Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Going Crazy with Dealing with the Weather and Computers and the loss of Brain Cells!!

Almost crazy dealing with our weather....look at my poor tomato plants! They have out grown the lights but it has been so cold, have been moving them out during the day this week...last week was cold and drizzly....have to put them in my patio greenhouse as the winds keep blowing....should be thinking of getting them planted in the greenhouse but every night is a chance of frost as temperatures are near zero every night.
And here are the peppers...they need heat to grow...and it has been too cold! Are we ever going to get warm enough weather to get things growing! too stressful. of course there are things growing...weeds are growing!! So that is what is going on, weeding the flowerbeds. My poor lilies, what a job finding them in the grass and other weeds, took ages and an aching back but have finally got them cleaned out. We usually do not have such a weed problem in the flowerbeds but last year we did not put enough bark mulch down so weed seeds blew in. Today RH spent the day hauling in bark mulch and putting it around the plants now we have the weeds cleaned out. Now to get the garden planted....thought I would get most of it planted today as beds are worked and ready...no could do...had wild wind all day...can not plant seeds when the wind blows like that. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!! Then of course computer problems....I left my laptop open on the dining room table....one of the cats must have walked on the keys and the powers that be thought someone was hacking the computer...so they shut it down for hours. Note to self...always close the computer up when leaving it!!! Then our printer died so RH bought a new one when he went to town and I got it hooked up to the lap top he uses and the old computer and was so relieved when everything was working and we could print things again.....then the next day...could not get into the laptop...RH could not get into his iPad and he could not read his book...so the world was coming to an end at our house!! Funny thing was when he said what book he was reading...I said just a minute...I think I have that book on the book shelf (now can you imagine that ever happening??) there it was so gave it to him and he found his place where he was reading and his world was o.k. for a bit, then off I was trying to figure out what was going on, thank-goodness I had not hooked my Mac laptop up to the new printer....I thought the hooking the printer up had caused the problems...passwords were not working. Could not get anything to work except my iPad and my computer. Did not want to send an S.O.S. to grandson as it was Sunday, so Monday morning I sent him a help! help! your poor Grandmother message and he came back not really knowing what the problem was so off I went at my day trying to think of things it could be....then I thought of the caps lock key...maybe it was on...but no it wasn't on.... I punched it on and off a few times...and here the screen came up and it took my password, then I went online...and I could get on the library website...maybe it wasn't the printer that was the problem...it might have been our internet provider having problems!! Now how many brain cells did I burn off trying to get things working. Could not get RH's iPad working but it is an old iPad and he does not need an iPad as all he does is read ebooks on it and I have wiped it off and re programed it for him I do not know how many times, so told him it was toast and we would get him a reader for his books...and that is my story and I am sticking to it...do not want to deal with it anymore! Did get a few more fingerless mitts knit, spun another bobbin of the alpaca/wool/silk so I can get that plied up tomorrow. And I started knitting a pair of heavy slipper socks, almost have one finished and knit a few more rows on the multicoloured scarf and trying hard to keep my sanity!! Now a happy note....some more of my rockery plants are blooming and here are is of my favourites!
And here is another exciting thing!! My yellow Begonia survived over the winter and here she is growing!!
Every spring I wait hoping she survived...and here she is for another year! Tomorrow is another day...and hopefully it will be warm with no wind....if anyone needs me....I will be in my padded room...trying to grow more brain cells.....

Friday, May 8, 2015

Computer is finally Co-operating and Plant Drama Rules my Days!

