Daydreaming while waiting impatiently!

[tortoise]

Chilly week and I don't wanna go outside. Weeds are taking over the garden already, I'm sure. Seedlings aren't doing so well. :/

DS12 is out of control. His doctor pulled strings and connections and found a therapist, it's about an hour drive away, but she specializes in impulse control, treats children, accepts our insurance, and has immediate openings. Most places around here don't do more than 3 session for children and waiting lists run 6 months or more. So this is amazing! I am cautiously optimistic. First session - just me - is tomorrow.

Doing more training with Baymax. Her task of elevating my legs was functional but not pretty. Now that she's doing better overall (training wise) I am working on that task to clean it up. In obedience, working on stand-stay. That will help with public access so I can step away from her while shopping. We have first volunteer outing and first hotel overnight and first outdoor pet-friendly event coming up next weekend. I am SO nervous! mostly about the outdoor event and other dogs. She has been fine in passing at pet store, but I've also seen her not-fine with other dogs in casual encounters.

I have had difficulty meditating lately, so it's time to start a knitting project. I didn't like the wool hat I knitted for myself last fall and ended up donating it. I have more wool yarn to work with....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sure hope the therapist can help! My son was a handful growing up. He met with a counselor and took anger management classes. If it helps any at all - he is an awesome, thoughtful, successful grown-up man now. Ok - maybe not all grown up, lol. He has a lot of big boy toys now. But he is thoughtful and successful and kind. I'm very proud of what he turned himself into.

I never learned to knit but I've been considering crocheting again. Tiny little carpal tunnel syndrome issue stopped me decades ago. I want to try again. Maybe if I just do a little at a time I can pull it off.

I hope Baymax does well for you this weekend. Can't wait to hear how she does!

 

[sumi]

My DS started play therapy about a month ago and I can see the difference in him already. Hope this will really help your DS as well!

 

[tortoise]

Baymax and I traveled. I had a wonderful time connecting with IRL and FB friends. I attended support group leader training, and the following day was an awareness/memorial walk. Baymax behaved better than her level of training. I was so impressed with her. And so thankful I took her with - I really needed her at the memorial walk event. I helped with merchandise sales, sitting at a table in the sun. Mid-day was rough for sunshine - my table buddy and I were getting loopy. I had to get tot eh shade a few times, lie down, and Baymax held my feet up for me. She also did off lead stays (not trained), passing off to a friendly stranger (good temperament!), and tolerated a few dogs, include a large dog getting up in her face (surprised she tolerated it, thankful!).

We're getting into gardening weather. I've been exhausted today but have gotten out to the garden twice today. Trying to keep ahead of the weeds. Weeding early in the season - before planting seems to make a big difference the rest of the summer.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So glad your outing went well! I know you're proud of Baymax! To perform above her level of training says a lot about her and her intuition about you. She's such a good girl!

I've got some gardening going on. I should probably say I've got a little gardening going on. But, so far, what's been planted is doing pretty well - except corn. Corn does not want to live here...

 

[tortoise]

Lambing is officially over today. The last 4 lambs were boys. Bummer!

Garden is starting slow. I'm trying to transition to no-till permanent beds and maybe-eventually lasagna/BTE. Different parts of the garden are in different stages. Fortunately, my work last year in eradicating crabgrass (mostly) was effective. Last year I was too sick to harvest and everything went to seed and rotted. This has me thinking.... Imagine a garden that you don't have to plant anything? I have section going that is [potential] volunteer tomatoes, perennial and self-sowing herbs. I'm still working on getting creeping thyme and white clover growing as groundcover. We're putting 8 - 12" thick wood chips on the paths. If they break down as promised, then I'll switch and make the paths the garden beds in the future.

Peas are poking up. Rhubarb is up. Not much else happening.

I don't have much hope for pea crop. Not much cool spring weather this year. I'm planning a fall garden, not bothering to plant kale, daikon, and some cool weather carrots yet.

As usual, my life is generally dictated by my joints. I'm starting to suspect craniocervical instability. The last couple weeks I've spent most of the day nursing my neck. This afternoon the muscles released - it was glorious! And within a minute or so, my vertebrae spontaneously crunched back into place and the pain was gone, mostly. Was nice while it lasted, back to alternating heat and ice. Stuck on the couch to stay in safe posture. I spent 10 minutes in the garden and that undid my weeks' worth of effort. bummer.

Let's see, I twisted my knee mid-step - the non-weightbearing leg! Subluxated an MCP last night taking a rubber band off a ball of yarn. Played piano one day and tendon pain for 3 days after. Endless stupid little things. I know it could be so much worse, but I'm just over it right now.

Baymax is doing great. She's learning new tasks. She's doing great for public access work too. She graduated off a prong collar and is doing just fine with a head halter.

There's a company that hires home sewists and I'd love to work that way but it's 20 - 30 hours per week and I just can't do that much. I'm torn. I want to work even though it's not worth the paycheck and we don't need the paycheck. If I can't do it, that would be good to have documented for if I ever apply for SSDI again. IDK, I might be stressing about nothing. My friend's husband works in the factory and said all the machines there are set up for standing workers - I probably couldn't manage the in factory training days.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Sounds like you would be putting your body through stress that it simply can't handle. If you don't NEED to work, and don't NEED the money, why stress yourself?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hope you feel better! Always in awe of how you keep going in spite of the challenges. Glad Baymax is doing so well. Hope your garden comes through for you with something to show for your work!

 

[tortoise]

I got over to the quilt shop and finished the top of my sister's t-shirt quilt. It's already been long-arm quilted and looks amazing! I get to go learn how to put binding on tomorrow (erm, later today). DS4's quilt top is in progress, I plan to work on it tomorrow too.

DS12 has his first "job", sorting bins and bags of fabric scraps at the quilt shop. In trade for my quilting lessons and some for him too.

I emailed back about the sewing job and was told the positions were all filled. Very unprofessional email, has me curious if it was discriminatory. I guess I'll apply next time I see the ad in the paper and try to find out?

Garden: still not planted, don't even have onions in. I'm not bothering about this year, if it grows it grows. But trying to get it in shape for next year. Working on establishing groundcovers and thick mulch, eradicating perennial weeds and hoeing down successive crops of weed seedlings. We have pepper plants, a couple broccoli and some cauliflower. Beans are popping up. One lonely kohlrabi seedling - same as last year? I wonder why my brassicas are doing so poorly again? DH planted vine stuff, I don't even know what. About half the garden is not planted.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Have you had a soil test done? Your Brassicas are doing poorly. How are the other plant families doing? If it's just the brassicas, it leads me to wonder if you have a particular deficiency that affects them more than other crops... or perhaps some disease. Generally, brassicas are useful in the garden to rid it of nematodes. I'd pursue a soil test, especially since you are focusing on getting ready for a bumper garden next season. Otherwise, how bout planting large blocks of edible green manures: bush beans, short vine peas come to mind. You can broadcast the seed, then when it's ready to harvest, sit down on a stool and go to town picking. then, just till the remaining plant matter in, or stomp it down, and cover with a heavy mulch. You could do successive cropping of edible green manures. That will smother the weeds, give you good eats, and enrich the soil all in one fell swoop. By broadcasting the seed, you'll not have to weed.

I have a sheet compost garden that needs to be covered with something this season, or it will get overtaken by weeds, thus un-doing the accomplishment of the last 2 years. I plan to pick up about 10# of seed potato today. Will do a potato patch there: Snuggle the sets down to touch the soil. As the potatoes grow, I'll cover with flakes of hay. This will give me a crop while preserving the integrity of that spot, keeping the perennial weeds from getting a foothold.