Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[Callender Girl]

Did you find your hat? I feel as if I am ALWAYS losing something somewhere. I'll set down a hat, glove, tool, whatever, and have no idea minutes later where I put the lost item.

I've been known to lay down a shopping list in a store while I look at something, then get out to the car -- or another store -- and realize my list didn't come with me. And my memory REQUIRES a list!

My Jim and his friend, Dave, once made mead. It's too bad I wasn't a fan because they made a LOT of it, years worth, I'd say.

My sister went back home yesterday, so of course, the weather this weekend will be Much Better for working outside. I plan to dislodge the broken heater, frozen into Rachel's waterer, and replace it so I can stop stomping on her outdoor rubber tub to break ice every day.

I crossed one nagging item off my to-do list yesterday when I, with the help of the SHIIP representative in Fort Dodge, got signed up for a new Medicare Advantage plan. I was happy with the old one, but I got a letter last month telling me it would no longer be offered. The new one seems to have the same major benefits: dental, vision and hearing with no monthly premium.

The rep said it's really pretty easy to find a decent plan when you don't take any prescription meds. Easy for her, since she works with the plans and all their PPO's and HMO's all the time; overwhelming for me.

 

[jvls1942]

this will be short. byc is having it's way with me again
i woke up at 3am got up at 6am
I don't know how the mead will turn out. initial taste was pretty good,.
while in my meditation chair, I decided to make just
3 gallon batches of beer/wine,. the 5 gallon pails are too heavy and awkward to handle.,
hope you find your hat. did you check on your head?
Barb, insteadof chipping at that pail. just bring it into the house and be patient. in a day the ice will melt on it's own. otherwise just pour warm water in the pail and let it set for a while,.
Lisa, I hope you are feeling better.
I have a dr. appt today. don't know which one,
I thought it was heart. Annie says family.
of course she will be right.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Did you find your hat? I feel as if I am ALWAYS losing something somewhere. I'll set down a hat, glove, tool, whatever, and have no idea minutes later where I put the lost item.

I've been known to lay down a shopping list in a store while I look at something, then get out to the car -- or another store -- and realize my list didn't come with me. And my memory REQUIRES a list!

My Jim and his friend, Dave, once made mead. It's too bad I wasn't a fan because they made a LOT of it, years worth, I'd say.

My sister went back home yesterday, so of course, the weather this weekend will be Much Better for working outside. I plan to dislodge the broken heater, frozen into Rachel's waterer, and replace it so I can stop stomping on her outdoor rubber tub to break ice every day.

I crossed one nagging item off my to-do list yesterday when I, with the help of the SHIIP representative in Fort Dodge, got signed up for a new Medicare Advantage plan. I was happy with the old one, but I got a letter last month telling me it would no longer be offered. The new one seems to have the same major benefits: dental, vision and hearing with no monthly premium.

The rep said it's really pretty easy to find a decent plan when you don't take any prescription meds. Easy for her, since she works with the plans and all their PPO's and HMO's all the time; overwhelming for me.

this will be short. byc is having it's way with me again
i woke up at 3am got up at 6am
I don't know how the mead will turn out. initial taste was pretty good,.
while in my meditation chair, I decided to make just
3 gallon batches of beer/wine,. the 5 gallon pails are too heavy and awkward to handle.,
hope you find your hat. did you check on your head?
Barb, insteadof chipping at that pail. just bring it into the house and be patient. in a day the ice will melt on it's own. otherwise just pour warm water in the pail and let it set for a while,.
Lisa, I hope you are feeling better.
I have a dr. appt today. don't know which one,
I thought it was heart. Annie says family.
of course she will be right.

Nope, still haven’t found it and yup, checked my head.

I LOVED that hat.

Oh well.

I found another one in my closet but it’s nowhere near as warm and it’s ugly as heck LOL but it will do for now until I can buy another hat.

 

[Callender Girl]

The opossum who annoyed the geese on Tuesday has been relocated. I failed to extract the live trap from the garage, but I didn't need it. I spotted the critter searching for food along a fence line yesterday.

