Today was the day I finally got busy on the chicken's yard.  I had to shoosh her back into her house and close the door, and she was pecking and scratching at the door to get back out.  But I had to have her wait until I was done so she couldn't escape.  I cut the end of the cage open with a sidecutters, pulled a sledge up, and using a pitchfork, I dug out all the dirty dirt, old feed and crap that was in the bottom.  It had formed quite a hump in there.  I dragged all that to the compost bin and forked it in there, two big loads. 

Then on to search for new soil and sand for her playpen.  There was a broken bag of sand that was once used for weight in the back end of my pickup, I used all that, and some new forest soil nearby that had been dug up by the dogs.  It was enough to give her plenty of new diggin's.  When all that was in place, I sewed up the end of the cage with sturdy wire, then made her a new milk jug watering device that I cut to size and slid into place, filled with fresh water, and some new feed for a snack.  Let her back out and she is fascinated by the new stuff.  She promptly buried all her new food with her scratching.  She must be looking for worms to eat. 

Arnie has been insisting on staying out to watch the garden the last two nights, and he's been kept busy chasing something away.  I think it must be raccoons.  I've been resetting fenceposts with sturdier posts purchased at Menards, to replace the rotting thick branches I had originally set in place.  And I now have thin, multi-branched branches dug in and leaning toward the fence near the pole beans, which already need something to climb on.  It promises to be the best garden ever, and some of the corn is even knee-high. 

Think I've done enough for now, don't want to wreck my back again already.  Tomorrow it is time to weed the garden and find more branches to support the peas and cucumbers.  I just might settle down to watch the news and read one of my books.      

After hearing Bryant Williams telling us last evening that if you want a hybrid car, or a fuel efficient car, you now have to sign up and wait six to eight months before you can get one.  The American public responds at last in force!  We can thank those who created this mess we are all in for making us change our wasteful habits.  The car and oil industries never, never would have changed.  They would bilk and milk the public forever, if it was up to them.  Hand in hand, they would never have raised fuel efficiency in vehicles.

Now we have the opportunity to make great changes in the country and in the world.  And the thought has crossed my mind that we should not be using oil as a COMMODITY.  We should be using it as a RESOURCE.  Oil is valuable, always was and always will be.  The oil industry and the vehicle manufacturers could have put the earth, and the consumer first, instead of their gluttonous greed for profits.  They will be just fine.  There always will be many, many uses for oil.  Let them charge as much as their needs demand.  But our opportunity now lies in taking power back into our own hands, demanding vehicles that do not need gas for power.  And why should we continue to pollute our air for the sake of corporate profit?  We need the air to breathe. 

 Another thing that gripes me, is that vehicles continue to be made out of heavy steel.  Steel rusts.  Our roads are covered in salt (another environmental headache) in winter and eventually, the salt wins.  No vehicle lasts more than 20 years up here in the North.  I saw a show on "How Its Made" the other day; they are making cellos (musical instruments) out of carbon fiber, etc.  These are lightweight and virtually indestructible.  Why oh why, can't they make vehicles out of lightweight materials that do not rust.  It would take much less power to run a lighter-weight vehicle that a heavy steel one.  I love my truck, but it will not last much longer.  It is 17 years old, and turning into a rust bucket that cannot be saved.

And another thing.  Although I am an Obama supporter, I am a little dismayed by his attempting to put religion into our governmental system.  As if we don't have enough distractions already.  When politics and religion mix, you can be sure of corruption of the religion.  When the worse strikes, the better yields.  Old Norwegian saying.  We don't need government-sponsored religion in the mix.  Please, Barack, don't wade into those muddy waters. 

And I haven't posted lately, because I'm so tired after the marathon gardening effort.  I just take care of the business of the day, take long naps in the afternoon, and try to finish up in the evening.  Tonight, when watering the garden, I found deer tracks within the fence in both gardens!  And last night's foraging by the bear was pretty destructive.  He got the suet cake, ruining the suet basket, turned over the circular compost fence and rummaged through that stuff, and dragged the heavy dolly away from the chicken's cage.  But even though he might have done damage to it, he did not, contenting himself by digging underneath it.  Fortunately, I've got a chicken wire "skirt" running out from the bottom of the cage and when he got to that, he quit.  Unless it was a big raccoon, but I can't allow Arnie to stay out at night anymore, guarding the place, because the mosquitoes are voracious and plentiful.  This puts the whole gardening effort at great risk.

But the garden is beautiful and thriving, no damage has yet been done, and let's hope it stays this way.  I remembered to bring in the suet basket tonight, but left the hummingbird fluid up, because my hummers like to get their morning sips very early, and so far, this feeder has not been bothered.  Let's hope it stays this way, too. 

Meantime, I've been going back to the chiropractor and my back is beginning to get straightened out again.  It sure does need it, but I think I am getting stronger each time I have it fixed up.  I have taken more books out of the library and find I am reading one book per week.  But today a new shipment of books I bought has arrived via the post office.  Five books about crafting:  mosaics, aprons, potholders, knitting in the round, and another recipe book.  Ah, but the joy - even if I never do any of the projects - the joy of reading about these things and looking at the pictures.  Of course, I have every intention of doing the projects, yes, I even have the birdbath I'm going to mosaic sitting in the living room. 

And so to sleep, to dream, ah, the joy of living my life, now that I'm retired.  I seem to be busier than I ever was when working for the man.

After yesterday's effort, I am pleasantly surprised that the garden is almost, almost finished.  I've gotten the one side garden area that is already fenced in planted, and I've had to turn the soil by hand.  I planted KY wonder wax pole bean, greyzini zucchini, only-the-lonely nicotiana, patty pan squash, scarlet runner pole bean, and carnival acorn squash.  I'm not going to till up that new bed by the asparagus plants - the tiller is not running now, and I'll have to wait until it gets fixed, or turn that soil over by hand.  So I'll just put back all the fencing I had taken away from there and just protect the asparagus and bush cherry.  I don't need any more garden. 

My latest problem is that I'm becoming increasingly dizzy, especially when I get up in the morning.  Today has been the worst; I nearly fell a few times.  I personally think it's caused by a combination of sinus problems brought on by the vast amounts of pollen floating around now (standing water is covered with yellow dust) and the fact that the gardening is very hard on the back and neck (might get to the chiropractor soon).  I'm sure I'll be better later on. 

I have only to plant the remaining nicotianas and separate the remaining corn plants and put them in.  A new fencepost here and there (purchased at Menards last Thursday), and then only the watering (daily), and mulching (whenever I can), and eternal weeding and hoeing (always).  Then I only need to gather sticks for pea supports and make tomato cages from branches.  By that time, I'll be eating greens for salads and radishes.  The corn may well be knee high by the 4th of July.  Everything is booming along.

I need to go into town again - I'm making a list to see what several things I can accomplish.  Library books back, drop off things to mail, and pick up something at the grocery store, but I can't remember what.  I wish I wasn't so dizzy.  Maybe I should call the chiropractor now.       

By the next morning, I had realized that not one thing that was said to me in hurtful ways had anything to do with me at all.  It was just the male animal, trying to be large and in charge, maybe.  He was all calmed down by next day, and a little apologetic.  He fixed my tiller.  Still, it's the first harsh words in 9 years, so I was surprised. 

