Don’t mess with me . . . ants

It’s a brand new day and already my foot’s in my mouth. He teased, I teased back, and as I came in the room, his head’s hanging. What’s wrong? “I don’t like being talked to like that.” I can’t win. I guess our last 3 yrs don’t translate to banter well. Stroke’s suck in the biggest way possible.

 

On another note, ANTS. All over where I put the tower. We shall trap them ‘my precious’, we shall kill them. LOL, I was so careful to choose a spot without ants. Well, there’s another bullet for the list. Sugar and borax … there is always a plan. I’m only sharing so much space with nasty ants. (I mixed equal parts of Borax and sugar and a bit of honey to moisten it, then put the mixture under the barrel.) Can you hear my maniacal laugh? I just know some wonderful, ambitious little creature will run some back to the Queen!

Planted!

I actually got the tower planted today. No worms for a week or two, but yellow summer and zucchini squash, green and yellow pepper plants, 4 tomato plants, cucumbers in the top, and compost in the center. This really makes me happy.

Tomorrow I will drill holes in all the planters that need it. I have lettuce, chard, and herbs already in buckets. I set up the dog kennel to act as our compost bin. We have to repurpose the things that are just sitting.  🙂

Busy day

Today I bought and set up a plant stand, filled the tower, made Kombucha, and bought plants.  I found that my fig tree has recovered and is loaded with baby figs. The previous owners had cut it to the ground. Steve came out both times with me when I left the house. He says he will either get better or kill himself. Ugh. I hate when he talks to me these days and all he says is “I hate Rocky Mount” or “I want to die.”

I am as in love with my house today as when I moved in. I’m going to add a few pictures and make this short and sweet today. Tomorrow I will plant my tower 😀

the holes are drilled

So I have to decide if I want to be informative or document what I actually did and the mistakes I made to get to stage two? I think I’ll show you the mistakes since this IS my blog… lol

I was going to be efficient when I got to the Lowes and bought a PVC drain pipe with 1/2 inch holes already in it. Had to go up front and buy a hacksaw so I could get the thing into lengths that would fit into my Nissan Versa. Lowes has a ‘no cut’ policy, and I had to do it myself. I’m 58, can’t get off my knees, etc. Not easy for me to maneuver my body – cutting the pipe was NOT the big deal. When I finished, I pulled out my phone and realized the worms could get out of the big holes. Crap.

I just messed up a $13 item and had to figure out something to make it work. I brought my PVC pipe and end caps home and piddled around on Amazon to look for plugs. YES! 1/2 inch black plugs were just $3.00 for 100. Pipe saved. I placed my Prime order, Saturday afternoon.

Monday morning I set my drill to charge and turned on Youtube to figure out how to run the hole saw. I have a small drill for inside that I operate, but had never used the bigger drill. My first try had my arm twisting! NO way was that right! I turned on autoplay to get some more ideas on how to use the saw. Steve wanted to help but he couldn’t get up and where he was sitting was in the dark. I got frustrated and realized he would not be helping me. GROWL… back clinch. Getting older sucks. I had the adapter stuck too far into the collar lock. Now don’t laugh at me, I do NOT know the correct terms for these things! I’m trying to prove that if I can do it, anyone can do it. lol

So opening and unfolding the new tarp was too much trouble. I’d of had to climb over the air conditioner in the bathroom floor, work my way past the boxes of kitty litter, block the kitty and the dogs from pushing past me, and reclimb my way out of the closet. I spread an old tablecloth instead. Sitting on the ottoman, drill in hand, 32-gallon trash can between my knees, I began to get it right.

Using the 3/8″ drill bit on the PVC, I made little holes up and down. I put plugs into the top 3 pre-drilled holes all around. I was reminded of the Doctor Seuss book “Put Me in the Zoo.” My pipe has spots! LOL! My can has 31 holes. Next steps are to add the trash bag, decide where to put it, and add the soil.

Other preparations are happening as well. Kitchen scraps are being collected to blend into sludge for feeding the worms. I have a big plastic Utz pork rind container for those. I am collecting coffee grounds and enjoying that part. I have a box of shredded paper that I tore up while watching TV with the hubs. I decided that the 2 1/2″ hole saw blade will be good for the other two towers I’ll be making, and I ordered it.

Right now, though, I’m making oatmeal. It’s raining and everything is on hold until I can get outside and place that can. I believe I’ll go to the Tractor Supply store for plants, just this once since I’m getting such a late start on my tower. I saw them when I was out chair shopping last weekend. Their veggie plants looked good and healthy. With that said, it’s time to share picture number ONE!

 

I have a new project!

I’ve been a lazy container gardener for years. Now that we are eating more organic veggies, I’ve been doing some research about a composting vertical garden. My friend bought a hydroponic vertical garden and while I like the look of it, it didn’t feel very user-friendly and seemed to have a lot of chemicals I’d need to replace from time to time. So I decided to look at this from another angle and decided on a setup that would work for me.

