Thursday, April 22, 2021

Wednesday Update

Another Cornflower/Bachelor's Button

Daughter fell asleep on the sofa, yesterday evening and slept for about four hours!  Then, of course, she couldn't fall asleep in the night!  She was experiencing some side effects from the vaccine, so I stayed up with her until nearly 5:30 a.m. and then, went to bed.  Woke up at 7:00 a.m. to check on her - she was fast asleep on the sofa, with the overhead light on.  I turned off the light, had a snack as I was feeling hungry, and went back to sleep!  Woke up midmorning and daughter was still sleeping!  I was glad she had taken the day off from work so she could sleep in and rest.  

It was an overcast, cool day.  The sun never made it through the cloud cover, all day!  An ideal day for gardening as it wasn't sunny and hot!  I deep watered the fruit trees in the back garden and watered the vegetables.  Something (a rabbit?) has removed all the new flowers on my cosmos plant!  The old, faded flowers are there, but, the new flowers have been neatly bitten off the stems!  Not a single petal on the ground, however.  It's like someone cut off the new flowers!  Very curious!

After I watered the garden, I made waffles for brunch.  After brunch, I went back out to the garden and started weeding.  It took me another hour and a half or so, but, I finished weeding that flower bed:


Finally Weeded!

Once upon a time, this bed looked more like a large circular flower and was planted with several rose bushes; as the roses began to die and weeding an empty bed became a chore, I had M make the circle smaller and it became more lop-sided than circular!  Currently, there are two rose plants (I really can't call them bushes as they each have only a couple of canes on them!) and the nectarine tree growing in this planting bed.  But, now that I've weeded it, I think I might have plenty of room to transplant some zucchini seedlings or, even plants a few green beans in the middle area.  After I weeded it, I put the flattened cardboard down to keep the weeded area covered.  The rocks are there to hold the cardboard down.  It's quite unsightly, isn't it?  But, it can be covered with some bark mulch, later.  


Weed Barrier Cardboard In Place

The Pile of Grass that was Weeded

There are at least two other flower beds waiting to be weeded!  These are the before pictures - the flower bed I weeded looked a lot like these do:

Awaiting Their Turn - Bed 1

And Bed 2

Bed 1 has four rose bushes and a huge osteospermum growing in it while Bed 2 has three rose bushes and a buddleia (butterfly bush) growing in it.  Once properly weeded (the grass growing in them is a type of Bermuda grass, which spread on long, underground stems or rhizomes; it's a pain to dig and pull them out), Bed 2 will have room for another couple of zucchini transplants or maybe some other plants.  

After I finished weeding for the day, I made tea and watched some news.  Then, I practiced the piano for a bit.  Today, I felt rather discouraged with my progress, or should I say lack of progress?  Later, I cooked dinner (bacon cheeseburgers), browned the rest of the ground beef to make curry puffs another day, and made a bread pudding to use up some bread ends that were in the fridge.

Daughter was feeling very fatigued and sore by evening, today, and took an ibuprofen.  She felt better after that.  She thinks she will feel well enough to work, tomorrow, but, she'll see how she feels in the morning.  

We also put in another grocery order for pick up, tomorrow.  We ordered more half and half (the container we bought last week turned sour, today!), tortillas, bananas, grapes, a cucumber, more chicken and some ground beef, a packet of gelatin (for when daughter has her teeth extraction, next week), potatoes, and another box of frozen potstickers.  Hopefully, we'll receive all the items we ordered.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Daughter was able to take a day off to rest
- Her side effects aren't too severe or unusual
- Ibuprofen
- Good weather for gardening
- What I was able to accomplish

Today's joyful activity was completing the weeding of one planting bed.

Plans for tomorrow include going to pick up the groceries, doing the vacuuming I didn't do today, and maybe more gardening.

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?

21 comments:

  1. I am glad that your daughter got some sleep - my Gran always said sleep was a good medicine. You are making great head way in your weeding of the gardens. I've got Mr Man breaking down on the delivery boxes so I can use as a weed barrier/killer in a part of my garden that the Snow on The Mountain plant has taken over - I want it back! (lol).

