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Assisting son catching up on college work after the accident, cleaning out a wardrobe and watching the rugby. Husband off on his first bike spin of the year, and the sun is shining.
First spin of 2025.jpg
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Great pictures @Magpie , hope your son is doing better!!
Thank you @Pearl This last week was a turning point- the spasms have lessened o he is more comfortable, and eating more. Also able to get in and out of the bed himself, which is a huge bonus for my back. Back to the outpatients dept this week for an ankle check. Hoping they will change the cast to the boot, and I can stop giving him the clotting injections. They are playing havoc with his ability to regulate temperature.
 
Yesterday I got the pups walked, ran a few errands , pruned my two nectarine trees and one peach caught up with my neighbor friend. She came down to get eggs and we sat in the sun relaxing n talking for about a hour.
It was nice to catch up..we both needed to vent happenings.
Afterwards, I was wiped out. I took a shower n watched a few things on YouTube but I crashed into bed and actually slept alot . I took some valerian root to help me sleep too.

Today, I need to:
unload the chicken feed,
prune one more tree
Put the fruit tree prunings in a pile somewhere
Some more laundry
Pup walk
Try n figure out what shift I'm on
Relax a bit ..work on my rug.
 
I drove yesterday for the first time since the unfortunate toe mangling. I’m wearing one of those rigid surgical shoes so I felt like that little kid in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when he tied blocks of wood to his shoes so he could reach the pedals for driving.

I’ve got nothing planned for today other than laundry and weaving.
 
I drove yesterday for the first time since the unfortunate toe mangling. I’m wearing one of those rigid surgical shoes so I felt like that little kid in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when he tied blocks of wood to his shoes so he could reach the pedals for driving.

I’ve got nothing planned for today other than laundry and weaving.
You do what you have to do to make it work!
Glad that's it was supposedly the last frozen night. Sun is out, ready to tackle outside chores. Husband feeling bad today, so watching that. Hoping to get into the bigger town late afternoon for some Aldi cart filling.
 
had 3 lambs first thing this morning, one is very small and weak, but up and trying to nurse. But the little stinker bottle lamb was sucking down all the milk from the new mom!!!! She was still busy cleaning off her babies. That lamb was so full she didn't even want her bottle!
She is outside now with the others and we left the new mom alone in the barn so she can feed her babies in peace
Wow, I have never had a more determined bottle baby!! She will weight 50 lbs in a month if she keeps this up
Doing more laundry now ( bloody sheep towels from helping dry off the babies) and thinking about what I want to cook that is not too time consuming today

Yesterday afternoon son and husband finally pulled the tree off the barn from the storm. Son found a metal cable with a hook, climbed up on a ladder and tied it around the tree, then hooked it on the truck and husband pulled it off. It was not as bad as I imagined. No damage to the roof or the truck, but they had to cut it up right away because it was in the path so the truck was blocked

Son went hiking at Mount Rogers today ( highest point in Virginia) , he was going to go yesterday but it rained

I am tired already and it's early
Oh yeah just noticed the stupid time change on my computer LOL
 
Yesterday I got the pups walked, ran a few errands , pruned my two nectarine trees and one peach caught up with my neighbor friend. She came down to get eggs and we sat in the sun relaxing n talking for about a hour.
It was nice to catch up..we both needed to vent happenings.
Afterwards, I was wiped out. I took a shower n watched a few things on YouTube but I crashed into bed and actually slept alot . I took some valerian root to help me sleep too.

Today, I need to:
unload the chicken feed,
prune one more tree
Put the fruit tree prunings in a pile somewhere
Some more laundry
Pup walk
Try n figure out what shift I'm on
Relax a bit ..work on my rug.
I need to prune our orchard too. Wanna come over and show me how to do it? There's only about 2 feet of snow in the orchard right now, so it should be melted off in a couple weeks or so.
 
Today, I attended a lovely service at church, where I enjoyed the uplifting atmosphere and the sense of community. Afterward, I decided to stop by my sister's house for dinner. It was a warm and inviting gathering, filled with delicious food and great conversation. Spending time with my sister and her family always brings me joy, and we share stories and laughter around the dinner table. Overall, it was a fulfilling day.
 
