Overworkedjanet

 Back to being me. I'm not sure I'm completely well again but, "I ain't got time for that!" I've realized that along with the ceiling repairs, some seam cracks in the drywall and painting, I had to finish repairing the floor! Originally our heating went through ducts in the floor. It was great as the floor was always warm in the winter. Over time I found water filling those ducts and realized they were asbestos-lines pipes (yikes), we opted for new heating with overhead ducting. Now we have cold floors, but that's what the carpeting is for!  I sealed each duct with foam and filled the vents with cement when we carpeted the smaller rooms. The holdout was this massive carpet. I had seven vents left to fill and level to the floor. That's about 130 pounds of dry cement, mixed by hand in in a bucket, carried into the house and shoveled into the holes with a garden trowel. Huh, I forgot about the water weight. Maybe another 10 pounds? The entryway is tiled a...

 More work for me. Now that I've fairly recovered from Covid and am muddling through allergies, it's time to get back to business. There are still large rest periods and naps. The garden is growing and all my plants, including the butternut squash and cucumbers, are turning from seeds to seedlings. I wish nighttime temps would rise above the 50's to boost the growing. Also it would be great for my pool. We uncovered it last weekend, the water was 69F. This time last year it was about 10 degrees higher. Climate change! I had been on a kitchen renovation kick before getting ill. I had time to internet shop while in quarantine and by the time I was freed, I was panicking about the prices! My appliances are in great shape but I won't be able to re-use them. My problem is my ability to get down on the floor to reach back into the cabinet to get heavy pans and glass bowls. I can do it now, sometimes with some grumbling, but how about 5 years from now? I don't want to be t...

 Day 5 DH and I still test positive. The gift that keeps on giving. Like two slugs, we've sat in one room or the other, sighing boredom and tiredness. Our symptoms are still stuffiness and a lethargy unlike anything I've ever had. Tissues are a necessity but we've nothing like those first victims of the scourge! Yet, things still need attending. Routine housework can be set aside because who's visiting anyway? I'm the queen of pre-cooked treasures in my freezer so we haven't starved. Likewise the dishwasher functions so things don't look bleak in the kitchen. OK, maybe I vacuumed one day. Drove for grocery pickup another. Plants need watered. Then there's my pool. Just like the OJ of the past, I don't stop. This morning I was standing next the pool, more like resting my head on the edge, while one hand held a draining gizmo and the other a net on a pole, trying to get the water and gross schmutz off the cover. I realized this morning that the cover h...

Thought I'd drop by. Spring has sprung The grass has riz I wonder where the flowers is? My mother used to say that every spring. My kids thought it was nuts. It seems appropriate for today. The foxglove I planted last year was supposed to return, alas they have not. My columbines are blooming so well I may find different colors and plant them in the foxglove spaces as they are deer resistant. I've added 5 bleeding heart plans so my statue may disappear in a beard of green. My garden is sprouting nicely. Snow peas, green beans and only one row of beets that I promise I won't pull too early this year. I've 3 types of peppers, two tomato plants and am waiting for cucumbers, zucchini and butternut squash to emerge. The green between the cement and garden is cilantro that went to seed last year. OKM would call them 'volunteer' plants. They are good only for cooking as the stems grow strong with few leaves in the late winter. But, they smell good to me when I pull or ...