A Little Bit I Can Do

In the wake of the disastrous news of the government rejecting the Paris Climate Accords, I backed out of the driveway this morning and scanned my front yard.

Usually, I back in so I can drive out, but there had been a car behind me, so I had to pull in front first yesterday. This overgrown and apparently weedy patch is full of milkweed and a very small bit of rattlesnake master. There used to be more prairie plants here, but they haven't survived and the corner needs to be redone.

The great weather of this week has allowed the milkweed to flourish. Just two weeks ago, after I mowed the lawn, they weren't quite so high.

Mowing is a bit of an issue as I don't want to mow off more than necessary, but I had to sacrifice a few to get the mower around the area.

I don't get how a group of people can be so tone-deaf; two words woefully overused, but which are true; to science and to the wishes of corporations, cities and people. I don't even have to read the underlying science to see the changes in my life in the past 30+ years I've lived in Wheaton.

When I first moved here, lilacs bloomed right around Mother's Day. While a white Christmas wasn't always guaranteed, you could count on a snowpack of at least 2 feet from maybe mid-December through the first week of March. The last frost free date was May 25th and that could be pushing it. When my sister moved to northern Michigan, she told of lakes where the secluded shady areas often still had ice along the shore through mid-June.

It's been gradual change, but it has happened. The frost free date has moved to May 22nd. We rarely have a lingering snowpack. We gardeners now worry about the lack of moisture in the winter because that moisture, which should melt slowly in the spring, seeps into the ground, helps germinate our seeds and establishes our plants for the growing season ahead.

I saw a robin at the end of February. I worried, but I needn't have. We didn't get snow. Indeed, Chicagoland set an ominous record this past winter for most snow-free days. The growing season has been pushed back to the end of October and, even then, we often don't get the killing cold until mid-to-late November. As my fall allergies tend to be the worst, I always counted on that mid-October cold to kill the plants and their fall pollen. Not anymore.

I feel powerless to change minds. I try, very hard, to understand where these people are coming from but I guess my desire to educate myself on what's happening prevents me from seeing their world view. So, as frustrated as I was yesterday with the myopic world vision, backing out of my drive this morning, I saw a way forward for me.

In the creation of a landscape intended to help a threatened butterfly, I am preserving habitat for more than it. In taking the yard waste to the curb, I noticed divots in the lawn. Ah yes. Skunks and raccoons are digging for grubs. I can expect now, to have the aroma of skunk waft through the windows some night. I know people can't stand grubs in their lawn, but I've come to see them as part of my ecosystem; skunks, too. If I can make my little rectangle of this earth insect and animal friendly, I'm making it friendly for me. It's not simply about tossing some petunias into a pot. It's about a pesticide-free lawn and the reliance on elbow-grease to maintain that. I ordered bird and critter food today. They probably can do very well without my assistance, but the return of the hummingbird reminds me they can also use help.

If I could afford to redo my heating and cooling to go solar, I would; in a heartbeat. I have cut my waste stream to one bag of garbage a month, if that; although cleaning litter boxes generates far more waste than I do. My recycling can is put out three times more than my garbage can. When purchasing things, what's the cost in packaging? Can I recycle it? I have shifted my purchasing to online more than brick and mortar stores, which I know has contributed to their decline. But, I bring a reusable bag to shop at Penneys and am told I cannot use it for my purchases, "Because it looks like you've stole your merchandise." And I can't, if it's one item, just carry it out of the store. Again it's because it appears I've stolen the item. I get that. Theft is a huge problem, but I have much difficulty recycling plastic bags and would rather not use them. Finally got that through the head of the store manager at Mariano's. If I say, "No plastic bags, please", I mean, no plastic bags. Don't put the shampoo or meat in a plastic bag. You're not being nice when I can't easily recycle them. There is no logical reason you can't pack my groceries to keep dish detergent away from ice cream.

It is encouraging that cities and corporations feel strongly enough to "go it alone" on the Paris Climate Accord, without the federal government. In a way, it's like this is what democracy really feels like. I have long felt Lincoln was wrong; that there hasn't been government "of the people, by the people and for the people". I feel my minute attempt at providing monarchs a place to live is, in some fashion, slightly subversive, and that's something I can embrace.

In 1993, I went to New Orleans. While there, along the river walk, I watched an ocean-going tanker turn around. The friend with whom I went and I watched, fascinated. The ship was so big, it had to be turned very slowly. In the 20 minutes we watched, it was turned 20 degrees, of the 360 that was needed. Four tug boats, almost akin to gnats in comparison, pushed very slowly to turn. I am proud to be a tugboat, pushing the behemoth that is my government, to turn around. This is not a "done deal". Saving the planet because it's the place where my cats live requires a lot of turning around.

Be a tug. Together, we can grow milkweeds for butterflies and turn around a ship sailing to nowhere.

Beverage:  water

Deb

Sometimes, It Just Works Out

I've been frustrated by the cost of glasses, as you know. I know I have a "large" prescription which necessitates thicker lenses. But "sales" are not "sales" when the only thing on "sale" is the frame and I don't give a rat's patoot about saving 50% on a $75 frame. That's not going to get the cost of glasses down.

So, I get my JCPenney bill yesterday and there is a flyer for 2 pair of glasses for $99 INCLUDING no-line bifocals. "There has to be a catch," thinks I, but I should go see. There was a catch. The selection is limited and, because I work on the computer, no-line bifocals will cause me problems with reading.