I spent the day in the garden yesterday, weeding, watering, and planting broccolis and brussels sprouts plants.  Everything is up and seems to be off to a good start.  Thunderstorms passed right by, and I need more water in my barrels.  Today, I will try to get the cabbage plants set in, and then I want to put the zucchini plants out.  They are threatening to take over the greenhouse.  The Roma tomatoes that I kept over winter (what a capital idea!) are huge and covered with blossoms again.  I've eaten several Romas already.  They seem to be like new for being kept for so long. 

But I'm getting tired of trying to find more space for plants, and my back hurts.  I get extremely tired and should be getting on with other projects, like working on my porch area.  And summer slipped in at 6:59 p.m. last evening.  Today's the longest day of the year.  Spring was good, we had enough rain for a change.  I just hope the rain continues to arrive in a timely way.  I feel bad for the people downstream in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota, who got hit hard by floodwaters after the recent deluges. 

I figure I have about 3 more days of tilling, fencing and planting left to do before it's all done, well, maybe 4, if you include mowing.  Then I will take a break, get some rest, and get on with whatever. 

I'm bogged down with my gardening.  I have the new area cleared out from sticks and old fencing, and found the asparagus plants, about 10 of them, hidden in tall grass and surrounded very well by fencing.  I pulled all the weeds away from them, needing to crawl into and under the fencing on my belly, and brought in a lot of compost to shovel in and through to surround every plant.  I pulled the weeds from around the cherry bush which was also surrounded by chicken wire.  I spread out the other compost I had dragged in, then got the tiller running. 

Alas, after one pass the tiller coughed and choked up and quit running.  I was just praising it too.  But considering that it sits outside all year under a tarp, it does need some maintenance.  Right now, the gas tank has been drained, but John can't get it back together, and I fear it may need professional help.  So I've begun to hand dig the new planting area.  And I can't seem to find handy, sturdy poles from among the usual downed trees and branches.  I may have to buy some posts. 

My daughter was going to come over today, but she has been quite ill lately, and I'm betting she won't come here.  She was going to take me out for lunch (something made enjoyable only by her presence).  I sat up late last night, making out bills, and put them in the mailbox this morning with the flag up.  That way, they are sure to go out today, even if I don't get to town with my girl.

John quarreled with me yesterday and I think he may be planning to leave here and live elsewhere.  I don't like mentioning personal problems on my blog, but we haven't had a single fight since we got all the dogs.  That was nine years ago, and I'm always telling about my problems on a daily basis, anyway.  I think this is a truly personal problem though, and we'll have to see if things get resolved whenever we speak to each other again, if ever.  I am starting to cool off and analyze now.     

On Saturday, I was invited to a cookout at my son's house.  His fiancee had to work all night, so slept the morning away, while he prepared for his guests.  There were 7 of us altogether, and while sitting in the yard, talking and partying, I was chewed severely by mosquitoes.  But the food, all cooked by him, was fantastic.  Burgers done to everyone's liking, potato salad (I and my daughter's husband both made our own versions, both good), cole slaw, and a table full of snackin's that were very tasty.  I limited myself to one beer (was it Bud Light with vanilla?), first taste you say "Mmmm, good" after that it's a chore to finish it.  I switched to coffee from then on.  But I didn't get home until 7:30 p.m. and the dogs were wondering where I'd gone, and they were hungry.  My son-in-law wasn't able to attend - he had to work. 

I had planted squashes, pole beans and extra eggplants and Roma tomatoes, and the squashes and pole beans are already coming up in the house.  I still need to finish mowing the lawn and tilling up the extra bed before too long, but I was groggy Sunday and didn't do one thing.  Today, Monday, I'm on my horse and riding, riding, riding.  Getting a lot of housework done, when suddenly I began to salivate heavily and realized I was nauseous.  It took awhile for this to pass, but I seem to be all right now.  Don't think I will be doing the tilling, etc. today, though.  Better wait until tomorrow.   

We've been rather ill lately, and of course, after eating red round tomatoes in salads I've been having every day this week, we naturally blamed the tomatoes.  But then I found out that John's family is all sick with summertime flu, and I think that is what we've got.  The queasiness, the body aches and pains, the dizziness, etc.

But all that aside, I am still able to be on my feet and get things done.  My garden is all planted, except for the brassicas (still in their rain gutter trays), the only-the-lonely nicotiana (threatening to rise up out of their tray), and something new called Toothache Plant, which is supposed to have a numbing effect (presumably on your toothache).  Well, we'll see.  I had hot caps made out of gallon milk jugs and placed over all the tomatoes, and already they are booming up through the pour spout.  So I've had to take off the ones from the biggest, as they outgrow their temporary shelters. 

I'm working on getting the lawn mowed, actually weed wacker style (I don't have a lawn mower), and between bouts of that, I'm clearing away old fencing, posts and sticks from the "more garden" patch I'll need for the pole beans, brassicas, squashes and who knows what else.  After hauling in more compost, I'll till that patch (about 10' x 15') and try to truly finish planting.  I have the squashes and pole beans planted in trays in the house.  As soon as they come up.....  And to my surprise, in this old patch, I found about 6 asparagus plants, and a cherry bush of some sort that my daughter had given me.  So the deer didn't get everything. 

The leaves on all the trees are big and green now, and all this greenery just dazzles my eyes to look at it.  Driving into town yesterday to buy the potatoes and eggs for the potato salad, I had trouble keeping my eyes on the road.  I also went in to pick up my prescription and take my blood pressure reading at the pharmacy.  I'm showing improvement just with diet and supplements that are supposed to help lower blood pressure.  I'm right on the border now between "normal" and "prehypertension."  In February, when this began, I was in the "hypertension" and "prehypertension" range.  And I've weaned myself off of the prescribed medication for that, so I'm doing pretty good there. 

I've finished two books now about the shipwreck of the "Essex," one book written about the South Pole by Richard Byrd, and now I'm reading "Last Places" about a trek through Viking travels in the northern latitudes.  I haven't worked on my novel for a long time, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm stumped.  Primarily for the reason that I need to make up a story part here, not go from my own memories.  I can not use my memories, as that would open up a whole new kettle of fish that would befuddle the story.  I need inspiration to complete the novel. 

And what else?  I went to Barack's website and made a small contribution to his campaign.  Clicked around on it and found a lot of stuff, but doubt I would ever want to get involved in politics (not that I don't want changes to be made) but, but, but.... guess I just don't want to be involved in all that. 

John told me that ever since I've been making him split pea soup (about every third day or so), he has been completely cured of his diverticulosis, which he had suffered from for many years.  All I know is I like the taste of the split pea soup.  If this would be helpful to anyone who reads this, here's my recipe.

                               Split Green Pea Soup

Plug in the crockpot and turn it on high.  Put in it, 2 cups (l lb.) green split peas and 6 cups of water.  Cover and let it cook for about 2 hours.  It will froth up and threaten to run over.  At that time, I take off the cover, stir it down, and add 1/2 medium onion, chopped; 1 stalk celery, chopped; and 1 large carrot, chopped small.  Add 1 or 2 cups cubed ham and 2 tsps. salt.  Stir and cover and let it cook until it threatens to froth over again.  By this time, it's usually done (about 3 hours altogether).  Or, if you prefer, let it cook on low all day.

Eating about 2 cups of this soup every day, afternoon and evening, is what has cured him. 

