Around the home and garden

[If you click on this image, it will come up in a desktop size.]

First of all... many of you sent condolences when Ron's mother passed and I didn't have adequate time to respond and thank you all. :-) Each was forwarded to Ron's email address so he could read them. He's using and uses a different computer. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. While we believe it's a blessing in the bigger picture, it's strange to have Bessie gone. Her children had their mother for such a long time and she was quite sharp until just a couple years ago. Ron hasn't had a meaningful conversation with her since last year, so it was feeling like she was gone before it became official.

Before heading outside to make another dent somewhere, I thought I'd post some of the garden photos that have been accumulating since May. Some of you enjoy these and for others it's probably a big snooze. ;-) We are having a DROUGHT already this season and if no rain shows today, we'll have tied a record set in 1982 (the year Diane was born and we had our house fire)... 29 days with no precipitation. I can hear Jane in Australia being unimpressed with that number... I know they've had much longer stretches there over the past decade. To have a dry spell in spring is rather unusual here, however. We usually get them around July to September. I'm hoping to get rain SOON ... record or not! Having to water the whole yard in May and June is ridiculous for Western Washington.

Ron has been picking away at some outside chores when he's not on the computer researching places for a possible family reunion. He also brought home a book his mother wrote in for some of her life story and he's been typing up some family history. He finally picked up deer fencing stuff yesterday so hopefully that will keep the critters out of the garden space. It's a heavy duty nylon and I'm not sure how many years that will hold up. I was hoping for regular fencing, which I'm sure would have cost more at the outset. The deer think they live here and a couple of them have favorite bedding down spots right behind the garden. I've been pruning a lot of the old rhodies this season and they look pretty dumb at the moment. The ones I started cutting back two seasons ago are mostly shaping up and are nice dense little bushes. I'm happy about those. I threatened one near the walkway and was actually looking forward to pulling it out and it spited me by finally putting out some basal growth. If this winter is not terribly harsh... they should come back well. It's kind of difficult to prune them heavily because they are still blooming when the new growth shoots emerge. To really spare the plant expending so much energy on shoots that are slated for removal, I whacked many of them back while in full flower. I figured it would only hurt once. ;-) The outcome was actually kind of pretty when I stood back and surveyed the limbs stacked on the wheelbarrow (in the pictures below).

Weeding never stops but stamina does. I know I'll need to get in to see a doctor about my right arm. Each year when I'm working excessively in the garden or too much computer or both... the pain and numbness kicks in down the arm. It seems to settle in the elbow and hand and there are spots that are semi-numb on the arm. It's been going on and off for the past decade... but each season the fingers that go numb seem to change. It's gone from thumb and is heading toward the little finger with each season. I don't want to pursue that now with the trip coming up in three months, but it needs to happen. It's easy sometimes to put off the health appointments until one is forced... especially when it's seasonal for the most part.

Speaking of health... so far Ron has been holding on his tests. He just had another done last week so well see what the numbers are when that comes in the mail. His numbers could still come up, but that will show up by small increments and if they see anything, he'll commence radiation treatment. Meanwhile, life goes on and he's still working with anticipation that he'll retire next year.

I've been trying to get some new clothes... something I've not done for a long time. I've been ecstatic about finding some jeans that actually FIT and much of the lower back pain has eased. What a concept, eh? ;-) There's still a problem there, but it's not constantly being aggravated. I also got things that I thought might be needed for the trip this fall. There are still a few items on the list... then the task later of trying to pack light! If these jeans are the most comfy thing I own, there WILL be space made to take some... despite their being other types of clothing that work better for living out of a suitcase. If they don't fit... their practicality is a moot point. I've always had trouble with jeans, etc. but in my youth didn't suffer so much for it.

I found out Marianne Binetti assigned a different roommate for me. She knew the lady I'd been given at first was a slow walker (she's in her early 80's) and she thought it would be better to pair her with someone else who had a slow pace. So... they gave me someone different. I think I'll enjoy this gal. She's in her early 60's and a Master Gardener. She was born in England, so is staying over after the trip to visit family. We'll all get to meet one another in August.

Joe Binetti wants to take in a ghost tour while in the U.K. and they emailed, looking for interested parties. I told them I was game if it was a serious, historical approach... not too ghoulish or a silly affair with people in costume jumping out at you. I heard they are going to try for something more historical and serious... but I'll see how it feels when we get there. Unless they buy tickets in advance... it's not obligatory. It might be fascinating and I have enjoyed watching the investigations on Ghost Hunters.

Has anyone had the shock of finding their credit limit was drastically reduced? I'm sure they (GEICO) must have mentioned this in their statements somewhere... or in a mailing? I don't recall seeing it and after having the card refused at a couple of online stores, I checked out my online statement and saw they'd given me an overage fee. They dropped the credit limit by $4,000 in March! If I'd known that, I'd have had the travel agency put the airline tickets on a different card. Oh, well... live and learn. When I was Googling to find the website for the credit card, what came up on the list were blog rants from other customers about this very topic.

