There is a Bible verse about faith and the mustard seed. I'm not going assault you with religious beliefs or spout Biblical verses... only enough to say, sometimes it takes determination, too.
Why and how does determination fall into the same category as faith? Glad you asked.
I live in NW Ohio and see the miracle of the mustard seed. I really don't believe there are that many farmers in this particular area who are raising mustard as a cash crop, so to see those fields of yellow when the mustard plant is in bloom ... all the way to the road, I might add ... is a beautiful thing to behold, even if it is weed.
But I wanted to talk about determination.
Ever planted morning glories? I did. Oh, about six years ago. My wife and I thought it would be amazing to see blossoms spiraling up the trellis on each side of our front porch entrance. It would allow some shade and look gorgeous. We talked it to death and finally decided to do multi-colored rather than "discuss" (btw, that's also known as argue) which color, sky blue or purple, would be better.
So, the spring of 2009 I purchased a packet of seeds and spread a few of them on each side of the steps leading up to the porch, in front of the trellis entrance.
I'll admit, they were stunning. Beautiful parasols of sky blue, shades of lavender and purple, whites and creams, pinks, reds and even stripes or ribbons of mixed colors. They bloomed all day long and filled the trellis... and then some.
Good soil means good roots and good roots means strong plants and strong plants means vigorous growth. Yup! Those morning glories filled the trellis and I had to string fishing line along the front of the porch for the vines to continue growing. Otherwise it would have appeared I was attempting to grow Jack's Bean Stalk.
My front porch is twenty-four feet across the front with the four-foot wide steps in the middle. Hence, ten foot on each side. Those morning glories grew from the raised flower beds in front of the porch, twining around the trellis and finally almost to the very ends of the porch on the mangle and tangle of fish lines I'd created.
Being retired, we tend to sit on the front porch and enjoy the cool breezes, listen to the birds fly and chirp and laugh at the antics of the hummingbirds. The vines had seeds and I gathered as many as I coiuld, trying to make sure I got the red and blue ones.
But, all is not well nor content. The overgrowth of morning glories - a two-foot wide trellis which now encroached to almost four-foot wide... and all the dangling vines across the top. The view of the front yard, traffic, neighbors walking walking the country road, etc... was almost non-existent!!
"We won't be planting morning glories on these trellis next year!!"
"HUH?" I almost dropped my plastic bag of about 3 bazillion seeds. Maybe I exaggerate a little, it was only like about two pounds of seeds.
"If you want morning glories, plant them at the end of the wall. I can't see out and I want to see."
Hm? I have an eight-foot retaining wall. Morning glories on that could be quite attractive. "Okay."
"In fact, you could tear them out now - it won't hurt my feelings at all."
Two weeks later, about the last week of September, found me ripping out the roots of the morning glory plants and trying to get the tangle of vines out of the trellis. Needless to say, seeds were popping out of their pods and going everywhere. I got the "most" of it out and threw the vines over the edge of the retaining wall. The seeds could grow there next year.
Leap forward in time to Spring/Summer of 2010.
Dear Diary: Today ripped another 200+ morning glory plants out of the raised beds. I think that makes it over 1000 plants I've weeded so far this year.
Leap forward in time to Spring/Summer of 2011.
Dear Diary: I can't believe I'm still pulling out morning glory plants from in front of the trellis.
Leap forward in time to Spring/Summer of 2012.
Dear Diary: Still pulling some morning glory plants out of of the raised beds. Found some blooming ones on the ground by the retaining wall.
BIG leap forward in time to Summer of 2016.
Yeah, I'm still pulling morning glory plants out of the raised bed. So far this year, about 8 plants. Last year, in desperation, I used RoundUp and put down three inches of mulch. I can't believe the persistence of these seeds. I also did RoundUp at the retaining wall and from what I can tell, those no longer grow. Of course, this could be a "psych" year for them and they'll be back next year with a fervor to put out even more seed.
Now, the interesting thing is this. I don't have any mustard plants in my yard, but if you are interested in a morning glory plant - I bet I might be able to find you one come next year if you decide to stop by. Just let me know you'll be coming so I don't tear it out before you get here.
Oh, and why did I want to discuss persistence? I almost forgot. November is coming which means National Novel Writing Month will happen. It's also known as NaNoWriMo. Anyway, you must write fifty thousand words in thirty days. Now, there is persistence! You need to write 1667 words each day as an average. I have learned over the years - yes, I've done this for FOURTEEN years now, almost from its original inception, you must focus and have persistence... like a morning glory. Sure, you can have faith like a mustard seed, but it will take the persistence to keep you on track. So, now is the time for you to outline your story, do your research and develop your characters. Come November 1, you can plow into the frenzy and enjoy a month of writing a novel.
Remember, have the persistence of a morning glory.
Until next I ramble on...
Showing posts with label mulch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mulch. Show all posts
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Monday, December 28, 2015
Year End Round-Up
What did 2015 do for you? It is the end of another year and, as always, we tend to get a little whispy-eyed with memories of the last 12 months.
This year had it ups and downs. There were good things and there were bad things. Of course, we all remember those incidences which just happened... like my mother-in-law passing just prior to Christmas. That was definitely a down thing but you can spin it as an up thing: She was 103 and had lived a very full life. Her health had been failing, along with her memory - and that hurt, especially my wife who visited her several times a week. It's hard when your mother doesn't remember who you are - but, she knows you, just not your name.
Of course, there was my doctor visit in November which wasn't all that great. My blood sugar was averaging 246 for the last six months and he basically told me, fix it or die. Again, to spin a good thing to it, I have since lost 18 pounds and my sugar has been hovering around the 100-120 mark. That is a very good thing. I'll be going back in January for another blood draw to see what the new results will be. I'm hoping to lose another few pounds in the meantime.
