Jane’s in having a hot soaky bath.
I went off today at 10 am to go to Costco to get more pillows, the most wonderful pillows ever spawned. I let Jane borrow mine last night, and she agrees with me: best thing since sheep dip. So that was job one, quick before they sell out.
Job 2: total bust. I needed to get some Prime water conditioner and some fish food: if your household doesn’t own a bottle of Prime, I recommend it: soak something in Chlorox, rinse, run more water, add Prime, totally deactivates the chlorine, including the smell on your hands. We clean a lot of things in the marine hobby, and Prime is the final mopup.—-The store had neither. They had 10 different brands and forms of bloodworms, a freshwater food, but no cyclopeeze, which marine fish love.
Job 4: get my flu shot; got talked into a pneumonia shot as well, though I’m healthy as the proverbial horse. The Safeway offered a 10% discount coupon if you got shots from them–so I got my two shots and my coupons, (good to Feb) and went and bought a huge amount of holiday liquor, frozen meals, and such—the spendy things, which gave me enough discount to pay for the flu shot. Ill use the other coupon around New Years. And do exactly the same thing. So I’ll have ‘made’ money on the transaction.
Job 5: I get home and Jane is hauling gravel. OMG. No help for the wicked—I haul my own stuff in, 6 trips out from the car; get it into the freezer or the bottle rack, as appropriate, and Jane informs me that the invertebrate cleaner crew I ordered for the marine tank had arrived, chilled down and with inadequate heat pack. She’d had a hell of a time figuring what to do to warm them up, and finally just put them in the sump, after trying to move the heavy tank lid: definitely a 2-person job, because of its weight, size, and balance. So I had to fix the blown autotopoff with a replacement, (which had come) and get the water balanced, and get these creatures out of their bags safely, and try not to let them land 30+ ” down in the tank upside down: these snails can’t right themselves. So a few landed upside down and I have to go in and flip them over…
Job 6: the ivy has overgrown an area we will need to snow-blow come winter, so all that had to be trimmed, about a 20 foot run, with hand-clippers since we can’t find the proper ones. The apple espalier had to be trimmed of summer growth, and again, the big loppers are missing: I gave up on the hand shears and went for the hacksaw, not the neatest job ever. The stuff has to be raked up. Jane’s been trying to re-gravel certain areas that need it, and has been shoveling and raking and dumping, repeat 200 times…
We are now quite, quite done in. My back’s trying to lock up. Jane’s is. This getting older think sucks pondwater.
But the larder is stocked. They’re forecasting a weather change. Snow is possible in the area next week.
We have, however, nice new pillows. And we did get the snails flipped. One, a chiton, which is kind of like a fuzzy sowbug, is so primitive he was trying to twist his segemented shell to solve his problem, I flipped him, and the poor thing went on trying to twist to get a grip, because he has no brain, just a complex set of purposes…and upside down means nothing significant to a creature who crawls on every side of rocks…he just ‘remembers’ his ‘foot’ was in the open, and now it isn’t, and he’s confused.
it has been a day – what happened to job 3? 🙂 sounds like quite the # of tasks accomplished occurred however! for me the back issues would require 2 aleve about an hour before bed ;P i still have a pile of dirt to finish moving from driveway to corner spot around rock. and it reminds me every time i move dirt how far from 20 i am! ;P
hope y’all aren’t too sore by morning!
yesterday would have been my youngest brother’s 47th birthday. At 10:45PM, my county went under a severe thunderstorm warning, with storms moving through at 95 mph in some cases, 70 mph in others. At 11:20PM, we went under a tornado warning, and another one about 10 minutes later. Two potential tornadoes in a span of about 10 minutes is harrowing enough. Fortunately, the first warning didn’t pan out, but the second warning was an EF0 that was about 10 miles to the southeast of my location. I couldn’t look out the windows (my radio station is in the basement and I was working SKYWARN nets), so don’t know what it was like then.