I don't think I'll ever catch up on emails. I'm sometimes in rebellion and want to just ignore the computer and work outside or do other things. The problem is being torn because I also enjoy it on many levels. Sometimes people email you hoping for help that is way beyond your experience. I've had some back and forth from a fellow in Sri Lanka who was first trying to figure out a recipe his friend had used to make clear glycerin soap. I guess he was involved in some kind of business venture and the associate dropped out... but had the recipe. Then, once he figured that out, he was asking for feedback on packaging and marketing. Once I sent back some corrections on mispelled words (their label)... there was not much to offer. What occurs at times is that even the smallest observation from someone inside a country might be useful to someone who doesn't live there... so you do the best you can. He seems to have a big head of steam, so I'm sure he'll figure out how to break into exporting to the U.S. without much help. What he probably most needed was the belief it was possible.

I was musing on this after the last email to him. So often, the people who have the most relevant knowledge are the ones that are too busy to reply to an inquiry... or they want to be paid for their input. I'm wondering if the people who have the most influence in the world at large, are ones that are most available and willing to share what information they have ... not necessarily the ones most knowledgable? This guy should have been talking to a serious business type... not a housewife with a hobby business and a site on soapmaking. I'm pretty certain if he did email those people for input... he'd get nothing. He'd be seen as competition.

On the family front, the kids are doing fine. Lynda would certainly like to find a job, so that is a worry to her. I hope by summer's end she'll have something breaking on the horizon... but it's a difficult time to find work for anyone. Michael just got some good news from work that he is being promoted to a GS-12. So... that's a good thing for him/them. Robert has been toiling on his chicken coop for a few months on and off and finally moved "the girls" in there on Sunday. I'll drop in a couple of his photos from that project. He called it the chicken "condo." It's not done yet, but looks pretty nice to me.

Well... sorry there are no profound thoughts here. I'm sure I've had some on occasion, but they are gone at the moment. I just wanted to touch base and let people know we're still alive and well. While the funeral last month was sad, it was also nice to have so much family gather together and remember Bessie, in her more vital days. She had such a large, loving family. Many of her great grandchildren are at the point of leaving home and getting married. I hope all are well. It would be great to hear from some of you. :-)

Love, Kathy/Mom

I was tempted by some Lemon-head candy while shopping at Walgreen's on Monday. Just opened it up and they have the candy in a little big inside a LARGE box. When you open the bag and dump it back into the box (which was mostly full in years past) ... the box is only filled to the halfway point! I knew they'd downsized candy bars to keep from changing their prices, but this was the first time I'd noticed this. I don't usually buy these.

First two photos are from Robert... with one of his "girls" in the new coop.

Some photos from earlier in May... before we left for Idaho.

After we returned home, I had Diane pose with her Mario quilt, which she made for Karen. They were going to be coming up on the weekend so she pushed to get it done before their visit. It's fashioned from the original game where he was just a conglomeration of a few pixels.

When we attended church a week after our return, one of the gals I visit teach caught me in the hall and presented me with a lei she brought back from Hawaii! I've never had that happen before. She'd had it in her fridge for two weeks since we were out of town after they got home. (I kept it at least that long before finally relegating it to the compost pile... amazing how long they keep. I felt bad just having it in the fridge... but how many places around here can you wear a lei?) I wore it for the rest of church after she put it on me and had a few people who've lived in Hawaii come up and tell me how special it was... so I had to go back and thank her again, with appropriate appreciation for the gift. :-) She's going through the teenage/early twenties years with her children and she said some of things I said to her "saved her" when she made the visit. I remember a few people sharing their hard earned experience with me at a similar time. Kids can really turn you inside out if you let it happen. So often we care more than we have power to change anything. One of those parental challenges, I guess... harder for some of us than others.

If you click on the photo below, it's in desktop size... (close-up of Pt. Defiance rhody)

This is not so colorful, but the fragrance on this Daphne is delicious.

Michael's truck over here so he has room at home for some bulldozing. He rented a dozer this month to use around his home.

What a lovely wheelbarrow!

There's a little crab spider hanging at the top of the bloom on the left (below).

Michael working on a truck that belongs to Amber's cousin.

The petunias below are also in desktop size if you click on this image.

Diane was making faces for Edward before they headed out.

Working on weed removal from the back lawn. The spot he replanted is coming along very nicely now. We'll see if the lawn curse hits again by fall... so far so good. :-)

Volunteer Foxglove... beautiful but very poisonous if eaten (Digitalis).


Some oriental poppies on the edge of chaos... also in desktop size if you click on this smaller image.
Some of the pruned branches from a very tall rhody near the orchard. It seems stubborn about breaking new shoots from the base... so maybe it will just have to stay tall!

After taking the above photo, I turned to see something green near the screen door. I thought at first it was a leaf, but when it began hopping. I had to take a second look. He'd been hiding in the rhody branches/bucket. I managed to catch a picture before he crawled to a hiding place in a nearby planter box. I love tree frogs. :-)

The rhody in question... still blooming in mid-June. I'd hate to lose it so will let it have its way with how tall it wants to be.

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