Blessings Darlings!
Dang, there was a lot of fire works action by individuals last night. For HOURS, like from 8 pm till midnight or beyond. It's been going on for two weeks now, with last night being the biggest night and June 20 - the celebration of West Virginia statehood - the second biggest. But there were fireworks every day between the two. I don't expect that they will come to an almost complete end for another week or so. Since all the 'official' fireworks displays in the area were cancelled due to Coronavirus, and folks are isolating and bored, I guess it's to be expected. OTOH, they had to interact with people to buy the fireworks. As for me, I'd rather watch the fireflies and maybe see a meteor. But since last night was the full moon (and a lunar eclipse, other the other side of the globe), it wouldn't have been a good night for seeing meteors.
Trump, of course, had fireworks and rallies both of the last two nights. The first on Native American land (what is now called Mt. Rushmore) and last night in DC. No masks or distancing Friday night. Little last night. Those folks are certainly free to risk their own lives, but they are SO likely to infect others, and likely to max out hospital ICU beds and ventilators. That bothers me greatly.
We of course continue to self-quarantine as much as possible. Masks when in public. Only going in public once or twice a week, for shopping and occasionally for walks in parks and such. We're spending as little money as possible, because at the end of this month the 'coronavirus stimulus' money added to unemployment ends, and my unemployment checks don't cover our bills. This is why garden production matters so much, and finding ways to enjoy eating what's easy to grow lots of matters. Turnips are easy to grow. They are NOT everybody's favorite to eat. Tomatoes are so easy to grow that we always have too many of them. Green beans, again, easy to grow. Last year we had too many of them, and I couldn't keep up with harvesting them. Bad combination. At least the tomatoes I could give to folks at work. I'm growing half the summer squash and half the tomatoes I grew last year, and diversifying the garden more. I've added potatoes, dry beans, chard, beets, turnips, radishes. garlic. Have had NO luck with lettuce and spinach. Have replaced spinach with wild lambsquarters at some meals.
And, yes, I did my part of the garden work for today already - watered, and mashed bugs/bug eggs/pulled thorny hogweed. Spawn has not gone out and weeded anything yet. It's now 12:20, it's 93 degrees, and it feels like it's 103 degrees.
BTW - since Wednesday I harvested 3 grey squash. Three more will be ready for this coming Wednesday. I harvested 7 turnips this week, and used the 3 biggest ones. So I still have 4 to use, and a bunch more in the garden still.
Oh, wow - 7:00 pm, and the wind just picked way the heck up. Temperaturee\ currently 95.
I have dinner to make and things to do. Laters!
Frondly, Fern
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Saturday, July 4, 2020
New use for neeps.
Blessings Darlings!
Another summer day - so watering and squash bug smashing is done by 9:45 am. Planted chard in containers. Left water our for pollinators. Diced veggies and chicken for stir fry. Mashed more bugs. No energy, just wanted to stay in bed or on the couch all day.
Experimental stir fry for dinner tonight - used turnips in the stir fry, because turnips (no turnip greens, the bugs ate them) and zucchini is what the garden is giving us right now. It was okay, a little odd, but nothing too far off.
Frondly, Fern
Another summer day - so watering and squash bug smashing is done by 9:45 am. Planted chard in containers. Left water our for pollinators. Diced veggies and chicken for stir fry. Mashed more bugs. No energy, just wanted to stay in bed or on the couch all day.
Experimental stir fry for dinner tonight - used turnips in the stir fry, because turnips (no turnip greens, the bugs ate them) and zucchini is what the garden is giving us right now. It was okay, a little odd, but nothing too far off.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, July 3, 2020
F'ing Reflux
Blessings Darlings!
Oh, the humdity and heat were BAD last night when I did the night offerings.
Then during my sleep I had Revenge of the Fried Chicken, eaten too late and too much - horribly reflux at 5 am.
Today would have been my mother's 101st birthday. No coincidentally, it would have been her twin brother's birthday, too. My moon child mother was not ... um ... a good match for her Sagittarius daughter. I was never willing to 'suffer to be beautiful', nor to hurt enough to be entitled to love.
And my cousins assure me that she was 'the good parent' in the family.