I've determined that the freezer jam at the bottom of the freezer (dated June of 2006) is not as good-tasting as it should be, if it was freshly made.  This has begun a general panic to use up anything that might be remaining at the bottom of the freezer.  I guess I made a lot of jam in '06.  I had just finished using things from '07, and I see where overproduction is not a good thing.  I hate to throw things out, maybe the chicken would like strawberry jam on her bread. 

I did start mowing the lawn today, but had not gotten very far, when a low rumble of thunder occurred just as I broke the trimmer string on a hidden branch anyway.  It seemed like a good time to go in.  Now I'm making soup, pea soup for him, and hamburger soup for me.  I've also been making a salad/slaw lately that is very yummy.  It's onion, chopped fine, with cabbage, cut fine, and all the usual salad things, like lettuce, romaine, cucumber, tomato, radish, cheese, slivered almonds, carrot sticks, strawberries, and homemade dressing.  Latest craze around here is flavored vinegars, of which I have several kinds now.   

I have the garden almost all planted now, there is only a small space near the front flower bed, and I am going to till up another garden plot for the brassicas, extra corn, pole beans, summer squash and morning glories.  Winter squash will go into another bed with some other pole beans.  That will leave July, August and mid-September - yes, that's 90 days left of the growing season.  That's when we usually get the first frost, nowadays.                                 

The weather cleared up and turned breezy and cool, so this morning, I got into the garden and have almost finished the planting.  Today, I got a bed of greens going.  Seafoam and Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Pak Choi, Space and Long Standing Spinach, Red Venture Celery, Red Russian Kale, Oriental Salad Greens, Mixed Spinach, Tatsoi Spoon Mustard, Mixed Lettuces and Chicken and Rabbit Lettuce, and Iceberg Lettuce.  Transplanted out the Giant Marconi Peppers and Margaret's Peppers, and finished the bed with Gleam Nasturtium, and Radio Extra Calendula and Neon Calendula.  Just a patch of each kind of thing.

The next bed consists of White Icicle Radish, Golden Ball Turnip, Mixed Beets, French Breakfast Radish, Kongo Kohlrabi, Early Scarlet Globe Radish, Early White Vienna Kohlrabi, and finished the bed with 4 Delicious Tomatoes.  I tucked in 3 Opalka Tomatoes after the second corn bed, next to the Tarahumara Sunflowers. 

I am now running very short on space in the garden, and it will be about all I can do to transplant the brassica into a final bed, which will be crowding the peonies and poppies.  Actually, I have those other garden plots that can take the brassicas, the 3 extra Tip Top Tomatoes, 2 more corn types, and then there's the pole beans, more flowers, dill, and 2 kinds of squashes yet.  And it surely looks like I will be plowing them up also.  I see where the little weeds have come up like an army where I had planted the peas, corn, etc.  Everything else that I had planted last week is already up.  If only I can keep the weeds down! 

I had made a very well-sized and complete map of my garden, and have everything named in their proper place in the map, so I'm glad of that.  No mistakes this year!  I have come in for lunch, and now I have to wait inside for my doctor to call back with instructions - not that there's anything wrong - but I wanted to change my thyroid medication to what it was before last June.  I think it needs to be increased; we'll see what the doc thinks.  My chicken noodle soup is all gone, and I just might spend some time making, oh, let's see - hamburger soup - until the doctor's office calls back.  Then, back into the garden.  Tomorrow the moon changes to the 2nd quarter.  Now if only I had a longer growing season.  Still need to mow the lawn!   

After a couple of windy days, threatening rain, it finally broke loose last night and rained pretty hard all night.  Everything is quite drenched around here - all barrels full up.  I only have enough room to plant two more long beds in the garden, and probably will be able to get all my corn planted too.  But I won't have room to do root crops unless I start using one of the side beds.  I am seriously considering winding down the effort in the garden, though.  It is getting to be a lot to do, and I haven't even mowed the lawn once yet.  That's distressing, as it's raggedy and tall. 

And not much else is new around here.  It's Sunday, and I haven't done a thing today yet.  I better get a move on and start cooking.

The long national nightmare had me feeling really down in despair, but last night a dream was realized when Barack Obama won the Democratic primary.  What a fine speech he gave!  My eyes were teary and my heart was full.  Anybody who reads my blog must know that I originally supported Hillary, with money and my vote in the primary, but as time went by, I soured on her for her vote to give Bush the authority to go to war (I forgave her that, but still..), then later, she kept putting her foot in her mouth, to say the least.  Finally, I began not to like her that much, and switched my allegiance to Obama, and I have not regretted that move.  Now I will muster what little money I can, and send it to Obama to help his campaign.  McCain seemed more like a "Wormtongue" last night; his speech sounded like he was trying to say HE was the real Barack Obama fighting for change, and Barack was the enemy.  And although Hillary is my second choice for president, she still gives me the willies for some reason.  I slept well last night.

Ah, but the brassicas!  They are:  bubbles brussels sprouts; nutribud, waltham and green goliath broccolis; mixed cabbages, cabbage babies and point one cabbages; broccoverde; and amazing and snowball cauliflowers.  They are doing remarkably well in their rain gutter trays in the greenhouse.  Not one has perished.  The greenhouse is the place to be!  And I love the smell of the greenhouse.  Today, I want to finish planting potatoes.  These are merely potatoes that sprouted in a bag in the kitchen, forgotten.  I have planted other potatoes, but these will be laid on top of the soil in a row, and covered with leaves and straw, so that no light gets through to them.  According to the book I read, they will make potatoes all over the place on top of the soil under there, as long as I keep them well covered.  And in fall, I will simply remove the straw and leaves and harvest potatoes without digging.  We will see.  Soon, it will be time to put out the tomato plants, which have become larger and stronger in the greenhouse. 

My well water is gradually clearing up, to the point that I have made chicken noodle soup and eaten some, and it is good.  I now know where my economic incentive money is going - to the well drilling people!  I'll have a few bucks left over, not much, but anything at all is good.    

I feel seriously bent out of shape now.  I finally got the brassicas into new 4' long rain gutter trays, and they are apparently very happy there.  The weather has become cool, or perhaps it always was cool, I don't remember any longer.  On Saturday eve, I was at the kitchen sink with the water on, doing something, and suddenly, there was a big pop and the pump went off sharply.  Fortunately, I always keep extra milk jugs full of water, mostly so they can warm up to room temperature when watering plants.  So I was able to keep the dogs watered and make coffee the next morning. 

I contented myself to stay indoors and clean house without using any water on Sunday, June 1.  On Monday, John called the well driller man, and I went up north to visit my daughter.  We went to the Dollar Store by Ace Hardware and bought all sorts of things for $1.00 each, mostly.  I was able to find sucrose hummingbird fluid also, and a big suet ball, for $4.00 each.  When I got home with all my treasures, the well drilling people were here, already pulling the very heavy pump out to see what was the matter.  It turned out to be a shorted out wire, which was quickly replaced and the pump was running fine.  They had put a lot of chlorine down the well (I have no idea why they would want to poison my well), but I've not been able to use the water at all yet.  I keep running it out into the yard to try to clear up the chlorine, but so far, it still is contaminated.  We have been living on bottled water all this time.  I'm pretty disgusted, and still have yet to see the bill. 