Paul, you sent us a wild night for your birthday. Trick or Treat was postponed until Sunday afternoon…..
Wow—glad all is ok now!
You’re glad everything got blown into Oklahoma?
CJ: are you over 65? Flu shots are free on Medicare.
Yep. And I did log in with Medicare. So maybe I really cleaned up. 😉
I got the high potency recommended for the senior set. I’ve always used the Visiting Nurse Association because they file all the paperwork with Medicare. Saves a lot of angst.
Check into their services. The office near us does medical pedicures for $30 – not that expensive to ensure the tools are sterile. For some Home Health Care they need a Dr’s recommendation but they provide some useful services.
Got mine today. Pneumonia shot a few years ago. Turn 65 or so and they want one to have it, fairly insistently.
Comments from the peanut gallery:
* Bloodworms? How is the gagh today? Fresh and squirming? Excellent!
* “And we did get the snails flipped.” It’s not everyone who counts this among his or her accomplishments, along with new pillows. This alone makes you more fun and interesting than many people I know. Really, I’d never thought of snail flipping. Though I have heard of cow tipping, and known more than one who’s done it.
* It is gratifying to know the snails will eventually appreciate their snail flipping, in whatever manner a snail appreciates this. But it fits in the grand scheme of nature somehow, one trusts, and is therefore, as one said, gratifying.
* No, I have no idea how much one should tip a cow, or a bull, for that matter. Is 15% the customary gratuity? No? One misunderstands? Oh, dear. However shall I get that milkshake, then, or the malt? :rotfl:
* “Ir sucks pondwater.” Would one be remiss in pointing out, one’s associate has pond water right there in ample supply? Ah, it is an expression, a colloquialism. One was told to inquire about marsh-melons. And whiskey, though what was said about two places called Kentucky and Bourbon, or how either relates to Tennessee, one was not apprised. Are the best marsh-melons from these regions? Does sucking pond water in some way ameliorate the production of marsh-melons? One does not know, but perhaps that whiskey would remove the taste of the pond water. /:-)
* Pillows — You two did more physical work today than I’ve done nearly all week. You deserve good pillows and not aching backs, necks, backsides, etc. They’re memory foam? They’re good stuff? I’ll try to recall this when I need new pillows. Memory foam…recall this…there should be a joke in there somewhere. Maybe the joke’s on me….
Housecleaning and organizing are due for this weekend here. I don’t expect to get it all done this weekend, but I do expect some progress will be made.
Also for the weekend, I’m to figure out how to connect my new Blu-Ray player, which had been sitting in a box for a while, with my new cable box, which has different ports than the old one. Next week, for any gathering of new connectors or widgets to solve it. Until then, I’m sans Blu-Ray or DVD player, but I do most of my watching on the computer these days, so I’m not really deprived, only slightly depraved.
I will be rewatching Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars tonight, and thinking up ideas for a fanfic challenge I’ve been asked to do. Yay!
More faceup action is supposed to happen this weekend also.
Next week, we’ll see how that Le Creuset order went. Will I find an 8 oz. or a quart? It’ll be a surprise either way.
And so it goes.
“Memory foam…recall this…there should be a joke in there somewhere. Maybe the joke’s on me….”
How about, “You know you’re in sad shape when your pillows have better a memory than you do.” ?
I might have to investigate memory pillows. I sleep on my side and I have the devil of a time finding pillows with enough “filling.”
«Job 4:…So I’ll have ‘made’ money on the transaction.»
I’m reminded of a conversation with a colleague:
‘I went and got five shirts for $40; 60% off!’
“So you saved, $300!”
‘No, I lost $200. How could I have saved any money??”
“…!”
My parents were Great Depression survivors, and my mother an economist. Still, a nice reminder from my colleague!
—
«This getting older think sucks pondwater.»
And the alternative…? Sucks ashes and sackcloth!