While on the subject of weight, I'll go clear back to the beginning of the year when I was making resolutions. What were they? Lose 25 pounds. Publish 3 books. So let's see what I did.
Back in June I got so sick I could barely swallow. I lost weight - a lot of weight. I lost a total of over 30 pounds. Then I got well. I found them. I didn't have to go that far to search, either. They were ever so quick to return - and return they did. Okay, I didn't get them ALL back. I was able to let some free to roam and find another home. About 10 pounds were left on the range. So with the doctor's colorful health report, I've lost almost another 20 pounds, so, in total, I've lost almost 30 pounds this year. THAT I call a success. I reached my goal of 25 pounds. Oh, for you readers, if you find these stray pounds, their yours to keep - call it my gift, if you will. I don't want them back so they're free for the keeping. I'm sure they'll be good to keep you warm - not healthy, but good.
Now, to the publishing. In April I published "The Secret Voice" which has been a great seller. I have had to order it twice from Amazon to keep it in stock. I even sold a copy to the young lady who helped me at WalMart when I created my new poster of the cover. My one classmate also works there and she's been telling everyone about and well, do you have any idea what it is like to have a clerk ask if she can buy a copy? If you go to Amazon, it doesn't look like it is selling because all the copies I sell don't reflect... and I've sold a LOT of copies.
Anyway, I published that book and was able to finally get my 2nd book published yesterday and should be available now. "CRACKED! The Writing Mystique" is a short how-to about handling the different aspects (mystiques) of writing including character detail, active/passive voice, writing sex and so much more. As always, I made sure to include examples so it could be easily understood.
Did I publish three books? No. I really feel ashamed. I could have done so easily but I didn't and there absolutely no excuse. Of course, I've been working on the sequel to "The Secret Voice" and, as many writers will understand, my mind has been attacked by several other plots and stories that are screaming for attention. I was just busy with other things - like family and life, I guess.
Of course, this year, my wife and I tried to do a little more camping. Of course, with her mother's health, we didn't want to travel too far away. Most of the time we went to the local state park just a few miles up the road and would camp there for the week, skipping out Friday morning before it got too crowded. We did do a trip up into Michigan with our middle granddaughters (ages 13 and 9) where we got in some great fishing. That was about 5 hours from home... not too far, but away.
My garden. It was a good garden. I even was able to grow some sweet corn and it was delicious. My wife canned some tomatoes, making stewed, diced, juice and even several jars of salsa which I have pretty well decimated already. She agrees - more salsa next year. Yes, I have already received what I call the best fiction mags of the year - the garden seed catalogs. And, yes, I already have delusions, uh, I mean, dreams of things I want to attempt to grow this coming year. Since I was so busy doing mulch to certain areas, I am going to have to be a little more selective in what I want to grow in containers. I have plans for a couple of tubs. Of course, my two hanging deck boxes I have to allocate some nice draping plants. And the step planters, those big 24-inch pots will need some color, too. In just a few short months I'll be starting my garden seeds likes tomatoes, peppers and just not sure what else as of now.
Also, this coming year, I want to attempt raising some chickens - about 50 for slaughter and another 5 or 6 for eggs during the summer and fall. Of course, if winter next year is anything like it has been so far this year, those chickens might make it through the winter. Oh, and I'd like to also raise about 2, maybe 3 turkeys. Living in the countryside does have its perks but then again, it also has the critters that like chickens and turkeys, especially the young ones... oh, and eggs, too!
So, as you can see, I'm already getting around to my New Years Resolutions for 2016. I'll keep it simple. Lose another 25 pounds. Publish at least 2 books. Raise some chickens and turkeys. Grow a garden. Travel, camp and fish more. Oh, and spend more time with my wife, kids, grandkids, great grandkids, family and friends.
Until next I ramble on...
This year had it ups and downs. There were good things and there were bad things. Of course, we all remember those incidences which just happened... like my mother-in-law passing just prior to Christmas. That was definitely a down thing but you can spin it as an up thing: She was 103 and had lived a very full life. Her health had been failing, along with her memory - and that hurt, especially my wife who visited her several times a week. It's hard when your mother doesn't remember who you are - but, she knows you, just not your name.
Of course, there was my doctor visit in November which wasn't all that great. My blood sugar was averaging 246 for the last six months and he basically told me, fix it or die. Again, to spin a good thing to it, I have since lost 18 pounds and my sugar has been hovering around the 100-120 mark. That is a very good thing. I'll be going back in January for another blood draw to see what the new results will be. I'm hoping to lose another few pounds in the meantime.
While on the subject of weight, I'll go clear back to the beginning of the year when I was making resolutions. What were they? Lose 25 pounds. Publish 3 books. So let's see what I did.
Back in June I got so sick I could barely swallow. I lost weight - a lot of weight. I lost a total of over 30 pounds. Then I got well. I found them. I didn't have to go that far to search, either. They were ever so quick to return - and return they did. Okay, I didn't get them ALL back. I was able to let some free to roam and find another home. About 10 pounds were left on the range. So with the doctor's colorful health report, I've lost almost another 20 pounds, so, in total, I've lost almost 30 pounds this year. THAT I call a success. I reached my goal of 25 pounds. Oh, for you readers, if you find these stray pounds, their yours to keep - call it my gift, if you will. I don't want them back so they're free for the keeping. I'm sure they'll be good to keep you warm - not healthy, but good.