Therefore, I have to get progressive lenses. I know what this does. It jacks up the price exponentially. I told the gal that price is the biggest issue in purchasing glasses. If the price isn't good, I won't buy glasses. She understood.

I found a couple pair I liked and we priced them out. Folks, I am getting TWO pair of glasses for $254, including tax. This is $10 LESS than anywhere I'd been able to find for ONE pair, without taxes. I don't want fancy lenses; just give me some which meet my script.

They should be here next week.

I did not have to dip into my Disney fund to get these. I could put the purchase on my JCPenney card. I am still paying off the fridge, which I got during at no-interest for 18 months promotion. The fridge will be paid off in May, way ahead of the 18-month ending. If I take a couple months to pay off the glasses, I'm still way ahead and puts these much, much cheaper than any place I'd found.

An additional benefit is qualifying for the "frequent buyer" program which rewards people with a coupon based on how much they spend. It's been a good year for that, for me. I'll have another coupon to use, thanks to this purchase. I need a fitted sheet to go with the flat sheet I have, but Penneys doesn't have any kind of selection. I'll have to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond for something like that.

The other financial shock of the week was a rate increase on my car insurance. I get that my rates would go up when I bought the Malibu. But when I opened the notice I get telling me State Farm would be deducting x amount from my account on the 28th, the rate had gone up $12. This put it over $100 a month. Shocked, I called my agent. He could not give me a reason for the increase. "Well, you did buy a newer car," he stammered. "Rates go up for a time until the car gets beyond a certain age, then they go down." Wha...? This is a 2011 we're discussing here, not a 2016. I don't have any tickets and have not been in an accident. Why is my rate going up? Realizing I wasn't going to get a straight answer, I thanked him and decided I needed to look around.

Now, I equate buying insurance with the same noxiousness of buying a car. I can't help feel that, if the person selling me insurance had better skills, they wouldn't be selling insurance. I know that's not true and if they didn't sell insurance, there would be really smarmy people who would, but I've felt talked down to by agents so my opinion of them is low. This increase forced me out of my comfort zone to check online for rates. My rates had been going up by a dollar or two a month. This put the effective rate increase at 18% since buying the Malibu in July. There is just not a justification for it.

Well, Progressive is always touting their low rates, let's look. I didn't go anywhere else. I'm saving 50% on my car insurance. Between now and September, that's an additional $300 in my pocket; in my Disney savings. It's the exact same coverage. Plus, Progressive is insuring the house. That rate went down $20. "We have an $80,000 replacement guarantee," the agent said. I looked around my house. I don't have $80,000 worth of stuff I'd want replaced, but that's nice to know.

I've been in a private funk since trying to find glasses. It has colored this whole month. How can I make the ends meet when there's always something I have to throw money at to fix? Life has a way of forcing me out of my comfort zone and that is, sometimes, good for me.

JCP is closing 138 stores around the country as the retail industry deals with a massive customer shift in how they shop. I'm one of those who has shifted to doing more online than in brick and mortar stores. The "mall" concept is dying. I enjoy poking around in downtowns with mom and pop stores instead of the mall and I do a lot of shopping online. It's not unexpected that JCP is facing this reality by closing stores.

There is laughter at JCP, too. "Old fogey store", I've heard it called. Well, this old fogey bought a fridge in the perfect size for me and now glasses from JCP. Finding glasses has made my day and my whole month.

Beverage:  British Breakfast Tea

Deb

Cat TV

We've been in a dome of unseasonably mild air for the past week. That's allowed me to do a bit of yard work. Viola. A new channel of "Cat TV".

I've had this pole feeder for awhile. Originally, it was going to hang on a hook off the northwest corner of the deck. Birds like to use feeders where there is some cover so, in the event of a predator arriving, they can flee to the relative safety of a nearby bush or tree. The back has that, but I wanted to see the birds and even when I get the electrical fixed and move my office back into the original room, there's no place for me to put the feeder, except on a pole, in the back yard. Because the fixing of the electrical issue is months away, I'm here at the picture window when I'm on the computer. I needed to put the feeder where not only the cats, but me could see it.

I raked the bed clear. The warm weather has the bulbs pushing through the ground and the frost is out of the ground now. That pile in front is debris from last years weeds, and pine cones off the pine trees to the right. It's not time for yard waste to be hauled away so this is going to sit for a bit. I should get one of the yard waste cans and, at the next slightly warm weekend, move this into that can so it doesn't kill the emerging grass.

The birdbath is what I won last year in a contest from my favorite nursery. It's heavy duty amalgam; kind of concrete-ish, but much less heavy. It's also cracked. It was in the backyard, by the air conditioner. But the wind over the late fall and winter knocked it over a couple of times. Where the pedestal meets the bath is cracked. There is a hole on the left side and one in the bath itself. When I filled the bath with water, it all drained out. A friend has suggested an epoxy which comes in a quart container and can be brushed on. It provides a seal and should prevent water from leaking. That was disappointing, but it's nice to think I can fix it, once the weather stays above 60 at night.

It takes several days for new feed and new feeders to be noticed. I filled the bird feeder stuck to the north window.

You can see "Police cat" is on duty. Hamlet paws at the window and the squirrel usually runs. I think this is the little guy who had a scabbed over wound on his shoulder. He was fat so he's getting food, but his left shoulder had a scab an inch long, as if something had tried to grab him or he cut himself going somewhere. The fur had fallen off around the scab. He didn't look worse for the wear other than this injury. He was jumping from the pine onto the window sill and then climbing the window to the feeder and crawling in. This morning, when I left for work, a squirrel was in the feeder. I have a critter block on the stump in the back yard, but I think the wide variety of seed in this feeder is more attractive than the corn and sunflowers in the block. Hamlet was right at the window, too.

