Dust

It's 30 degrees and sunny. It's going to be a beautiful day. There was a light frost.

I woke up this morning with an urge to clean the rest of the house. The kitchen, as far as it can be done, is spotless. I've spent the morning dusting, mopping, sweeping, and am about to start laundry. There's a lot of dust.



This afternoon, once the neighbors have risen, I'll be back outside splitting the last of the usable wood from the oak tree. My dad is coming to get his chainsaw. There are three trees he knows of back home that need to come down. He's going to have help doing it Friday. On Saturday, they plan to bring the wood to me. I guess I'll have a nice stack somewhere all summer long. I wonder where I can hide it.

I've got plans to head down to the basement in the meantime. I still need to take cuttings from my overwintering pineapple sage and stick them in the cloner. I've got to do something about all the dirt in the basement. Half of it is on the floor, the other half is still sitting in penny pansy containers. Some of them will be tossed into the two lower veggie beds and tilled in, whenever the soil dries out a bit.

Somewhat related to the video, I'm back down to 215lbs as of yesterday morning. By the end of summer, I'd like to be back to a 34" waist hovering somewhere around 200lbs. Time to shed my winter fat.

12:34pm - Lunch, tuna on toast.

I've done very little of what I set out to do this morning. Pineapple sage has not been stuck. The pansies are almost gone. Last night I started with the very dry 6" containers. I used 1/2" screens to remove the root clumps and any remaining top growth. I'll use this soil to fill the wintersowing containers my mom is bringing this afternoon.



The 6-packs and some of the moldy 6" containers were run through the leaf shredder. I used that soil to fill the two lower garden beds.



I turned in all the leaves that have been out there since the fall, tossed out some 10-10-10 to speed decomposition, and layered the shredded pansies and soil on top. I used the pitchfork to aerate the soil as I watered. It seemed very odd to be watering after 3" of rain fell just a day ago.



I'm thinking of using this space as a place to grow herbs in the summer. Basil, dill, and cilantro are my favorites. It depends on where I plant my tomatoes.



Behind those beds, there's new growth on the 15cent asters. I got 10 of them this past fall. There were supposed to be 15 10cent asters, but someone swiped a few after I had paid for them. It's a buck fifty, I won't complain.



On the front slope, I counted about a dozen daffs pushing through the soil. 188 more to come.



Unfortunately, inconsiderate neighbors made me do it. I like dogs. I just don't like some dog owners. I've got enough trouble with the feral cats that live around here. Walk your dog somewhere else.



It's 41 degrees. Heading back outside in a bit to split the firewood.

A clean house

I'll be the first to admit it. I am not as anal-retentive about keeping my house clean as I once was. Part of it comes from having a house that has been in construction mode since the day I backed the U-Haul into the driveway. The third half of the excuse is simply that it's spring. I live with my windows open all day and all night during this time of year. When it hits 90 degrees, I'll close up the house and turn on the a/c. Until then, I'm saving money on my power bill and enjoying the sounds and sights of nature. The neighbor who plays Michael Jackson's "Greatest Hits" album at full volume is just icing on the cake.

I got up this morning around 7am. No alarm clock. No where to be and nothing that couldn't be put off til tomorrow. Still, I got up, got dressed, and made my first cup of coffee. While it was brewing, I went downstairs and started a load of laundry. Since then, the floors have been swept and mopped. The furniture was dusted. The ficus tree that I pruned too severely in the living room was moved to the kitchen porch. I'll bring it back in this fall. Hopefully, it will regrow into a more pleasing shape over the summer. I emptied my three trash cans. I scrubbed the tub and toilet. The sink was wiped down and the dishes were washed. The only thing left is laundry and it's doing its thing in the basement now.

I should be outside mowing the grass. I've let it grow over the past couple of weeks hoping some of the white clover and dandelions will reseed. I just can't put it off any longer. It looks terrible. The bees sure do love it though. I'll have robins all over the backyard this afternoon if I get out there and do it.

Too bad I just made another cup of coffee. Too bad I just took a shower and am enjoying the smell of clean in the house. Too bad I just don't feel like cutting grass right now. Who am I kidding? I know I'll be out there doing it just as soon as the coffee is finished.

