Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
We try not to feel guilty about neglected rugs until the dust bunnies start fighting the dogs for their food... Well, maybe a little before then... ;-)My mother keeps her house spotless, but it's just her & her dogs are only allowed into the mud room. She's given up on us, finally, thank goodness.
I have a single friend who vacuums & dusts daily. She works 10 hour days & then goes home & cleans for 1 - 2 hours daily. Her dogs come in the house & sit on a rug so she can wipe their feet before they venture in further. Somehow that just seems more like work than living to me. She's a sweetheart, but crazy. (Yes, I've told her so.)
Joy,You asked me if I had heard from the doctors yet. I will be getting a biopsy in my lung pretty soon. I haven't seen my pulmonologist at all yet. I have only seen my kidney doctor once. I see him again on the 31st. I am going to a cardiothoracic doctor for the biopsy. I see him on Monday to talk and to schedule the biopsy. I hope it happens soon. I am about frizzled out from waiting for all of this stuff to be resolved one way or another.
Perpendicularandi wrote: "Joy,You asked me if I had heard from the doctors yet. I will be getting a biopsy in my lung pretty soon. I haven't seen my pulmonologist at all yet. I have only seen my kidney doctor once. ..."Take Care. Not easy advice. Hope it helps that we are all pulling for you here at Goodreads..nina
Jim wrote: "I have a single friend who vacuums & dusts daily. She works 10 hour days & then goes home & cleans for 1 - 2 hours daily. Her dogs come in the house & sit on a rug so she can wipe their feet before they venture in further. Somehow that just seems more like work than living to me."Jim, some people get pleasure from that. I'm not one of them. :)
I like things clean and neat, but sometimes the price is too high.
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Perpendicularandi wrote: "I will be getting a biopsy in my lung pretty soon. ... I am about frizzled out from waiting for all of this stuff to be resolved one way or another."Randi, I don't blame you for being frizzled out. As Nina said, we are all rooting for you and wishing you good luck. Here's a big hug. {{{{Randi}}}}
Amen to the above. I hope you have a dog..They can be a comfort at times like this. nina
I hope things get better soon, Randi.This morning we need to redo the video tape of my daughter riding her horse. It's going to be used to show him off to the staff at Murray. Hopefully, they'll take him next year to use as a student horse. That way Erin will get to ride him & keep him there for free. We did one last night, but he was being raunchy & I guess Erin didn't like the way it came out.
I told her not to leave this to the last minute, but of course she did. She needs to leave for school about noon today & is still in bed. Children!
Jim wrote: "...This morning we need to redo the video tape of my daughter riding her horse. ... We did one last night, but he was being raunchy..."Jim, what was the horse doing that was "raunchy"?
I love to hear about horse behavior.
Hope the new version of the video is better. Wish we could see it.
Can you put it on YouTube?
She decided to keep the original. I'm not sure if I can get the video camera to play it onto the computer, Joy. I was planning on looking for something tomorrow. If I can, I'll put a clip up. Probably on my website, though.Raunchy, in this case, means he was feeling good, but not like working. He was bucking after jumps, trotting when he should have kept a canter & generally being a jerk instead of working. He was popping over 3' fences with his legs dangling when he should have been tucked. He never does tuck well, but has enough spring that he doesn't have to.
Thanks guys. I loved the poem, Joy. I appreciate your concern. I go in tomorrow to consult with a new doctor about the biopsy deal on Monday.
Jim wrote: "She decided to keep the original......Raunchy, in this case, means he was feeling good, but not like working. He was bucking after jumps, trotting when he should have kept a canter & generally being a jerk instead of working. He was popping over 3' fences with his legs dangling when he should have been tucked. He never does tuck well, but has enough spring that he doesn't have to."
I never thought to look for "tucked" legs. Those are details only an experienced horse person would know about. Interesting.
I don't think I would recognize the difference between a trot and a canter.
I'm always amazed by the spring animals have for jumping. I love to watch our Maltese, Romeo, back up before jumping onto the sofa. Sometimes he doesn't even have to back up. Other times he just sits and waits to be lifted. I guess we all have our lazy moments... even horses. :)
Today was a lazy day for me. Last week, I ran around too much. I was exhausted and needed to rest up.
"When you're older, you can do the same things you used to to, but the recovery time is longer." -Anonymous :)
Perpendicularandi wrote: "Thanks guys. I loved the poem, Joy. I appreciate your concern. I go in tomorrow to consult with a new doctor about the biopsy deal on Monday."Good luck, Randi!