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    1. Thank you, Mary-Lou. Sleep is the best thing when the body needs to recover. I had to look up Snow on the Mountain plant - it looks pretty! But, if you want to reclaim the ground it has taken over, then, the cardboard boxes will help, I'm sure. :)

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  2. I have used cardboard as weed barrier before, but some of the persistent weeds would grow several feet underground until they could find a crack to emerge through. And these were not underground runners. They were plants that normally would be growing above ground. Plants, especially the ones we call weeds, are amazing.

    I have heard of other people who have slept for a day after their second vaccination. I had fitful sleep with a fever, headache, and chills, but it was gone within 24 hours, and I am happy to put up with the side effects to get some protection against the corona virus.

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    1. That is happening in the side yard, where I put down cardboard, last year - the weeds are coming up through any gaps they can find! As you say, the plants we call weeds are amazing! But, it is easier to pull up the weeds when they are in smaller areas; I weeded most of the side yard in one evening, the other day. There are some runner grass that need to be dug up. My plan is to have the center path as free of weeds as possible and have small pockets of bare ground for planting flowers, etc., on either side. It's a work in progress!

      I'm glad to read that your side effects were of short duration. Daughter has a lingering headahe, but, no fever. She's resting, today, too. We, too, believe that the side effects are worth the protection the vaccine will provide. It's a matter of weighing the pros and cons, isn't it?

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  3. I hope your daughter is feeling better today. Nice job on the weeding, you'll have it all done in no time!

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    1. Thank you, Martha. She's feeling a little better - still headachy and tired. The weeding is going well! I'm looking forward to starting on another flower bed! :)

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  4. Hello there....
    I had a dermatology app on Weds morning had to have something checked that turned out to be nothing thank goodness. I also had a small spot (age spot) froze off on my hand. Hated the unsightly thing....

    I've been doing grocery delivery and pick up for like two years and ever since this covid hit it's very hit or miss. What angers me is I order items to pick up or deliver and they tell me they don't have them yet if I go into the store they do have them.. Not sure what the deal is with that...
    Today I am not doing a lot.. Been dragging a bit physically for the last week.. Lack of sleep I am assuming... Just cleaned up the house this morning, did the dishes, fed the dogs, made breaking for my husband, made some green energy juice for myself to keep in the refrigerator and now Im just sitting down on the couch in the living room reading blogs because it's freakishly cold out this morning..

    I hope your daughter is feeling better today!

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    1. Hi Robyn. Glad to read that the dermatology appointment went well and what you had checked out turned out to be not something to be concerned about. Always a good idea to have things checked.

      I have been doing curbside pick up since last March, due to Covid. I am grateful to have this option available to me and, having seen the empty shelves on my last in person shopping trip (last March), I am glad that most of what I order is available! The store I order from usually tries to find substitutes if items are unavailable, and, so far, I've been mostly pleased with their substitutes. I haven't been inside a grocery store yet, so don't really know what they have or don't have!

      Sounds like you did quite a lot - just cleaning the house would be enough for me! Hope you feel better after resting and taking it easy for the rest of the day.

      My daughter is feeling a bit better, today, thank you. Still headachy and tired, but, better.

      Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Hope you'll continue to visit and comment. :) I'm off to read your blog!

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  5. It looks like you have some sizeable spaces for your vegetables, once all the weeding is done. Do you think you'll get it done this year?

    I hope your daughter is feeling much better today.

    I revisited the garden centre today 😁😁

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    1. Yes, I will have plenty of space for the vegetables, once I clear those spaces! I do hope to get it all done in the next few weeks, because once the summer heat arrives, it becomes too hot to work in the garden!

      My daughter is feeling a little better, today, thank you. Still headachy and tired; just not feeling like her usual self, but, not feverish or nauseated.

      Oh, glad to hear that you revisited the garden center! Hope you found the big planter you wanted and anything else would just be a bonus, wouldn't it?

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  6. That second vaccine shot really knocked your daughter out for a while! I hope she is better now. Catching up on that lost sleep must help.
    Do you have plans for your sour milk? If it is only slightly sour it is great for baking.
    Went for my eye check up today and it went well. I even had photos taken which were then shown to me on the computer!

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    1. She is still feeling the side effects, today, too - headache, body aches, and fatigue. She took ibuprofen in the morning and I persuaded her to take a nap in the afternoon, after lunch. I've read that the younger people feel the side effects more because they have a stronger immune response.