It's 64 and overcast. Rain expected on and off all day. Heavy storms moved through yesterday afternoon while I was at work. The sun came out later for a nice steamy afternoon on the concrete of the garden center. Bad day to wear jeans.

3:37pm - 81 degrees, mostly sunny with a few clouds.

I got lots done. I transplanted some butterfly bushes into individual containers. I potted the Calycanthus florida (sweetshrub) into containers. I planted out 20-30 clumps of odds and ends. I moved a couple of things like yellow yarrow. I put it in a pot to recoup before sticking it out in the dry bed. I sowed seeds for a couple salvias, blue and white. I direct sowed a bunch of fragrant seeds in the white bed. I checked and I do have bean, corn, and cucumber sprouts. If it doesn't rain tonight, I will water them tomorrow with the sprinkler.

25 Butterfly bushes, mostly collected from Jackie's "Black Knight".


I have more left to pot up once they grow a little larger. All wintersown.


Sweet Shrub


Other rooted cuttings got planted out and added to those hardening off outside.


Giveaways. Hoping to get rid of them soon.


Still waiting: wintersown daylilies, coleus, impatiens, white crepe myrtles, and two trays of hosta.


My single Japanese Maple sprout has been transplanted into a container.


In the perennial bed, I have this area that's hard to grow anything in. So I planted some left over bush beans. I hope the extra nitrogen they add to the soil helps with the weird soil over here. Years of decomposing leaves have created a mat.


The red hot poker I started last spring from seed is about to bloom.


A single, tiny poppy has bloomed. The larger ones are covered with blooms.


With all that done, it's time for a nap.

6:22pm - THUNDERSTORM!!! Just tossed out some fertilizer on the hosta, potager, and the brugmansias. A good soaking rain is just what I was hoping for.

Snow Day

It's 21 degrees and sunny. There's a light dusting of snow on the ground. It started last night around 10pm. I don't plan on venturing outside until the temperature is at least above freezing. That should be around 1pm. So here's a shot from the front steps.



See, not a lot of snow. Today I plan to clean the house. I never realized how much dust I could stir up just by painting. I've got some things that need to be moved into larger containers on the propagation rack. And there are some willow cuttings that are going to start wrapping roots around me in the dark if I don't get them potted.

12:44pm - Most of the "snow" has melted. It's 28 degrees and windy. I need to chop some firewood for the next few days. I got the willow transplanted from water into cups. I have four kinds: red, black, giant white, and coral embers.

Let's clean house

It's Friday. 25 degrees and sunny. Two cats growling on the front porch woke me up this morning. One was white cat, the resident stray that I feed. The other was the three legged cat from next door. I stuck my head out to feed white cat as I do every morning. It's cold. I think I'll stay inside and clean today. After lunch, I'll apply for more jobs.

White Cat. We don't know her real name, but she doesn't seem to mind.



I still have 4 more pallets that need to be broken down. Today might be a good day to tackle that job inside. Of course, the basement needs to be cleaned again too. I wintersowed more containers yesterday bringing my total to 144.

A Day Full of Possibilities

Yesterday afternoon, I spent over two hours on the phone catching up with a friend I haven't seen since Halloween. I may have implied that I was possibly considering maybe starting the renovation of my dining room this morning. It's still an option, but I'm thinking that won't happen today. I still have a lot of little projects that I started between cleaning the basement and reorganizing the kitchen that ought to be wrapped up first. Let's not even mention the bathroom molding and two pieces of tile that I still haven't gotten around to, four full weeks after the room was "finished".

Another night of NyQuil and I slept like a log. I woke up this morning feeling like myself again. There's a little crud in the chest, but the cold appears to be last week's news.

Speaking of little projects, I decided to move my propagation rack in the basement. It's a simple metal shelf that holds my chambers and my new aero chamber. I've also got a holding area for plants that have been taken out of the chambers but need some rest before heading out to the hoophouse. In the new location, I was able to add another light hanging from the floor joists above for the top shelf. I'll use this as my seed starting shelf in a couple months to get a jump on spring planting.

