Seeds

 I called Uncle Billy, my local resource for all gardening questions, and asked what seeds I should be starting now. He grows seedlings for his vegetable garden every year, so he knows when it's time to start what. As it turns out, the only thing he has growing under the lights right now is onions - not something we're going to grow since not everyone here likes them.  However, he told me about a cold sowing method he was trying. Basically, you sow cold weather seeds into milk jugs which act like a mini greenhouses. The seeds sprout when they're ready and you don't have to do any hardening off. That sounded like something I could handle, so I'm trying it, too.

First was a trip to Southern States for seeds and potting mix.
I was able to use a 10% off coupon and I have enough seeds left to share.

I cut the milk jugs about 4" up from the bottom near the base of the handle.
The handle acts as a hinge and remains intact. After that, Ward and I drilled holes into the bottom for drainage. I tried using a screw driver to make the holes, but the plastic was too thick.

The base of the jug was filled with soil and moisten before sowing the seeds.

Before setting the "greenhouses" outside in a sunny spot, I sealed the cut middles with packing tape. Now I wait.

This and That

House finch outside our kitchen window. He's sitting on an azalea bush
with snow in the yard as a background.

Everything here is good, in case my absence had you wondering. Probably not, since it's not like I post on a regular basis, anyway. It's the time of year when precipitation of various kinds has been occupying a lot of thought and time. It seems as if we've had some kind of wintery mix here for several weeks now. If I looked up the actual weather statistics, that's probably not true, but what is it that they say, "My perception is my reality." :) What I do know is that even though it was in the 50's yesterday, there was still a thick layer of ice on our walks. We managed to get the driveway cleaned earlier, but not our sidewalks. Stories abound about people and dogs sliding on the ice while they (the dogs) are trying to do their business outside. Miss Landers and Aunt Martha have tales of this including a head bounce on the ice with a slip while waking the dog in the yard.

We are lucky that we have continued to have electricity and heat and have been able to get to work. Although the walk from my car to the building one day was especially treacherous when the entire parking lot was a sheet of ice. But signs of spring are in the air with birds singing and reports of crocus blooming. I'm not sure if we even have any leaves poking above the ground of the early bloomers since most of them are covered with snow. This afternoon, I'm going on a treasure hunt around the yard to see what I can find.

Also, we got an estimate on some landscaping around our back porch and I want to walk out the plan. We're not sure what we're going to do at this point, but the estimate was about 5x more expensive than we had planned. I'm not sure that it's out of line, but it's still a lot of money. We tried to get some estimates last fall but didn't because apparently the landscaping business is really booming since people are spending more time at home because of COVID. I think this will be some kind of a phased in plan.

In other news, my class is winding down and I'm happy about that. Even though it has been a good class, after a year, it's starting to wear thin. I graduate in a month. Yay!

Time to move onto other chores this morning. First up is a call to the insurance company about coverage. Yuck. But it's a necessary thing. I am so happy that I don't have to process insurance claims and deal with people who are not happy with their coverage. Thanks to all of the people out there who do that for me.

Until next time...

Is that so?

Spring is coming. This was taken on March 22 last year.
(Picture doesn't relate to post. Just wanted to post a picture that didn't have snow in it.)

I learn new things every day, so I thought I would do a post about some of the random things I've learned recently. However, when I was trying to write this post, my mind was blank. Apparently, I learn new things every day, but I don't remember many of them. :) So here is a short list of new-to-me things I have recently discovered.

1. A Lamia is a sea monster who ate children. She was daughter of Poseidon. This was an answer to a crossword puzzle clue that I had to look up. Greek mythology is so interesting.

2. We can't put hinged plastic containers into our recycling. I was cleaning out a drawer and found literature about our recycling pickup and read this in the latest handout. It seems that what is accepted and what is not changes frequently, so I need to pay more attention. Sometimes a piece of dirty recycling or a wrong kind of object can ruin an entire load. I don't want that to happen.