I just got my economic stimulus from the government, and I guess I know where it's going - to pay for the well repairs.  The good news is that I got the new hummer fluid just in time.  When I went out this morning, the feeder was down to just a few sips.  A hummingbird was there at the feeder, waiting for me to fix things up.  I took it in the house, using distilled water, rinsed it out and made up the sucrose fluid and got it hung back up.  The hummer was right there.  These are the ruby-throated hummers.  The other day I got a good laugh when a woodpecker was at the hummer's feeder banging away, trying to get some fluid too.  The hummers were flying at his butt, poking him with their sharp little beaks, and he kept having to twist and turn to avoid their little attacks. 

Well, it's that time again to go to town and get groceries for the month, pay bills.  I am so sore and messed up that I will probably have to go back to the chiropractor soon.  And yet, my yoga still makes me feel pretty good when I get things all stretched out...   

I've had to take two days off now, I'm too sore to continue.  My butt is sore from bending over and turning soil over.  Wednesday, my daughter and I went to a bread outlet store and got a lot of baked goods and specialty items, like hot/sweet mustard, steak sauce, etc.  Then we went for lunch, MacDonalds, and it brought back memories of WHY I never go there.  Then on to the public library, and I found the book I almost was going to buy (had it in my shopping cart on Amazon).  But I've decided to stop buying books because of the price of gas and groceries.  I can't afford it anymore, so my library card was updated, and I took out "In the Heart of the Sea - the tragedy of the whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick.  I'm almost through with it - it is a good book.  Of course, then I took out 3 other books as well.

On Thursday, I tried to do more gardening, and managed with much groaning and misery, to transplant several kinds of brassicas into a long tray for their next stay until going into the garden.  I have 9 Bubbles Brussels Sprouts, and 9 Nutribud Broccoli and Waltham Broccoli plants in a long tray for their next growing session.  The tray is a plastic rain gutter cut in half so it's only 4' long, which makes it more manageable to carry around.  The ends can be taped closed, if necessary.  I was going to have these plants set out in the garden, but the sun was so hot, that I feared it would scald them, so put them back into the greenhouse.  I never dug the trench down the middle of the greenhouse yet, but it can certainly wait a while, since I can walk around in there bent over (like in a tent). 

It has not rained much here, and everything was getting bone dry.  Last night it finally began, and I was so grateful.  A steady, gentle rain fell throughout the night, filling all the rain barrels, and it will rain more again today.  That's good, because I am still very sore and need to rest up.  I'm going to bake bread and make cupcakes with frosting today.   

So it's Tuesday today, and I believe I said I would be rototilling next - that being Friday.  But of course, I had to haul many loads of compost and leaves and a 40 lb. bag of lime into the garden and spread all that around.  Then I rototilled one day and rototilled again the next day.  This created a fluffy loam with many tiny pieces of plant debris all scattered throughout.  But I can't get too close to the fence surrounding the garden (believe me, I've tried) because the rototiller has a good chance of becoming terribly entangled with the fence; a combination of 4"x6" fencing about 4' high, covered on the outside with a 2' high fencing of chicken wire.  This has proved successful in keeping rabbits and dogs out.  Of course, not chipmunks nor deer.  I have had success in keeping deer out by putting up other fences within the garden - this spooks them into thinking they might get entangled if they jump in, I guess.  I also have a plan, partially completed, of putting up tall poles along the perimeter and stringing yarn and aluminum pie plates along it.  So far, I have only gotten the poles up, but have not ever gotten around to pie plates and yarn.  But I'm not giving up the plan.  Chipmunks will always be able to run right through the chicken wire, however, and get an occasional nip of my tomatoes.

I settled down into my bed, with graph paper and my list of stuff to plant.  I divided the garden into beds and on paper, at least, I can have a bed for every kind of veggie I want to plant.  My garden is 25' x 25', with additional smaller beds on the side and back of the main garden.  Because I must till in a circle so as to avoid the fence, I have to make permanent beds in each of the corners, and these are doing very well, looking good with minimum weeding and cleanup.  But I still must hand turn the soil along all the fence edges that are straight. 

These edges, then, becomes the first-planted areas, and I have now gotten all those fence lines hand turned and mostly planted.  The north fence contains garlic, 2 northern blueberry bushes, meadow sage, red and yukon gold potatoes, jerusalem artichokes (been there for years), shallots, white onion sets, leeks (oh dear, I'm getting confused with the northeast corner plot).  The northwest corner plot contains 1 bugbane, 2 hostas, an Alberta spruce, 1 meadow rue and 3 liatrus.  The northeast corner contains tiger lily, salvia, french tarragon and chives.  Continuing along the east fence is the 5' wide garden gate, a giant peony, crocus, painted daisy, oriental poppies, irises and monarda (bee balm).  The southeast corner already has some garlic, but that's all the permanent plants I have in there now (except for the potatoes).

Yesterday, I got my first block of corn planted, Golden Midget, in the southwest corner, along with a defining row of Ruby Moon sunflowers.  All along the west fence line is a huge bed of Super Sugar Snap Peas, my favorite thing.  The other blocks of corn will go along the south side of the garden, interspersed with more rows of sunflowers.  Tomorrow, if my back holds out, I will get all my brassicas transplanted to their next holding trays in their proper place.  I'll use row cover to protect them from bugs, sun, and freezing temps.

Last night it froze, and tonight it's going to get even colder.  But the plants in the greenhouse are doing very well.  I just added tarps to the sides and I think they'll be fine, with the temps falling into the lower 20's tonight.  So far, so good.  And I'm not even too sore or bugbit yet.  The house is a fright. 

I made chicken chow mein the other night, using jerusalem artichokes in place of water chestnuts - delicious!  Tonight, I've set up everything in advance and John is at this moment frying up our own onion rings using a tempura batter.  I've fixed myself an alcoholic beverage with vanilla vodka, pomegrante schnapps, and some sort of soda.  And so to bed.... 

But Monday was not over yet.  I had laid down for a nap in the afternoon, with Pepper by my side; Daphne was out on the porch, where she seems to enjoy keeping watch.  Suddenly, she began barking very strenuously and I heard the porch door slam as she charged out into the yard.  Pepper and I went to see what had her so excited.  Did the squirrel fart in the tree?  But to my surprise, it was a black bear, and this little fat Daphne was chasing it!  Pepper tore after the bear, and the bear then thought it better climb a tree, but after ascending only two feet off the ground, it stopped.

Pepper was close by it, and not barking, as the two black creatures looked at each other with interest, not hostility.  Then the bear descended and they seemed like they would do something together, but I was afraid they might get into a fight, so I called Pepper back, and she obeyed immediately.  The two of them look so much alike, except that the bear has round ears and longer legs.  Body weight about the same, though, and apparently, dispositions about the same, too.  But usually bears and dogs hate each other, and bears can kill dogs, so I didn't want to find out what would happen.  It was probably one of the cubs that the mother bear has brought around here before.  It walked off casually, and seemed to be about 4 feet tall. 

When Arnie got home later that night, he could smell the bear's presence, and tore around for hours, growling and muttering to himself; he insisted on staying out all night to wait for its return.  And Daphne, whom I lavished much praise on for being so brave, has increased her barking at every little thing ever since.  All the dogs seem to want the bear to return.  I must admit, I felt privileged to see this beautiful creature. 