I need to prune our orchard too. Wanna come over and show me how to do it? There's only about 2 feet of snow in the orchard right now, so it should be melted off in a couple weeks or so.
I'm learning myself..
All my trees are young and not very big..except for my old historic apple back from the apple days here.
I figured I'd just let them grow for a bit but was advised I should "train" them to grow the branches out that are more conducive to lateral growth. It makes the tree put the energy into easier to reach fruiting branches as they grow.
Optimizing light and airflow is also important in fruiting as well as keeping long thin limbs trimmed shorter to enable development of strong limbs that won't break under fruit weight.
So..as much as I hated to choppy my trees up..it makes sense and the garden youtubers are all saying the same things.
Pruning can happen either in the fall or after things are melting but b4 budding and it making leaves in spring. Many said early spring is best so the tree doesn't get stressed by winter cold after a trim.
Also...putting gypsum down around the base of the tree is good around this area. Gypsum will benefit the tree by releasing the nutrients in our areas soil that gets bound up in deeper clays . It unbinds good nutrients via polarization of positive n negative charges in the soils n gypsum somehow and fruit trees and hay fields around here go wild when applied. It can be found in 50 pound bags at the cenex in Cambridge I was told..I have some food grade stuff I got when I was growing some mushrooms a few years back. A cup or so per tree in spring and I'll have to look at my notes for average for field application for haying.
It doesn't change the pH either so while knowing that is important..it won't screw that up and it's non toxic if critters lick it up.
There is another mineral that is beneficial for gardens and fields here that will alter the pH. I can't remember what it is..have to look but it can be toxic in large quantities to critters..chickens n birds.
Anyways..if you really want help sometime I'd be willing. Just gotta plan it..otherwise in the meantime I'm going to see if I did it right and not damaged or killed my trees..
It was pretty zen work yesterday..very nice n if you want the branches for chipping to smoke I'll save them for you. They aren't huge but hay..apple peach n nectarine wood chips for the smoker..
 
I'm sitting in an exam room at the walk in clinic. I haven't felt right since the day we worked in the sand storm out in West Nebraska, and it's not getting better. So far I've found out my BP is running high, my pulse O2 is ok, maybe just a tad low, and I've been swabbed for influenza and COVID. Waiting on the practitioner to tell me more.

Daughter just called while I was typing this out. She's got a flat tire in the Aldi parking lot. I told her to get out the jump starter/tire inflator that I got her last fall. Hopefully she has charged it. I'll head over there when I'm done here...
 
Looked like my phone read 6:30 when the alarm went off, but I looked again, it was 7:30. Not sure how I convinced myself to get up, shower, go to church but I ended up with a migraine AND a headache while in church and came home after the first hour. My migraines consist of visual electrifying appearing zigzags that pulsate, and I usually don't get a headache with it so this time it was just draining.
French horn players today in our sacrament hour, it was so beautiful, plus piano.
Came home, got comfy, hot chocolate, climbed into bed to get warm and work on resting and had a two hour nap that i didn't plan on. But that's what I do on Sundays, rest from the emotionally and psychologically draining work week.
Today I will read, try to get meals planned and what to restock since I lost so much with the thawing last week. Might do some job searching too.
 
We pulled all the parsnips from the garden and I’m now preparing them for the dehydrator. We also cleaned the garden a bit and transplanted volunteer asparagus crowns to the asparagus bed. Went to church earlier. Even managed to make it on time!View attachment 175086
Do you have to parboil before dehydrating? Haven't done those before.
 
Got the old ford tractor started today to check the new radiator. Let it idle about 30min, until the oil filter felt toasty in my hand. Radiator checked fine, no leaks, cooled nicely, repair complete. Spent a couple hours looking through vintage tractor parts websites. New hydrophilic pump is $5-$900 depending on which one I have. Tractor needs a new clutch also, guess I need to make a budget and do these repairs over time.

Chilly overcast day, intermittent rain, guess staying inside was a good plan. Tractor was under a shed so I got that item checked off the list.
 
Looked like my phone read 6:30 when the alarm went off, but I looked again, it was 7:30. Not sure how I convinced myself to get up, shower, go to church but I ended up with a migraine AND a headache while in church and came home after the first hour. My migraines consist of visual electrifying appearing zigzags that pulsate, and I usually don't get a headache with it so this time it was just draining.
I get those type of migraines, not lately but got them all the time before we moved here. I think the weed fixed that too pretty much. I think I had maybe 1 in the last 3 years
They are scary , you can't do anything ( like drive)
 

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