Messenger anymore. I hadn’t planned to tell her about what was going on, either, as she tends to tell things to my mother without our consent, sometimes. Not out of malice or gossip. It just doesn’t occur to her not to do it. Since I’d had to tell my mother about it anyhow, it didn’t matter anymore. She tends to turn off her phone when she’s at home, though, so who know when she’ll get the message.

Once that was all done, I finally was able to lie down for a while.

Thankfully, the tramadol did kick in after a while, and I felt well enough to go outside for a walkabout, using my walker.

I ended up watering the garden for the evening, even though I’d asked my daughters to do it later, when things cooled down a bit more.

I just couldn’t help myself.

Things are going to get hotter over the next few days, so the garden is going to need watering in the morning and evening to help cope with the heat. It won’t get as extreme as it got not long about, but still hot enough to be an issue.

My problem is, I keep thinking of all the things that I should be doing, while there is no rain in the forecast. Work to do in the yard and garden. Physical labour I probably shouldn’t be doing at all.

Which is driving me bonkers.

Ah, well. It is what it is, and I do what I can, and my daughters try to help as much as they are able.

We are such a gimpy family right now. All four of us!

*sigh*

The Re-Farmer

Recovery day

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I’m happy with how much I was able to get done outside yesterday, but I know myself well enough by now, not to try and do that two days in a row.

I was pre-emptive about things, which seems to have made a difference. Before going to bed, my daughter was a sweetheart and did my lower back with the diclofenac cream, as I could feel it starting to give out. While I was outside yesterday, taking a break to hydrate, sitting on the storage house steps, I could feel a Charlie horse threatening, so I made sure to treat both my legs with Tei Fu lotion, and took some extra magnesium with my evening meds/supplements. I still have some T3s left, so I took one as well. It seemed to work out, as I was actually able to sleep with zero muscle cramps, and my left hip giving me only relatively minor grief. When I had to get up during the night, all my joints were very stiff, but not painfully so.

Still, I was exhausted. In the morning, I got up before my alarm went off to do a wellness check on my husband. He was stable and doing all right.

My younger daughter has been going to bed very early, then getting up very early. By the time I’d gotten up to check in my husband, she had already mopped the floors and was starting to work in the kitchen. She was a sweetheart and took care of feeding the outside cats so I could go back to bed. I was still awake when she came in, so she regaled me with how the cats were for her. Sweetie seems to have mostly moved into the sun room now. She’ll run off when we come out, but quickly goes back. All the cats were eagerly awaiting the cat soup! I don’t know what we’re going to do when we run out of the donated freeze dried mix we’re using for this. They’re not going to understand why there’s no more cat soup! We don’t even give them a lot of it, considering how many cats are eating it. It’s more like a supplement but, gosh, they love that stuff. Which makes it very strange that the inside cats don’t like it at all!

Anyhow. Thanks to my daughter, I got a couple more hours of sleep, but I’ve still been tired all day. I did go out and do a deep watering of the garden beds. I had intended to work on some other larger jobs; either getting the push mower out at its highest setting to cut back that last overgrown section by the food forest area, now that’s it clear or poplar saplings, or get the electric chain saw out and cut that last big fallen section of maple that’s still in the west yard, into firewood for the fire pit. By the time I was done the watering, it was getting quite hot and, in the end, I wasn’t up to doing either.

I did get a chance to grab a pry bar to see what I could see around the elm tree’s stump that’s surrounded by a tire. After prying around the inside edge of the tire, it seems to be completely filled with soil. The edges I worked the pry bar under were flexible, but there is steel cable in there, so it could be moved only so far. If we can find a way to get that tire off, though, it will make things a lot easier for the tree guys when they come back with the stump grinder.

I must say, though, the yard feels completely different now that the elm tree is gone. I hadn’t realized just how… oppressive it had felt. Now that it’s gone, walking through the area feels so light and open and airy. Yes, we’ve lost a shade tree, and we’ll be feeling the heat through the kitchen window, but that’s nothing a curtain can’t fix. Meanwhile, I can now look out the kitchen window and see so much more! Of course, the “light” feeling has a lot to do with no longer having that one huge branch hanging over the roof, and the constant concern during high winds that it would finally break and fall.