But yesterday, I went over to my daughter's to help her remove a brush pile from her front yard.  We hauled it to her fire pit, where I insisted she actually use the wood for cooking.  I had to stop at the grocery store to get Ricotta, Mozzarella and black olives, so I could make lasagna.  That took a couple of hours; then John, yes, wanted even more split pea soup, and that finished cooking about 11:00 in the slow cooker.  The lasagna is wonderful, will last for days, and so will the chicken noodle soup I made before.  So I can concentrate entirely on gardening. 

Today, Wednesday, John started up my tiller and promised to bring home more gas for it.  It's a Troy-built, and has worked without problems for almost 10 years.  He also looked at my ancient wheelbarrow.  After soaking all the nuts and bolts with WD-40, we decided it would be too much of a struggle to work them all off, just to replace the rotten wooden handles.  John will cut the bolts off and I'll buy new ones.  In the meantime, he gave me his plastic tub sled to use instead.  I will park it by the leaves, compost piles, bag of lime; fill the tub, and pull it into the garden.  It will slide fairly easily on the ground, and I won't have to delay fussing over that wheelbarrow.  I noticed that the oak leaves ARE the size of a squirrel's ear now, and getting the garden tilled and planted is now the priority. 

I've gotten all the houseplants repotted, bathed, the coffee table cleaned and polished, the remaining houseplants are arranged nicely.  But the greenhouse!  When I went out there this afternoon, the temperature was nearly 100 degrees!  Some of the plants may have gotten heatstroke or sunburned, some don't look like they will make it.  I had to open the side to let some breeze in, and even covered part of the greenhouse with a blue tarp to block the sun!  Well, it's a learning process.  So on with the hauling of the compost, lime, leaves into the garden.  Tomorrow the tilling!    

After Friday's effort, got my plants into the greenhouse, and knew I would have to take Saturday and Sunday off, since I was so sore, I could hardly walk.  And Saturday, I began dusting and re-organizing in my bedroom, with the thought of cleaning up the coffee table where all the plants sat all winter.  It surely needs it.  But I started on the dresser first, and ended up going through mom's jewelry box and mine.  I got out the jewelry cleaner and spent most of the day cleaning jewelry and finding that there were matching pairs for all the earrings, much to my surprise.  No, I haven't counted all of them yet, because I have 4 more small drawers to work my way through.  My back was too sore to continue, even with that light-weight chore.  Went to bed and stayed there. 

Sunday, felt somewhat better, soreness going away a little.   Contented myself to do a load of laundry, made pea soup for John (again!), and watched Animal Planet shows all evening.  Today, Monday, I am feeling very much better, but still could use more rest before hitting anything too difficult.  Today, I made chicken soup, and plan to make lasagna later.  Last evening, I decided to bake bratwurst in the oven, and just added a little water in the bottom of the cakepan, then put the brats in a 400 deg. oven for about 45 - 60 minutes.  They turned out evenly brown, the fat all rendered out of them (mostly), and were done to perfection.  When I fry them on top of the stove, often they are burnt on the outside and partially raw on the inside, so from now on.... of course, done for a long time on a slow grill is best of all. 

The birdies in my yard are wonderful.  I have the Baltimore orioles who come for the oranges and syrup in a bowl, the goldfinches who come for thistle seed in their feeder, the hummingbirds are buzzing around their red sugar water feeder, the rose-breasted grosbeaks like the sunflower seeds and suet cake, robins, phoebes, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, blue jays, blue buntings, sparrows and kinglets, loons on the lake, and one bird makes a raucous screech that always has Daphne barking at it.  I love to stand out there and watch them taking turns flying back and forth. 

Time to go and have a bowl of chicken soup, then maybe a nap, yes.  Soon I will be rested up enough to begin the gardening in earnest.  My first task is the tray up all the brassicas, still to do.  Then repot three geraniums saved all winter.  Then fix the wheelbarrow.  All the leaves are beginning to come out of the trees in earnest.  The maple leaves resemble little pink parasols, but I still have time before the oak leaves are the size of squirrels' ears.  The Indians say that is the time to plant corn.   

I was very sore by mid-afternoon yesterday, but the greenhouse is complete enough to accept some new inhabitants.  I've put the old "outdoor" plants, like asparagus fern, euonymus, geraniums, etc. out into the greenhouse, and finally untangled the two Roma tomatoes I kept indoors all winter.  They had become hopelessly entwined, and I had to cut a lot off them to be able to carry them out there, over my shoulder.  They have little tomatoes on them.  This is the result of my home pollination tactic.  I noticed that they would blossom, then the blossoms would die and fall off.  They were not able to set fruit because there were no bees or anything to transfer pollen from one blossom to another.  So I used a Q-tip and twirled it around in one blossom after another, and that's why they got baby tomatoes.  I'm so proud. 

Just peeking into the greenhouse is making me happy, seeing all the greenery already in there.  Also, my tulips had been planted under the bedroom window years before, and they are in full bloom now, and the colors and all the greenery are beautiful.  It didn't get near freezing last night, so everything is fine.  There will be a couple of colder nights coming up, but by then, I should have everything well-covered.  I could even drape extra tarps over, if necessary, but I don't think it will hit the freezing mark.  So the greenhouse will be finished this week, and next week, I can start working on the main garden. 

I had to take some time this morning to do dishes, wash clothes, and re-organize my kitchen cupboards.  I had bought new ceramic bowls to replace the old plastic bowls (not good for you, I guess).  Now the cupboards are all rearranged.  Strange things I had been saving for no apparent reason have been thrown away or moved to farther away areas.  I am ready to go out there and finish the greenhouse completely.   

Can't even remember the last time I posted, I've been quite busy.  I think it was my birthday or something.  My children took me out to eat for my birthday - a Friday night fish fry at Mama's Supper Club.  It was the best fish fry ever.  Haddock, beer-battered and not at all greasy, with home-made tartare sauce, baked potato, coleslaw, clam chowder and home-made bread.  Before dinner, a Spotted Cow beer and after dinner, Bailey's Irish Creme.  Oh, my kids are so good to their mommy. 

I worked on my greenhouse construction on Saturday, then Sunday was Mother's Day, so my children again took me out to have brunch at Mama's.  There were four tables of food set out, a breakfast food table, a meat and potatoes table, a fruit table, and a dessert table featuring a hot chocolate fountain to dip fresh strawberries, banana chunks, or angel food cake in.  What fun...  I managed to imbibe a bloody Mary before noon, and lots of coffee with my food.  The weather was cold, raw and windy.  I wore a huge pink sweatshirt, jeans, and my new gold wedgies - oooh.  I had braided my hair all night, then took the braids out, and bunched all the hair into a massive, kinky ponytail in back.  Wore lots of jewelry, we had a lot of laughs and much fun.  The whole weekend was memorable.

Let's see, then comes Monday, and I again worked on constructing my greenhouse.  Another day's effort will see it done.  However, me and my wimpy cordless electric screwdriver had many difficulties both finding the proper screws and then driving them in.  But I managed to build a 3' high front wall (bigger than I had originally planned) and managed to get the 2x2 roof braces on to that wall.  I even managed to get one sheet of fiberglass panel screwed on before it began to rain.  I was grateful to be going in.  I feel I am not a good construction worker.  I wish I could afford to hire it all done, but this greenhouse will cost less than $100.00.  As soon as it is done and the baby plants are inside, I will have to get busy on the big garden; composting, tilling, planting and mulching.  The weather WILL get warmer soon!