Now, to the publishing. In April I published "The Secret Voice" which has been a great seller. I have had to order it twice from Amazon to keep it in stock. I even sold a copy to the young lady who helped me at WalMart when I created my new poster of the cover. My one classmate also works there and she's been telling everyone about and well, do you have any idea what it is like to have a clerk ask if she can buy a copy? If you go to Amazon, it doesn't look like it is selling because all the copies I sell don't reflect... and I've sold a LOT of copies.
Anyway, I published that book and was able to finally get my 2nd book published yesterday and should be available now. "CRACKED! The Writing Mystique" is a short how-to about handling the different aspects (mystiques) of writing including character detail, active/passive voice, writing sex and so much more. As always, I made sure to include examples so it could be easily understood.
Did I publish three books? No. I really feel ashamed. I could have done so easily but I didn't and there absolutely no excuse. Of course, I've been working on the sequel to "The Secret Voice" and, as many writers will understand, my mind has been attacked by several other plots and stories that are screaming for attention. I was just busy with other things - like family and life, I guess.
Of course, this year, my wife and I tried to do a little more camping. Of course, with her mother's health, we didn't want to travel too far away. Most of the time we went to the local state park just a few miles up the road and would camp there for the week, skipping out Friday morning before it got too crowded. We did do a trip up into Michigan with our middle granddaughters (ages 13 and 9) where we got in some great fishing. That was about 5 hours from home... not too far, but away.
My garden. It was a good garden. I even was able to grow some sweet corn and it was delicious. My wife canned some tomatoes, making stewed, diced, juice and even several jars of salsa which I have pretty well decimated already. She agrees - more salsa next year. Yes, I have already received what I call the best fiction mags of the year - the garden seed catalogs. And, yes, I already have delusions, uh, I mean, dreams of things I want to attempt to grow this coming year. Since I was so busy doing mulch to certain areas, I am going to have to be a little more selective in what I want to grow in containers. I have plans for a couple of tubs. Of course, my two hanging deck boxes I have to allocate some nice draping plants. And the step planters, those big 24-inch pots will need some color, too. In just a few short months I'll be starting my garden seeds likes tomatoes, peppers and just not sure what else as of now.
Also, this coming year, I want to attempt raising some chickens - about 50 for slaughter and another 5 or 6 for eggs during the summer and fall. Of course, if winter next year is anything like it has been so far this year, those chickens might make it through the winter. Oh, and I'd like to also raise about 2, maybe 3 turkeys. Living in the countryside does have its perks but then again, it also has the critters that like chickens and turkeys, especially the young ones... oh, and eggs, too!
So, as you can see, I'm already getting around to my New Years Resolutions for 2016. I'll keep it simple. Lose another 25 pounds. Publish at least 2 books. Raise some chickens and turkeys. Grow a garden. Travel, camp and fish more. Oh, and spend more time with my wife, kids, grandkids, great grandkids, family and friends.
Until next I ramble on...
Monday, December 14, 2015
I'm Back.
I know I've been remiss in doing my weekly blog but I had to take care of a few things and to be quite honest, I just didn't feel I could be fair to my readership. Here's a little of what has happened in the interim...
1) NaNoWriMo. Yes, I attempted and succeeded once again with this program. This year I couldn't decide if I wanted to slap-write my 2nd Amish novel or do the writing book that was buzzing around in my head. A friend suggested both. That's what I did. I accomplished over 52k words by the end of the month, completing my writing book and actually accomplishing quite a bit on my Amish novel. So, hang in there, I've got some books coming out soon. More later...
2) Health. Remember my New Year's resolutions to lose some weight - okay, at least 25 pounds? I actually accomplished that back in June, losing almost 30. I got so sick, I couldn't eat and basically was on a liquid diet. Yeah, I lost weight. But to be honest, it just lingered around the corner and when I wasn't looking, most of it jumped back on board. Not good. I went to my doctor back in November and well, he tried to sugar-coat the results of my latest blood test. "Get your diabetes under control or die." WOW! He said he couldn't sugar coat it because I'm a diabetic, which is true for the last 15 years. Seems my A1C went from a not-so-great 7.3 to a Holy Crap! 10.4. For those not in the know, an A1C in the range of 4.5 to 5.9 is consider good. My diabetes was totally out of control with high blood results averaging 243 for the past 6 months. I have since taken active steps to correct the situation. He had changed my meds - I had him put me back on the old meds which were working. Since then, my sugar has dropped drastically into more acceptable numbers. I'm watching my food intake and exercising more. My doctor said if I can get my sugar under 130 on a regular basis, he will be happy (and surprised!) Last night, before supper, my sugar was 126. I'm eating my healthier right now and from what I could tell - I went to the Medical Center with my wife and stopped at my doctor to get weighed in - my weight is down 6 pounds in one week. I will allow a little variance since it wasn't the same scale, but still, those scales are checked often throughout the year - so there shouldn't be too much change. But, we'll keep tabs on it.
3) I mentioned publishing a book back in item #1. That's right, hopefully, sometime this coming week, I will release "CRACKED! The Writing Mystique" which is a book to help a new writer understand some of the secrets of good writing and aide those seasoned writers with their writing. I figure the e-book will be released at $.99 - at least for a few days. There will be the paperback but I'm unsure exactly how much it will be since I need to have CreateSpace calculate all the expenses. My New Year's resolution goal was to publish 3 books - I got two books out with this one. Hmm? Last year I wanted to publish 4 books and only got out 3, so this year I decided on 3 and only got out 2 books. Maybe next year I should consider 11 books and publish 10. Whoo-hoo!!