3. Rice does not do well in a garbage disposal. Wally was chatting with the maintenance man who was unstopping his sink and learned this. During the maintenance man's work throughout the apartment complex, he has found that most calls for stopped up sinks are caused by a clogged garbage disposal and many times, it is rice that is clogging it. Apparently rice is too small for the disposal to grind effectively.

4, 5, 6, 7. The Maryland State Library has a piece of cuneiform dating back to 5 hundred-something BC, counter depth refrigerators cost more than standard depth, you can't make more than $65,000 to take the saver's credit on your taxes (married filing jointly), and basil can be substituted for tarragon in a pinch. 

Well, my new knowledge is not exactly going to go viral because it is so interesting, but there you have it. What did you learn new today?

Thursday

Yet another picture of our snowy backyard.

The first thing I do each morning  is to look out the window. I am usually rewarded with a show of either stars or a colorful sunrise. This morning, I got a surprise - fresh snow. We have snow and wintery mix in the forecast for several days but last night was only supposed to be flurries. I was immediately like a kid in school again hoping for a snow day. It doesn't take much snow to shut things down here, so my hopes were high. I quickly called the weatherline for work to see the status of things. What a disappointment. Everything for my county was Code Green--meaning all systems were a go on a regular schedule. But here's the problem. We have four inches and it's still snowing at my house, but in the part of the county where they make the decisions, they only had 1/2 inch. It has been a long time problem because the county has different weather zones. But it is what it is. I will have to get ready for work soon. 

Our kitchen still has the 600 watt,
1989 microwave. This will change.

Otherwise, I've been busy with things I don't think you'd be too interested in (colonoscopies, allergies, and various other assorted things that have me going from appointment to appointment.) What's more exciting is that we are going to redo the kitchen. We have talked about it since we moved in, but the kitchen remodel has finally made it to the top of the list. So far, the only formal thing we have done is to find a kitchen designer but my mind has been very busy with various details. I have been thinking about how we will rearrange things so that we can continue with our daily lives for the months the construction will be going on. I think it's doable, but will take some effort. And all of the decisions to be made about materials, appliances, layout, etc. Much of this seems overwhelming, so I did something I know how to do. I went through all of the kitchen cabinets and drawers and got rid of anything we weren't using. Now we can understand exactly what we need to store.

Well, times up here. Gotta go.

Until next time...

Snow

View in my backyard this morning.

It's snowing again here today. This time is with big, heavy flakes that stick immediately to everything. This got me thinking about a poem Theo wrote when he was little. So for my pleasure, here's another post from the files.

_______________________________

The Joys of Winter

by Theodore

Snowflakes falling onto the ground,

Into your yard without a sound.

When you wake up, they will

Cover the ground to your window sill.

Break out the shovels, winter has come.

Clouds have just blocked out the sun.

Backbreaking labor, isn't this fun?

It's snowing again before you're done.

Scrape the ice off your car

Then start cursing when it won't go far.

Lose your key and get locked outside,

Winter time, it's so divine.
_________________________________________________________

Theo's thoughts on winter when he was nine.

Birds in Snow

The snow started Sunday night and it is still snowing this morning. Even with all of the precipitation we've had, it's not that deep because it has been intermixed with freezing rain and sleet. However, because of that, it is very hard to shovel. The end broke off one of our shovels, so we have to take turns with our other one.  The goal of the morning is to get enough of the driveway clear so I can get to work this afternoon. We haven't been out, but I assume the roads won't be too bad by then. However, I worry  about black ice on my way home when it will be dark and colder. We shall see.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from my files of birds in snow, just because.

Cardinal, house finch, gold finches, juncos

Dark-eyed junco

Female cardinal and dark-eyed junco.

White-throated sparrow

Mourning dove

Carolina wren

Male cardinal

 

Northern flicker

Female downy woodpecker

Red-bellied woodpecker

Male downy woodpecker

Blue jay

Tufted titmouse

House finches

Starlings

I guess I can't put it off any longer. Time to go shovel snow.

Until next time...