One thing I made a point of doing was to go out and take some garden tour videos, being completely attacked by mosquitoes while I was out there. After uploading the files and watching them, I wasn’t very happy with them, so I went out and did it again. I’m still not happy with them. My head space just isn’t there for it. I plan to go to bed early and, hopefully, when I look at them again tomorrow, I’ll be able to judge them better.

It’s getting a bit cooler now, so I might try going for a walkabout before going to bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit hotter. I’ll be going in to town before we reach the high of the day. My husband has a prescription refill that needs to be picked up, not delivered, so I’ll be getting my new prescription at the same time. I should remember to pick up some more bug spray, too. I’ve run out. There are two containers in the truck, and I can’t find either of them! The mosquitoes are just insane. While trying to take video, I’d find my hand holding my phone suddenly covered with half a dozen mosquitoes. Worse is when I’d accidentally inhale one. Did that several times! Ew.

Anyhow.

I did get a few little things done, but mostly today was a day of recovery. I’m at an age where I know I can’t push myself like I used to!

Getting old and broken really sucks at times. Still better than the alternative, though. 😉😉

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: maintenance and one last transplant, plus updates

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Today has turned out to be a fairly hot and muggy day. Depending on which weather app I look at, we’re either supposed to be raining right now (it isn’t) through to tomorrow, and then thunderstorm warnings for the next two days. Or, we will get scattered rain today, with more rain for a few hours, now and then, for the next two days. Once again, it looks like the more severe weather systems will go around us.

Our day started early, as my younger daughter and I needed to get to her blacksmithing workshop for 8am. We left an hour early, and just made it on time, partly due to skirting road construction and areas still damaged from the flash flooding. The road to the blacksmith’s acreage had visible damage, some of which has been repair, some still waiting to be patched. There were a couple of areas I could tell had been completely under water, with standing water and flood damage in the fields on either side.

When we got there, I started getting messages from the rescue about Sweetie. She is not doing well and bit someone again. They wanted to know when she can come back to us. After going over what we’ve got going on over the next while, it was worked out that someone will bring her here on Monday (today is Saturday). They did manage to get her spayed a week ago, so we will keep her in the isolation shelter for only a few days, so she can get used to the idea that she is back in familiar territory again.

My daughter’s workshop didn’t take as long as originally expected. There weren’t as many people signed up for this date, which is their only “build your own forge and take it home” workshop of the season, and only one person added the extra of including an electric blower to take home as well. My daughter wants a manual blower. In the end, the workshop was only about 2 hours instead of 4. When it was done, we loaded the table portion into the back of the truck and strapped it down, removing the firepot portion and putting that in the cab with the air duct for the blower. Then we headed to the smaller city nearby for a quick lunch and to pick up a few small things we would run out of before we do our next stock up shop on Tuesday.

Once we got home, we made some space for the forge in the side of the garage with my brother’s big riding mower and other equipment. Now, we need to build a structure for her smithy so set it up in permanently. In between, she wants to find a blower, and then get fuel.

With rain apparently on the way, I asked her to give me a hand with some maintenance in the garden. Plus, I had one Butterneck squash seedling to transplant.

The first bed we worked on was the summer squash. It was time to remove the protective collars. The finnicky part is lifting the netting high enough, without getting tangled up, to work in the bed. The “funnels” in between the groups of summer squash remain, as they get watered through those.

In the next image in the slide show above, you can see the fennel and chicory bed we worked on. The fennel was getting too tall for the netting, so we took it off, then added one more rod and connector to each hoop. The netting had been folded in half, but with the new height, we unfolded it before setting it back. There is still slack with the new height, but not very much.

In the next image, you can see the turnip, pole bean, daikon radish and onion bed we worked on next. The turnips and onions were getting crowded, so all the hoops here got on more rod and connector, too. We also took the opportunity to do some weeding, and add some straw for a mulch.