Today, it's still cold and I spent the day organizing paperwork, paying bills, and doing laundry and dishes.  I've been planting blueberry bushes, meadow sage, rhubarb, and petunias.  I will finish this day by transplanting all my brassicas to larger pots.  Yesterday, I again made split pea soup.  Lately, I can't seem to get enough of that flavor.  Tonight, I'm going to make the huge salad for supper and what?  more pea soup!

My daughter and I went out to eat at a restaurant in the mall we have been to before, and were making faces to each other, then laughing heartily, because the salad had cucumber slices that smelled heavily of raw fish, but when she decided to blow her nose in the napkin, she was horrified that the napkin smelled heavily of raw fish, too.  The cups were turned upside down and placed right on the oilcloth table covering, no saucers, and when we turned them over, they made a little sound as they came unstuck from the oilcloth.  One spoon was greasy.  And the bottoms of our plates were very greasy, as though they had been set down in grease somewhere.  We were seated in a booth and the table came up almost to our chins.  Although we laughed and said everything was okay when the waitress asked, we have decided not to go there anymore.  Duh!

Of course, my daughter did not like the outfit I bought for her, and picked out a purse/shoe combination that matches and she will definitely use.  I smiled foxily to myself, since it was the only way she would accept a present, by exchange.  But then it was her turn to buy me something for my birthday, and I opted for a chaise lounge chair that unfolds to lay flat, with a cushion on top.  She also bought me a package of rhubarb roots and a box of strawberries for my salad.  She bought some flowers to plant.  I had already bought my petunias, and some are coming up in the house.

But next day, it was my birthday.  I turned 69; however, when you think about it, I have completed 69 years, and I have now begun my 70th year.  That seems awesome to me.  I can't believe I have lived this long.  Lately, I have been feeling very strong and well.  My son called, and he is also doing good.  He's had to adjust to coming back to a very small town after living so long in a big city.  He's had to adjust to making very much less money here than he was making in the city, and that has been the worst thing to adjust to for him.  But he is beginning to accept that, though reluctantly.  That's just the way it is - life in the northwoods. 

I spent my birthday planting blueberry bushes, rhubarb roots (I personally think they were already dead when I bought them), and I transplanted my petunias into the large pots they will inhabit this year.  I set my cabbages out in the sun and watered heavily all my indoor plants.  My marigolds are coming up; my only-the-lonely nicotiana, up; more tomatoes, up. 

Then I came into the house and cooked, making split pea soup with ham chunks, carrots, onion and celery;  and a huge salad, featuring 3 kinds of lettuce, shredded carrots and cabbage, cucumber, radish, broccoli bits, shredded cheese and almonds, spinach and fresh strawberries, cut up.  I made the "Russian" dressing found on a can of Campbell's tomato soup, and also used store-bought bleu cheese salad dressing.  When John came home, he cooked a t-bone steak outside on the grill for each of us, and we enjoyed a tremendous repast over the next few hours, complete with green raspberry tea.  Quite a birthday celebration, and for my present, John changed the household water filter, which gives me great peace of mind.  He has also promised to bring my usual pile of "birthday manure" for my garden.  What a lucky girl I am.  On Friday night, the family is taking me out for fish fry at the restaurant where my daughter and son-in-law work. 

So today, it's beautiful out again, all my plants are watered again, my bed is made, dishes done, and I'm on the verge of going out there to continue working on assembling the greenhouse.  I need to make a short wall for the front, get the 2x2 stringers up on that wall and fastened, fasten on the fiberglass panels with short screws, drape plastic sheeting for the sides, smooth the ground out, dig the trench, spread mulch on the ground inside, and then I can set all the baby plants on either side and walk upright inside it down the trench.  I figure it may take 2 days to complete, but I'll get as far as I can today. 

Next week, I must take apart my old wheelbarrow to put on new handles (the old ones have rotted out, that's why I wanted a new wheelbarrow); then I can begin moving leaves, bags of lime, prepared compost into the garden and do the tilling.  And then!  And then, I'll be able to make rows and beds and get the planting done.  The goal of Memorial Day is still possible, if my back holds out.     

Was a little sore after doing my construction work, but not too bad...had a lot of shopping to do, started out before noon, and did not get back home until 4:30.  The dogs were beginning to wonder.

I went to the post office, spent no money there, just picked up a package; went over to Trig's, spent about $25.00 on food; went to Farmers Feed, spent $27.00 on dog and chicken food & straw; went to the bank, turned in a check order; went to Country Seed, bought 2 bags of flour and firm tofu for $5.50; drove on out to Menards, was especially looking for a wheelbarrow for my birthday, but they didn't have a complete package, so bought two blueberry bushes, plastic sheeting, and lots of snacks (healthy ones) for $52.00 (but rebates should bring back $12.00); then drove over to Shopko and bought gold wedgies and a shorts and top combo for my daughter for $27.00; on to across the street to Walmart, bought groceries for $43.00, then on down the street to Aldi's, groceries for another $43.00; found they didn't have decaf coffee, so had to go back to Trig's for that; bought coffee and 2% milk and strawberry milk at Trig's for $7.00; finally, on the way home, got $35.00 worth of gas in my truck and drove home.  Talk about combining many chores into one trip to town!  I was very sore by then, having trekked many miles through huge stores and small, and then I had to unload, carry in, and put away.  I wonder why I buy all my groceries, etc. in one trip, but it is also that I plan things out pretty efficiently and don't have to shop for groceries again for another month. 

A beautiful day today, and I've now decided that the greenhouse should not go on the front of the house, but on the side.  The question remains, should I move it now, before it gets any closer to being finished? or should I leave it there for the summer, and move it to the side in the fall?  Right this minute, I favor moving it in the fall....so tomorrow is not only my birthday, but the day my plants get into their new home, after putting on the fiberglass panels.  Which, I've decided, should be screwed on, with short screws.  My daughter is taking me out to lunch today, picking me up in about a half hour, and I need to dry my hair and change clothes. 

Yoga is definitely the way to go.  Although I get sore from the stretching, when that soreness goes away, I feel great!  I'm getting a little routine worked out for myself, and do the exercizes about four times a week (every other day).   

Cloudy, but sunny, with rather a strong breeze, and I got cold outside, so had to come in two times to add more layers before I felt comfortable.  It was the wind that made me cold. 

I had decided on the method of construction - saw a 45 deg. angle into the top of the header, chip it out with a wood chisel and hammer, then screw the 2x2s in to the header at a 45 deg. angle.  Bip-bip-bip - the sound of a woman screwing, I laughed to myself, at a 45 deg. angle at eye level, with screwdriver over my head.  What a lousy job I did, but I got the header up and all the 2x2s are solid, if extremely unprofessional.  The whole thing is designed to be taken down in a jiffy, anyway.  But looking at the construction so far, I realize that I needn't have bothered with all the 45 deg. angle stuff - I could have just put the 2x2s on top of the header and forced a screw in through the gap.  Live and learn...

Well, the frame is up and all the rippled plexiglass fits onto the 2x2s.  I made the frame to fit 4' 6" high up on the wall of the house.  Now to construct the front wall of the greenhouse, which I think will be 2' high by 10' long, the width of the greenhouse.  That will give a good slant to the plexiglass roof.  Then I'll dig a trench through the middle of the greenhouse, so I won't have to crawl around to tend the plants.  The front part, where it will be 2 or 3 feet high, will be for small plants and starting seedlings.  The trench, depending on how deep I dig it, will give me 5 to 7 feet high of clearance, and the back wall by the house will be 4 to 4-1/2 feet high.  The reason I didn't make it taller is because it is built right in front of my picture window in the bedroom, and I don't want to give up being able to see most everything out of that window.  Right now, it is taking up only 1' of viewing off the bottom of the window.  And the whole structure can be moved to another part of the house, if necessary, where it can be made taller at both the back and front.

