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| New Pair of Socks |
I am feeling like the days are starting to zip by, again!
Sunday was the retreat.
Monday I wrote my blog post about it, which took me almost as long as the retreat! LOL. Neighbor T called for our weekly chat (we've moved the day from Sunday to Monday), I rested and knitted, and spoke with neighbor S to thank her for the Armenian pizza and get the recipe from her. Later in the afternoon, her husband brought me some groceries and. in the evening, I put water to the garden, put away some laundry, and spoke on the phone with friend R.
Tuesday, I overwatered one of the indoor plants which is kept on top of one of the shelving units in the family room. The water dripped down the front of the shelving unit, splashing all over the stereo (yes, I have one of those 4-in-1 things that has a radio, CD player, cassette player, and a record player/turn table!) and on to the scrapbook albums! It was a mad dash to pull the albums out, grab a kitchen towel to absorb the still dripping water from the edge of the plate the planter is on, and wipe the water off the shelves and items on the shelf and wipe up the floor! The scrapbook albums are still sitting out on the floor to dry!
Later in the evening, I spot watered some of the fruit trees. The poor peach tree has been dropping leaves and, at first, I thought that I might not have watered it enough (although, I read that it can drop leaves if it has been watered too much, too!) But, on closer look, it seems to have developed baterial leaf spot, apparently caused by a bacteria known as Xanthomonas pruni. Sometimes, brown spots on leaves can be caused by a lack of nitrogen, as well, but, the location of the spots on the leaves seem to indicate that they are bacterial spots. That is a bit distressing, but, I shall wait until M is able to take a look at it on Friday, before deciding what to do about it. In the meantime, the little peaches seem to be growing well enough. Hopefully, they will be able to ripen without being too impacted by the leaf drop.
On Wednesday, my biggest accomplishment was reorganizing the pantry cabinets and putting away the cans and boxes of groceries I bought, last week. Yes, they had been sitting out on the small table in the family room all this time! I didn't want to put them away any old how, so, I waited until I was ready to spend an afternoon putting things away, properly, updating my inventory list at the same time. I think I should type up my inventory list in the computer because my handwritten list is getting a bit messy with things crossed out and items added in!
I had a long chat with cousin P in the morning; she called to ask me a question about how long to keep some paperwork and brought me up to date on all the family news! In the evening, I watered the orange tree and the peach tree, again. Afterwards, I walked for 20 minutes in the driveway. For dinner, I had pasta with spaghetti sauce
Today, Thursday, I woke up fairly early to the unmistakable sound of Dancer regurgitating! Poor kitty. I cleaned it up and had my morning tea. Then, I spent some time in the garden, checking on the peach tree. doing a bit of weeding, and just walking around, admiring the flowers and listening to the birds singing. In the early evening, I watched news and finished knitting my new pair of socks. Afterwards, I watered the front garden and did a little more weeding. The side yard (that M cleared a couple of weeks ago) continues in the front, as well, but, he was not able to weed that area (a much smaller space). Today, after I watered the garden, I got in there and pulled weeds. I have been trying to get the osteospermum to grow there and, today, I found a few plants growing among the weeds! The other osteospermum plants are setting seeds now, so I might collect another handful of seeds and scatter them in the side yard to see if they will germinate.
Today, I received a delivery of cat food and cans of tuna I had ordered. I was on the lookout for the delivery person and when I saw him bringing the rather heavy box (I had ordered two 22 lb. bags of cat food), I opened the door and asked if he could leave it just inside the door for me, instead of on the step outside. He was kind enough to do so and I was able to push it further inside. I have sprayed the outside of the box and will leave it there for a couple of days before opening it.
For dinner, I made an easy version of rice pilaf with some of the roast chicken - cooked the rice in a little chicken stock made with chicken bouillon powder, cut up chicken, onions, and frozen green peas in the rice cooker. I added a little ground pepper, as well. I had it with a simple cucumber salad.
Every day, this week, I've had something for which to be grateful, whether I listed them or not.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Dancer seems to be OK
- Deliveries of items I ordered
- Delivery person obliging me by leaving the package inside the door, rather than leaving it outside the door
- Water for the garden
- Chatting with my daughter
Today's joyful activity was finishing knitting another pair of socks.
Friday's To Do List:
- Clean the bathrooms
- Do one deep cleaning task
- Have M check out the peach tree
- Start the car
- Start the car
How was your Thursday? What are your plans for Friday?
2 pairs of socks is great, even if one does become a gift! Also I am glad you got the groceries you needed without having to venture out. I do need to run to the grocery store but I am saving it until a little later, will come in and clean the groceries then take a shower and wash the clothes I wore. It might be overkill but it works for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is overkill, Anne, because this virus seems to be so insidious! One needs to take every precaution, if only for ones peace of mind!
DeleteI hope your peach tree is going to be okay and that your scrapbooks survive your watering mishap without too much water damage.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you've had a good week so far. Putting groceries away is much bigger task now isn't it, with the need to disinfect and make sure it's safe to touch. At least Dancer has some tuna 😀
How is your daughter getting on? Is she still allowed to work from home or has her state eased the restrictions?
Thank you, Eileen. I think I might need to spray the peach tree with a pesticide, but, I will wait until I have picked the fruits. In general, I don't spray my plants, but, I'd hate to have this peach tree die, too. The scrapbooks are OK. Each page is in a plastic sleeve, so that kept most of the water out. I might want to find a different place to store them, though!