4) On the home front, I was able to get a lot of landscaping done before the winter chills came in. We had this home built in 2006 and now, finally, after almost 10 years, I have a sidewalk to be somewhat proud of. Prior, it was some mud, grass, a couple of rubber mats and a short length of carpet remnant. Now it is an attractive angled walk of bricks with an edging of mulch. In fact, there is matching mulch in front of the low brick wall and a large expanse of ground (heavy clay) that wouldn't even grow weeds. Oh, and the angled ground which had irises and day lilies, it is now a lovely stretch of mulch. I will be guarding it against weeds with a self-made concoction of weed-killer including dish soap and vinegar plus some other stuff. It's not as harsh as RoundUp and therefore will take quite a few hits to finally exhaust the plant's growth and kill it. Still, if it gets on my good plants, it won't kill them and I can spray with water to rinse it off. Not so with RoundUp.
5) Hoarding. We've all seen those shows were people hoard and hoard. My wife and I have started to hoard, too. Slightly different. The local grocery had 8 weeks of specials where you could get certain items at a very low price in limited quantities. We also had a couple of friends who got those mailers and didn't want the items. Guess who got them? Then they decided to also have a 10 for $10 sale and other amounts. Imagine - 10 1 pound packages of Butterball turkey bacon for $10. Around here, that stuff usually sells for the cheap side at $3.99/pkg. Need I say we bulked up? They had 80/20 hamburger for $1.99/lb. Yup! We bought in 3+ lb packages and re-packaged into 1 lb bags and put it in the freezer. They had all sorts of stuff on sale and we bought and bought to stock up. Our big freezer is packed and the smaller one is also full. We did a lot of canning and freezing of our garden goodies, too. I kid you not, we can eat very well for the next 2 or 3 months and not leave the house except for milk which we don't drink that much of, anyway. Oh, I forgot to mention, my grandson hunts and has gotten 2 deer so far this year. He can only get one more. The 2nd deer is still being processed and I have NO idea where we will put it. What's nice, I can take a little venison and some of that 80/20 hamburger and get a very lean mixture which is even better for me.
6) Weather-wise - I'm not going to complain one bit. I'm basically still running around outside in shorts and t-shirts in NW Ohio. Okay, when I go into town, I put on bluejeans and sometimes a light jacket. There has been only a couple of days that I've actually had to put on my leather jacket because it was so cold. My wife, on the other hand, thinks it is chilly - but then again, I'm the guy who runs around in shorts all winter in the house, putting on a shirt when company comes. LOL. I can handle extremes of heat and cold. I'll be honest, I prefer 70 for a temperature year round but we keep our house a little warmer if we use air-conditioning - meaning it is too hot outside with no breeze and the windows can't be open. In the winter, we keep it a little cooler, about 68. Just had a thought! Maybe that's why we don't get a lot of company. LOL. Just kidding, this house should have a revolving door for the way people come and go here with 4 sons and 10 grandchildren, 4 of which are on their own, some with families. It's a mob when the family gathers here.
Hopefully things will get better in my life. I intend to get my blog out in a timely manner each week and, once again, I apologize for my absence.
Until next I ramble on...
2.
1) NaNoWriMo. Yes, I attempted and succeeded once again with this program. This year I couldn't decide if I wanted to slap-write my 2nd Amish novel or do the writing book that was buzzing around in my head. A friend suggested both. That's what I did. I accomplished over 52k words by the end of the month, completing my writing book and actually accomplishing quite a bit on my Amish novel. So, hang in there, I've got some books coming out soon. More later...
2) Health. Remember my New Year's resolutions to lose some weight - okay, at least 25 pounds? I actually accomplished that back in June, losing almost 30. I got so sick, I couldn't eat and basically was on a liquid diet. Yeah, I lost weight. But to be honest, it just lingered around the corner and when I wasn't looking, most of it jumped back on board. Not good. I went to my doctor back in November and well, he tried to sugar-coat the results of my latest blood test. "Get your diabetes under control or die." WOW! He said he couldn't sugar coat it because I'm a diabetic, which is true for the last 15 years. Seems my A1C went from a not-so-great 7.3 to a Holy Crap! 10.4. For those not in the know, an A1C in the range of 4.5 to 5.9 is consider good. My diabetes was totally out of control with high blood results averaging 243 for the past 6 months. I have since taken active steps to correct the situation. He had changed my meds - I had him put me back on the old meds which were working. Since then, my sugar has dropped drastically into more acceptable numbers. I'm watching my food intake and exercising more. My doctor said if I can get my sugar under 130 on a regular basis, he will be happy (and surprised!) Last night, before supper, my sugar was 126. I'm eating my healthier right now and from what I could tell - I went to the Medical Center with my wife and stopped at my doctor to get weighed in - my weight is down 6 pounds in one week. I will allow a little variance since it wasn't the same scale, but still, those scales are checked often throughout the year - so there shouldn't be too much change. But, we'll keep tabs on it.
3) I mentioned publishing a book back in item #1. That's right, hopefully, sometime this coming week, I will release "CRACKED! The Writing Mystique" which is a book to help a new writer understand some of the secrets of good writing and aide those seasoned writers with their writing. I figure the e-book will be released at $.99 - at least for a few days. There will be the paperback but I'm unsure exactly how much it will be since I need to have CreateSpace calculate all the expenses. My New Year's resolution goal was to publish 3 books - I got two books out with this one. Hmm? Last year I wanted to publish 4 books and only got out 3, so this year I decided on 3 and only got out 2 books. Maybe next year I should consider 11 books and publish 10. Whoo-hoo!!