—
I dunno, I still remember Prof. Lehrer: “We’ll all go together when we go,”–now, that was dismal:
We will all go together when we go
All suffused with an incandescent glow
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance
Lloyd’s of London will be loaded when they go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs
The sad thing–as these things go :(–is that some of the worst/best Cole Porter / Tom Lehrer puns are not on YouTube. “Down by the old maelstrom, ….”
Love Tom Lehrer.
Brilliant man, though it’s sad he lost his impetus to perform in the 1960s. Lehrer is supposedly still “hanging out” at University of California, Santa Cruz. (I sin: “University of California” (by their own standards) has no punctuations between the Überschule and the campus (Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Irvine, Merced…), ie, University of California Merced. No comma, even. Meh.
I did not realize pillows spawned; I have yet to see any fry in my bed. Apropos, “best thing since sheep dip,”–well, that’s a high standard! 😉 Back then…how about The Ventures? Remember them? Maybe they’re more memorable to a Californian, along with the Mamas and the Papas–Creeque Alley? Though that’s Caribbean, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E3VqmyNgVU
“California dreamin’ is becomin’ a reality….”
CJ, I’m interested in a fuller description of the pillows, if you don’t mind. I have a collapsed C6 disk, so I sleep on my sides, with an old pillow that won’t compress much, folded over to gain shoulder height. I’m not sure these pillows would work for me, would they?
http://www.costco.com/Comfort-Revolution-Hydraluxe%E2%84%A2-Gel-Memory-Foam-Blue-Waves-Bed-Pillow.product.100012596.html
This is it. Weighs a ton. This doesn’t compress much at all, except to conform to your natural shape. I normally sleep on my side, but this is so comfy that, with an ordinary pillow under it, I sleep on my back with this thing, which ordinarily I can’t do because of my breathing. Big difference. You might need to put another thin pillow under it, or maybe just alone. It’s really the best thing I’ve ever found.
This might be a good Xmas present for DH, who goes through pillows like potato chips, looking for a comfortable one. The present pillow is one of those big foam wedges from a convertible sleeper couch, and is getting scrunched into a no-longer-comfortable crescent shape.
Some parts of getting older are annoying, but you could not pay me enough to go through all that I went through to get here again!
Holiday filling/dip/spread
1/2 a package of bacon, cooked to entire crispness, then crumbled
1 large tube of goat cheese
lemon flavoring or zest and juice to taste
Combine and warm all ingredients. I would start with 1/4 teaspoon of the lemon and work up. This is very nice rolled in crepes, and would probably go well with cucumber or daikon slices. It is best while still warm.
Happy holiday feasting!
Sounds real good; and if feta is too strong for you, cream cheese should work!
Uhmmm… This kind of goat cheese:
http://annmariekostyk.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Goat-Cheese-1024×768.jpg
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found I like sleeping on my arm. Unfortunately, my arm doesn’t like it nearly as much. Planting the shoulder on a flattish pillow (for extra give) and wrapping the arm around a big fluffy one works, though. You remind me that I need an extra-soft punchable pillow, though….
And speaking of alcohol, I recently discovered that I am related to Jim Beam. Yes, THAT Jim Beam. I am officially amused.
If you’re ever in the market for new pruners, and if you haven’t found this type already, I recommend the pruners at http://www.shopgrdistributors.com/ I can make buttons with mine!
I think I’ve hit my non-sequitur limit, so I’ll shut up now.
Since I’m the primary pruner around here, I’m totally interested. I go through pruners like plastic knives. Do NOT know why. Which do you recommend? The $30 ones or the (gulp) $45?
Pro’ly usin’ ’em wrong. Don’t twist when you cut, and see advice below.
Personally, I kind of like bolt cutters with the compound handle…
I have the little ones with the red stripe on the handle. Lovely shears, easy on my hands (I have small hands.) They were about $30, retail, but I got them at a show discount for a few bucks less.
Totally worth it.