Today I'll be taking a walk with a friend. The weather forecast predicts a sunny day with temps in the lower 70s. I've waited all winter for this day.
We're windy today, but coming out of lots of rain, near freezing temps at night into the 70's today! Tomorrow may even hit 80. It's supposed to be a gorgeous weekend.I finally got most of the garden planted & I'm waiting to see if my new invention works. I made a weed wick wacker. It's a pipe with a wick on the end of it. I fill it with Roundup, an herbicide, & paint weeds that are too close to good plants to spray. Should be easier & better than hand weeding.
Yes, it's going to be great having a day with temps in the 80s. I'll have to dig my shorts out. (g)Good luck with your weed wick wacker. :) I haven't gotten around to gardening outside yet. (Ed's done some.) As for me, I'm lucky if my house plants get watered. :)
It's amazing how much time and maintenance potted plants require. I'll be moving some outside as soon as the possibility of frosts is passed. My in-house geraniums have been blooming for months! They have big red flowers which I love.
I hear you about potted plants, Joy. I put the pots from the back porch into the barn. It gets all the south & west sun without a roof. Even watering twice a day, they get too much sun & dry out. Didn't do well last year. I'd love to put a roof on there, but there isn't a good way to put one. I'm debating on putting up sunshade, like they use for cattle or plants. It's a weave that would let air through & we get a lot of wind from the west, too much for an awning. I'm thinking about pricing a retractable awning, too. Probably more than I can afford, though.
Here in PA the weather is to be 80+ degrees. I am looking forward to potting some flowers and getting our yard and deck ready for summer! In the really sunny spots on my deck (where things tend to dry out)I use those globe waterers; the kind advertised on TV. Stick them in the dirt filled w/water and they dispense as needed. Granted, they empty more quickly than when used inside but...it gives you a bit more time between waterings!My husband is up at Brant Lake opening our camp, Joy and he says the weather is great! Wish I were up there too!
I keep telling myself (as visions of David Carradine kung fu through my head...), "Soon grasshoppa,soon..."
Jim wrote: "I hear you about potted plants, Joy. I put the pots from the back porch into the barn. It gets all the south & west sun without a roof. Even watering twice a day, they get too much sun & dry out..."Your barn sounds like a good transition spot.
The potted plants need a transition period from inside to outside. Otherwise they go into shock, I think. I try to put them out and take them in, gradually exposing them to their new surroundings on the deck. It's a lot of trouble, but I try to do it if I can. I should find a transition spot, where they would get only partial sun for a while.
Most of the potted plants I put outside are geraniums, one of my favorite flowering plants. I love their earthy fragrance.
Mary wrote: "Here in PA the weather is to be 80+ degrees. I am looking forward to potting some flowers and getting our yard and deck ready for summer! In the really sunny spots on my deck (where things tend to ..."Mary, I tried those globes. They take too long to fill. Besides, my plants require more water than they can deliver. I would be constantly refilling the globes. That's $9.99 I wasted. :)
Ah, Brant Lake! Lovely place. My husband was up at our summer place yesterday too. He loves it so much up there. I like it too, but feel too disconnected from my activities in town, 45 minutes away. Talk about feeling "torn". :)
Do you over winter your geraniums? I have not had luck doing that.. I love all colors of those flowers. I have two ice cream chairs with no seats and I put large terracotta pots in both loaded with geraniums. nina
Nina wrote: "Do you over winter your geraniums? I have not had luck doing that.. I love all colors of those flowers. I have two ice cream chairs with no seats and I put large terracotta pots in both loaded with..."Yes, Nina, we did take our geraniums in for the winter this year, Nina. They flourished all winter because they're in a window which gets a lot of sunshine.
Below is a link to a picture of some of them in the window: ====>
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj...
We have two other rooms with similar windows and flowers. They bloomed all winter.
What is an "ice cream chair"?
Ice cream chairs are what they used to have in ice cream parlors; curved steel rims with fancy backs and legs..I think you could google them..If not I'll try to send a pic of mine. I love your geraniums; nor more news now as we are under a tornado warning and soon may go to the basement. Wish us luck.. nina
Nina wrote: "...we are under a tornado warning and soon may go to the basement. Wish us luck.. nina"Oh, my! Good luck, Nina!
That must be the same tornado warning that I was under around the same time since we both live in KS.
I hope yours passed as uneventfully as mine did.
