Today was the first day of 2006 for hands and knees weeding!
I pulled out about 90% of the volunteer vinca to give the emerging lilies a better chance to get a healthy start. I gave one of the ornamental grasses a haircut, pulled most of the verbena, and clipped back the chrysanthemums at the sidewalk. I’m addicted to Homestead Purple Verbena, but it isn’t perennial in zone 5, so I have to replant it each year.
I brought the bucket of gardening tools upstairs, as well as an unusual device for gathering clippings. It’s a tube of plastic with a bottom, and has a spring that spirals from the bottom to the top. When you aren’t using it, it flattens down, and there are loops and toggles so that you can store the container in about a four inch wide space. When I need it, I undo the toggles and it springs up to about the size of a garbage can. I seriously overfilled it with grass stems, but the load was light enough not to do any damage.
I used the Christmas wreaths to protect a Peace rose for the remainder of the winter. I removed the wreaths and pruned the canes back. If we get back down to freezing, I’ll have to put a bucket over the rose to protect it.
So…..I’ve had my first two hours of gardening. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!
Monthly Archives: March 2006
Just a Note in Passing…
Spring has officially arrived. Elegante Mother noticed that the squill which grows around the base of a tree in our grove is in full bloom. I’ll find sprigs of it here and there on the north lawn, courtesy of our chipmunk redecorators, but the largest patch has been extending away from a tree that is at the northwest corner of the house. Now that so many dead trees have been cut down, there’s more sunlight in that area. I wonder if next year we will see a bigger patch of squill?
My youngest sis, and her two daughters are coming for a visit this weekend. We hope to make a trip to Chicago. The youngest one has requested a visit to Chinatown. I hope our weather cooperates!
We’re about halfway done with our three-quilt project. I need to call the woman who is quilting the tops for Elegante Mother and see if she is ready for me to pick up the second and drop off the third. I have the last of the binding cut, and may get it assembled tomorrow.
The lawyer has sent me a laundry list of all the information she needs to be able to proceed with our revocable trusts. I have several fairly large projects in the works right now, and that’s one of them. I hope several of them will be off my desk before Spring is officially over. Don’t these people know I’m supposed to be in the garden!!!?
Ed has had his one month checkup at the vet. I don’t know if he tripped the Geiger counter or not, but I’ll know the results of the blood test by Saturday. He’s gained a quarter of a pound. They didn’t say if that was good or bad. Mr. Feisty swiped at me as I went to close the door of the cat carrier and got me good. It’s a good thing I’m still on antibiotics for that finger infection! The vet would have been more concerned for me if Ed had bitten me. She says mouth germs are more dangerous than claw scratches.
My niece has come through all her biopsies and surgery well, and has started chemo. We have high hopes that she is going to sail through her treatment, and come out strong.
I’m ready for summer meals. We’re doing spinach salad tomorrow night, and I think salad is going to be a major player in the menu now. I need to find a few new salads to throw into the mix. I’ll have to take my notebook with to write down appealing combinations when we go out to eat. *G*
I hope you are all safe from the dangerous weather this Spring is bringing. I’ll have to tell you tomorrow how we weathered this evening’s thunderstorms.
Stay safe!
Mother’s Day
My mother frequently talks about wanting a RED convertible. I’ve heard this story for years. Something small, bright red, and driven by a handsome man.
At exercise today the Dragon Lady asked if the weather didn’t make you want to go driving in a convertible, and a sizable portion of the class said “NO!” But, Elegante Mother said yes.
The youngest member of the class had a suggestion for me. She asked why we didn’t consider renting a red convertible to drive Mother to brunch on Mother’s Day. What a fabulous idea! I’m going to talk it over with Dear Husband tonight and see if I can reserve one right away.
Odd…
I’ve talked about the fact that Elegante Mother and I go to an exercise class three days a week. I love the woman who leads us through the routines, even when I have a day when I’d rather stay in bed.
When our Dragon Lady first came to us, we were quiet and well behaved. That lasted a whole three months. She thought we hated her. Gradually the class began to talk with each other (during class), resuming the semi-rowdiness and friendship that had characterized the class before DL joined us.
The oddest thing happened today. We have a new member. The class is supposed to be limited to 40 people, but they have overbooked it by 5 at least, for this session. The new member took her place toward the back (the front positions are coveted, as are the ones all the way to the back). Class started and the noise level was unusually high, and during the warm up, we heard the new member’s voice boom out, “Talking is incredibly RUDE!!”
A Fan
I’m a TOm Hanks fan. I’m not a stalker, and I’m not a card-carying member of his official fan club, but I love his movies. I suppose the only one I’m not terribly fond of is “Sleepless in Seattle.” I watched “You’ve Got Mail” this afternoon before it was time to make dinner, and we’ve seen “The Green Mile” recently. “Apollo 13” is playing as I write this.
