One More Month is Done

Well, April is about over.  It's been a month of ups and downs.  The weather has been all over the map from cold 'wintery mix' to warm, sunny days with not much rain.  Jeff's got the new compost bin finished and about half of the compost from the old bin transferred as well as the new greenhouse framed and a start on the pallet planting beds.  And we've got a head start on firewood for next winter...if I stop insisting on a small fire to chase the evening chill.  Our main problem has been too many days until the 1st so work has just about stopped on everything that requires a visit to Lowe's to continue.  That and Jeff's annual Spring fling with his back.  I don't know how he keeps going some days with the pain!  Hopefully the medical procedure scheduled for early June will make a difference.

Jeff's got seeds sprouting under the grow lights...beans, tomatoes, peppers, you name it but I haven't got my herbs started yet.  The catnip he planted in the raised boxes last year is doing very well, and I have parsley growing in the herb box but not oregano which is suppose to be the perennial!  Tomorrow we're planning on visiting The Brick House Greenhouse outside of Frankfort (from Frankfort...go up Cemetery Hill, take a left on to Albany  Rd and then a right on to Roberts Rd)...which Jeff found on line.  They have a tomato called 'Mr Stripey' which is suppose to have orange and red stripes inside and out. Jeff thinks it will go well with our red carrots, purple peppers and brown tomatoes.  Can't say our garden isn't colorful!

Mom is not too happy at Valley Health.  She isn't getting the amount of attention she thought she would get there.  She has lost the strength in her legs and can't transfer without the aides using the lift, and she had started to develop a 'bedsore' from sitting all the time so they're letting her lay down more now (she likes that!).  Her vision has failed a lot, too, so she doesn't watch much tv.  She does enjoy the church services and being able to receive Communion regularly.  And she plays Bingo!  Jeff and I are planning on having dinner with her on Mother's Day (only $7 apiece).  She enjoys visitors and receiving cards.  It's tough being 99.

Business in Cooperstown has been slow this spring but hopefully it will pick up when the tourists start hitting town.  I finished that yellow shrug and ripped it out twice.  It just wasn't finishing the way I had hoped.  It's still on the needles but this is my last try for perfection. I just don't like making anything bigger than a size 4 and this is a 6.  I'm crocheting a pink pig that is coming out ok...but I can't get safety eyes for it at Walmart. I don't know if I want to make a special trip to Utica or just use buttons.  I found a pattern for a crochet evening bag that I might try...or not.  It just might be time for a break...to do yard work.  Well, see.

Ah, It's Friday!

Ah, it's Friday...at last!  This week seemed longer than usual.  Monday I worked in the shop in Cooperstown and this morning I had a 7:45am (!!) appointment for an ultra sound of my thyroid and an 8:30 appointment with the ENT to get the results.  The automatic reminder Bassett sends out suggests arriving 30 minutes before your appointment so I was there at 7:15.  The Radiology departments opens at 7:30 and the doctor comes in at 9am resulting in lots of waiting.  Good thing I always bring some knitting.  Today it was the lemon yellow shrug I started on Monday.  (It has become a size 6...instead of intended size 4...coz I lost track of my rows and didn't want to rip it out.  Anyway....) It looks good and generated a lot of glowing comments from the staff this morning.  I do realize why I don't do many size 6 or larger sweaters...on a circular needle there are over 250 stitches you have to work in each row before you get to the sleeves.  (Remember, I'm working a raglan from the neck down.) And this is a V-neck, too.  If it was a cardigan, the stitch count would be higher!  My hands ache after I work a couple of rows but I keep going and I did the sleeves yesterday and today I've been working on the body.  As I plodded along today I made a couple of design changes and I think the body may end up a little shorter than normal.  Depends on how the hands feel when I get 4 or 5" done.  I'm tempted to start another one...smaller size of course when this one is finished.