Perpendicularandi wrote: "That must be the same tornado warning that I was under around the same time since we both live in KS."Randi, what do you do when there's a tornado warning? Do you go to the basement?
Hope all went well with the tornados. We get a lot of warnings, but we're pretty far up in the hills & there hasn't been one up here in ages. Good thing since we don't have a basement. If we put a Florida room in back, it will have one under it.I got a lot done yesterday, but it was too windy to spray. Maybe today. The lawn is cut, the manure pile moved, lawn mowed & miscellaneous chores done. We took a nice long walk around the property. Erin brought a couple of friends home from school, so it was fun talking to them. One is from Vietnam, the other Tiawan. Marg found a few wild White Dogwoods in the woods that I tagged.
I put up burlap on all the exterior barn doors which are about 10' high. It hangs to within about 3' of the ground in strips that are 40" wide & lap a few inches on each side. It keeps the barn cooler, darker, but most of all, it helps keep the birds & flies out. One the horses get used to it, they'll often stand with their face in it so it will wipe flies off as it blows by. Marg's young horse, Cutter, isn't used to it. Marg led him in & out a few times to prove it wouldn't eat him.
It's getting harder to find burlap, for some reason. Used to be you could buy it most anywhere, but I finally had to get it from the Internet. Grempler's sold it to me & shipped it. Only $120 to my door for 100 yards. If the horses don't tear it down, it should last us a few years. Normally you can spray it with some kind of no-chew, like sour apple, which tastes bad, but Marg's old horse, Blue, thinks that stuff like that is good seasoning. Weird horse. He'll go over & lick it off, then start chewing to get more.
Jim wrote: "...I put up burlap on all the exterior barn doors which are about 10' high. It hangs to within about 3' of the ground in strips that are 40" wide & lap a few inches on each side. It keeps the barn cooler, darker, but most of all, it helps keep the birds & flies out. One the horses get used to it, they'll often stand with their face in it so it will wipe flies off as it blows by. Marg's young horse, Cutter, isn't used to it. Marg led him in & out a few times to prove it wouldn't eat him..."Jim, I love stories like that. That's an interesting solution to several problem (heat, flies, birds, etc.).
With the strips 40" wide and overlapping, you'd think it would be too heavy for the wind have much effect. Also, it seems like the horses would consider it a barrier instead of something that can pushed aside with their noses. But I guess it works. Did you think of that idea yourself?
You must feel good after getting a lot of work done yesterday. I should take a cue from you and get some of my chores out of the way too. I've been too busy shopping lately. :)
The burlap is 10 oz, kind of an open weave, like what you'd find on the root ball of a tree. It blows like a curtain held only at the top.Today I got 3 sparyer's full of 2-4-D down. Death to weeds! Then I got the oil changed on my truck & Erin's car. Then I ate lunch & took a nap. This evening, Marg & I went for a walk in the woods. Lots of birds! Sitting in the little meadow I reclaimed from honeysuckle & multifloral rose, we spotted an Oriel (sp? orange bird,black wings) & an Indigo Bunting. First humming birds today too.
Joy wrote: "Randi, what do you do when there's a tornado warning? Do you go to the basement?"I go to my bathroom. It is the safest place available to me. It would take me forever with my cane and my gimpy feet to go down seven floors of stairs, so I go to my bathroom where there are no windows.
Jim wrote: "The burlap is 10 oz, kind of an open weave, like what you'd find on the root ball of a tree. It blows like a curtain held only at the top.Today I got 3 sparyer's full of 2-4-D down. Death to ..."
I see. Thanks for explaining about the burlap.
Sounds like you had a good day. I love the color of the Indigo Bunting. I've seen only one in my life and that was on our back deck, IIRC. It was a beautiful bright bluish purple. I think I've seen an Oriole too, but it may be another bird with similar colors (scarlet tanager?). I'll have to check my bird book.
We have bluebirds here (they're the state bird of NY), but unfortunately I haven't seen many of them. We tried to attract them with a special bird house, but the swallows moved in first.
I googled and found out that the state bird of Kansas is the Western meadowlark. ====>
http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/b...
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en...
Here's the Eastern Bluebird: ====>
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/emblems/bir...
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en...
Perpendicularandi wrote: "Joy wrote: "Randi, what do you do when there's a tornado warning?..."I go to my bathroom. It is the safest place available to me. It would take me forever with my cane and my gimpy feet to go down seven floors of stairs, so I go to my bathroom where there are no windows."
I see. We hardly ever have tornadoes here in NY but there was one years ago downstate where we once lived. We were away at the time and my in-laws made a special trip to check on our house afterwards. It was OK.