DeleteI like to organize my pantry cabinets so that I've grouped the items by type, with the newer items at the back or on another shelf, etc. This way, I can see at a glance what I have and how many, etc. But, this way of putting things away takes a little more time than just putting things in front of what's already there.
My daughter is doing well, thank you. We both live in the same state (California), but, different counties and cities. She lives in Berkeley, which is near San Francisco; that whole area is known as the Bay Area; it is about 400 miles north of me. She is still working from home and will be doing so at least until the end of May. Recently, there was a survey done by their human resources office to see what the individual employee preferences were about working from the office every day, working from the office a few days in the week/working from home on other days, and working from home every day, to prepare for when the office will reopen because their office isn't big enough to accommodate all the staff and still maintain 6 feet distance between work stations. Apparently, the majority of the staff had preferred to work from home! She is missing going to her acrobatics classes, but, has tried at least two online classes, this week, and she's enjoying them. But, she's sad that there isn't enough room in her living area to do somersaults, even with the coffee table pushed against the wall. LOL!
I did a double-take when I saw the "same" sock photo! But they are another pair. They look so good with the shaping. I haven't knitted socks for years and I'm thinking that my threadbare bed socks might need replacing soon!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it a drag when you over water a plant? We've all done it. The last time it happened to me, the plant happened to be sitting on the dining table and the water ran down onto the upholstered seat of a chair.
It is dull and rainy and seems dark in the house. Considering how many good windows we have, I can't imagine what it must be like today in a place with one small window per room. I'm thankful for windows and for the amazing variety of birds we have outside. The Phoebes are renovating their old nest on the woodshed rafter from a previous spring!
Thank you, Bushlady. One of these days, I will be more ambitious and make a pair of socks with a design, but, for now, these plain knit ones are easy to do. :)
DeleteYes, over-watering a plant only creates more work! I hope you were able to get the water marks off the chair seat!
I dislike those dark and rainy days. My daughter has one of those apartments with only one window, which faces north. Not a lot of sunshine, even on the best of days. The living area is light enough, but the sleeping area (separated from the living area by a partial wall along which her kitchenette is laid out) tends to be dark.
So many birds have been coming to eat the cat food that I put out for the garden cats that I felt sorry for them and set out some bird seeds. Let's see if any birds actually eat the bird seeds!
Those socks are so pretty. Have you tried giving your peach tree compost tea? My persimmon tree had some brown spots on the leaves, and I fed it some weak compost tea last week. It looks so much greener, healthier and happier now. It even has some blossoms. I did the same thing with one of my rose bushes that had a bit of mildew. Now it looks healthy and strong. I also gave it some straw mulch. Hope you can save the tree. It's so rewarding to grow fruit and vegetables.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stephenie. My gardener fertilized the tree, last week, and mulched it. I noticed the leaf drop only afterwards! But, I shall make a compost tea and see if that helps, for if it is nitrogen deficiency and not bacterial leaf spots, then, it can be treated more easily! Thanks for the tip! :)
DeleteI've been wiping anything that goes into the fridge or freezer, with antispeptic stuff when I receive it, however the rest stay inside the front door for 3 days, as apparently the virus can linger 72 hours on some surfaces. And, yes, I do know that I am being a bit paranoid.......
ReplyDeleteI don't think you are being paranoid, at all, Ratnamurti. You are taking proper precautions and not taking unnecessary risks. I don't think one can be too careful. :)
DeleteThank goodness you were able to pull out the scrapbook albums and save them. That would have been a terrible loss.
ReplyDeleteYou got a whole other pair of socks from the leftover wool? They are really nice and anyone would be pleased to receive them as a gift.
You've had an incredibly busy week. I too have found that the days are flying by. I would really like to be able to get a garden put in this year, so that is my main focus. Good luck with your peach tree. Let us know what M thinks of it.
Yes, I'm glad I was able to rescue the scrapbook albums! And my childhood photo albums and my baby book in which my mother recorded my milestones! Really need to find a better storage space for them!
DeleteYes, I bought 4 big skeins of yarn (acrylic, not wool) for the sweater and, while I used most of a skein each for the front and the back, I had quite a bit of the yarn leftover from the sleeves. Enough for the two pairs of socks and just maybe for a third pair! Just started on them, today. :)
I hope you can get your garden planted soon, Susan. M took some samples of the leaves to show to someone at the nursery to get their opinion. We shall see what the verdict will be.
I clean things and then leave them sit like you do - it's not like anyone is stopping over!
ReplyDeleteAnd it sounds like you've organized your pantry which is always nice.
I'm glad you were able to save their scrapbook pages - that would've been so upsetting if you lost some memories from your past.
And 2 pairs of socks are better then one. You really knit that second pair quickly.
Some say if you clean them, then, you don't need to keep them out. Others say, if you leave them out, you don't have to clean them. I err on the side of caution and do both! LOL. Besides, I wanted to organize the pantry cupboards.
DeleteThank you; yes, I'm glad the scrapbooks were undamaged. :) I was able to knit while I watched a couple of TV shows and I might have done some knitting while I listened to the sermons during the retreat! :D
I'm relieved Dancer is OK. You have been busy this week. You must wonder how you ever managed to find time to go to work. X
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules. He's been fine since then. I think, back when I went to work, I was either more efficient or I didn't do quite as much non-work related things, or, more likely, a combination of both. I did the essentials and let a lot of things go undone.
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