That sounds like quite a day. You both deserve a long bath with Epsom Salts and a Hot Toddy! I hope your weather isn’t too severe, both for your sakes and the fact that we often get the same thing about a week later!
We still have not had a real frost; dahlias, petunias and morning glories still blooming. I am transplanting a bunch of volunteer mums and Shasta daisies. I’m winterizing the pool this weekend, but am not pulling the pump until a real frost threatens. Proge is pulling the pond pump today. The fish have gotten amazingly big with babies hiding out under the lettuce and hyacinth!
For pruning we love our Fiskars! We have several different sizes. I use the big ones to take down inch and a half sassafras trees.
Oh and I’m in my studio everyday making stuff and thinking more seriously about getting an online shop up. Christmas is coming!
I got my flu shot when I went in for my annual physical. I’ve been trying to keep up with this….after my doc explained annual means once a year not once every ten years!) I got the pneumonia shot at least ten years ago, upon doc’s recommendation as I have a tendency to get bronchitis.
What about those pillows? Are they a particular brand or style?
Getting older is not fun…..unless you consider the alternative!
Stay warm and dry.
Pillow: see link above in CJC response.
I was so disappointed! I got a pair of Fiskars, because I relay on their scissors, and they were total garbage, bending and squishing rather than cutting. If I could remember where I got them, I’d’ve taken them back. I got a pair from Costco…more garbage. The spring to open them back up is totally lame, so if you don’t cut through, they just stick. I should take them back, but I’ve made do with them so long no company in their right mind would take them back. Sigh…. I had an old pair that lasted me forever…but I lost them last year…somewhere.
Anybody seen a brain lying around? I think my infected tooth has turned it to jelly.
You’re not a “sinister” person are you? (Ask CJ for the translation. 😉 )
I’ve never seen “lefty” pruners, but “righty” ones sure wouldn’t work in that case.”
The issue for making all sorts of pruners cut cleanly is to: 1) cut across the branch, never diagonally; 2) get the “victim” right back into the fork of the jaws (if’n you can’t do that, you’re pro’ly doin’ #3); 3) “don’t bite off more than you can chew”, i.e. with standars hand-pruners if’n it’s bigger around than your ring finger, get the loppers!; 4) don’t be afraid to get the pruning saw (note to CJ: hacksaws are for metal only!); 5) get the right size pruning saw: folding pocket saws for branches thick as your thumb to 2″ max; 6) a real man-sized pruning saw for stuff more than 2″ has big “raker-teeth” with deep sawdust-clearing throats every 3-5 teeth.
p.s. I’ve been using one of the latter, a Corona PS-4080, to cut down Xmas trees in my U-Cut lot beside the house for 20 years, and it’s only needed sharpening once. Those are trees 6′-16′ tall, 4″-10+” in diameter.
A.M. Leonard, Jane.
http://www.amleo.com/hand-pruners/c/P10A/
Felco is supposed to make very, very good pruners. I’ve never used one myself, but some have rotating handles to follow the flex of your hand, and they make left-handled models. (My favorite pruner is from the 50s: it has zero fancy features (all steel), but it feels like an extension of my arm when I use it.)
For loppers, I HIGHLY recommend Fiskars little short geared loppers with the Delrin anvil, only the blade is metal. Only about 14″ long. So light and maneuverable that literally a five-year-old can use them (or a creaky 62-year-old); your back doesn’t get sore holding them out in front of you. And they’re only $23. Lowe’s doesn’t seem to carry them, Home Depot does. Sorry can’t post link from phone.
Anvil pruners/loppers are not to be used on living plants! The do too much crush-damage. For pruning plants always use bypass-pruners/loppers.
The=They
Yeah…just noticed on the link. Thanks for pointing that out. I always do. Got anvils loppers for taking the deadwood down to chunks that will fit in the green bin.
That is the only correct usage of anvil pruners.