Once thing I’m concerned about with this bed is the red noodle beans. When I tried to grow them last year, they got to about the stage this year’s beans have reached now, and then… stopped. They never really got any bigger, and I never figured out why. I’m hoping that a different bed and consistent watering and fertilizing will help them grow. Once they get to when they can start climbing, we’ll take off the net set up a trellis. For now, though, there’s just no need.

This netting had also been folded in half and needed to be unfolded to fit over the new height, then secured. A job made much easier with my daughter to help!

The next image is something I’d actually done last night – I finally added a mulch in between the cosmos, marigolds and nasturtiums. The nasturtiums are quite small. They didn’t get very big last year, either, and I know they should be larger and fuller. No sign of any self-seeded memorial asters (I’m still unhappy that the seeds I saved indoors have disappeared), so the spaces are now all mulched.

In the last image, we have progress on the chain link fence bed. My daughter helped me raise the bottom half of the netting from end to end, securing it up so that I could work under it. After that, I could manage it on my own.

In one of the empty protective collars, I transplanted the single Butterneck squash seedling. Then I mulched with straw tightly around the collars, and carefully around the sunflowers. I also made sure not to cover the furrow I’d planted the super sugar snap peas, from our own saved seed. There are seedlings appearing now!

After the straw was in place, I carefully removed the protective collars. The mulch will protect them from the elements now. Last of all, the netting was set back down and reset nice and snug.

Once that was done, and everything was cleaned up and put away, I checked on some of the other beds. The high raised bed needs a straw mulch, too, but I’ll do that later. Hopefully, tomorrow. The short season corn is getting tall enough to mulch, too, I think. I checked on the more recent sowing of carrots. No seedlings yet, but the frogs do love hanging out under the boards protecting the carrot seeds! I didn’t notice any cucumbers coming up, yet. I checked the garden beds in the east yard, too, and was happy to see my last sowing of bush beans, in the small square raised bed, have started to germinate.

I really hope things start catching up soon. Staples like carrots, peas and beans all seem to be under the weather. The winter squash and melons aren’t doing well, either, but they’re not quite staples in the same way. The garlic is doing great, and scapes have started to form. I expect to be harvesting some in the next day or two. I’m really looking forward to those! The potatoes are starting to develop flowers, with one variety developing faster than the other. We should be able to start harvesting baby potatoes soon, if we wanted to.

So that is garden progress today. Mostly just maintenance. I’m really liking the flexibility of the hoop kits. I still plan to build more covers for the raised beds, but for now, these are doing just fine. Being able to make the hoops higher as needed really helps.

The surreal thing of the day has been the time. When my daughter and I were starting for home, it felt like 2 or 3 in the afternoon, but it was just coming up on noon. When I finished in the garden and did the outside cat feeding, I was sure it was well past 5. Maybe even 6. Instead, it was just barely 3 when I got in! Meanwhile, I can see outside my window, the sky getting darker and the wind blowing the maple branches, and I feel like it’s almost bed time… and it’s not even 4:30 as I write this!

Very disorienting, that’s for sure!

😄😉

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: reclaiming beds and succession sowing

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I was able to get a couple of big jobs done in the garden. It’s going to be an odd growing year. We had another cold night last night, dropping to about 6C/43F It looks like the cold has killed some of the melons and at least one winter squash transplants that managed to germinate in the tray that got resown after a mouse got to the seedlings. A couple more winter squash have germinated in the tray and I’ll transplant them when they get their true leaves, but it’s really too late for them, unless we have a super long, mild fall. The next time I have a chance to check out a garden center, I’m hoping to find more winter squash, at least.

Right now, I’m thinking of what can be direct sown for succession sowing. I’ll be doing more peas and bush beans, I think, and possibly some beets, but that’s not what I sowed today.

The first bed I worked on was the winter sown kohlrabi bed.

The down side of having a cover that can keep the cats out is, it’s much less convenient to weed.

Lots of crab grass. Thankfully, the remaining mulch kept most of the elm seeds from germinating. That is getting to be a real problem in other areas. Especially inside the protective collars around the tomatoes in the bed next to this one, and in the chain link fence bed.