And I heard a familiar bird song out the front window as I gathered my belongings.

He's hard to see, but there is a chickadee on the left side of the feeder. I noticed there was another in the tree that's off the frame to the left. Chickadees tend to be first to find new feeding potential. I expect, if they have found this, the sparrows and finches won't be far behind. I know the squirrels will try to claim the feeder. I don't have a baffle on this. I'm debating greasing the pole come spring. I should have put cayenne pepper in the seed when I filled it. Birds can't taste that, but squirrels can. It takes, I'm told, a couple of mouthfuls of cayenne-laced seed and they learn this is not something they want to eat.

I found a smaller, better designed tray feeder which adheres to a window. I'm going to give that a try. I gave away the other feeder since it just didn't seem to want to stay stuck to the front window, irrespective of a 1 pound squirrel sitting in it.

They notice the squirrels when they get into the window feeder. They had not noticed the chickadees on the pole because this is the first day I've had them. I remember, years ago, when we did this, there was a cardinal pair who, once they learned the cat and us, couldn't get to them through the glass, came to the feeder and let us watch them. I'm hoping that will, eventually, be the case. It's about making your space inviting for you, and giving the cats something to watch while you're gone during the day.

Beverage:  Orange Juice

Deb

I Have No Idea

Found while cleaning.

The bottom key chain has a key to the Jeep. I found another key to the Jeep in a box in the home office. I remember locking myself out of the Jeep, but I eventually figured out how to get in using a long handled snow brush. I was never asked, when taking off side windows, if it was my Jeep I was getting into. But what are the other keys for?

I'm missing a key to the lock on the storage shed containing the lawnmower. None of these are that key. The lock on the front and back doors were changed with the change in ownership of the house. I'm wondering if these represent the old door locks. I consolidated them all onto one key ring. Aren't there people who collect keys? Maybe I should put these up on eBay?

Beverage:  Orange Juice

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 7

Mija and Pilchard were very unhappy through August and into September, as Hamlet learned the house. I've talked about how I know when I'm being "yelled at". The tone of the meow changes. I heard that alot.

The three of us were not prepared for a kitten's energy. He ran everywhere. He pounced. He jumped. He attacked. I felt, on some days, that all I did was break up fights. Pilchard, especially, was not happy.

I spent a lot of time saying, "Hamlet! No!" Sometimes I wonder if he thinks that's his full name. He took over Mija's spot in the recliner...

...which angered her to the point that she followed me around one day, for a full hour, meowing angrily. I sometimes felt I wasn't giving the girls enough attention. It's hard to spread myself equally when I see a belly just ripe for rubbing.

We had an issue with sneezing at the beginning of fall. The girls didn't catch anything so we considered he had some kind of allergic reaction to something.

He learned, by the end of September, what time I came home and I would see him in the window of the office, waiting.

Or he'd be by the back door.

This was very poignant for me because Rascal, who looks a lot like Hamlet, used to do this, too. Having been outside, he tends to try to sneak out, but he knows his name and he goes inside after my getting really mad at him for leaving the deck.

He follows me downstairs when I do the laundry, but when I say, "Hamlet, upstairs," he goes. He discovered the laundry chute and that's the best thing in the world. He goes down the chute and onto the top of the furnace where it's warm. He follows me into the bathroom and will come running from anywhere in the house if he hears me go into the bathroom. He likes to sit on the edge of the tub when I shower which can result, as it did yesterday, in him falling into the tub during the shower. I had to get another toothbrush because he chewed on the one in the holder. That's now his and I keep mine in the medicine chest.

Any food, ANY food, I have, he needs to see, smell, taste, touch.

I was worried because I caught him lapping down some of my room temperature tea. The vet said that's okay. He's also stuck his nose in my Godiva liqueur-laced hot cocoa, which is less good than tea. He doesn't get that cats don't eat a lot of things people do. If I'm eating it, kitten needs to investigate.

Things have slowly, slowly, settled down. During football season, when I'm streaming games on the computer or watching them on TV, he learned that mom gets excited and the best place was not the living room. It was really quiet one afternoon so I went into the bedroom at half-time and found this.

I was shocked as the girls appeared to not want anything to do with Hamlet. Two weeks later, I caught them doing the same thing. It's not all the time and usually when there are clean clothes, but this is still done.

And we all co-existed when we were all outside on the deck in those last warm days of fall.

He sleeps with me, usually next to my legs. Sometimes, he will climb on me, lie down and start purring. That lasts for about 20 minutes and he wanders away. He will also lick my chin which isn't all that appreciated at 2:30 in the morning.

We have made our peace. He recognizes Pilchard is top cat. He has a tendency to jump Mija, something I am trying very hard to break him of. I have caught both girls chasing him, Pilchard moreso than Mija. We've reached the point where he will see Pilchard in the hall and I'll hear that little trill cats make to communicate with each other. He'll lie down and the two will wrestle.

It's been trying. There is no question about that. I was unprepared for kitten energy. His nickname is "Kitten Britches" or "Britches" for short, but mostly I use "Hamlet" as I don't want him confused. My house looks like a pet store's toy department exploded. He started to bring balls back when I tossed them, but he hasn't in some time. I guess I need to work with him. They all did well when I went to Virginia in November. The guy I hired said they all came out to see him when he came to feed them. Hamlet is into big cat food now. I have to feed him in the bedroom because he will shove the girls off their dishes. I'm hoping he'll grow out of that.