I just googled and found the following about that tornado
"July 29, 1971 - a category 2 tornado 1.9 miles (3.1 km) away from the city center caused between $50,000 and $500,000 in damages."
I found the above info at: ====>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmel,_...
I'm amazed at what one can find on the Net!
PS-Further googling revealed another tornado near our former house:
"On 7/10/1989, a category 2 tornado 5.3 miles away from the place center injured 5 people and caused between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 in damages."
FROM: http://www.city-data.com/city/Mahopac...
It was so cool to see the Humming Birds already this year. Marg thought I was making up the feed too early. We're not quite used to the seasons here yet. We used to see a fair few Indigo Buntings in MD, especially Marg on her bus runs, since they seem to like road sides. This was our first sighting here in KY, though. Last year, we caught glimpses of an orange bird, but never got a decent look at it. Yesterday, we got a quick, but fairly good look at it & it was definitely an Oriole. We're not sure of the exact species, though.
We have quite a few Blue birds. I made & put up over 15 bird houses for them last year. The dimensions that work for a Bluebird work for a LOT (most?) birds their size, including swallows & sparrows, the two biggest competitors. Swallows I leave (we have Tree Swallows), but I evict sparrows. I made sure I placed the bird houses far enough apart & from other structures that Blue Birds would use them, too. That's something a lot of people can't or don't do properly. They like a lot of open area around them & at least 50 yards from another Blue Bird house.
Last night we also found that we don't just have Eastern Red Cedars in the woods, but another small tree that looks similar at first glance. A closer inspection shows that it has needles, not scales, though. It's some other kind of Juniper, which is usually a low, ground hugging shrub. These look just like small cedar trees, though.
Jim wrote: "It was so cool to see the Humming Birds already this year. Marg thought I was making up the feed too early. We're not quite used to the seasons here yet. We used to see a fair few Indigo Bunting..."Humming Birds are regulars at our summer place. They come around to get nectar from the flowers in the pots on our deck. I love to see them. I used to put liquid food out for them, but now I don't bother since they come around anyway, for the flowers.
We tried to give as much space as we could to our bluebird house. Perhaps it's not enough.
Junipers have proven to be one of the most hardy shrubs around here. Usually the deer won't eat them because they're so prickly. When we lived downstate, they survived in poor shallow soil on the top of a rocky bank in our yard. They didn't seem to need much water since it was usually dry on the bank.
I love hummingbirds. My sister used to live in the foothills of the Rockies in CO. They had tons of hummingbirds. My sister had hummingbird feeders all over. She would delight at seeing all different kinds of hummingbirds, as she is an avid bird watcher and fan. They moved to IL a few years ago, and there are almost no hummingbirds there. She really misses her hummingbirds.
No new birds tonight, but I think we found a new kind of honeysuckle, besides the horrible Japanese Honeysuckle that's choking everything. This was growing right along side the Japanese Honeysuckle & looks a lot like it, except the stem is purple, so is the bottom of the leaf & the veins. Any ideas? I couldn't find it in any of my books, but there are hundreds of kinds of honeysuckle.I've taken some pictures & will send them off to the state biologist in the morning. Keenan is a nice guy. I'll ask him about the Juniper/Cedar at the same time.
Perpendicularandi wrote: "I love hummingbirds. My sister used to live in the foothills of the Rockies in CO. They had tons of hummingbirds. My sister had hummingbird feeders all over. She would delight at seeing all dif..."They're amazing birds.
Below are some links to Youtube videos of hummingbirds: ====>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG59Pa...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOXuGf...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfRzQg...
Jim wrote: "No new birds tonight, but I think we found a new kind of honeysuckle, besides the horrible Japanese Honeysuckle that's choking everything. This was growing right along side the Japanese Honeysuckl..."Found this page re Japanes Honeysuckle, with pics: ====>
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...