Jeff's been working on the new compost bin.  He's got one side just about filled with what he had put in the old bin last fall.  Got a nice portion of rich compost on the bottom, too. He's thinking about adding another bin on the 

right side in the photo (r) but he has to let me move
the daffodils that have naturalized there first.  He's also been working on a contained raised bed made out of pallets. (l) The sides have been built up to about 14". It will be lined with garden cloth. Jeff's thinking of filling them with compost and wood chips. I'd like to see maybe 3 of them across the yard in front of the compost bin.  That's a real sunny spot in the yard.

A couple of weeks ago a chat room buddy asked if I would share a pattern with her so I copied and sent her a raglan from the neck down baby sweater.  Yesterday I found these 2 gnomes...and their directions...in my mail box.  Thanks, Rita!!  They're cuties, huh?

The Shop

I worked in the shop in Cooperstown yesterday...my first  time this year.  Only 18 more to go!!  There was a note from the previous day's crafter on the desk asking questions about the lavender potpourri bundles whose aroma was penetrating the room...actually hitting me between the eyes when I opened the door!  The aroma lessened as the cold morning air slowly made its way into the shop...but the chill that replaced it made it necessary to turn the heat on.  Going in and out, doing opening chores helped too, and it became bearable to be in the store.  The few customers who came in all commented on the 'lovely aroma' that greeted them.  After adding to and straightening my display, I spent the morning looking out for the plumber who was suppose to stop in.

My Display

Blacksheep Cardigan & Hoodie

BB Hoodies

Baby Socks

 Judy came in with 100 gift certificates that had to be put in envelopes...they will be distributed at a charity function later this week.  She had spent about 4 hours the night before stamping the envelopes with a beautiful floral design and another crafter had designed the certificates on her computer. I kept mentioning...no, complaining about the lavender aroma but Judy couldn't smell it.  She finally gave up waiting for the plumber to show and went on to her other errands promising to stop back before she went home.  As soon as she left, the plumber walked in.  I showed him the problem in the bathroom and the hole in the outside wall.  He'd call Judy and arrange things.  About 10 mins after he left, she came back and I gave her the news.  I had taken his cell number and she was able to call him and make the arrangements for the repairs he'd do later in the week.  Well, later was sooner and the plumber was back in no time!  His other job was finished and he thought he'd work ours in.  We were all certain he'd have to replace the wax ring on the toilet but after a flush or two and enlarging the hole in the outside wall, he came in and said it was done. The sewer pipe had become disconnected and that was an easy repair. If the wet spot in the bathroom didn't dry out Judy's to call him and he would replace the wax ring.  Now all she has to do is find someone to fix the hole in the wall.  (Besides our quilter, Judy is our landlord.)  By then it was time for lunch and I had brought  PBJ and an apple so I decided to eat and read my Robert Parker novel...one in the Jessie Stone series. Just reading the dialogue conjured up images of Tom Selleck in my mind!  And the book had been done before the movie...I wonder if Parker wrote it with him in mind?  Anyway, it was a light read and I stuck with it and the book was finished by 3pm.  I was forced then to start that skein of yellow that's been talking to me for days while resting on my footstool.  I had told Judy about it and she suggested a child's shrug.  The ones I had done last year had gone very well...and the crafter who does the sundresses had asked if I was going to do more this season so I decided to start one.  For the next 2 hours I tried to start the simple v-neck raglan...from the neck down...that would grow into a size 4 shrug but I couldn't do it.  I'm blaming the lavender aroma...no, by now it was a smell...on my migraine, complete with flashing aura and growing nausea, that was developing.  Haven't had one that bad in a long time. And don't want another.  Managed to screw up the book-work for the day...with only 3 sales you have to wonder how I did that.  (The lavender induced migraine gets the credit).  Finally it was 5pm or close enough to close up and head for home.  The ride in the sun-warmed car with the window open and the local country station on the radio helped the headache fade.  I was in a hurry to get home.  I had left Jeff with Fanny...and a crockpot of stew...in the morning and I wanted to see how they all made out.  (Fanny ran away when my car drove in...Jeff said she whined a lot when I first left but then realized she had "Freedom" with him there and enjoyed the day.  He had worked on his compost barrel but wasn't totally pleased with it's outcome so he went back to cutting wood.  I was disappointed with the stew...not very thick so I made/added a rue and in a few minutes we were enjoying my spicy stew.  Not too bad w/o carrots, either.)  I guess we were all exhausted coz it was an early night for all 3 of us.