I know I did right by this guy. For all the "Hamlet! No!", the boops on the nose, the chasing, the growling, the extra expense for food and vet bills, my life is much more with him in it. Thanks go to Becky for recognizing a plaintive meow and rescuing him. When he wants to snuggle, which the girls have never wanted to do, any and all stress I could have melts.

He's something of a celebrity within my World of Warcraft guild, too. "ARG! Life with kitten britches!" "What did he do now?" How could anyone resist that face? I sure couldn't.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

For Science

It's become something of a meme, the tagline, "For Science!" I believe you can credit the former "Mythbusters"; Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage; for making science popular. Bill Nye, the Science Guy, was just a name and Mythbusters made the scientific method center stage in crazy and enlightening ways. 

It's wonderful, really. I was blessed to have science teachers in high school who felt we were better people by applying scientific analysis to life. And I feel growing up during the active space race, made science extend into all areas of life. "What happens if..." was the way we lived. We never yelled, "For Science!" when we tossed something crazy into the burn barrel, but we loved the pretty colors when we burned the Sunday comics. We now know the resulting colors were not so good but it was cool. Kids who chose chemistry or biology were just as revered as kids who were athletic. It seems like a different time and place. 

I find myself curious about the world around me and during the frigid temperatures of two weeks ago, decided to conduct an experiment. I wanted to see if I could make Dr Pepper slush. Now, let's set aside the slush mugs you can buy on the Internet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Turns any beverage into slush. I wanted to see, with the below zero temperatures at night, if I could freeze Dr Pepper cold enough that it slushed, not frozen completely. 

There are also several YouTube instruction videos for making soda in a plastic bottle instant slush. I've tried the instructions, several times, and have failed every time. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but if I really want slush, I'm going to have to get a mug. Here is the record of my experiment. 

First of all, all I had was Dr Pepper in cans. If you have ever, ever, frozen soda in cans or attempted to freeze soda in cans, you know this is not the proper container for that experiment. I believe I have cleaned up only 3 explosions in the freezer. I know better and always set a timer. I wasn't sure I would achieve slushiness so I emptied the soda into this plastic cup. 

There is more than enough room for the soda to expand. If you don't know, liquid will expand when frozen and in a closed can, it will explode the can because the energy of expansion exceeds the walls of containment. (Science, you see. ) 

Ample room in this cup for expansion. I thought about a glass glass, but I had grave concerns about temperature differentials. If I am able to partially freeze the Dr Pepper and then bring the glass into the house, will the sudden warmth of the kitchen, even putting this in the well of the sink, crack the glass? I looked in the cupboard. I have a few glasses I'm not that attached to, but cleaning up a broken glass was not something I wanted to do. Therefore, I decided to go with a plastic cup which would be able to withstand the temperature differential better. That cup is decorated with my World of Warcraft guild's emblem. It's a great cup.

I realized, as I poured this out, that the Dr Pepper was going to lose its fizz, if left uncovered. That's the whole reason it's vacuum sealed. I covered it immediately with plastic wrap, sealed as tight at possible around the edges.

Ideally, I wanted to sit the cup on the deck railing but I can't get the back door open. It was, at that point, frozen to the threshold. I had a rug shoved up against the bottom and that had frozen to the bottom of the door. On the outside, you could see the ice. The back door needs to be removed from its hinges, the whole frame readjusted and the door rehung. It's definitely a spring project. So, I looked at the front door.

There was a layer of ice at the bottom of the door. The threshold here is not flush with the bottom of the door. It hasn't been for years. I need a new threshold. Cold air could seep in under the storm door and the whole interior of that door was covered in frost.

I probably should have put the cup on the milk box outside but I thought I'd see if I could get the soda to freeze just between the doors. The threshold of the house door is very good and there is little cold air coming under the door when it is closed. It was cold here, but was it cold enough?

I set the timer for an hour. It took 3 hours between the door before I got any kind of freezing. Between hours 2 and 3, it started to freeze and I got this when I pulled it in. It wasn't slush. It was ice and was freezing. The top 2 inches was large ice crystals of Dr Pepper. Below that was very cold soda. 

Unfortunately, it was flat. I think that was partially due to my checking on the process every hour and removing the plastic. I also think that's part of the nature of freezing soda. The "carbonation" doesn't last. When you consume slushed soda, you're not interested in the carbonation. The flavor and the texture make up for that lack.

But when you're doing an experiment like this and I remembered the times I got nearly frozen Dr Pepper by forgetting a can in the freezer, it seemed like the carbonation was gone or nearly gone from that, too. I'm thinking you can't freeze fizz. If you, like me, like the fizz, freezing soda isn't going to give you that tickle. The Dr Pepper actually tasted rather foul and I wound up pitching it. That is, perhaps, an experiment for another day. Would it be foul tasting if I partially froze it in the can or bottle?

I'd also like to find out how long it would take to freeze a can or bottle at negative temperatures. I know it's kind of akin to just sticking it in the freezer part of the fridge, but I'm curious simply about air temperature. And yes, there are probably reams of information somewhere in the vastness of the Internet which would answer these questions, but I like to conduct the experiments myself.

The weather has turned mild now, for January, which I do not mind in the least. So, answers to these and any other experiments involving cold and soda will have to wait. Plus, I'm not buying any more soda until maybe the first weekend in February when that one sportsball event takes place and every junk food and soda on the planet is on sale.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

What a Mess

Houses are money sinks. Just when you get something fixed, something else needs your attention. This year, I've been lucky to find people willing to do things I can no longer do. One of those things was cleaning the gutters.