Harvested 7 turnips and one zuc today. Will do stir fry for dinner tomorrow featuring the zucs and some cabbage and carrots. Will roast the turnips with some other roots tomorrow, and use for all sorts of things.
I slept much of today, having lost a bunch of sleep last night.
That's it.
Frondly, Fern
Oh, the humdity and heat were BAD last night when I did the night offerings.
Then during my sleep I had Revenge of the Fried Chicken, eaten too late and too much - horribly reflux at 5 am.
Today would have been my mother's 101st birthday. No coincidentally, it would have been her twin brother's birthday, too. My moon child mother was not ... um ... a good match for her Sagittarius daughter. I was never willing to 'suffer to be beautiful', nor to hurt enough to be entitled to love.
And my cousins assure me that she was 'the good parent' in the family.
Harvested 7 turnips and one zuc today. Will do stir fry for dinner tomorrow featuring the zucs and some cabbage and carrots. Will roast the turnips with some other roots tomorrow, and use for all sorts of things.
I slept much of today, having lost a bunch of sleep last night.
That's it.
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Shopping during Coronavirus.
Blessings darlings!
Mostly typical day of housework and garden work. With more first world problems about Walmart pick up time, Walmart missing most of the items I wanted, and Aldi's having computer problems so I couldn't get any produce OR biscuits there. At least I got the rest of the stuff for plumbing repairs, even if not any bananas.
The governor of this state is dicking around about requiring masks. Fiddling while the country burns. HE doesn't need one, of course - his nose is so far up Trump's ass that a mask would be useless.
I didn't get the box of 50 masks I ordered from Walmart, of course. The Spawn DID find a package of 10 on his shopping trip, so that's a happy thing. But I'm going to need to go use a magnifying glass to see what company made/labeled these. Found! They're legit! Yay!
I'm getting at least 5 uses out of each 'disposable' mask by baking them for 30 minutes in a low {about 170 F} oven for 30 minutes between uses, so we're not going thru' a ton of them. The most I've even had to bake in one week was 5. But they get just DIRTY, and are paper, so can't be 'washed' as such. Oh, yes, I have 3 cloth masks that can be washed, but need a filter added inside them to get them most effective. They are good for days that aren't all that warm.
I must go do nightly offerings. Until tomorrow, Gods willing and if the creek don't rise.
Frondly, Fern
Mostly typical day of housework and garden work. With more first world problems about Walmart pick up time, Walmart missing most of the items I wanted, and Aldi's having computer problems so I couldn't get any produce OR biscuits there. At least I got the rest of the stuff for plumbing repairs, even if not any bananas.
The governor of this state is dicking around about requiring masks. Fiddling while the country burns. HE doesn't need one, of course - his nose is so far up Trump's ass that a mask would be useless.
I didn't get the box of 50 masks I ordered from Walmart, of course. The Spawn DID find a package of 10 on his shopping trip, so that's a happy thing. But I'm going to need to go use a magnifying glass to see what company made/labeled these. Found! They're legit! Yay!
I'm getting at least 5 uses out of each 'disposable' mask by baking them for 30 minutes in a low {about 170 F} oven for 30 minutes between uses, so we're not going thru' a ton of them. The most I've even had to bake in one week was 5. But they get just DIRTY, and are paper, so can't be 'washed' as such. Oh, yes, I have 3 cloth masks that can be washed, but need a filter added inside them to get them most effective. They are good for days that aren't all that warm.
I must go do nightly offerings. Until tomorrow, Gods willing and if the creek don't rise.
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
July 1 Land Base Update
Blessings Darlings!
What's up in your landbase? We are awfully dry here. I need to water the garden every few days, and the mowed grass on lawns is clearly burned. Yesterday the corn leaves were VERY curled, a sign of water stress. We did get some rain fall overnight, but we need over a half inch a week for happy grass and crops. What we got was 0.03 inches. The cattle are kicking up less dust, but that's about it.
Grass pollen is very high, as well as the UV index. Temperature isn't bad, dew point isn't bad - but we're supposed to hit 97 later this week. The invasive mimosa trees are blooming, the chickory is blooming.