4) On the home front, I was able to get a lot of landscaping done before the winter chills came in. We had this home built in 2006 and now, finally, after almost 10 years, I have a sidewalk to be somewhat proud of. Prior, it was some mud, grass, a couple of rubber mats and a short length of carpet remnant. Now it is an attractive angled walk of bricks with an edging of mulch. In fact, there is matching mulch in front of the low brick wall and a large expanse of ground (heavy clay) that wouldn't even grow weeds. Oh, and the angled ground which had irises and day lilies, it is now a lovely stretch of mulch. I will be guarding it against weeds with a self-made concoction of weed-killer including dish soap and vinegar plus some other stuff. It's not as harsh as RoundUp and therefore will take quite a few hits to finally exhaust the plant's growth and kill it. Still, if it gets on my good plants, it won't kill them and I can spray with water to rinse it off. Not so with RoundUp.
5) Hoarding. We've all seen those shows were people hoard and hoard. My wife and I have started to hoard, too. Slightly different. The local grocery had 8 weeks of specials where you could get certain items at a very low price in limited quantities. We also had a couple of friends who got those mailers and didn't want the items. Guess who got them? Then they decided to also have a 10 for $10 sale and other amounts. Imagine - 10 1 pound packages of Butterball turkey bacon for $10. Around here, that stuff usually sells for the cheap side at $3.99/pkg. Need I say we bulked up? They had 80/20 hamburger for $1.99/lb. Yup! We bought in 3+ lb packages and re-packaged into 1 lb bags and put it in the freezer. They had all sorts of stuff on sale and we bought and bought to stock up. Our big freezer is packed and the smaller one is also full. We did a lot of canning and freezing of our garden goodies, too. I kid you not, we can eat very well for the next 2 or 3 months and not leave the house except for milk which we don't drink that much of, anyway. Oh, I forgot to mention, my grandson hunts and has gotten 2 deer so far this year. He can only get one more. The 2nd deer is still being processed and I have NO idea where we will put it. What's nice, I can take a little venison and some of that 80/20 hamburger and get a very lean mixture which is even better for me.
6) Weather-wise - I'm not going to complain one bit. I'm basically still running around outside in shorts and t-shirts in NW Ohio. Okay, when I go into town, I put on bluejeans and sometimes a light jacket. There has been only a couple of days that I've actually had to put on my leather jacket because it was so cold. My wife, on the other hand, thinks it is chilly - but then again, I'm the guy who runs around in shorts all winter in the house, putting on a shirt when company comes. LOL. I can handle extremes of heat and cold. I'll be honest, I prefer 70 for a temperature year round but we keep our house a little warmer if we use air-conditioning - meaning it is too hot outside with no breeze and the windows can't be open. In the winter, we keep it a little cooler, about 68. Just had a thought! Maybe that's why we don't get a lot of company. LOL. Just kidding, this house should have a revolving door for the way people come and go here with 4 sons and 10 grandchildren, 4 of which are on their own, some with families. It's a mob when the family gathers here.
Hopefully things will get better in my life. I intend to get my blog out in a timely manner each week and, once again, I apologize for my absence.
Until next I ramble on...
2.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Updates to Updates
As we go into the third tri-mester of the year (the last four months), I thought I'd give a little update to what is happening.
Weight. Good news, bad news. Remember the 28 pounds I lost back in June when I was sick? As a friend said, I found some of them. The good news is: Only half of them - so I'm still 14 pounds down which makes my target of 25 pounds by the end of the year - well, it is something I can possibly attain. At least, I plan to make it.
Overall Health. I'm not up to par. I bought into the "you can't do this and that" and my sons have tried to make sure I don't do this or that. So... now I can't do this or that without getting totally winded. As stated last week, I bought a lot of mulch to put down. Of course, having temperatures up into the high eighties and low nineties isn't helping, but I do a little and then need to rest. I mean, like work for maybe 15-20 minutes and then break for 40 minutes. It is all about bending over - pushing the gut into the lungs. Still, I think it might be why the weight hasn't all come back... all that bending.
Mulch. By the way, the mulch is looking good. Of course, I didn't buy enough while it was on sale so the one area that I wanted to do probably won't get done - the swing set area. Just as well. I think I should put ALL rubber mulch there rather than a mixture of wood mulch with a light sprinkling of rubber mulch. Since the rubber mulch wasn't on sale, I'll keep an eye open for it to better priced in the next few weeks.
Camping. Took the grand kids camping and now my wife and I can go alone and enjoy some quiet time at the campgrounds during the week since most families have their kids back in school. OH! Went shopping for a new RV. We own a 28 foot 1998 Allegro motor home. Yes, a land-yacht. I'd like to get a "wider" motor home - not necessarily a bigger one. Let me explain. I want slide outs in the living area. If my current motor home had a slide out, I'd keep it since I'm more than thrilled with the mileage I get with it. Uh, we're talking 10 mpg and up to 14 mpg on flat interstates on cruise. The new one I looked at would get "maybe" up to 7 mpg, possibly 9 mpg. LOL. Sure. I think we're going to hold off on it until maybe next year... unless the salesman comes back with a deal I just can't pass up. (Like that's going to happen!)
Writing. Has been stalled. I've been doing a lot of editing for clients, so I don't have a lot of time for writing. I've done some - a little - on my second Amish novel. Was stumped for a while but with a little brain-storming with another writer (thanks, Elyse!), I've now got some great ideas to weave into the tale and give it depth. With NaNoWriMo coming up in November, I have to decide if I want to attempt it yet again. I mean, I've competed 14 years, accomplishing 50K+ words 13 of those times. I've done NaNoWriMo since it's 2nd year of inception and only failing to complete the word count when I attempted a cookbook and my dad passed the month before. Hint: Don't attempt a cookbook.
