Awesome.

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Beside getting in the raspberry and other berry bushes, a bit of conversation and company was good.  I asked about a number of things beyond.  Garlic, when and how... and grocery variety.  And a flower I would like to move, before it gets plowed.  I have another like it on the side of the house.  I have the plans, and will do it tomorrow.  I am finished with outdoor work for the night.

Everything is planted.  I think it was all in good shape when it went in.  Other than having to fiddle with the asparagus, and perhaps get ready for some flower beds later... and a few fiddly bits beyond, such as watering and minor weeding, I am done until fall and trees.  Pears and apples, perhaps.  I'd love peaches but those are rather... we are pushing it to try them here.  Even so, it would be wonderful.

Perhaps a few raised beds this fall, a few more in spring, eventually a minor area of raised beds, surrounded by a narrower raised area.  Then experimenting with planting this and that, here and then, and mixing and matching.  I don't need all that much on my own.  Though if I wish to store some of it, perhaps more would be good.  If nothing else, it might well get me outside a bit more often.  Which may, actually, lead to more.

Oh, shortly, I need to get ahold of a local gent, and have him show me where the trailheads are for several paths I mean to climb this year.  I won't say I'll finish anything.  I am sure, however, if I can find the trailheads, I will, from time to time, make my way toward trouble.  I think even I, from time to time, will surprise myself.  The quick path to the top, and getting there in an hour or three?  Just maybe.  I'm not always fully human.  Even partly, or mostly, dead, I... do well, from time to time.  UP!

I am thinking about the lawn mower.  I've got a couple of weeks to consider it.  I need to check money, check this, check that...  It will help with some of the work, such as clearing the old henhouse and the two little barns, and setting those back up.  I might even attempt to mildly electrify the henhouse, after the new roof *cough*.  Instead of trying to run electricity that far out, I may begin tinkering with solar.  Just enough panels for minor lighting and maybe water heating, but enough room to add more panels for the little barn out there, for heat and larger water heating capacity.  Who knows.  Some years I get to things, it seems I am getting to more each year, but there... isn't always more going on.

Hey, life is good.  Work is good.  Figuring things out, growing your own, tinkering, figuring, doing... all good.  I did want more from life, but this isn't bad.  And, I suspect, I have much more to do and a long time to be doing it yet.  On the good side, I think what I am doing, and hoping to do, is much more to the wise than what I had in mind.  If... that might be part of why I ended up how I am.  Better to be humble, loving, kind, than to be king of all the world, prince of armies, lord of lands and people who don't wish to be free.  Odd, though, how sometimes... one can still end up, for a time, in some places, and for certain reasons, being the same.

Later.

A bunch in a hurry.

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At least along my lines of regularity, action, and time.  The bushes have had their roots trimmed and are being watered.  A bit of very minor cleanup in the kitchen, very minor but ongoing.  Then a shower.  After that I cleared some dishes, along with what was in there, got them into the big bin and they are now soaking.  There is always more to do.

I just wish I could figure out a way to get the place to 'tare' to zero, so I would always start from clean.  I have known some people who can, mostly women though, and not all or many of them.  The guys who have women like that often take that for complete granted.  Then again, I also think there is something to it.  If you worship a woman for something, she goes one of two ways.  Either she begins to want to renegotiate or she see you as beneath her... or both.  It's a complicated system.  Made impossible by modern politics, ethics, and moralities... which are usually counter to the real terms they have replaced.

Oh, raspberry bushes are about on the way.  Dinner arrived, so I best eat that and get ready.  It looks like, with the raspberry and other bushes in tonight, everything, for this time of year, will be planted.  Awesome!  Now I just have to water from time to time, watch, and do a little burying with the asparagus.  Well, and maybe put in some bulbs or other flowers when it warms, and maybe some trees this fall.  I'm on the way to being, if a minor one, a homesteader.  Even if I don't eat, it is there.  Strawberries and replacements for anything that fails, next spring.  Fun.  Later.

Never a dull new day.

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Down late, up late, it's just how it is working for now.  I don't mind as long as I get my licks in.  Work, work, work, and play.  It's the other way around, but for health not will.  On a very good note, Taking Friday off, then Sunday, even with the heavy work(tm) Saturday I am in good shape.  Now to figure out what to do.

I didn't finish the dishes, didn't touch laundry, though planting is primary.  I dug the initial holes for the bushes.  I will need to dig those deeper... a good bit deeper.  Thus, perhaps, wider.  Before I mess with that, if I think I can get that done, I need to trim the roots and put those starters in water.  I think, something like, a four to eight hour soak before planting is what was suggested.  Oh, hey, about those suggestions?  Just understand that, give what dirt is, and the limits of sight to eye measuring (or even with measuring devices, given all other variables), and such... I do my best, that is all.  It won't be exact, some of it will be very off.  Just saying.