I’m clearing out a hedge that has died back, and the woody branches don’t snap, they flex. Is an anvil pruner better on woody material than a bypass? My bypass pruner, although it is rated for 1 1/2″ thick branches, makes heavy weather out of the dead shrubs; it bends them and gets stuck, rather than cutting cleanly.
If they flex, they ain’t dead. Inch and a half is half an inch too big for hand pruners. 😉 I don’t care what the manufacturer claims. 🙁 Get the loppers for that. 🙂
Everybody knows they make “compound loppers”, don’t they? 🙂 Supposed to work for heavy stuff, but it’s really hard sometimes to get the jaws open wide enough. 🙁
These are most sincerely dead, although if you are into basket making, the long whippy branches would make good withies. Most of them died at least a couple of years back, and I am now able to pull out the bushes wholesale because the roots have decayed/become termite fodder. I referenced them a couple of months ago, when Jane and CJ were trying to identify a white blooming, sweet scented shrub by their house.
I think we have been talking terminology past each other; what I’ve been calling a pruner is not an anorexic little trimmer one uses to decapitate dead roses. It’s a long handled compound lopper (behold the power of lever arms!) that will cut through green material the thickness of a broom handle with ease, but is flummoxed by these stems with the stringiness of a coir doormat.
@Chondrite: Well, yes, use the right tool for the job. Even so, yes, hand pruners can have some difficulty with thin stringy stuff if one doesn’t keep them sharp and does “spring” them by trying to cut at an inappropriate angle. 🙁
We finally got some rain yesterday in the Boston area — it came in with 70+ degree weather and wiiiind (whoosh!). Normally I wouldn’t count the nighttime rain and morning drizzle as all that copious but we really haven’t had decent rain since August 9th downpours the day before my cousin’s outdoor wedding (and date thus well-preserved in memory). Like Smartcat, our (hand-watered) garden is still blossomiferous: marigolds, verbena, anemones, roses, butterfly bush, morning glories and black-eyed susans although the seasonal asters are mostly gone and the foliage never really grand this drought-stricken fall.
Pillows: I still use my first pillow that I got with the same, big bed (but on second mattress) at age 3. Pillow is nice and flat and squishable; 3/4 brass bed my Grandpa found in the local dump and spruced up for me. Hmmm… I guess I am conservative in my possessions if liberal in my politics.
Gran Vandeventer had a huge brass featherbed on the ‘back porch,’ which was a room with a board floor, a cistern with a hand crank that supplied water for large applications like scrubbing, no heat, and a lot of windows. The feather bed was about 5 mattresses thick, and dusty, OMG. We kids would take flying leaps up onto that featherbed, which would raise a cloud of dust probably originating literally in the Oklahoma dust bowl years—since it had been there for that event. The blankets were wool, handmade, and scratchy, but the featherbed landing was neat.
It’s a wonder I didn’t die of the allergies.
There have been some nasty Chinese fakes of Fiskars around ofr the last twenty years. Jane may have gotten one of these. They really are putrid.
Oh, yes, the #1 most importnt thing about pruning with bypass pruners: keep the sharp blade side toward the living plant for a clean, uncrushed cut.
(If it’s on the outside, cut from the other side, or turn the pruners upside down!)
#2 is: Don’t cut off the “branch collar”.
In re: pillows and sleeping on one’s side, I have a body pillow and hug it like a fireman coming down a fire pole. Does wonders for my leg bone connected to my hip bone . . .
CJ, are the pillows cold or just neutral by rejecting body heat? I desperately need a good pillow and have tried many kinds. I had a chillow (sp?) once, but it was too cold for me which is saying a lot because I’m always too warm.
A few weeks ago I got a flu shot and pneumonia shot at the same time too. The arm that received the pneumonia shot reacted just like what you describe. It was hot and hurt like crazy for a couple of days and then it was a hard knot for a while longer. I’ve had this shot before and didn’t have so much trouble. The site of the flu shot was just a little tender for a day or two and then gone, like always.