Gardening. The garden is coming to an end - sort of. The corn is done and I've removed all the stalks from the raised bed. My wife finally agreed that the green pole beans were finished, as were the wax bean plants. Unfortunately I didn't tie-up my tomato plants - so they've sprawled all over but are doing fine. We've canned a lot of salsa, diced, and stewed tomatoes - with more to come. The shelves are filled with beans for the winter. Still growing are the beets and carrots which appear might be a good crop this year.
Publishing. I wanted to publish 3 books this year. So far, only one book out. My Amish novel which has been selling like hotcakes at signings and shows. On Amazon? Not so well. It would seem that the book hasn't sold well at all. I've order copies twice now and figure I might have to order again before then end of the year - maybe twice!! If you haven't checked it out - http://amzn.to/1ynQnzQ - you won't be sorry. But, back to publishing. Maybe with a little luck I'll be able to get out book 2 of my writing tips and book 1 in my Jewyl adventures is complete, for the most part, just some minor edits and a book cover design. It's all about time.
Do you remember your New Year's Resolutions? How are they coming along? Given up? Have you accomplished them? Share.
Until next I ramble on...
Weight. Good news, bad news. Remember the 28 pounds I lost back in June when I was sick? As a friend said, I found some of them. The good news is: Only half of them - so I'm still 14 pounds down which makes my target of 25 pounds by the end of the year - well, it is something I can possibly attain. At least, I plan to make it.
Overall Health. I'm not up to par. I bought into the "you can't do this and that" and my sons have tried to make sure I don't do this or that. So... now I can't do this or that without getting totally winded. As stated last week, I bought a lot of mulch to put down. Of course, having temperatures up into the high eighties and low nineties isn't helping, but I do a little and then need to rest. I mean, like work for maybe 15-20 minutes and then break for 40 minutes. It is all about bending over - pushing the gut into the lungs. Still, I think it might be why the weight hasn't all come back... all that bending.
Mulch. By the way, the mulch is looking good. Of course, I didn't buy enough while it was on sale so the one area that I wanted to do probably won't get done - the swing set area. Just as well. I think I should put ALL rubber mulch there rather than a mixture of wood mulch with a light sprinkling of rubber mulch. Since the rubber mulch wasn't on sale, I'll keep an eye open for it to better priced in the next few weeks.
Camping. Took the grand kids camping and now my wife and I can go alone and enjoy some quiet time at the campgrounds during the week since most families have their kids back in school. OH! Went shopping for a new RV. We own a 28 foot 1998 Allegro motor home. Yes, a land-yacht. I'd like to get a "wider" motor home - not necessarily a bigger one. Let me explain. I want slide outs in the living area. If my current motor home had a slide out, I'd keep it since I'm more than thrilled with the mileage I get with it. Uh, we're talking 10 mpg and up to 14 mpg on flat interstates on cruise. The new one I looked at would get "maybe" up to 7 mpg, possibly 9 mpg. LOL. Sure. I think we're going to hold off on it until maybe next year... unless the salesman comes back with a deal I just can't pass up. (Like that's going to happen!)
Writing. Has been stalled. I've been doing a lot of editing for clients, so I don't have a lot of time for writing. I've done some - a little - on my second Amish novel. Was stumped for a while but with a little brain-storming with another writer (thanks, Elyse!), I've now got some great ideas to weave into the tale and give it depth. With NaNoWriMo coming up in November, I have to decide if I want to attempt it yet again. I mean, I've competed 14 years, accomplishing 50K+ words 13 of those times. I've done NaNoWriMo since it's 2nd year of inception and only failing to complete the word count when I attempted a cookbook and my dad passed the month before. Hint: Don't attempt a cookbook.
Gardening. The garden is coming to an end - sort of. The corn is done and I've removed all the stalks from the raised bed. My wife finally agreed that the green pole beans were finished, as were the wax bean plants. Unfortunately I didn't tie-up my tomato plants - so they've sprawled all over but are doing fine. We've canned a lot of salsa, diced, and stewed tomatoes - with more to come. The shelves are filled with beans for the winter. Still growing are the beets and carrots which appear might be a good crop this year.
Publishing. I wanted to publish 3 books this year. So far, only one book out. My Amish novel which has been selling like hotcakes at signings and shows. On Amazon? Not so well. It would seem that the book hasn't sold well at all. I've order copies twice now and figure I might have to order again before then end of the year - maybe twice!! If you haven't checked it out - http://amzn.to/1ynQnzQ - you won't be sorry. But, back to publishing. Maybe with a little luck I'll be able to get out book 2 of my writing tips and book 1 in my Jewyl adventures is complete, for the most part, just some minor edits and a book cover design. It's all about time.
Do you remember your New Year's Resolutions? How are they coming along? Given up? Have you accomplished them? Share.
Until next I ramble on...
Monday, August 31, 2015
Time To Mulch
My yard is a cool yard... not flat like most but has some interesting quirks. Let me explain.
When we bought our property back in 2005, there was a trailer of dubious quality. The floors by the bedroom windows were rotted through so you couldn't get near any of the outside walls. As one walked the hallway to the rear bedroom, if you did it properly, you could get a nice sway going. Okay, maybe not the best thing. (More on that later.) The fireplace seemed to work. (More on that later.) The kitchen was fantastic — large, open and extremely inviting. It also had an attached metal awning which extended 12 feet out from the trailer and was about 16 feet long and covered a cement patio. So fantastic to sit under in the heat of the day and enjoy the cool, refreshing breezes.