      I used some of the sour milk to bake a bread pudding, last night, and it turned out really well. I might use the rest of it to make a cake, perhaps. If not, the garden cats might like a treat - they won't mind if it is a bit sour. :)

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    2. Oops! Sorry, Bushlady, I hit Publish before I finished replying to your comment!

      I'm glad your eye check up went well. Neat to be able to see the photos of your eye! :)

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  7. Hi Bless, Those beds will look beautiful when you add the bark. I used to have Bermuda grass in my garden, too. I mulched over it, heavily. I hope your daughter has recovered from those side effects. That sounds kind of scary.

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    1. Thank you, Stephenie. I used to mulch the beds with bark mulch, but, without the cardboard, and the grass would eventually find its way up through the mulch! This time, I am hoping that the cardboard will help with that.

      My daughter is feeling better, but, her fatigue remains. She experienced similar symptoms with the first dose, too. I, on the other hand, had one day of chills and fever and a little tiredness, but, not the type of fatigue I experienced when I had chemo, when I would sleep the entire day. They say that younger people experience more severe side effects because they have stronger immune systems. Even so, we are glad to have received our vaccinations. Whatever protection we receive from the vaccinations will be worth the side effects, I believe.

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  8. Reading through the comments, I see your daughter - as of this day - was feeling a bit better. I can't believe how long she slept! I'm glad she was at home and you were able to care for her. Now you are both fully vaccinated and that's great.

    You are working so hard on your garden this year and your efforts are producing great results. Was this one of your larger goals for the year? Or did it just come to you that you wanted to accomplish clearing those beds for more room for vegetables?

    We had (have) invasive bittersweet in our yard and it's been a real struggle to get rid of it. In my back shady corner I did what you did and weeded what was apparent then put down lots of newspaper and cardboard and then topped with mulch.
    The following year I put that hardy geranium in that I've previously mentioned.
    The bittersweet still pops up reminding me it's still down there but I get rid of it as best I can.
    What you've done now, the hard work, will make it easier to manage those beds in the future.
    Good job!

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    1. Hi Debra, yes, my daughter is feeling much better, now. Yes, we are both glad that we were there for each other when we had our vaccinations and to be fully vaccinated, now.

      Well, tending to the garden has been one of my long-term goals, but, things just evolved this year. I think I am finally feeling well enough to tackle some projects!

      I know that it will be an ongoing battle with the weeds (runner grass, for the most part), but, I think the cardboard will help and I'm saving some of the newspaper to put down, as well (I don't get a daily or even a weekly newspaper delivered, but, I've been saving the weekly grocery ads and, maybe, I'll ask neighbor T to save her weekly paper for me). Once the initial clearing is done, it will be easier to maintain (I hope!) :)

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  9. Beautiful cornflower! I have a new arrival in my garden - I planted it from Dad last autumn, one of three things we thought were campions. Now it is bigger, it is clear that this one at least is not in fact a campion!

    Glad daughter is on the road to recovery although it sounds as if she was hit hard enough by the vaccine reaction. I have my appt for next week and am a little trepidatious as my friend had a very bad reaction - although all my family have been fine. (I don't know yet which brand I will be offered, though.)

    Great work on the weeding!

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    1. Thank you, Lady Ella. This is my first time growing cornflowers and I am fascinated by the color! I wonder what your new plant turns out to be?

      Daughter had a stronger reaction to the second dose of the vaccine than I did, she had the Pfizer vaccine while I had the Moderna. But, we read that younger adults have more severe side effects because they have stronger immune systems. I hope your vaccination goes well and you have very few side effects.

      Thank you! The weeding continues!

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    2. The new arrival is a cornflower. It already has buds on. When it was smaller it looked exactly like a campion but now it's clear it's not!

      My family has all had AZ. I am hoping to be offered either Pfizer or Moderna but I don't know whether I will settle for AZ, if that is all that is going, or delay and rebook another time.

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    3. Ah! You'll soon have pretty blue cornflowers in your garden, too! I've been reading about cornflowers and have found out that they are edible (petals can be used in salads and teas). I have not yet tried eating any, yet, but, my daughter and I have been adding calendula and rose petals to our salads, recently (my flowers aren't sprayed with any pesticides, so, the edible ones are perfectly safe to eat).

      I hope you are able to receive one of the vaccines you'd prefer to get. Hope it all goes well.

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