Prior to May, I don't remember when I last had them cleaned. On the north end of the house, in the front, small trees had taken root. Birds loved the gutters because bugs moved in. I would hear them digging around and would see the flying of debris as they emptied a spot and ate the insects. Squirrels had also taken to burying nuts in the gutters. I could always tell when this happened by what I'd find on the deck or front porch.

I kept telling myself that it didn't take much to get up there and clean them out. I have a ladder. I would just need to get some latex gloves to put under a pair of garden gloves I really didn't like very much and I could clean out the gutter myself. But climbing a ladder is difficult. I feel so unstable now and the need to climb to the top of the ladder made me very uneasy. I can wash windows because it's 2-3 rungs, but climbing 4-5 was a problem. Fortuitously, Pam was given a flyer from the son of one of her co-workers. He would clean gutters and do other yard work, including mowing and weeding. I took him up on the gutter cleaning.

What a mess.

It was a rainy afternoon when he showed up. I told him he could postpone the job but he said he was going to get wet anyway so rain didn't matter. This was the debris in the gutter section over the door. It was nasty; black and decaying. The smell was "ripe". He had a power washer and, after removing the debris from the gutters, cleaned the front steps and the deck. It took him a couple passes to clear everything off. In washing down the deck chair, he actually cleaned it. I was impressed.

The next day, I used power scrub for one final pass.

I didn't get the deck sealed, I just had too much to do this summer and I actually wanted to use my deck; sit on it, enjoy myself, and not spend a weekend painting. It needs to be sealed and it needs another thorough power washing.

The best part is that the heavy rains of the summer have actually gone into the gutters and down the downspouts as they are supposed to do, not slide straight off the roof. If the gutters are clear, a heavy rain helps to flush out any debris which might accumulate. The pine trees on the north side of the house sluff needles in May and that can clog gutters if there is anything in them. This year, nope. My gutters are clear at the start of fall. I probably should look them over before winter, once all the leaves have fallen, just to be sure. Clean your gutters, folks. You'll thank yourself even if the squirrels complain they have no easy place to bury food for the winter.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

A Hearty Recommendation

With the clearing of the trash trees off the north and northwest sides of the house, I had a wide open section of yard to do something with. The first thing was to get top soil and mushroom compost and even out the land.

There were rather large holes under the downspout, where overgrown bushes were removed. I decided I wanted a raised bed here; something small-ish which would handle peppers and fit in this space. I searched all sorts of places which came up when Googling "raised beds". That can be something of a rabbit hole. Would you like the Cadillac of raised beds, lacking only a gardener to tend it for you, or would you like something which looks like two squirrels slapped it together with help from a chipmunk? And pieces; lots and lots of pieces. If you are the handy sort, you probably could design your bed and just buy pieces. Me? Not so much. I needed a kit. I just wanted something I could assemble and move into place, which would fit in the spot by the downspout. Those tiger lilies, with the trash gone, will just go everywhere.

I found a bed at Home Depot. The bed is by New Tech Wood. The current price is not what I paid for it back in mid-March. I settled on this bed and then watched sales and coupons. I think I spent $50 for it and I feel that's a very good price.

Shall we talk about how it comes?

Is this a box or is this a box? I came home in late April to see this sitting on the front porch. It was a bit heavy to pull inside, but there's my raised bed. I put it together the weekend after it arrived. 

I dragged it out onto the deck and opened the box. 

Everything is contained and nicely packed for shipping. Nothing was loose. I dumped it out. 

My heart sank. Man, this is a lot of stuff. How was I going to put it together. There also were not printed instructions. There was a parts list, but nothing else. 

One of the benefits of technology is having video at your fingertips. A selling point of this bed was the video on the product description page. I watched that and felt I could assemble this without need of many tools and it would be light-weight enough I could put it together on the deck and move it to the spot in the yard where I wanted it. I have an iPad. I can watch that video, stop it, assemble and move on. 

My deck railing is just a bit smaller than the iPad, but it was fantastic to be able to watch and find the parts and move on. That's the bottom of the bed. Here's a close up.

I guess you'd call this "modular". The bottom pieces snap together and everything snaps onto or into everything else. 

When the bottom pieces are snapped together, you add the sides. You can see the sides have a distinctive shape to them. The walls will slide into the grooves on each side so you need to make sure you put the indentation the right way, not that I would have knowledge of putting them on wrong. (Oh look! A Squirrel.) 

Here you can see one of the sides in place. The plastic sheet goes over the bottom. It acts like landscape fabric in that it lets water drain out while keeping dirt in and weeds out. It just lies on top of the base.

The walls are held in place by pegs. 

One of the tools you need is a rubber mallet. This was the part which was the most frustrating. You need to line up holes in the wall with holes in the end posts, insert a peg and pound in the peg. I tried to do this while the bed was on the deck railing but until the sides are anchored, the bed would fall apart. 

You can see on the far right corner, one of the peg holes. It can be really tough for me to a) get down on the ground and then b) get up once I'm down there. Some comedian did a visual joke about that. He fell to the ground and a friend offered to help him get up. His response, "Wait. Wait. I'm seeing what else I can do now that I'm down here." There are days when that's exactly how I feel. I wound up sitting down and pounding the pegs into the holes. Here is the bed with the sides on. 

The last things to attach are the end caps. They needed a light tap with the hammer to snap into place. 