Hi everyone, the tornado passed us by. Mostly, there are no problems but when there are it is usually a disaster. We had a very bad one in the metro area in 1957 but otherwise they are usually in KS farther west of us. We do go to the basement when we hear the sirens. And, yes, a bathtub is better than nothing although sometimes people go to closets. When we used to have young children we always had a bed in the basement and we'd just carry them down and put them to bed; the cat and dog also. We are actually barely in KS; a mile from MO. It is strange as we have a street named State Line Road that separates the two states; besides the rivers downtown. If you drive down one side of this residental area you are in MO and on the other side, it's KS..When we drive down this street to go to church on Sunday we are in MO all the way; en route home we are in KS(same street.) You might have a picture in your mind because of the movie,Wizard of Oz and it could look a bit like that way west in KS, but our area is quite hilly in some areas(no mountains)and lots of trees and only Rome has more fountains..It is a beautiful city(metro area) at this time of year. Loads of dogwoods and redbuds and fountains splashing and much statuary on small islands of flowers at the end of the streets. There are many mansions of Tudor style and southern type houses with long columns. There is an open feel as you can see far when on top of the rise. We have the first outdoor shopping center in US; from 1930. It is Spanish style with fountains and lovely statues and all the buildings are of Spanish tiles. The main tower is a copy of the one in Seville Spain. Enough tourist info for today. Except to say Harry Truman's birthday is quite soon so there is a big to do about him in Independence; part of our metro area. nina
Nina, your area of Kansas sounds lovely! I didn't realize that you are so near MO. Is there a webpage showing photos of your area?Glad the tornado passed you by.
LOL I rather like the honeysuckle, it is wonderfully fragrant, and covers a lot of the area around here. But I'm not a farmer, or much of a gardener, so maybe that's why I like it.
Honeysuckle is a real problem in a woods. It chokes young trees, covers areas so they can't germinate & weakens older ones. We have a lot of trees broken where the honeysuckle corkscrewed up them & you can see bulges in their shape. The ice coated them & the weak points went.There are a couple of hundred kinds that range from vines to huge bushes. Japanese Honeysuckle is pretty & sweet smelling. Unfortunately it goes wild & chokes everything out. Native varieties don't go as wild. Leaving any Japanese Honeysuckle guarantees lots more since the seeds are distributed by birds.
Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Jim wrote: "...Oh well. I only have so much time & the lawn, like vacuuming the house, doesn't make the top ten list."LOL - Jim, you are so right! I always feel guilty about my neglected rugs.What am I doing today? Today is my eighty second birthday and I am having a dinner for friends and yes, I am doing the cooking..Just worked out that way..I am having a Polish priest friend who is recovering from cancer surgery and his favorite meal; saurkraut and sausage and German potato salad and slaw and tossed salad and pound cake(form costco) and fresh strawberries and whipped cream..Want to come? I got a beautiful pink hibiscus tree for my birthday from my husband. Wish me another year on this earth??? nina
T..."
Nina wrote: "Today is my eighty second birthday and I am having a dinner for friends and yes, I am doing the cooking..Just worked out that way.."Happy 82nd Birthday, Nina, and many more to come!
Sounds like a delicious dinner. Wish we could all be there with you!
Happy Birthday, Nina! Busy day today so I didn't check in. Congrats!!!I got home tonight & was going to spray, but worried because it might rain. Well, I didn't get to spraying because we had 11 Redbuds arrive from The Arbor Day Foundation. I planted them instead. I was on the last one when it started to rain. It poured for under 30 minutes & dropped 1/4" on us. Hurray!
(Must be Nina's birthday luck running over...)
Jim, which type of redbud tree did you plant? Below is a webpage I found: ====>http://www.kennedyscountrygardens.com...
Thank you, Joy, for the birthday cake..Looked good enough to eat. And Jim I am thrilled that eleven redbuds were planted on my birthday..Wish I could see them in their glory in the years to come..There is one huge one in my daughter's yard up the street from us..It takes up the view from her kitchen window. Almost makes cooking a breeze..Fondly, nina
Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) which is native to our area. We have quite a few growing wild in the woods & they line the roads around here. Very pretty.
Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Perpendicularandi wrote: "I love hummingbirds. My sister used to live in the foothills of the Rockies in CO. They had tons of hummingbirds. My sister had hummingbird feeders all over. She would..."When we lived on the eighth floor of a condo building I had hibiscus trees on my balcony and was astonished when hummingbirds visited them. nina
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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LOL - Jim, you are so right! I always feel guilty about my neglected rugs.
Thanks for the info re alfalfa and fescue. I had no idea about either of them.
When I shop for grass seed, I simply choose one of the bags on the shelf at Wal-Mart. I always get a thrill when my tiny repair patches (about 1 ft. square each) are successful. Last year I sowed some seeds and covered them with pine needles. I kept the patches watered and waited. One day I went out to look at the patches and, lo and behold, the new grass had pushed up the pine needles and raised them up about an inch or two so that they were resting on top of the new bed of grass. It was so funny to see and such a nice surprise!