In the next image of the slide show above, you can see my little surprise. There are actual kohlrabi growing! Absolutely tiny, but surviving. I was going to leave them to grow bigger but, as I was clearing the weeds, there were rhizomes going right under the little cluster. I ended up transplanting them to one end – a whole four tiny seedlings that probably won’t survive, but at least there’s a possibility.

The rest of the bed got completely worked over as I pulled all the rhizomes I could. Unfortunately, there were quite a few tree roots in there, too, and there isn’t much I can do about those. In this location, the roots could be either from the elm in one direction, or the cherry trees in the other. Both are close enough and spread roots far enough to be possible. It might even had been both, not just one.

Once the weeding was done, I have the bed a deep watering. Especially in the three rows I planned to sow into, which you can see in the third image.

In the fourth image, you can see what I decided to plant. American Spinach, Rainbow Swiss Chard, and I had some seed tape of Uzbek Golden Carrots left. They are old seeds so I don’t expect a good germination rate, and I hoped there was enough to lay down a double layer.

Before sowing anything, I noticed my brother had left some cardboard in the garage for me that was just right for this bed, so I cut strips to lay it down as a mulch between the rows, plus a couple that would be used to lay over the carrots to protect them until they germinated.

I didn’t need much. I had only enough of the home made seed tape left for half a row. I thought I had more seeds left in the packet and went looking, but couldn’t find it. So I grabbed the Hedou Tiny bok choy seeds we collected last year – something got to the ones planted in the old kitchen garden. The rest of the new row in the middle got those. The carrots got covered with the strip of cardboard, but not the bok choy.

Then the spinach and chard got planted in the rows still marked by twine on either side. There weren’t a lot of seeds in the packets, relatively speaking, and both got emptied in the planting. Then the cat proof cover got set back on.

Hopefully, these will take. We do have some seedlings from the rainbow carrot mix growing, but very few. I might try planting more carrots later on, but we’ll see. The chard and spinach planted between the garlic are just not growing, and what seedlings there were seem to be disappearing. It would be nice to have some greens that survive!

That done, I moved on to reclaiming the small, square bed near the compost ring.

The first image is the “before” picture. The boards on the side are from a same size frame that had been around another bed. They’re pretty rotted out, but they should last at least a couple more years. They still had their screws, so I took those out, first.

In the next image, the bed is all weeded, and the soil pulled away from the sides.

My original plan had been to join the corners opposite of how the frame already in place is, but it turned out the pieces weren’t all quite the same length, so I mixed and matched to get them to line up to the existing frame as best I could. Once the corners were screwed together, I had to be careful shifting it around to lay on top of the bottom frame properly. The wood is dry and rotten enough, I could hear it cracking at the corners.

I rummaged around in the scrap lumber pile in the garage for a while, and found some pieces I could cut into eight 8″ lengths, which is the new height of the bed. Four of them were screwed into corners, and four into the middles of the sides. One side didn’t line up at one corner. After screwing the vertical support piece to the bottom board, it left a gap between the support and the top board. More rummaging in the scrap lumber pile and I found something thin enough and cut it to 4″ in length. It was a bit narrower than the gap, but nothing the 3″ screws I was using couldn’t secure.

That done, I cleared a path to the remaining pile of garden soil we bought years ago and uncovered it. I thought I might be getting two wheelbarrow loads but, in the end, only needed one to top up the bed. In the next image, you can see the finished bed, all cleaned up, topped up and leveled.

The next thing was to protect the bed from being used as a litter box!

I had decided to use the rods from my hoop kit to made supports, running to opposite corners and crossing in the middle. This time, I decided to try something different. I found a drill bit that was the same diameter as the rods in this kit and drilled holes in each corner of the frame.

Which was fine for three of the corners, but one corner is a lot more rotten. There was no solid wood near enough to line up with the rods in the other corners, so I had to make do with what was there. Hopefully, it will be enough. The hoops will not be holding anything heavier than netting, and there shouldn’t be a lot of stress on it.