I understand that Hanks has been given the role of the main character in the “Da Vinci Code”, which is coming out this Spring. I’ll be one of the people who go to see it within the first week.
Organization
You have to read what Cop Car has to say about her “quilting” room. I was so into that post that I left a book-long response, and it seems that I have more to say about it.
I think, Cop Car, that we are simply in a season of our lives when organization becomes important. I keep thinking that I don’t want to leave confusion for others to deal with, but as I work my way through things here, I’m discovering the pleasures of living a simpler life.
Oh, Bummer!
Our refrigerator has died. It’s taken it’s sweet time, but the refrigerator died a couple of days ago and now the freezer portion is going. I didn’t realize the fridge wasn’t working and made myself a sandwich from the leftover meatloaf, Friday. By evening, my stomach was upset. I’m taking Augmentin for a finger infection, and between the two, my stomach was a mess most of the night.
Dear Husband realized that if he wasn’t proactive about it, he’d loose the chance to go to Sailpalooza on Saturday, so despite the the fact that I was starting to look and feel peaked, he dragged me to Se@rs to shop for a new refrigerator.
We purchased our first side by side with water and ice service to the door. It will be delivered on Sunday! We emptied out the refrigerator Friday night, storing the acidic condiments in a Coleman chest with ice. They should be cold enough for two days to be safe. Unfortunately, we ended up throwing out several hundred dollars of refrigerated and frozen foods.
I took Elegante Mother out to lunch today, and this evening we made a pot of Minestrone, from mostly canned goods. We’ll have eggs, fruit and toast for breakfast, and then Elegante Mother and I will be attending a bridal shower at noon at a local Italian restaurant. I suspect that we’ll do pizza or take out Sunday night, and then restock the fridge on Monday.
It’s been much easier to get through three days without a refrigerator than I expected.
Short Shorts
Short Shorts
No, not the kind we wear. It
More Shorts
I’m working back wards this morning. I have another post ready to go that’s on my personal computer, and I can’t get to it. Now, the thing that will make later readers just crazy is that they will see “Short Shorts” first in line, just as I intended it to be read, followed by this post……but those of you who are around now, will only see “More Shorts.” Sorry about that…..
Ticked off
Today I had appointments with the dentist and the neurologist. The dental appointment went fine. I was in and out in a flash, and on my way to the second appointment.
I was 20 minutes early for the visit, so I resigned myself to a wait. I could see the doc conversing with one of his assistants, so at least I knew that he was at the facility. While I waited, the appointments secretary called me to the window. She is an overwhelming woman, larger than life, and simply large, and she has this faintly false pleasant demeanor that forces you to smile back and be nice.
I have to tell you, I ended up not being nice.
I was asked to read and sign and date two pages of information. One of the pages listed all the new charges that had been instituted. If you cancel your visit 24 hours or less prior to the visit, or miss a visit, they charge $50. If you call to have a prescription renewed over the phone, they charge $25.00. Completion of any type of form (insurance, letters to school or employer, etc.) cost $100.00, and Insurance company authorization calls by the doctor (for tests, admissions, etc) are $100.00 per call.
Only 58% of his patients paid their bills last year, so now, if you wish to see the doctor, you pay a set fee up front, BEFORE you see the doctor. They no longer accept personal checks, and requested a credit card. I offered them one, and they said they didn’t take it. I offered another, and asked what happened when a patient didn’t have a credit card. I was told that those who wanted to see the doctor managed to “discover that they had a card.”
I was incredibly insulted. Because my doctor doesn’t know how to run a business, he is treating me as though I am out to bilk him out of his fees.
The doctor kept me waiting. He didn’t take my blood pressure or my temperature. He asked me what drugs I was taking, and whether the one he prescribed working for me. We spent less than five minutes on my health care. He then spent 20 minutes of my time trying to explain why he has had to make the changes.
I told him that he was likely to loose patient this way. I have always paid in full at every visit, and my checks never bounce. I told him that the quality of MY health care shouldn’t suffer because others are not paying their bills.
The bottom line is, I spent $125.00 for five minutes of health care and a one year prescription for the drug I need for pain control, and wasted 40 more minutes of my time. The doctor is in so deep, and is so defensive, that he can’t hear what you say to him any longer.
Needless to say, I’ll have to look for someone else to help me with this part of my health care.
To be fair, I know that the health system needs a major overhaul. I know that insurance has had a hand in ruining many a practice, and it seems that the economy is now helping others to crash. We need improved guidelines that give both the doctor and the patient what each needs.
We need a miracle.