I can not believe I can add a photo and actually write a blog entree!! The powers that be decided to upgrade everything on my computer and I could not get anything to work properly for days and thought I would give it another try and here we are. Last post I decided I would try to pull out a pailful of weeds from my flowers gardens a day......well there are so many weeds coming up I graduated to the wheel barrow pretty fast....too many trips to the compost pile using a pail. Had a day off from cleaning up around my plants today as we had a good rain last night, actually at six this morning there was a bit of snow on the ground but it disappeared pretty fast. it was getting so cold last night we turned the heater in the greenhouse on high and with a small fan going with the heater plus I find open pails of water sitting around keep things from freezing and everything survived, all my little plants are still in the shed with their little heater so they have been safe....from the cold but not from a mouse....six pepper plants got munched!! I was just thinking after having most of the pepper plants munched last year I better get the clear plastic cups on them...well now have them on the plants...if it isn't one thing it is another! I have one of those small greenhouse shelf things and thought the other day I would set it up out beside the shed on the east side where the wind usually does not bother things....by the time I dug out all the pieces and fooled around trying to remember how it went together...finally got it all set up and got it outside...was just going to put a few of the tomato plants in it and the wind hit..so decided it was not a good idea, had a pail with some soil in it so put that in the bottom of the little greenhouse thinking it would keep it from moving in the wind and it stayed good until the next day when the wind came from the other direction and over it went....did not do any damage so struggled with it and got it back in the shed. What would I do with myself if I did not have all this drama with my plant children. No more spinning done but knit a couple pair of fingerless mitts while being a cat pillow...have to save some time out of my day to spend time with these old cats, they drive me crazy but then I remember they are fifteen years old and one day they will not be here and I will miss them...RH says he is sure they are going to outlive us...Had not sewn anything for ages but younger son's fiancée had a bag she bought when they were on holidays and wanted me to put a lining in it, so after getting sewing machine oiled up and gathering up thread, scissors etc. I managed to get that project finished this afternoon so that is another thing off the list. Do not know where the days go...first it is Monday...then here is Friday. But this weekend it is Mothers Day...off to the plant stores!! But wait...is it going to be warm enough to get plants...that I might have to baby if the weather does not warm up.....tomorrow is another day...hopefully without snow......

Saturday, May 2, 2015

I am Running in Circles.....Knitting...Spinning....Gardening.....

I decided to keep knitting with the multicoloured yarn for a few more rows and see if I liked it any better and actually I think it is going to be o.k. now to find the time to knit some more on it. I seem to be running in circles doing a bit of this and a bit of that and not getting anything finished.
This evening I spun some more of the alpaca/merino/silk I had carded up and am going to say this bobbin has enough on it and hopefully tomorrow I will get a start on another bobbin.If I could just find more time in my day for spinning!
The tulips are finally blooming! They are usually the first thing to bloom but for some reason they were later than a lot of the rockery plants which have started blooming a couple of weeks ago...but you have to forgive them for being late because they are so beautiful. And of course with the flowers starting to bloom there are all the pesky weeds coming up too. I have to make a list to try to get things done....first on the list.....dig out a pailful of weeds every morning......spin for a couple hours every evening.....and the list goes on... We can not use our well water for watering plants because of the high sodium so have three large tanks we catch rain water in plus we have a tank for the back of the truck that we can go get water from a well to fill our tanks when there is no rain...which as it has been so dry here the tanks are not filling. I had a birthday a few days ago and RH asked what I wanted for my birthday and I said I want to get a pump system going so we can have water pressure in hoses to water the gardens because I just can not water everything with a watering can again this year. So I went on the net and found the pump I wanted and found a store that had one for sale and off he went to get it!! So we have been working to get the pumping system working all week and what a treat to just go around with the hose and water everything! We are going to also put a system in so we can water all the raised beds down at the garden by just flipping the switch on the pump! The raised beds are almost ready to plant, just a few more to work up and the planting begins. My pepper and tomato plants under the lights are doing so well, have moved a few of the plants I kept over the winter out to the greenhouse with a small heater for night time just incase the temps drop. Will get them planted into planters just in time for the tomato plants to be planted in the greenhouse. I better get the tomatoes I froze from last year made into sauce before the new ones arrive. So between the outside work and trying to do some spinning and knitting I am running in circles. Add in some computer problems the last week I wonder if I am still sane. But tomorrow is a new day! A day with a water system! I am so thankful!!