BUT, the place, in reality was a dump. Let me explain the "sway" that the trailer had. The ground dipped and the 70 foot trailer extended out over this hill. The previous owner created a "basement" of sorts with plywood. Uh, would you believe at that the very rear of the trailer, it was not quite 12 feet from the ground to the bottom of the trailer? Now for the sway. The support was one single stack of cement blocks approximately 4 feet from the end — we're talking about 9 or 10 feet of cement blocks, each 8 inches X 8 inches X 16 inches. They were loose, not cemented together. The only other "support" was the simple 2-by-4 structure running the perimeter of the back to enclose the "basement" area. The realtor even had the nerve to say "This will make excellent dry storage." as a marketing ploy. Yes, the whole structure swayed as the trailer swayed. To this day, I'm still amazed that the trailer didn't fall.
Remember I mentioned the fireplace? We burned some wood in the fireplace a couple of nights. We didn't spend too many cold nights in the trailer since they wanted us to get rid of the structure before we had our new home put on in the basic same area. Anyway, when we told the trailer down, which didn't take too much work to accomplish, we attempted to save what we could: most of the appliances, some cabinets and counter tops, sinks and the huge garden tub. We wanted to save the fireplace. OMG! Imagine our shock when we started to tear into the walls and discovered scorched insulation and charred wood. We were very lucky. The trailer could have burned at any moment with us sleeping — and it would have went up like "poof!" We wouldn't have stood a chance of escape.
Oh, during the demolition we discovered the skeletal remains of a raccoon in one of the walls.
Now about that yard. With the new house coming in, a basement was dug and a lot of dirt got re-situated. Then, when they put in the septic system, a new mound of dirt (call it a small hill) was created to cover the drainage area. The basement stuck out of the ground for about 75% of the home so I had several truckloads of dirt brought in to create a walled terrace. Here's a secret: You heard the phrase "dirt cheap" — well, dirt ain't cheap... especially when you build an 8 foot retaining wall.
So I have an area where my house is on one level, the driveway flows up to it and from the driveway the ground flows downward to a small area. Across the front of the house, and in front of the retaining wall, it also slopes away. Then where it all comes together, that's where the septic system creates another hill. To the immediate side of the house, behind the 8 foot retaining wall and septic hill, the land is basically flat and is a walkout from the basement. Behind the house, the basement is 60% out of the ground and that is the north wall so I've got some solid insulation in the basement on the north wall so help keep it sort of warmish. In other words, during the winter, it don't freeze but it is a tad chilly.
So what does all this mean? Lawn mowing is a bitch. Yes, the yard has character but it is an awkward act to mow. Therefore, to help me (when I have to mow) and my son (who does most of the mowing anyway) — I bought a lot of mulch in the last couple of days. I'm going to put mulch around the swing set so we don't have to mow that area. I'm going to mulch my hillside flower bed so everyone will know what is grass and what is flowers (and weeds since I have so much trouble keeping them controlled) and I plan to mulch an area out closer to the road which has some "ripples" and gets a lot of stones pushed into it by my neighbor who plows his driveway snow into my front yard. It also has some small trees and a lilac bush which are miserable to mow around. I'll mulch that area so no mowing. Yay!!
I decided, while I was at it, I'd mulch behind and on the side of the garden which now is kept under control by the weed-whacker. Yes, my garden is in the front yard, up by the house. We live in the country and when I had the garden in the backyard, the critters raided it before we had a chance to harvest. Also, I have two raised flower beds that will be mulched so I don't have to weed them anymore.
As you read this on Monday morning, I will be killing the grass and weeds in those areas in preparation of putting down newspapers to be covered by mulch. The newspapers will be a minimum of 10 sheets thick. I don't want anything coming up through cuz I really don't want to have to use harsh chemicals like RoundUp to kill them. Somebody suggested yard fabric. It does nothing for the ground and if a mower catches it... what a mess. At least, as the paper rots, it will improve the soil. I did that with my raised garden in the front yard when I put it in two years ago and it is working quite well today.
Hopefully, the mulch will make my yard even more attractive AND much easier for me to deal with.
It's an old picture, but it shows some of the land's unique features. This is when the house was first built and we'd just finished building the wall. The camera angle is from the septic mound. The swing set is now located approximately where the dirt and grass meet closest to you. My raised garden is located in front of the three windows (the kitchen) to the right of the front porch. I can come out the side door and collect my garden goodies and be back in the kitchen in seconds — we're talking fresh!
Maybe I'll update this with a better (aka more current) picture, but probably not. lol.
Okay, I updated. As you can see, the little tree at the corner of the porch has grown some. In front of the kitchen windows is the garden with pole beans standing in the back. The rest of the garden is now tomatoes, carrots, beets, garlic, onions, and peppers. The "corn field" has been pulled which completely covered the window to the left. You can see the swingset and that horrible cluster of growth in front of the long retaining wall is what results in 3 weeks of camping and not weeding. My daylilies are in there — somewhere but are finished blooming. I'll dig them then root out the weeds, plant the lilies and mulch. That weed patch to the right (below the raised deck) is my rock garden, but again, the weeds took over while I was gone. Those Canadian thistles really enjoy growing in my soil where nothing else seems to want to grow. Can't mulch a rock garden but will be putting more "small" stones in to fill it out.
Until next I ramble on...
