Monday, July 02, 2018

My quarterly blog... Sigh. That needs to change...

I guess trying to write my blog hasn't been the smashing success I'd hoped for this year.  (Anonymous seems to think so, but I really think he/she is in it for the advertising...)  

I have planted a garden, except for carrots.  As much as the carrots are important, I want Dad to have a treat, it was just strange this season, and they never were planted.  I have been slowly trying to get my act together, cleaning out the disaster areas that are my raised beds.  What a mess.  Surprisingly, however, most were pretty easy to clean.  Husband and I put garden fabric several of them, and covered them with leaves.  While there were weeds...  The weeds were on the fabric, and the leaves that covered it. One pull, and Yoink! No weed!  So I then would turn the dirt, plant, and then wait for something to happen.  But I just wasn't able to get the carrot area cleared out, and, as it turned out, I made the soil not too good for carrots, so, there's always next time.  Pbbbt.

Tomatoes, not bad.  Acorn squash, some good, some not.  Beans, good, like always.  Crookneck, and Zucchini, meh, I think I could plant them in concrete, and water with an eyedropper filled with vinegar, and those things would grow...  :)

Then the watermelon.  I found out, after 2, count them, TWO plantings, that I had a rodent of some ilk, that was eating the plants.  I had a hole come open in the dirt when I was watering, that I could put both fists in, and led who knows where...  The damage led me to suspect someplace warm and sulfur smelling...  To that end, I have been watering that area until it floods up. Hee, hee...  The last surviving watermelon plant is struggling, but hasn't died yet.  I don't hold out much hope for it, but at least it seems to be holding on.

Corn was another feast for something... We haven't decided if it was rodents, or poults that the mother turkeys just hatched.  Either way, I had nothing left.  It ended up, I redug the bed, and planted the Crookneck, instead.  I am very disappointed, as I had three different kinds of corn I was trying.  I will try next year.  And put up bird screen...

Driving was interesting recently.  We had "retired" my little truck, and I was using my wee electric car pretty much exclusively.  I was taking family to an appointment when this... person...  hit the back of another truck, who was trying frantically to stop, (I saw her quite literally standing on the brakes, screaming, when I looked in my mirror), and that truck was pushed into me.

NO ONE WAS HURT!!  That was the good thing.  I nearly vomited while I was trying to work out what to do, but all were fine.  I called the police, which upset the... person... who hit the other truck who hit us.  Meanwhile, I had at least 3 people stop and give me witness statements that he didn't even slow down.  The policeman showed up, and we had to exchange info.  The... person... first thing, gets out and tells me this is the third time he's been in an accident like this, and he has neck problems, and and and...  (!!!!)

I had never been in an accident where I had to exchange info before, and had forgotten to get my driver's license out.  The... person... got on my case, and acted like I was the one in the wrong.  I was rather flustered, and just told him I had left my purse in the car.  It ended up, the back was so mangled, I had to have the policeman, who had long arms, reach my purse, as it was mushed into the back of the car, in the trunk area.

We all exchanged info, and then I drove home, with a very injured, but drivable car. Called our insurance, after a bit of talk, they said (thank you!) the... person... was 100% at fault.  So, we put the poor car on a trailer and schlepped it to a body shop.  The joys of instant communication, the neighbors called, as we were turning the corner on the main drag from our house, "Hey, why's your car on the trailer, what happened?"

We were told, after the inspection, it would be about a week. Sounds good, I can drive the truck for a week.

And then two weeks.  They found more damage.  Then another week.  More damage.  Then, finally, after 4 weeks, my car was returned.  The last week, damage?  No.  The insurance wouldn't pay for a light that was broken in transit.  Well, the body shop tossed a guy version of a hissy fit, and took photos of this light, which was basically broken worse than the light DAMAGED IN THE ACCIDENT, and so they finally relented.  Meh.

But, I basically had to remember shifting, and having to fill up regularly at a gas station, (car is electric), and having to re-budget for a month, since gas picked that time to go up... Yay.  But, knock frantically on wood, things came back looking nice and new, and have worked well since.

And I have still been working the Tuesday volunteer shift, getting the various yearly doctors appointments, went to the retirement of my county's sheriff, (and got a hug!), still knitting socks, and such, and donating blood.  So, some same ol', same ol', too.

I have about a week or so of "stuff" to do, then I might have some 'me' time.  With any luck, I will be working on the Garden Tardis.  (Weather is nice, I think I can paint, and work on the decorations to make sure it will handle being outdoors.)  I am also going to make a bricked area, I guess you'd call it a patio?  And area for chairs and a table, to sit and enjoy my garden.  I have bricks, garden stakes, string, pick axe, bucket, and wheelbarrow.  Now I need sand.  And time to work on it.

And, maybe camping.  Some time to veg out, and eat S'mores, hot dogs, and general food that I don't eat much at home...  Which is probably a good thing!


2 comments:

messymimi said...

Gracious, i am so sorry about your accident, and especially about the person at fault behaving that way. Some people just should not drive.

It sounds like you are working away at a lot of stuff, i can understand how a website takes a back seat.

Good luck with the rest of the gardening, and the building, and the camping!

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

I have been in a bad accident and some smaller ones. The sound of impact stays with me. Dealing with everything afterward is a blur.

I hope your gardenturned out well this year.