I think I'm going to bake a cake this morning and try starting my shrug again. Jeff's friend never picked him up Sunday to get those salvaged 2x4's so he might show up today, otherwise, it compost bins and wood piles for him.  I think it's still suppose to rain tomorrow, so it will be a day off.  YEA!

And Besides the Greenhouse, There's...

Jeff declared the greenhouse project 'up-to-date' and went on to other jobs yesterday.  He turned one side of the compost bin into the other and then started to build the new compost bin.  Every time he came inside he was mumbling about the size of the pallets being different...they seem bigger to him.  Finally, he

measured them and guess what...the old compost bin was made out of 3x4' pallets and for the new one he's using 4x4's.  I don't know what difference it makes except there's more space in the new one.  A good thing, huh?  Anyway, the new compost bin is set back a little from the old one, and seems to be going together a little neater. I wonder how the snakes will like their new 'sun room'. Jeff had to clear brush to make room for the compost bin...actually some naturalized lilacs bushes...with the new machete he bought last week.  I don't think he ever knew how tough lilac bushes were! Now I could have told him that!  After plenty of years/springs spent cutting back the lilacs with the big clippers I think that way is preferable to swinging that machete! Jeff also got one of the new rain barrels hooked up in place.  He even cleaned the gutter so it can fill!  Another good thing!!  He wants to put up a couple of more rain barrels and is going to recycle some of the gutter gardens back into real rain gutters. I glad that 1st barrel is up on it's stand and secure.  Last week when we had wind gusts up to 40mph the barrel was loose and rolling around between the porch and the garage!

Don't know what Jeff's planning to do today.  His friend, Frank, called last night and offered him some 10' 2x4's that he's salvaged from some place...a hand in moving them and a truck to transport them!  Not an offer to ignore.

I think I'll go visit my mom this morning...see if she's in a better mood than last time. 

Meanwhile, I finished a red v-neck cardigan with baseball buttons (size 9mo) to take to the shop tomorrow.  Today I'll do the baseball hat to go with it.  I ended up frogging my blue 'Tanked' hoodie after Jeff asked what the figures on it were suppose to be.  I guess they didn't look like fish to him! There's a whole skein of pretty yellow yarn sitting on the footstool calling me.  Don't know what I want to make with it but Jeff said if it keeps talking to me I better get outdoors and stack wood!

The Greenhouse, pt 2

Jeff wanted to work on the greenhouse today but there was so much else to do!  Since he had finished cutting up the last load of pallets yesterday...creating a large pile of wood for me to stack...he wanted to collect more today while it was dry...rain is predicted for tomorrow.  While hitching up the trailer, he discovered that 1 tail light was blown...and the other was cracked but worked.  He's wanted to change the trailer lights since we got the thing but now just wasn't the right time!  By the time he got back with about half a load of pallets, I had mixed up some whole wheat bread.  The last time I had made some the yeast didn't proof and I ended up with hard tack.  Hopefully I'd have better luck this time!  After taking time to have some coffee and bring a full wheelbarrow of cut wood on to the porch for me to stack,  Jeff went to work on the greenhouse.  He had done the ridgepole per the directions  but wasn't happy with the results.  He thinks he should have used a slightly larger metal conduit inside the pvc one so he decided to add a wooden one to add stability.  Only none of the 2x4's we have was long enough so he had to piece it.  Every time he went into the garage to cut another piece of wood (with the cleaned up and re-assembled table saw!), he refilled the wheelbarrow and brought it back on to the porch.  (I think I  can put one more load of wood on the stack but after

The out-of-plumb ends

that I'm afraid it might be too high and unstable.)  Jeff did discovered that the ends of the greenhouse aren't plumb either, although he's been using a level.  In fact, at the crosspiece, one end is wider than the other!  If the greenhouse isn't plumb who's going to notice once it's covered with plastic?  Jeff keeps saying it isn't pretty but who says a greenhouse has to be pretty?  Or plumb?  Besides, my father loved to build things but always pointed out that he was a CB not a carpenter and I grew up with things not always pretty or plumb but stable and useful!  Now Jeff's ready to add a window to one out-of-plumb end and build a sliding door for the other but they will have to wait until some other things get done...like rain barrels and the new compost bin.