So, back in the house for the day, telling my many baby plants that soon, they will have a better home.  All I have to do now is figure out what is the best way to attach the plexiglass panels to the 2x2s - small screws?  small nails?  this will take some research - glue?  I may want to put chicken wire across the top to add strength before putting on the plexiglass, which is pliable, brittle, and might be broken easily...come to think of it, I'm not sure it's plexiglass, I think it's fiberglass panels.  Oh boy... 

As I suspected when I last posted, I was soon hit by a jolt of procrastination that passed itself off as an attack of arthritis, and maybe it was, but I felt guilty taking the rest of the day off.  Truth was, I could hardly walk, as the storm front was coming closer and closer.  But it was a wasted day, as far as I am concerned.  Then that night, it began to rain, with lots of thunder and lightning, and it has continued to rain, all day yesterday without a break, and today just spitting a bit now and then. 

And I'm still perplexed by construction details.  I came up with a couple of different ways to proceed, and the problem is that the roof of the greenhouse will be slanted, of course; just how to make the slant fit with the header, shall I place the 2x2s on top of the header with a shim, or shall I cut a slant into the 2x2s?  Another way would be to cut the slant right into the header so that the 2x2s fit right into it, and that is the current favorite plan with me right now.  As soon as the weather clears, I will have to be ready to go, and by then, maybe the arthritis will let up as well. 

Do you realize that spring is almost half over by now?  I haven't even begun tilling the garden yet.  You know, maybe I'm slowing down, or is it that spring is just so late this year.  Today is the opening day of fishing season, and I plan to get out there in my canoe and dangle a line - again, the weather will have to improve for me.  Two days ago, the lakes were still ice-covered, but the rains have cleared out almost all the ice, just in the past two days. 

Now armed with an idea of how to proceed, I went to Menards yesterday and bought some 2x2's to make a lightweight frame for the greenhouse.  I have been planting more in little containers, more tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, only-the-lonely nicotiana, cabbages, broccoli, broccoverde, etc.  So there's little containers everywhere that hopefully will be sprouting soon.  By that time, I hope to have the greenhouse up. 

I couldn't resist buying a couple of packs of petunias, and May Night Meadow Sage, a perennial.  All in all, I had a very nice day shopping, and managed not to go to Walmart.  I now have used up all my potting soil, so bought a couple more bags of Miracle Gro yesterday.  I am ready to begin.  It's not even raining.  As soon as I get my shoes and socks on, I'm going out there to construct!  Once all my plants have a happy home outside, I'll try to get pictures up on the blog. 

It's 34 degrees today, the wind is moaning and shaking everything, and snowflakes are flying past the window.  I'm glad I don't live out west like in Minnesota and the Dakotas, they are getting so much snow, I feel lucky it's not here.  But the house is cold again, and I've had to turn on the floor heat to keep things bearable.  Even so, we will need to have a fire in the fireplace tonight. 

John is away, running his first marathon of this year, a 9-miler down by Shawano.  He called me a couple of hours ago, saying he had come in third place for his age group.  Which is a big improvement over last year, so his constant training is paying off.  But he should have been home by now, so I am waiting anxiously. 

I contented myself to bake bread today, made a hearty vegetable soup featuring hamburger, many vegetables including rutabaga, and orzo and couscous, also red lentils.  It's delicious and warming on a day like this.  I make English muffin toasting bread, but add a spoonful each of semolina flour, wheat bran, and flax meal.  It makes it a little heartier. 

I hear John pulling into the driveway now.  He will have much to tell.    I also got all my seedlings transplanted to larger containers.  I have red cherry tomatoes, tiptop tomatoes, giant marconi peppers, Margaret's peppers, and little purple tiger eggplants.  Some of them had to be lined up on the window sill - hope it's not too cold for them there.  John just handed me the Red Oak cheddar cheese wheel he won for his participation in the race.  This will go good with the home-made bread and soup.  The race is called the Navarino Trail Run and John got a t-shirt, also. 

My daughter had a terrible week with her multiple sclerosis.  I saw her yesterday, and she had sick-looking eyes, bright-white areas on her face and could hardly walk.  I felt so bad for her.  She says she is doing a lot better today though. 

I have moved all the rocks away from where the greenhouse is going to be built, and I've even applied all the styrofoam necessary to the house front.  I can begin construction on the solar pit greenhouse now; but just now, the weather is turning colder and it's raining a lot.  That's not the problem though.  I just can't remember how it was that the construction should be.  I mean, putting the boards together properly.  I will have to find that pamphlet again about the construction techniques.  Oh well, it's raining out anyway, so think I'll find that booklet and lie down for the afternoon.

I've taken up yoga - I have a book explaining all about it, and showing the postures or positions you have to get into.  I'm also going to do the breathing exercises, which I've done before.  What happens is that I get out of the habit of doing them on a daily basis.  I just don't have what it takes to stick to it.  If only it was like shopping....

My chicken has been laying eggs again, big, brown, beautifully formed eggs and I ate a hard-boiled egg for my lunch today, along with some split pea soup I had made the day before.  And last night, I cooked up a bunch of black turtle beans for refrying.  They are delicious, but I've never liked how they smelled while cooking, which seems strange to me.  That they could smell so nasty, and still taste so good.  Hmmm.

As I cook my food and eat, I notice that more and more, the food I eat is home-made or made from scratch, and more and more, I find it is organic.  I am frightened at the growing world crisis in food, and the high costs of everything now.  I believe that we have been robbed - there is no middle class anymore, only a great divide between the very rich and the poor.  I only hope there is enough fight left in us to change things for the better again. 

I stopped taking gugulipid, by the way.  After a few days, I just didn't feel right, so I stopped taking it. 

Yesterday, I was able to start moving my large rock collection away from the area I'm going to put the greenhouse at.  Got about half of them moved to the side, will move the other half today.  I also freed up the styrofoam sheets that had been stuck in the glacier that fell off the garage roof.  I carried these up to the house and put them in the porch, where I can measure and cut them to size. 

I went to the landfill to recycle and found that where I had been separating brown glass, green glass, clear glass, plastics, aluminum cans and tin cans; now they have just one huge bin for all those categories.  I was astounded, but someone nearby told me that that is the new way now, they have machines, etc. that separate all this for you, and this will encourage people to recycle, if they don't have to separate things anymore.  Yes, the lazy ones are rewarded, but I guess that's progress for you. 

In the newspaper, I read about a woman who has started a business, with the help of a small grant, and is using demolition building lumber, doors, cabinets, appliances and all manner of things from houses.  She is pulling these things out of the "garbage" and has a whole warehouse already.  Today, Earth Day, is the first day of selling all these things at about 1/3 of their original cost.  I would like to go back to the landfill today and buy some lumber, but I only have a couple of bucks to last this month out, and I think I can scrounge enough scrap lumber right from my own pile to make the greenhouse.  They will have a sale every 2nd and 4th Friday and Saturday from now on.  This lady hopes to be a profitable business soon.  What a great idea!  I've heard that there are a lot of places like this in our country now. 