After several hours of research, I chose a simple plan and went out and bought the components. I had everything I needed except a hole saw drill bit and the center, a piece of PVC piping. I’m making 3 of the vertical gardens to use the 10 ft long piece of PVC pipe I had to buy, efficiently. If you had nothing towards it’s construction, you could get your own vertical composting garden tower built for $200 or less. I estimated high for you.

So here are the supplies needed . . .

• a container (I chose a 32-gallon trash can) about $30
• a contractor weight trash bag to fit inside the can $10 for a box of clear ones which I use for yard trash
• 3 ft of 4″ PVC pipe without drain holes (pre-drilled holes are too big) $13 for a 10′ length.
• a 4″ pipe cap $3
• a 3/8 inch drill bit for cutting holes in the PVC  $6
• a 2 1/2″ to 4″ hole saw circular-bit (use whichever you choose).  $20
• a drill and adapter for the circular-bit $20
• a decent hack saw $20
• a good organic potting soil or compost to fill the container $10 a bag
• a full size drill $75
• a week or two worth of kitchen scraps
• a blender $25
• Red Wiggler composting worms $15

I’m really excited to get this tower started. Since I need to cut the holes in the trash can, and I’m a caregiver; I’ll be doing it on a new tarp I have, in the living room. I also have degenerative discs so I need to do this in stages to accomidate my physical issues. I am convinced I can do this myself. We shall see.

Join me on this journey? I’m making three. Oh, don’t forget – fill it with dirt, outside!

 

 

Mother’s Day

Another one, come and gone. A text and a 3-word voice message from the oldest. 2 rings – so I must have been out of service range. She shut her phone off after that. Sweet calls from two of the other girls, a hubby meltdown, and a hug from Geoffrey. I had a pretty good cry at church, which I attended alone. I ate a cheese biscuit at church and had stuffing at home. Blew my keto for another week. I guess if I were my kids, I wouldn’t want to talk to me either. I’m not enjoying my life at the moment. That has got to change.

Not loosing

I’ve been Keto since September 2017. I lost 20 lbs by January and nothing else. I’m really wanting to tweak this diet plan for myself. Hubby wants to stop eating meat. I kinda do too. This morning, my first tweak is to change coffee cup size. I’m going from a huge mug to a small 10oz cup. I will still have HWC in it but cut out the extra fat. I will still make it 2-3 times a day. I don’t tell myself ‘no’ well. So I am beginning with a cup-sized change.

Busyness

I’m making yogurt in the #IP  (Instant Pot) this morning. Sixty-six oz of coconut cream (two, 33oz boxes), 5 probiotic capsules, and a packet of unflavored gelatin to help with the thickness. My IP has a yogurt setting. I poured both boxes of coconut cream in, put the lid on and pressed the button twice. The ip brought the cc to a boil, and I added the packet of unflavored gelatin powder to a separate bowl, stirred until it was mixed well enough, then strained it into the hot coconut cream. Stirred again and set up my thermometer to let me know when it gets to be 115 degrees so I can add in the probiotic – I’ll whisk as I add it.  Then I set the timer on the yogurt setting of the #ip for 20 hours. I’ve got seven, 4 oz yogurt glasses for individual servings, and the rest will go into a quart jar. Refrigerate the jars for 24 hrs, then use as you like. I stir chia seeds or ground flax meal into my morning yogurt. Love it!

Here’s the other things I’ve been working on – knitted headbands, hats and scarves for anyone who needs them – I’m still looking for a charity locally. I gave our Pastor one of the scarves the other night. I have a new diagonal patterned scarf on the needles. 🙂

Hubby has been ok, but he becomes so depressed when he thinks about his troubles. They are awful burdens to bear, but he has to do it. I can’t coddle the depression.

The sunshine is starting to resemble springtime. I love daylight savings time. I’m a fan of dark morning hours and long days. I stay up longer. My body is wired to sleep when it’s dark. I’m beginning to plan my containers for herbs and veggies. It’s so exciting when I can put my hands in the dirt!

 

 

 

Flip

I have decided to flip my meals today. I had a small bp coffee with my leftover ground beef, celery, and spinach cooked in EVVO for breakfast. It’s late morning and I have black chai with a tsp of Erythritol. At about 4:30, I’ve planned an omelet and a  large bp coffee to see me through until tomorrow morning.

Things have been very stressful with my husband’s health issues. I pray we find a solution for his elimination issues. The screaming and crying are simply hitting their limit.

Today is our 19th Wedding Anniversary. Happy, happy us.

Keto Bread

Here’s tonight’s project . . . I think I need a little bread!

Keto Bread – Pork Rind Nearly No Carb Bread