Spent lots of time weeding the garden today. And some time on tomato bondage. Can't wash clothes and hang them on the line, since this is the day the lawn gets mowed. Also started more grey squash and cucumber seeds.
Going to use the squash I harvested yesterday in a stir fry tonight - not yet sure if I'll add chicken or pork to it. Ooops - change of plans. Carnitas with the left over pork from the other night. Spawn is cooking.
Walmart cancelled my grocery pick up today. I was worried that they did it due to maybe folks being out with Covid 19, but it was FAR more typical than that - a car accident took out power. I don't know if anyone was hurt, tho. I'm rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
US Corona virus deaths are over 130,000. With many, MANY undercounted by local/state governments who are hiding things. "Pneumonia" deaths, not classified as Coronavirus, are up. Epidemiologists are going to have to look at the 'number of excess deaths' over the average to get the real figures.
I'm tired. This is it for today.
Frondly, Fern
What's up in your landbase? We are awfully dry here. I need to water the garden every few days, and the mowed grass on lawns is clearly burned. Yesterday the corn leaves were VERY curled, a sign of water stress. We did get some rain fall overnight, but we need over a half inch a week for happy grass and crops. What we got was 0.03 inches. The cattle are kicking up less dust, but that's about it.
Grass pollen is very high, as well as the UV index. Temperature isn't bad, dew point isn't bad - but we're supposed to hit 97 later this week. The invasive mimosa trees are blooming, the chickory is blooming.
Spent lots of time weeding the garden today. And some time on tomato bondage. Can't wash clothes and hang them on the line, since this is the day the lawn gets mowed. Also started more grey squash and cucumber seeds.
Going to use the squash I harvested yesterday in a stir fry tonight - not yet sure if I'll add chicken or pork to it. Ooops - change of plans. Carnitas with the left over pork from the other night. Spawn is cooking.
Walmart cancelled my grocery pick up today. I was worried that they did it due to maybe folks being out with Covid 19, but it was FAR more typical than that - a car accident took out power. I don't know if anyone was hurt, tho. I'm rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
US Corona virus deaths are over 130,000. With many, MANY undercounted by local/state governments who are hiding things. "Pneumonia" deaths, not classified as Coronavirus, are up. Epidemiologists are going to have to look at the 'number of excess deaths' over the average to get the real figures.
I'm tired. This is it for today.
Frondly, Fern
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Bugs. I got 'em.
Blessings Darlings!
Yesterday evening I noticed the squash bugs are back. Leaf damage, some wilting, lots of eggs, some nymphs, and two of them mating - the bastards. And the beans are being attacked by bean beetles. I'm going to have to treat them all. Because eating matters. I went out and finally found one lone bottle of spray-on bug killer - and it was Sevin, not my favorite. But at least I have some pesticide for them. And, yeah, I harvested the squash early today, and will treat the plants now, so at least there will be some gap between treatment and the next harvest. Spawn has agreed to help, and we'll removed detritus and spray when the garden is in the shade later this afternoon.
Sitting in the twilight last night, I heard a catbird, greater horned owl, the wrens, and the swallows. The swallows didn't put on the nice air show last night, tho'. The Saharan dust must have eased for last night, because the moon was way less obscured.
I'm making kahlua this afternoon as well. The Chubby Hubby didn't tell me when he finished the last bottle. But he likes it to 'age' before he starts drinking it - so when he opens the back up bottle, he really needs to let me know so I can start the new batch. This batch will barely have enough time to age. Aging, in this case, means the vanilla bean in it flavors it.
Spawn and I cleared some detritus, smashed some egg clusters and two pairs of mating squash bugs, as well as sprayed the squash and the beans and the cucs and the unknown volunteer plant that's clearly in that family. Garden is desperate for more water, but it will have to wait for tomorrow.
Anthony Fauci spoke before a congressional committee. His message is, pretty much, we're screwed. Since there is no actual national plan to handle the coronavirus, we will soon hit 100,000 new cases a day. I hope Bob and I somehow avoid getting it.
Time to make the dinner type stuff.
