[Today was uneventful. It rained and stayed cool enough I was able to leave the front door open. I straightened up a bit and watched the finale of The 12 Monkeys. I knit on a sock a bit. It’s finally to the point I can begin the gusset. This is a boring pair of socks.]
I have to laugh at myself because it’s what I do. Every day is uneventful and simple and ordinary and I LOVE IT that way. Life could have been a whole lot worse after hubby’s stroke. It’s still very difficult for him, but it’s manageable.
My last kiddo is leaving for college come Thursday. I am struggling not to be a weepy mess and rain on his achievement. North Carolina Chapel Hill is ranked number 4 for Public National Universities in the whole country and he has a paid for education on his plate. Not a shabby deal at all. I really am proud of him and I am really going to miss him.
We have had weeks of gray skies, high heat, and rain. My tower is no longer impressive. I couldn’t keep DE on the plants to deter insects and tiny white w/black speckled caterpillers have drilled holes in all the young cucumbers. Hornworms have attacked the tomatoes, but I’m dealing with those. This may be my trial garden so I know what I am doing come next spring. There will definitely be a tower for greens and lettuce, I may even plant corn to support tomatoes in the top, squash midway, and cucumbers at the bottom because they vine and need the shade of the zucchinis. I was thinking of running netting from the top of the barrel, out, and staking it to hold up the squash, and letting the cukes do their thing around the base. I will plan for plastic fencing around the 3 towers to keep the dogs away 🙂 I’m going to draw out my ideas so I can do it right next spring.
I’ve had to re-pot the herbs I started out in quart jars. The babies grew heavy roots, FAST. Since I last wrote, I’ve propagated rosemary, wandering jew, and am working yet again, on a piece of elderberry bush for a friend. I picked up several baby houseplants from Piggly Wiggly. There’s one each of a prayer plant, heartleaf philodendron, a cathedral bells (air plant), a spider plant, several hens and chicks in one pot, an aloe vera, and a rubber plant. With the indoor ones I already had, there are now 29 kinds with repeats of several. That doesn’t count the vegetables in planters under grow lights – collards, spinach, chard, green onions, radishes, ginger, baby bokchoi, kale… and something I’m sure I’ve forgotten.
The worms have settled nicely into their 17-gallon bin. I had a gnat problem which has been dealt with. I cut the legs off a pair of jeans with a busted zipper, split them lengthwise, and laid them over the top of the paper and food and bedding. Gnats, gone. Hubby started putting his banana peels and used napkins into my compost bucket on the counter and it got super wet and I cannot bear to open the lid again lol. I do believe THAT container is a goner. I now keep a 2-gallon bag in the freezer into which I put the vege scraps. When it’s time to use them, freezing is supposed to break stuff down and give the worms a good start. Now I can add coffee grounds and tea bags and all the good stuff without the stink. There are answers for everything when you are looking for them 🙂
Things to be careful of – the cat bites the dumb cane plant which seems to numb her tongue. She does it once a day, regardless. She will climb into the bin of potting soil and lay on it if I step away for ANY reason. She has also knocked newly potted plants off dresser tops and the soil with amendments like charcoal, have stained the cream colored carpet. GRRRR… When the remake of the movie “That Darn Cat” is made, I’m taking Kissy for a screen test. She’s as ornery as they come. And, she barks!
Morning Knits 