Once completed, it's rather light-weight and very sturdy. It was easy to carry it to the location where it's going to go. Here's the finished and filled product. 

I'm very pleased with it. I'll be posting photos of what I planted in the box. The cats weren't interested in the cardboard box, surprisingly. I think it might have been too big. I wound up cutting it into pieces and recycling it. I will be getting another this coming March and putting it on the other side of the downspout. This would be a great raised bed for small spaces, including decks.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

The End of Summer

So many photos with stories to tell. It's been quite a summer; quite a year. I'm going to start here and move backwards and probably sideways and maybe forward. One never knows where the road will go.

After last year's washer replacement, I took at look at my other appliances. The refrigerator was probably the next target. The seal around the door had, for years, not been flush with the upper left and right corners. The upper left corner allowed warm air to seep inside, particularly during the summer. It would condense and "rain" occasionally onto the items on the left side. Usually, this happened when you opened the door to reach in for something. When I bought yogurt, it went on the upper left shelf and the tops of the containers were always wet. Mold would, occasionally, grow on the upper right corner of the door because there was a semi-sealed environment with warmth and moisture. I was cleaning the door and the roof at the upper left of the fridge 3-4 times per week.

The lights would short out because of all this moisture. I haven't had an interior light in months. I bought a replacement bulb in the spring, installed it (That was an adventure.) and it lasted 3 weeks before there was a fizzle one day when I opened the door. It was then that I realized there were 2 bulbs in the fridge, one at the front left and one at the back right. Well, I'll get around to replacing both of them.

And the seal at the lower left of the door wasn't flush anymore. Chilly air would seep out, since cold air is heavier than warm air and would cause mold to grow on the bottom corner of the fridge. I didn't see that until this summer when I dropped a bottle of seltzer and it sprayed all over the floor. What's this on the side of my fridge? Ewwwww.

We bought it in 1993. I would say I have gotten my money's worth from it. It wasn't quite level but that's also a product of a 1953-built house and the floor in that location isn't quite level. It has served this family and me well, but it had started to run a lot more than in the past. It was simply dying, albeit slowly, but dying nonetheless.

I'd read where appliances are cheapest at Memorial Day. Also, the time to replace the fridge is before you need it. I intended to buy one over Memorial Day weekend, but life intervened and I didn't have the funds. I limped along. It wasn't quitting on me, just running more and more. That could be chalked up to the loose seal and the summer temperatures and, perhaps, it would stabilize once fall got here. But I kept looking in the event there was some deal which would be too good to pass up. Enter Labor Day.

JC Penney, of all places, is starting to sell appliances. They had a Labor Day sale. I compared the above fridge with other places that sell it and Penney's had the best price, including free delivery. I had to pay $15 to haul the old one away. Then, I got an additional 10% off the price because I used my JC Penney card AND because I'm an "exceptional customer" (Not sure why. I don't buy that much stuff from them.) I got 18 months no-interest. As I intend to pay this off by Christmas, or sooner, the no-interest made the whole purchase that much sweeter. It was delivered yesterday.

I couldn't remember whether we brought the old one in the front or the back. They went around back and determined they had to take the old one out the front because it's bigger than the new one. It seems the freezer space is the same, but the fridge space is smaller. Yet, I don't need all that space. When I was cleaning out the old one, I found sour cream way in the back of the fridge with expiration dates of 2012 and 2013. Stuff is less likely to go to the back and be forgotten in the new fridge.

They tried to bring the new one in the back because it's smaller but it just wouldn't fit between the wall for the basement stairs and the corner of the sink. In the process, they bumped the paper towel holder which has a shelf on it and down it came. It turns out the unit, which was wood, had developed a soft spot on the shelf right where the dish soap usually sits. At some point, I would have set a bottle of soap back on the shelf and it would have fallen through. Plus, there was a section of wall behind the unit which had bubbling in the paint. I've scraped that off and ordered a new unit, almost identical to the old unit. I need to paint the rear entry now. Remember when I bought the paint? Um...yeah. It still sits under the kitchen table.

They also knocked off the wall, one of the spice racks I've had for decades.

My dad made two of these. Simple construction. I think he made a bunch to sell at flea markets, too. This one was held up by one screw in the middle of the unit. The two screws on the end didn't work anymore. The unit which fell was above this. I have a smaller unit on the wall next to the microwave. It was the template dad used to make these two units which are almost twice as long.

I don't use spices much anymore. I don't cook much anymore. Yesterday, after the guys left and I was putting things back, I looked at the spices off the rack that fell. Some of them had Eagle grocery store price labels on them. I don't remember when Eagle left Chicagoland, but they haven't been here in a very long time. Some of the spices had no scent. Some were discolored. Some were hardened.

I knew I needed to replace spices. There are recommendations to replace some every 6 months, but there is a part of me that screams, "Money down the drain!" whenever I'd look at these. Quite a few were purchased for one or two recipes and never used again. These bay leaves aren't even green.

I had an unopened bottle of curry powder. "Best used by 4-20-02." I don't remember the last time I made curry. I love the smell of curry and turmeric, particularly when cooked. The last spice I bought was in July and it was ground cloves. It's to keep the cats out of the house plants. They don't like the smell of cloves.

Looking over all of these, I decided part of tidying up is to critically assess household staples. If I haven't used allspice in 25+ years, why am I holding onto a tin of it, a tin with rusted edges? I had some berries which needed to go to the compost pile. I would dump the old spices into the bowl, haul the bowl to the compost pile and I'd have the best smelling compost pile in the neighborhood.