In the end, it took 6 rods to create each hoop. The hoop set into the rotten corner is a bit wonky, but otherwise it’s holding.

For the netting, I decided to dig out some green dollar store netting from last year, instead of the black netting I’ve been using elsewhere – the black netting that snakes can get caught in. The green netting is quite long, and I wasn’t sure it was wide enough to simply drape over the top, so I decided to wrap it around, instead. It was wrapped low enough that the netting could be secured to the ground with ground staples in the middles, outside the frame, while also being clipped at the bottom of the hoops at each corner.

I still had a lot of leftover netting, but I didn’t want to cut it, since it’ll be used elsewhere, some other time. After fussing with the netting to gather the excess toward the top and securing it with clips, I just pulled the excess length up and over the top and back again, before securing it in place with a clip, too. You can see the final mess in the last image of the slide show above. 😄

With this bed, I might transplant the one Arikara winter squash that has germinated in the middle, and then I will likely plant bush beans around the perimeter.

But not today.

That done, I headed inside for supper before coming back out to do the watering.

Which is when the phone started ringing. I hadn’t bothered to tell the family I was outside, so when the phone started ringing, they thought I was in my office and could answer. After four calls and no messages left on the answering machine, my daughter came looking for me. I went in and saw it was my mother, which was a surprise. I’d gotten a call from the nursing home this morning – at her request – to be informed that my mother was not feeling well. They’d already informed my brother yesterday, as he’s the primary contact, and he let me know. I was told she’d had a very rough night and was doing worse today, coughing, having a hard time breathing and talking. I was informed as to what treatment she was getting, and that she’s still in quarantine. She’s not the only one that’s sick, and if enough people in her ward are ill, they have to shut it down to visitors. For now, she can get visitors that need to wear a gown and mask, which rules me out because I can’t wear a mask.

I had asked the nurse that called me to let my mother know that I knew she was having a hard time talking, so I would not be phoning her. So it was very odd that my mother would phone me! She would have gotten the message, but when I mentioned it, she didn’t say anything about getting it. She did say that the nursing home phoned me this morning because she asked them to, but I told her they’d also already contacted my brother, yesterday. I told her about the medical treatment she was getting. She knew about the antibiotics but was saying they weren’t helping – I had to explain to her that it takes at least a few days before she would feel any difference, but she expects immediate response. I told her about the medication to help with her breathing, but she couldn’t remember anything about that one, then told me whatever pills they give her, she takes. I think she’s having a harder time remembering what she’s taking and when.

Of course, she started saying how she was so sick and didn’t think she was going to live much longer. Which she has been saying for the past… five? six? or so years. Thankfully, she is in the nursing home now. She’s coming up on 96 years old, and a simple cold can be dangerous at that age.

That got her to talking about the funeral and what I thought of it, and how she was surprised to see so many people. Then she told me, in a round about way, that she wanted us to make sure that her funeral had lots of friends there. I told her, we would let people know, but didn’t mention that she’s pretty much outlived most of her friends already.

By the end of the call, her voice was getting pretty squeaky, though she sounded a lot better than I expected, and even seemed to be in good spirits. Finally being where she has wanted to be for so long has definitely made a positive difference in her, even when she’s feeling sick.

After the call, I took the time to update my brother, then headed back out to finish watering the garden beds before it got too dark.

There are a few things I want to get done tomorrow, which is Friday, because I’m going to be doing some driving around on Saturday. June is a birthday month, and Sunday is Father’s Day, so we will be combining both on Saturday, to avoid crowds. My older daughter has offered to spring for Pizza Hut, which we haven’t had in at least a year. The nearest one is about an hour’s drive away. I’ll have other errands to do as well, including a dump run, which I did not do while we had my brother’s car and the truck was in the garage. Next week has got medical appointments, my daughter’s blacksmith workshop (she’ll be bringing home a forge when it’s done), and our first stock up shopping trip. So the more I can get done in the garden in between all this, the better!

Hard to believe we’re coming up on the solstice and the first day of summer already. With the cold nights we’ve been having, it feels like it should be April or May, not coming up on the end of June!