Seed starting, for many flowers and some veggies, requires heat. My basement is usually between 60 and 70 degrees depending on how often I reload the wood heater. I haven't been downstairs this morning so the temperature is probably on the lower end of the scale. I needed a way to keep my seeds warm and give them the proper temperature to ensure germination. Based on a technique I found online, I used some items I already had here at the cottage to create some cheap, yet effective, bottom heat.

First, I found a large enough container to hold 3 nursery flats and several smaller pots.



I cleaned it out and filled it with a layer of sand from my parent's yard. It's free sand and was cleaned by pouring boiling water over it. I let it sit until it was cool enough to work with. It didn't take long on the cold concrete floor. Then I arranged an 18' section of OUTDOOR GRADE rope lighting across the soil trying to keep the spacing even.



Since the rope lighting is flexible and tends to move around, I used aluminum wire to tie it together in a few places.



I added the rest of the sand to cover the rope lighting. About 2" above and below the coil should protect it from any possible damage. I used the trowel I had bought for the bathroom grout to smooth the sand into a uniform layer that's about 4" thick.



With my moment of zen completed, I moved the container to my propagation rack and plugged it in. Well, now I have to dig into the sand to make sure my rope lighting is actually working since this stuff is fragile and the wiring inside can break if it's bent in too tight a curve. I should have done this before I smoothed my sand, but I was too focused on all those little grooves the trowel was leaving.



I smoothed everything out again. Plugged in, it should take a day or so to reach optimum temperature.



If it's not warm enough, I can always cover it with a second container of the same size and add a set of 50 Christmas lights I used on my tree this year. The color won't matter since the heat is the purpose of the lights. Hopefully, I'll only need the rope lighting so there's more room for containers. I'll have to monitor the temperature through the use of an oven thermometer. You can usually pick one up at a dollar store for cheap. If it rusts, don't worry. You're not using it to cook.

The possibilities for this container are endless. I can use it now to continue my hardwood cuttings. I put them in a separate smaller container using a larger grade sand. I've already started mock orange, saucer magnolia, lavender crepe myrtle, flowering quince, and a few random cuttings from other plants in the yard.

Now, what to do today?

It's 39 degrees, overcast, foggy, and not a good day for me to be outside. I do need to sneak out to collect some more firewood at some point. Maybe I'll clean off my desk. I'm going to start by washing dishes. But first, I need to finish my coffee.

1:46pm: 50 degrees, sunny, the basement has been reorganized, again, but still isn't finished. What's for lunch?

Pre-spring cleannig

Today is a good day to clean.

In the basement, I have several boxes of receipts and income tax returns from 2003. It's time to stop carrying these things around with me. I also found a box of books that I haven't thumbed through in years. I'm going to bring them out and think about a good place to put them.

I found pictures from college. A few drawings and photographs done by friends are in there as well. They should be in frames. They're that good. I also found parts of my old college portfolio. I had put it together when I decided it would be a good time to leave my last job back in 2003. It took me almost a whole year, but I finally went out on my own to found my company. With the economy in the trash, there's no money in architectural models these days. A new career is in the works, but I'm not sure what it will entail just yet. It needs to be something that combines technical skills with a creative aspect. I need both to keep from stagnating.

I've also found pottery that I purchased at a trade show back in 2001. I had just purchased my condo in Charlotte and was looking for decorative items. I really wish it was time to bring these items back out of storage, but the house isn't finished yet. There will be a few items brought out, three pictures of me and two friends. It no longer goes with my decor, but I think they'll work. I just need to find a place to hang them.

It's cloudy and 34 degrees. Light snow was forecast but never came. Scattered showers possible later this evening will keep me inside for another day. The fever and chills are gone this morning. I still feel congested, but it's nothing like the past 4 days. I hope I can quit drinking NyQuil at night. It's been giving me some very odd dreams the past two mornings.

Today's song: Faithfully by Journey

10am: It's either snowing lightly, or a lot of the ash from burning tax records in the heater in the basement is going up the chimney. It is raining.