It was clearly in no hurry as I had time to grab some heavy gloves, reassemble a folded wire cage that was in the garage addition and find the slow poke in the compost pile. Using all my possum-hunting skills (stand downwind and remember they have very poor vision), I grabbed it by the tail and popped it into a cage. We drove to a rural cemetery, four miles and many farms and a small community away.

I know possums don't carry rabies, but the drooling they do when they get scared is still unsettling.

Hope your appointment -- whoever it was with -- went well, Jim, and that you are feeling a least a bit better, Lisa.

ShrekDawg, did you get a replacement hat or are you still wearing the "ugly" one?

It's supposed to be above 50 degrees today and tomorrow. So, I SHOULD be working outdoors. We'll see if I do

 

[ShrekDawg]

The opossum who annoyed the geese on Tuesday has been relocated. I failed to extract the live trap from the garage, but I didn't need it. I spotted the critter searching for food along a fence line yesterday.

It was clearly in no hurry as I had time to grab some heavy gloves, reassemble a folded wire cage that was in the garage addition and find the slow poke in the compost pile. Using all my possum-hunting skills (stand downwind and remember they have very poor vision), I grabbed it by the tail and popped it into a cage. We drove to a rural cemetery, four miles and many farms and a small community away.

I know possums don't carry rabies, but the drooling they do when they get scared is still unsettling.

Hope your appointment -- whoever it was with -- went well, Jim, and that you are feeling a least a bit better, Lisa.

ShrekDawg, did you get a replacement hat or are you still wearing the "ugly" one?

It's supposed to be above 50 degrees today and tomorrow. So, I SHOULD be working outdoors. We'll see if I do

I’m still wearing the ugly one

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It was clearly in no hurry as I had time to grab some heavy gloves, reassemble a folded wire cage that was in the garage addition and find the slow poke in the compost pile. Using all my possum-hunting skills (stand downwind and remember they have very poor vision), I grabbed it by the tail and popped it into a cage. We drove to a rural cemetery, four miles and many farms and a small community away.

That's crazy. Possums creep me out. I run the other way. It's one critter I can still outrun.

 

[Callender Girl]

I have mixed feelings on possums. On the one hand, I think they're kind of cute, in their own homely way, and I feel a bit sorry for them.

In a world of critters with obvious talents and gifts, possums seems to be on the low end: slow, nearly blind and not really attractive to most people. Their "defenses," when approached by people, are to hiss, drool and slowly lumber away -- not overly intimidating (my geese hiss louder).

On the other hand, they annoy the poultry and steal feed.

Overall, removing one scared little possum is much easier than the recent war I had to wage against rats in the tall coop. Rats seem to be gone, but the coop is still unusable, thanks to all the holes they chewed. I'll take a little grinning possum any day!

 

[jvls1942]

Lisa, "slow. nearly blind and not too attractive"
you just described me compared to a possum.
I can't understand how people can eat one of them?
today I am going to do what I was going to do yesterday . rack the beer and possibly do some bottling.
yesterday the VA honor society handed out hams/or turkeys to the local vets. I chose a ham. boneless and about 12 pounds. we had a piece of it with buttercup squash for supper. umm umm good.
my appt with my primary dr. went well.
next week is when I see my heart dr. and then later in the week I see the VA dr. with all of these dr.s looking after me, I should live a long time.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Hi

 

[Callender Girl]

I'm pretty much a homebody, voluntarily spending a lot of time home and alone (well, except for the menagerie of pets!). I am nearly overwhelmed this week with having to go some place Every Single Day.

None of the destinations is more than 45 minutes away, but three are appointments I need to keep, one was to pick up hay, one is a party I'm kind of looking forward to and then there's the veterinary stuff.

Yesterday there was blood all over the kennel where I was keeping my oldest cat, Ziva, while she recovered from a sprain or strain of her left from shoulder and paw. Turns out it was more than that. I had to drop her at the vet because we didn't have an appointment.

I finally got a call late yesterday afternoon that she had a shoulder wound that required stitches and an overnight stay. I am hoping to bring her home today (the ONE day I didn't have to go anywhere) and ask if and why her wound got overlooked at her appointment last Monday.

Still, I had half convinced myself that she had a tumor that had broken open. Her mom and three siblings all suffered from some hereditary form of those; she is the last survivor of that family. So, from that perspective, a simple wound is good news.