I've seen the movie documentary "King Corn" and what a shocker it was to realize how the government has farmers growing this corn to become ethanol, silage for cattle fed in feed lots, and mostly, for high fructose corn syrup.  This is what is causing people to become obese in this country, and is giving people diabetes.  I started to look at labels immediately to stop using products that contain high fructose corn syrup, but I have hamburger on hand that, according to the film I saw, is nothing more than sweetened fat.  It is expensive to shop for food, and the food you get is often contaminated with pesticides, inorganic fertilizers, and products that are not good for you.  It is scary now to think that my own health problems have all been caused by unhealthy business practices that our government supports.    

Just now, I have come in from watching and listening to skein after skein of geese flying north.  I've been hearing them often these days, but not in these numbers.  Today must be the day the main numbers are flying north.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the full moon...it reminds me of the poem I wrote years ago to remind myself of the interconnection we have with all life.

My name is written on a bird, that flies across the sky.  The day that bird falls to the ground, will be the day I die. 

I have not been able to construct my greenhouse yet, because I need to finish putting up the styrofoam panels on the front of the house first; I had left them leaning up against the garage wall, and the snow that fell from the metal roofing has encrusted below like a glacier.  Being in the shade, it doesn't melt fast, and I spent some time yesterday on that glacier, shoveling and chopping it away from the styrofoam.  Today, it better come free or I will know the reason why.  I need to get that greenhouse up; my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are too big to stay in the terrarium much longer. 

I've been raking as much as I can, and picking up trash in the yard.  I have a big black plastic bag full of garbage, and now a truckload of recyclables to go to the landfill, including my daughter's stuff.  My vacuum cleaner works fine again, vacuumed some yesterday, but there is always more to go.  I am still eating on that roast chicken I made the other day.  There is still plenty of meat and potatoes left, but the stuffing and gravy is gone - the rest can go to the dogs. 

On tv, I've watched the final installment of "John Adams."  I've been watching this since the first installment.  I also watched "Expedition to Alaska" last night and was alarmed at how the tundra is melting, putting up into the atmosphere tons of methane, which is far worse a greenhouse gas than CO2, and is flammable in the extreme.  Since the tundra covers 1/5 of our planet, we are in for big trouble.  I even had visions of the sky being ignited by lightning, for instance.  Why can't we trap a lot of that methane, make it inert (I know they can do that), and use it.  I suppose storing and transporting it would be the main problem. 

On that same show, I saw where the native people are hunting whales legally, and leaving a lot of the carcasses on the beach deliberately to sustain the polar bears, who have no summer sea ice to hunt on and from.  And they saw a grizzly bear show up to feed also.  They showed a picture of a hybrid grizzly/polar bear, and thought that without ice to hunt from, the polar bears will have no choice but to become land bears, breed with grizzly and brown bears, and form a new species.  At any rate, the polar bear stands to become the first species of animal put on the endangered species list from global warming.  Of course, that won't happen until after George Bush is out of office - he refuses to help the bears.  He's too worried about protecting big oil interests in the area, now that he's allowed drilling in the Chukchi Sea.

Another beautiful day outside beckons...see if I can free up my styrofoam, more raking, and it's not too soon to start hauling compost into my garden, depending on how long my back holds out.  Oh, and I need to go into town today, take the recyclables in, and finally, get my prescription refilled (if the drug company lets me - today's my last pill), so they better not mess with me again.   

The rain began gently last night, and continues as a fine mist today.  They are getting a lot more south of here.  I am almost finished with my preparations to head up north, it's my daughter's birthday.  Since we already went shopping for her birthday gifts, there is nothing left to do but bring brownies!  I get to pick up my vacuum cleaner today, and the house surely needs it.  When I called, I asked if my Speed Queen was ready, and the clerk said, "you mean Filter Queen, don't you?"  I knew it was the queen of something, it's the Queen of Filter, not the Queen of Speed.  Oh well. 

I am returning my daughter's leaf blower and her rug shampooer, both of which I had held over winter.  She will be needing these things, and I have bought a wet/dry shop vac, whose motor detaches and becomes a leaf blower as well.  So I won't need to be borrowing again.  That's a relief.  I'm going to be picking up all her recyclables that she's been saving up, because they don't have recycling of all things up there, as I do here.  And then we're going to tour her yard and estimate how much effort it would take to pick up all the branches, etc. that have fallen in her yard.  A big branch hit her house the other day, scaring the bejeepers out of her cats. 

What a birthday party, huh?  She is going out to eat with her husband and my son on Saturday night, so that will seem more like a birthday.  But with her MS problems, my extra birthday gift to her is to help her with all the yardwork, recycling, etc. that takes so much extra effort.  We'll do the yardwork some other day, when it's not raining.  She made chicken salad for lunch, so we'll have an enjoyable party at home.  I told her last time I saw her, that I am sure she will beat this thing (multiple sclerosis) and she said that cheered her up and made her feel confident and was the best medicine of all.  I pray she does. 

Finally, spring has arrived.  A Baltimore oriole is singing in the woods nearby.  Many birds are twittering away on the branches.  Woodpeckers are hammering on the trees, and bigger birds like ducks and geese, add their voices to the chorus.  The clear calls of the chickadees and the little nutty voices of the nuthatches....

I have washed off my lawn chairs and now sit on my outside porch looking around and listening.  The snow is receding every day, temperatures were near 60 degrees yesterday.  If it rains, as predicted later today, the snow will shrink even further.  Big gaps surround the trees, where the darkness of the wood makes for quicker melting.  I've been raking as the snow goes.  There are many branches to pick up, lots of bark from the firewood, and empty shells from the birdseed, not to mention the hazards of dog doodoo that lie in wait for the unsuspecting raker who backs up unwarily. 

I have written my congressman about the urgent need for Wisconsin to sign the Great Lakes Treaty, to protect the waters from exploitation, and he has replied that he will get back to me within a couple of weeks.  That's sort of encouraging...

Now I need to write to someone about introducing legislation to stop the horrible new law that will go into effect already this year, that brings the muskellunge and bass fishing season forward to the beginning of May.  This was tucked into the state budget bill in order to promote tourism and kill discussion.  No concern at all for the fact that these two fish are spawning in May, sitting on their beds, and will attack anything that comes near them.  No concern at all for the resource.  I will find out soon who to contact about this. 

My son tells me that where he lives, two wolf packs are active, one to his right, and one to his left.  He can hear them howling back and forth to each other, probably to maintain their separate territories.  He says they have been feeding on deer.  That's exactly correct.  Our state (and others) have had a huge population increase in deer, to the point that people in town have complained that their shrubberies are decimated, and huge piles of deer doodoo are wrecking their lawns.  So the natural remedy has always been for predators to move in and keep populations in check.  And that's just what has happened, and I, for one, am happy to see the wolf return.  But since my attendance at the Conservation Congress meeting, I also see the need to keep the predator populations in check as well.

And our local paper carried the story yesterday of a cougar shot in Chicago!  It was a young male, apparently not a "pet" or runaway from a zoo, but they felt they had to shoot it, or somebody might have been killed.  The animals are coming back!  And I think it is due to the abundance of deer, who have grown numerous feeding on the slash from the logging of the trees.  Whatever is a disaster for one form of life seems to become a boon for another.