The Re-Farmer

Some progress done, and oh… did I order more seeds again?

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Today has been an odd feeling day.

The assessor from the insurance company wasn’t going to come this morning, but we were still expecting the prescription delivery, so when I headed out this morning, I made sure to open the gate for him. While doing my rounds, I decided to check in the old garden shed to see if the raccoons were still there. They were, but the mama was on the seat of the rolling cart, and some of the stuff I’d moved from on top of their nest had been knocked back down. The mama hid in the back of the shed while I wrestled with a tomato cage and wrapped up balls of trellis netting to get them off the babies. They weren’t too happy about it, but they stayed. They are getting definitely getting bigger!

I was feeling really tired for some reason so, after breakfast, I tried lying down for a couple hours. It was a frequently interrupted attempt at a nap. Between my phone going off with notifications and cats wanting to nap on my head, I didn’t get much rest.

I did, however, get a message about our truck. The owner apologized for the delay, telling me they were having troubles with their new lifts. The truck would be ready today, though. I told him I’d have to work out transportation so we could return our borrowed vehicle, then messaged my brother. He had already asked me if we were getting power outages, which we were not. They have been getting brief outages off an on, and he was wondering. After a bit of back and forth-ing, we decided to do the vehicole switch on Monday, when they are coming out for the funeral. I passed that on to the garage, so that is now arranged.

One of the things I’d noticed while checking on trail cam files from the camera by our sign is that I was getting a LOT of images triggered by saplings. The open area between the fence and the road is slowly refilling with poplars and, now that they have their leaves, they are triggering the motion sensor when the wind hits them. I headed out there with the wagon and loppers to start cleaning things up.

Not all of the saplings are visible in the first photo. The second photo was after I was done in the area at the corner of the property, where the camera and the road intersection is. After hauling away the first load, I came back and did a smaller load, working my way towards the gate. That area had been done more recently than the corner by the intersection, so there wasn’t as much to clean up.

By the time that was done, I was already feeling way too tired, and starting to feel a lot of pain – in areas where I had the ultrasounds taken. It’ll be three weeks before my doctor gets the results. Should be interesting to see if I’ve got more cysts dancing around in there again.

It wasn’t too bad yet, though, so after I put away the stuff for this job, I got out a weed trimmer to finish clearing the edges around the house, pausing to do other things along the way, like help out the poor Mock Orange beside the dining room door.

What you’re seeing on the ground are the Virginia Creeper vines that I pulled loose from the branches. These can completely smother a bush, and I’ve found spruce trees that had been killed by them. Unfortunately, the bases of these are right in among the Mock Orange’s roots, so there’s no way to really get rid of them completely. I got as much as I could out, and set them in the fire pit to dry out so that we can later burn them.

These flowers right near the fire pit are coming into full bloom. There are so many things blooming right now!

I got done with trimming around the house and had just moved on to the fence around the tulips when the battery died. It was past 2pm by then, so I decided to put away the weed trimmer until after I got back from the post office.

I getting ready to go when the prescription delivery came. I asked the driver how the roads were; he is also a school bus driver, and his route is in our area. He said the gravel roads were quite good. Just a few places with barricades, though the one nearest us has been there since before the storms. He says he may have lost all his tomatoes, though, as his garden is in a lower lying area. It’s mostly under water right now. We’d talked before about how he was considering doing raised beds or Hügelkultur, and I’d told him that my own beds were a sort of combination of the two. When he said he was losing his tomatoes, I encouraged him to do even low raised beds, telling him about when we had that major flooding a few years back. I lost entire sections of the garden we still haven’t reclaimed, but beds that were even just 6 inches higher had survived. I think next year, he’s going to give it a try.

After getting my husband is prescriptions to him, I headed out to the post office to pick up some parcels. I got another hoop kit – another of the set with the slightly longer rods and metal connectors – and another package that turned out to be some insect netting I’d ordered. My cabbages and kohlrabi seem to be completely gone. I plan to at least get cabbage transplants and, when I do, they will have insect netting over them!