When we bought our property back in 2005, there was a trailer of dubious quality. The floors by the bedroom windows were rotted through so you couldn't get near any of the outside walls. As one walked the hallway to the rear bedroom, if you did it properly, you could get a nice sway going. Okay, maybe not the best thing. (More on that later.) The fireplace seemed to work. (More on that later.) The kitchen was fantastic — large, open and extremely inviting. It also had an attached metal awning which extended 12 feet out from the trailer and was about 16 feet long and covered a cement patio. So fantastic to sit under in the heat of the day and enjoy the cool, refreshing breezes.
BUT, the place, in reality was a dump. Let me explain the "sway" that the trailer had. The ground dipped and the 70 foot trailer extended out over this hill. The previous owner created a "basement" of sorts with plywood. Uh, would you believe at that the very rear of the trailer, it was not quite 12 feet from the ground to the bottom of the trailer? Now for the sway. The support was one single stack of cement blocks approximately 4 feet from the end — we're talking about 9 or 10 feet of cement blocks, each 8 inches X 8 inches X 16 inches. They were loose, not cemented together. The only other "support" was the simple 2-by-4 structure running the perimeter of the back to enclose the "basement" area. The realtor even had the nerve to say "This will make excellent dry storage." as a marketing ploy. Yes, the whole structure swayed as the trailer swayed. To this day, I'm still amazed that the trailer didn't fall.
Remember I mentioned the fireplace? We burned some wood in the fireplace a couple of nights. We didn't spend too many cold nights in the trailer since they wanted us to get rid of the structure before we had our new home put on in the basic same area. Anyway, when we told the trailer down, which didn't take too much work to accomplish, we attempted to save what we could: most of the appliances, some cabinets and counter tops, sinks and the huge garden tub. We wanted to save the fireplace. OMG! Imagine our shock when we started to tear into the walls and discovered scorched insulation and charred wood. We were very lucky. The trailer could have burned at any moment with us sleeping — and it would have went up like "poof!" We wouldn't have stood a chance of escape.
Oh, during the demolition we discovered the skeletal remains of a raccoon in one of the walls.
Now about that yard. With the new house coming in, a basement was dug and a lot of dirt got re-situated. Then, when they put in the septic system, a new mound of dirt (call it a small hill) was created to cover the drainage area. The basement stuck out of the ground for about 75% of the home so I had several truckloads of dirt brought in to create a walled terrace. Here's a secret: You heard the phrase "dirt cheap" — well, dirt ain't cheap... especially when you build an 8 foot retaining wall.
So I have an area where my house is on one level, the driveway flows up to it and from the driveway the ground flows downward to a small area. Across the front of the house, and in front of the retaining wall, it also slopes away. Then where it all comes together, that's where the septic system creates another hill. To the immediate side of the house, behind the 8 foot retaining wall and septic hill, the land is basically flat and is a walkout from the basement. Behind the house, the basement is 60% out of the ground and that is the north wall so I've got some solid insulation in the basement on the north wall so help keep it sort of warmish. In other words, during the winter, it don't freeze but it is a tad chilly.
So what does all this mean? Lawn mowing is a bitch. Yes, the yard has character but it is an awkward act to mow. Therefore, to help me (when I have to mow) and my son (who does most of the mowing anyway) — I bought a lot of mulch in the last couple of days. I'm going to put mulch around the swing set so we don't have to mow that area. I'm going to mulch my hillside flower bed so everyone will know what is grass and what is flowers (and weeds since I have so much trouble keeping them controlled) and I plan to mulch an area out closer to the road which has some "ripples" and gets a lot of stones pushed into it by my neighbor who plows his driveway snow into my front yard. It also has some small trees and a lilac bush which are miserable to mow around. I'll mulch that area so no mowing. Yay!!
I decided, while I was at it, I'd mulch behind and on the side of the garden which now is kept under control by the weed-whacker. Yes, my garden is in the front yard, up by the house. We live in the country and when I had the garden in the backyard, the critters raided it before we had a chance to harvest. Also, I have two raised flower beds that will be mulched so I don't have to weed them anymore.
As you read this on Monday morning, I will be killing the grass and weeds in those areas in preparation of putting down newspapers to be covered by mulch. The newspapers will be a minimum of 10 sheets thick. I don't want anything coming up through cuz I really don't want to have to use harsh chemicals like RoundUp to kill them. Somebody suggested yard fabric. It does nothing for the ground and if a mower catches it... what a mess. At least, as the paper rots, it will improve the soil. I did that with my raised garden in the front yard when I put it in two years ago and it is working quite well today.
Hopefully, the mulch will make my yard even more attractive AND much easier for me to deal with.
It's an old picture, but it shows some of the land's unique features. This is when the house was first built and we'd just finished building the wall. The camera angle is from the septic mound. The swing set is now located approximately where the dirt and grass meet closest to you. My raised garden is located in front of the three windows (the kitchen) to the right of the front porch. I can come out the side door and collect my garden goodies and be back in the kitchen in seconds — we're talking fresh!
Maybe I'll update this with a better (aka more current) picture, but probably not. lol.
Okay, I updated. As you can see, the little tree at the corner of the porch has grown some. In front of the kitchen windows is the garden with pole beans standing in the back. The rest of the garden is now tomatoes, carrots, beets, garlic, onions, and peppers. The "corn field" has been pulled which completely covered the window to the left. You can see the swingset and that horrible cluster of growth in front of the long retaining wall is what results in 3 weeks of camping and not weeding. My daylilies are in there — somewhere but are finished blooming. I'll dig them then root out the weeds, plant the lilies and mulch. That weed patch to the right (below the raised deck) is my rock garden, but again, the weeds took over while I was gone. Those Canadian thistles really enjoy growing in my soil where nothing else seems to want to grow. Can't mulch a rock garden but will be putting more "small" stones in to fill it out.
Until next I ramble on...
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