All the plastic, glass and metal containers and their lids have gone into the recycling can. I have, currently, 6 spices on the rack next to the microwave. I want to move that rack. It's never been in a great position. I took down the one rack left and will add them to the recycling can. They are wood, after all. I found a rack I liked on Amazon and it's going where the wood ones were. Then I will take down the one that's on the wall by the microwave. So I have to walk a few steps for the cinnamon. It will be more convenient in the long run.

The last thing to do is sort through all the stuff that was on top of the fridge and was on the kitchen table. I moved all of it to a table in the office. The kitchen table was tipped up on an edge to make room for the movement of fridges.

Unfortunately, this room has become something of a dumping ground. I have stacks and piles of things to look through and make decisions on. I walk in with every intention of doing a little bit, get overwhelmed and walk out. I tell myself to just pick one pile and sort through it. I can't find my note cards to write letters to friends. They are somewhere in here.

I've cleared off half of this table. I had a lot of magnets on the old fridge. I'm not sure I want to put them back. With the new fridge being shorter, I can now, easily, reach the cabinets above it. That Dutch Oven on the table, can go back into the cupboard. Cat dishes will still be on top of the fridge and I keep my peanut butter on top of the fridge. It's my go-to meal when I'm too tired to cook.

I watched them take away the old fridge. It occurs to me the only appliance I have left from when I was married is the stove. That doesn't seem like it's having problems. The oven still heats to temp and the burners still come on and heat evenly. It was purchased in 1991. I thought, "Well, I should replace that next year", but, realistically, do I need to? It's not giving me problems.

So, summer ends with a new appliance. Heading into fall, this is a good thing. I would hate to have to figure out the fridge doesn't go through the back door when it's 15 degrees out.

Beverage:  La Croix Berry Seltzer

Deb

Life

I used to be so good about blogging. I used to be so good about reflection and the observational life. I write. I read. Observation goes with those.

I used to have more than enough material for daily posts. For 3 years, there was more than a post a day. Now, I can barely get a post a month. You can be forgiven for feeling that I'm never around. It is the truth. I'm not around.

What happened?

Life.

In February of 2013, my office won a very large job, part of the largest road construction project in Illinois, the rebuilding of the circle interchange in Chicago, where Interstate 290 meets Interstates 90 and 94. It was complicated, but it got us into several other projects and work has never ceased. If we aren't out in the field, we are in the office. I used to write several posts from the comfort of my office. Get the work done, write one, two or three posts. Now, I don't have that luxury. I'm heading out in the early morning hours Monday for a full day in the city on yet another large job. I started it last Thursday. There are 30 buildings to inspect. I am not sure if I will do the bulk of them but I will have a lot done by noon on Tuesday. I don't mind the field work, it's the writing up of the reports afterwards that I dislike. I admit to procrastination in that regard. I should be better about writing these. If I didn't drag my feet because I dislike it, then there would be more time for the things I do like.

I've seen things, gone places I never would have ventured to. I kind of want to go back to this fabric shop even though I need fabric like I need Bubonic Plague. But...fabric! I never would have found this place had I not had to go do an inspection in a section of Chicago where I'd never been before.

I'm traveling more than in past years. That alone takes me away from this computer and the pushing of keys and the wrestling of letters into words into sentences into paragraphs. It's sort of good for the pocketbook because we get paid a mileage rate when we have to use our cars. But day trips of 12 hours can wear on one, grind one down, make the recliner or the bed more attractive than telling you about the way cool place I found myself back in May. I haven't blogged about that even though the space was amazing and I should show you some of the photos I took.

I made the deck space this year different from previous years. I haven't shown that to you and here it is, half-way through deck season. I'm out there, although not, obviously, right now, writing or reading, cats under the chair or in the doorway. I started journaling, something I used to do ages ago. I bought a package of gel pens and writing in colors has been wonderful for creativity on those pages, not so much for collecting thoughts here. And I'm drawing again. Bits and scraps and thinking I really need to invest in a good pencil sharpener. The journal entries are interspersed with art. Will I post some of it here? I don't know.

And there is life, in general. The Jeep finally died. I think I can write about that today although the deck calls. I need to upgrade my computer as World of Warcraft is bracing for a major expansion of play next month and the memory cards sit to my right, still in the box, still waiting for me to make the time to change out what I have for new and shiny. The electric line through the middle of the house, covering the bathroom, the hallway and the office, is non-functional. Next month, I need to have an electrician come out and look at it, tell me what it will cost to fix, and dread that whole process. I look years ahead and think just how much to do I want to invest in this place that's been my home for 30+ years. I had to move the computer to the living room. There are plusses and minuses to this.

I found, rather he found me, a landscape/lawn guy. He lives two blocks north of me; went to the same grade and high school Carole did. He's a go getter, if I may be allowed a retro word here. Yes, last year, I spent $250 on a brand spanking new lawn mower that now sits in the shed. If he hadn't wandered into my life when he did, my lawn would not look as good as it does. I have no time and less energy. I haven't blogged about that and I need to show you what I've done.

And there is the RA.

I honestly don't remember what I was doing when I cut my finger. It was something in early June. Probably planting. I was going to blog about my evolving plants. Well, that didn't happen, but there is a minion bandage for that cut. And it's my hands which have given me the most problems this year. My rheumatologist has moved to Atlanta and I see a new lady in August. Spring was, for some reason, particularly trying. There were and are aches in finger joints and in my wrists. That's the only place I seem to be greatly affected. When you spend a whole day typing reports, you don't want to come home and type blog posts, less so if the middle digit on the left hand hurts.