Along with the mail, I picked up another 40 pound bag of kibble for the outside cats. I’m so glad our general store now carries them. It saves me from having to drive further afield. Right now, I want to use the borrowed car as little as possible.

By the time I was loading the car up, I was in major pain. There was no way I was getting back to anything else outside, so I just took some pain killers and tried to lie down while my daughters took over, including feeding the outside cats. Most of the outside stuff is going to have to wait. We’re supposed to get more rain – possibly another thunderstorm – in about an hour. Just a short one. Tomorrow, it’s supposed to start raining from about 2 pm to 6 am the next day! After that, we should have about a week’s break from the rain. Time enough for farmers to see how many of their crops survived the flash floods.

Late last year, we were getting predictions for another drought year this summer. From the looks of it, that is not going to be an issue!

As for me, right now, I’m getting absolutely slammed with fatigue and overall body pain. I suspect much of it is a reaction to changes in barometric pressure.

It’s just past 8pm as I write this, and I am seriously considering going to bed shortly.

Again.

Before I do, I got some shipping notifications in my email.

Yes, I bought more seeds, and they are on the way.

The first is an order from West Coast Seeds. I wanted to order more of the Giganthemum poppy seeds, since the bed I planted them in got flattened and dug into by cats. I have yet to see any poppies germinating. So I have a new package, which I will sow in the fall, and make sure the bed gets protected. For the winter, it will have mulch over the seeds, and I might just lay some chicken wire over the top, too. In the spring, when the mulch is removed, I’ll make sure to set up netting over the bed to keep the critters out.

I couldn’t just buy one packet of seeds, though, so I looked around. They have different varieties of kohlrabi that were on sale, so I ordered one each of the white and purple. Then I spotted a lovely, larger looking variety of fennel that I decided to try. These will all be started indoors in the spring.

My other order was from MI Gardener. Some are re-orders, some are new and, right now, everything on their site is on sale.

I can’t remember now if I’ve tried growing Atomic Red carrots before. If I did, they were from somewhere else. I ordered the rainbow mix before, and it does look like some have survived, but they’re still very tiny. I figured I’d try this variety next year. Unless I do some succession sowing. That’s an option, still.

The tri-colour green bean mix is a re-order, and I decided to try out the Broccoli Rabe next year, which is more likely to grow here than regular broccoli, and a relatively short season variety of green cabbage.

I also ordered more of the purple savoy cabbage – two packages this time. Next year, I’ll try starting the two varieties of cabbage indoors, and will make sure the transplants have insect netting on them.

The winter squash and pumpkin are all re-orders. After re-sowing the tray that got decimated by a mouse before we moved it outdoors, I ran out of seeds for several of them, and have only a few seeds left of the others. I want to try these again next year. It’s still possible our re-sown seeds might germinate, but it’s getting to the middle of June and, unless we have a super long and mild fall (which we have had before), they won’t have enough time to reach maturity.

Hopefully, for next spring, I will be able to have a better set up for seed starts. Our basement is just too cold, and we have a mouse that eats our seedlings. At least it’s most likely to be a mouse. I can’t think of anything else it could be, even though there is zero evidence for mice. Usually, if there are any, droppings are left all over the place, and there are none.

If we can reclaim our living room – the cat free zone – from all the stuff we’ve had to shove in there, I hope to start seeds in there again.

We really need to figure out what to do with the stuff from my mother’s apartment. Our other storage areas are already full of my parents’ stuff, plus more from my mother’s apartment, and now we have stuff in our basement that I had to find ways to elevate from the damp concrete because there was no room in the storage buildings to put them in, and more stuff in our living room. All of which was have been told to keep. My mother is finally in the nursing home she wanted to be in and can’t have much stuff at all, but she is adamant what we keep everything of hers. She also expects us to be able to know exactly where everything of hers is, and be able to dig things she suddenly wants out and bring them to her.

*sigh*

Our house is a disaster.

That’s part of why I enjoy working in the yard and garden so much. It actually feels like I’ve accomplished something out there!

The Re-Farmer