Frondly, Fern
Yesterday evening I noticed the squash bugs are back. Leaf damage, some wilting, lots of eggs, some nymphs, and two of them mating - the bastards. And the beans are being attacked by bean beetles. I'm going to have to treat them all. Because eating matters. I went out and finally found one lone bottle of spray-on bug killer - and it was Sevin, not my favorite. But at least I have some pesticide for them. And, yeah, I harvested the squash early today, and will treat the plants now, so at least there will be some gap between treatment and the next harvest. Spawn has agreed to help, and we'll removed detritus and spray when the garden is in the shade later this afternoon.
Sitting in the twilight last night, I heard a catbird, greater horned owl, the wrens, and the swallows. The swallows didn't put on the nice air show last night, tho'. The Saharan dust must have eased for last night, because the moon was way less obscured.
I'm making kahlua this afternoon as well. The Chubby Hubby didn't tell me when he finished the last bottle. But he likes it to 'age' before he starts drinking it - so when he opens the back up bottle, he really needs to let me know so I can start the new batch. This batch will barely have enough time to age. Aging, in this case, means the vanilla bean in it flavors it.
Spawn and I cleared some detritus, smashed some egg clusters and two pairs of mating squash bugs, as well as sprayed the squash and the beans and the cucs and the unknown volunteer plant that's clearly in that family. Garden is desperate for more water, but it will have to wait for tomorrow.
Anthony Fauci spoke before a congressional committee. His message is, pretty much, we're screwed. Since there is no actual national plan to handle the coronavirus, we will soon hit 100,000 new cases a day. I hope Bob and I somehow avoid getting it.
Time to make the dinner type stuff.
Frondly, Fern
Monday, June 29, 2020
Working on cast iron pans, day 3, dammit.
Blessings, darlings!
Let me tell you - this re-seasoning of cast iron pans stuff is getting old. If it was cool out I'd be using the oven inside rather than the toaster oven outside. That would hold ALL the pans at once. THAT would be easier. And if I wasn't the only one who wants to use the toaster oven, it would be easier. But this is the most efficient use of electricity, even if NOT the most efficient use of me and MY energy.
We're about 2 days from Full Impact Summer Squash. I only put in two plants, and it's STILL intimidating! But that should be the start of mostly eating our own veggies for the rest of the summer. Which is a good thing. And I have some turnips ready to be eaten, too.
Boy, it's hot and steamy out there. Not 'heat wave' bad, but ... uncomfortable enough. And there's been another 'bagged salad' recall. So I finally planted the swiss chard, late, but it's in. That can work for salads, as well as stir-fries, once it's going. When ever that is ... okay, 50 to 65 days after germination, and germination is 7 days ... so in two months or so. Oh well.
Chubby Hubby finally fixed the biggest issue in the sink in the master bathroom! It now drains properly! And I ordered parts to fix the rest of that, and to fix the garden hose right. I dusted the bedroom, but didn't vacuum it yet. Did lots of laundry (line dried), and dishes, finished the re-seasoning of the damn pans, watered the garden, exercised.
Frondly, Fern
Let me tell you - this re-seasoning of cast iron pans stuff is getting old. If it was cool out I'd be using the oven inside rather than the toaster oven outside. That would hold ALL the pans at once. THAT would be easier. And if I wasn't the only one who wants to use the toaster oven, it would be easier. But this is the most efficient use of electricity, even if NOT the most efficient use of me and MY energy.
We're about 2 days from Full Impact Summer Squash. I only put in two plants, and it's STILL intimidating! But that should be the start of mostly eating our own veggies for the rest of the summer. Which is a good thing. And I have some turnips ready to be eaten, too.
Boy, it's hot and steamy out there. Not 'heat wave' bad, but ... uncomfortable enough. And there's been another 'bagged salad' recall. So I finally planted the swiss chard, late, but it's in. That can work for salads, as well as stir-fries, once it's going. When ever that is ... okay, 50 to 65 days after germination, and germination is 7 days ... so in two months or so. Oh well.
Chubby Hubby finally fixed the biggest issue in the sink in the master bathroom! It now drains properly! And I ordered parts to fix the rest of that, and to fix the garden hose right. I dusted the bedroom, but didn't vacuum it yet. Did lots of laundry (line dried), and dishes, finished the re-seasoning of the damn pans, watered the garden, exercised.
Frondly, Fern
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