Oh, my bread came out perfect...and I don't usually like whole wheat!

The Greenhouse

Jeff has been wanting to build a greenhouse for the last couple of years.  He's covered parts of the garden...and the raised beds... with plastic the last couple of seasons in attempts to lengthen the growing seasons...w/o much luck. This winter he watched a lot of videos on-line and finally decided on the style he wanted...and started building:  13 10' pvc conduits, 2   pvc T's and 4 pvc crosses and some 2x4's and a 

Screwing the conduits to the frame

 whole lot of screws later and we have the frame for the greenhouse.  It was hard to

The Hump lifted into place

Frame for the door 

hold one edge in place as the hump was formed and strips of wood were added to re-enforce the sides and the bottom. We only split one T as the pvc shattered as the screw hole was drilled but each additional piece of wood and screw made the entire thing more secure and stable.  Jeff's going to use pallets for growing beds (also an on-line idea) and he thinks there's enough plastic left over from last year to cover it.  I think the porch needs a new screen door and that one may be recycled to the greenhouse. (We know it's wide enough for the wheelbarrow to go thru since that's how the cut wood gets on to the porch....).  There may be windows in the recycle pile on the other side of the garage that we can use for ventilation.  It's been going together fairly well.  Now we have to move it into place by the garden.



Jeff got the last load of pallets almost all cut up.  He's brought 3 wheelbarrow loads into the porch and I got them stacked.  Then the tablesaw decided it had had enough and refused to work.  Jeff's spent most of the afternoon taking it apart...and now putting it back together.  There was a lot of sawdust clogging things up!  Hope it works when it's back together!  Tomorrow he may go pick up more pallets...and maybe even some 50 gal barrels to use a rain barrels.  Monday I have to work in the shop in Cooperstown and he wants plenty of things to work on when he and Fanny are stuck out here w/o a vehicle.

The nursing home Mom's in has been under quarantine the last week or so with a flu bug.  I got in to visit today but she wasn't too happy...feeling rather neglected.  Don't think she really believes the quarantine part!  Oh, well....

Oh What a Week it Was!

April started off ok.  Had to have a routine 'finger stick' (INR) on the 3rd.  My doctor had finally decided the week before to take my back pain seriously and had ordered some codeine for the pain...but that meant I had to have the INR done again coz codeine and rat poison (otherwise know as Warfarin) do not co-exist peacefully.  The coagulation nurse had suggested I have lettuce once a day when I was taking the codeine cos lettuce doesn't have a great relationship with rat poison either.  In fact, lettuce and codeine have opposite effects on warfarin so having both in my system cancels them both.  And it worked!  My INR was 3.2 ...near perfect for me!  It's so nice to be able to eat greens again.

Friday we had gone to Jeff's sister so he could finish the electric problems with her garage.  Fanny and Max had a ball chasing each other around.  Fanny collected all of Maxie's rawhide chew toys and took them under the dining room table.  He had hidden them around the house and she had discovered them.  He wasn't too happy.  We went back on Monday...but left Fanny home coz I didn't think we'd be that long....  Jeff ended up rewiring half of her living room (replacing old fabric covered wires) for the ceiling fan.  He didn't quite solve the problem...there were a lot of attic floor boards to move and wire to thread thru beams, etc so he and Fanny went back yesterday while I went to Cooperstown to set up displays at the shop.  He's got to finish at Sherry's next week.  Old houses cause a lot of problems.

Tuesday was my birthday (#63) and as usual Jeff cooked dinner.  Had a nice London broil with onions and green peppers done in our Ronco Rotisserie with Mexican rice. 

The shop looks good for the beginning of our 40th season.  We had a covered dish supper before our annual meeting with plenty of good food!  I thought I had kept pretty busy this winter knitting but it looked like more on our couch than on the shelf.  Hope the weather and business improves...there weren't many customers today!