There has been the fatigue. I have energy that astounds me. I have calm. I have inner reserves I marvel at tapping into...

and then I crash. It is not uncommon for me to sleep 16 hours on a Sunday after a Saturday of activity. I don't feel fatigued on Saturday. I feel energized and am thrilled with all I can accomplish. Sunday morning dawns and I feed the girls and go back to sleep, getting up for an hour at one and maybe a few hours from 4-8. The RA web sites I follow talk about the fatigue. It is beyond "fatigue" and the associated connotations. It is beyond "exhaustion" and the definition of that word. I collapse, completely, totally. The deck and the sunshine hold no allure. Give me my bed.

This breeds frustration. There are dishes in the sink, clothes in the washer, grit on the floors, dust everywhere. I forget my daily vitamins. Don't bother me. I retreat. I seclude myself. I don't go out. Don't ask. It was a big, very big, deal to go to a wedding at the end of last month. It will be a big deal to go to Carole and Larry's. I could, very easily, recuse myself from life and stay in my bed. You don't know fatigue until it's from a chronic illness. "I'm so tired." Please. And this takes me away from the blog, from life, from things which used to give me great pleasure.

So, where am I? I am still grateful every single day. I am happy, too, in my own way. My happiness does not depend upon others. It comes from myself and if I can make myself happy in a small way, my whole day is happy. Yet, I look at this space and the hundreds of photos I have taken which have not made their way here and I feel a pang of unhappiness, emptiness, maybe. How to realign my life that I can get back here and yet do those things which are giving me pleasure? That's where I find myself. I promised, some months, or perhaps a year ago, that I would post more. I shouldn't make empty promises. I'm still here. I'm still me. I have joys and sorrows, frustrations and celebrations. I still have two cats, one of whom is in her box, snoring. I am reminded of a quote usually attributed to John Lennon but which was written by Allen Saunders for Reader's Digest.

"Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans." 

Truth. I love the journey, even with the potholes.

Beverage:  Orange Juice

Deb

Flying

Bits and pieces of the house are undergoing transformation. I don't have a lot of time to do things and, lately, my stamina has been suspect, so I look for small projects which accomplish a couple of goals. 1) They make a section of the house whimsical or more enchanting and 2) They help me continue on the long journey of tidying up. Last month, I did another small corner.

This is the end of the hallway. To the right is the back bedroom. To the left is my bedroom. On the wall to the right are photo collage frames containing a wide variety of photos of my life; both family, alive and deceased, and friends, alive and deceased. Above the chair is framed The Simpson's "Wanted" poster from TV Guide from the two part "Who Shot Mr. Burns" episodes of 1995. Below that is a plaque which reads, "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup." The chair was owned by my mother's father. His third wife did the needlepoint chair seat. It is very worn and I think, some day, I'll have the seat recovered. In my fantasy life, I actually do the needlepoint for the seat but reality usually points out that I don't know how to needlepoint.

On the left used to be a drawing of a sunflower. I did it years and years ago, when life wasn't sunny. It was to remind me to turn and follow the sun; follow the light; be open to the light. For the last few years, that's felt rather 'new agey' to me and I've wanted to replace the piece, but didn't know what to put there. So, this corner was ripe for a minor redo.

In the winter, I ordered a poster which featured the cover images of the Cedar Rapids Gazette's coverage of the Iowa Hawkeyes 12-0 Big Ten football season last year. I got a frame for it and took it to the office, intending to put it up on the wall next to the Fantasia poster for which I did a frame make over.

It's a big poster.

Fantasia is the only thing I want on this wall. The Hawkeye poster would go on the right wall, above the bookcase. The more I looked at the poster, as it leaned against the wall, the more I realized I didn't like it over the bookcase. I moved it to the wall where the large Hawkeye wall decal is.

But I wound up not liking it here either because it's big. The other side of the pass-through window doesn't have enough space unless I want to hide the poster behind the office door. I never close my office door. I have no reason to close it. The poster came home. Maybe I can...wait...it can go on the wall in that spot where I'm removing the drawing. That's what's up against the wall on the left, in the top photo, the framed poster.

The best thing I did to this corner involved some stuffed animals.

I got the little orange bird, named "Pepe", and the black and red dragons back when I went to BlizzCon last year. Dragons feature in World of Warcraft extensively. These represent baby dragons, called "whelplings".

Essentially, the stuffed animals just sit around. I don't do anything with them, other than move them because where they are sitting is in my way. Blizzard released the green dragon in April and, well, there are some things one simply must have. That means I have to move all four of them around when I need the spot where they were sitting. Such a pain. Then, I had a singular idea. They are flying creatures. What if I had them fly?

I bought some neon bright variegated yarn and crocheted a thread for each dragon, Pepe, and Figment, a dragon I got from Walt Disney World back in 1990. I bought cup hooks and screwed those into the ceiling. The thread was looped around each character and then tied to the cup hook in the ceiling. Viola. Instant flying bird and dragons.

Now, the plaster ceiling holds the cup hooks, but I was surprised they didn't screw in as tightly as I would prefer. Right now, nothing's fallen, but I kind of expect one of these guys to wind up on the floor if we have a really windy day and the windows are open. At that point, I'll have to evaluate this arrangement and consider how else to anchor them.

The poster went up on the wall. You can see the hanger to the left in the above photo.

I'm very pleased with the overall result. The drawing wasn't applicable to me anymore and these items reflect who I am.

Beverage:  LaCroix raspberry seltzer

Deb