So, first thing I will do is trim the roots and set them in room temperature water... actually let me do that right now, before I even start really waking. ...  Done.  Given all the givens, they probably won't get to soak as long as indicated.  On the good side, they are beginning to green out, as is.  I think this will work just fine.  It should be warm enough to water them.  If not, I will do that first thing tomorrow.  I will water everything, first thing, tomorrow while at it.  Yeah, that is how it will go.

With that done, and a while to go before finishing, I would like to do up the few dishes in the soak and a few utensils.  Wash, again, rinse, and dry.  As well, I'll look over the laundry, for sure, this time.  Cleaning in the kitchen and bedroom are also on the list.  What order?  No clue.  What happens, happens, as it happens.  Details tend to themselves, devil haunted or not.  Hmm... perhaps a shower first... soon.  Yeah.  Later.

While resting, planning.

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Okay, sure, I actually need to figure out how to wire the garage before I can truly get going with a shop.  I would like to get some heavier outlets, and regular outlets, out there, then split them around the garage so as to be able to plug something in almost anywhere... after which an automatic garage door, better lighting, and then insulation and rough finishing can go forward.  Of course, while all that is going forward, the shop will, itself, come together a tool, bench, or system at a time.  In theory?  If I live long enough?  Yeah.

Some things have been on my mind for a long time.  Some specifically, such as the need for certain tools.  A table saw is primary.  I'd love to purchase a true cabinet saw.  If I got the wiring right, the power shouldn't be a problem.  However, the real deal cabinet saws are not really meant to be moved.  Nor would there be a good place to move the saw aside.  Most things I purchase will need to be made so that they can be moved aside, put up, etc.

Beside tools, there are often systems into which tools can be fit which would make the tools much more useful.  An example would be a router table, for a more powerful router.  A hand router is good for some things.  To do serious routing for heavy or deep designs, hand routers would be difficult, imprecise, and perhaps dangerous.  Some of these tool cabinets can be hand made.  Even a ripsled for the table saw, until a crosscut saw could be afforded... if that would ever be possible.  Negotiations, between want, cost, space, and a few other things, will be an ongoing thing.

Still, I keep thinking about making stuff with what is on hand in order to use tools more fully.  Here are a couple of variations for a router table, an option for dowel instead of screw jigs, and a side work table if the main table isn't available or is otherwise employed.  A boy can dream.  Enjoy.

Not a bad start.

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I thought I would be a bit rough this morning.  I pushed through a lot of work after needing a break from serious discomfort just the day before.  Oh, well, I am not completely pain free.  And my muscles are a bit rigid.  Nothing that would be noticed, however.  I may take anacin just because, or maybe because I am pleased with what I have done.  I have earned it, as I see things.

While I was asleep I dreamed a notion right about the time I was waking.  I, now, purchase two calendars every year.  One of pin-up girls, one with the Catholic holy days.  And, outside, I think I saw a mount for a flag.  Now that life has improved, and I can, mostly, know one day from another, both of these can become useful.  Something, back in my mind, suggested that I make the attempt to put out the flag on the prescribed days, and begin studying the saints on their given holy days.  I might not be in great condition, or always able to get out and celebrate holy and national holidays, but perhaps these little things might... be meaningful.  To myself and to others.

I would, probably, need to get a new post, for now, and a flag.  Though, to be honest, I would like to get an actual flag pole.  Oh, I'd love a fifty or hundred foot pole with a huge flag!  Thing is, I suspect it would take a number of folk to change that flag anyway.  And the neighbors just might grumble?  There are... limits.  Anyway...  But a fifteen or twenty foot pole, with the US and Utah flag?  Winter to summer and back?  I don't know.  I've been thinking of that since I moved in.  I simply haven't gotten to it, yet.  My dream said it was time.  Time for it and more.

Later.

Surprised.

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It's a bit before I have been normally going to bed, several hours early.  I believe I will be able to go on to sleep.  A good think I suppose.  Then again I know my days are tilting, so going to be early means getting back through to days is going to take longer.  I did earn it, with the work today.

My legs are, so far, just fine.  They aren't sore, stiff, or going to concrete or rubber.  Generally I am feeling good as well.  Not too tired, stretched, or the like.  Yet I worked and have a normal good want for rest.  Tomorrow is a day of rest.  I'll try to keep it that way.  Food making, but no more.  Hmm... you know though, I should get around to figuring out how to cook only during the weekdays, coasting on the weekends somehow.  Or just have foods on hand that don't need much work.  Yeah, I'm... right on that.

I hope to be ready to work Monday.  With everything planted I want to begin working on the gutters, getting them cleaned, and assessing what I might want to add with regards to those and water collection.  Then, and mostly, getting back to work inside.

Inside?  Two areas of concern, if many actual areas, projects, chores.  I'd like to get the kitchen and bathroom back into trim, cleaning and clearing wise.  I would also like to work on several plumbing projects.  Replacing the kitchen plumbing, the bathroom sink plumbing, and working on the dripping faucets.  Then on to finishing the laundry, catching up on dishes, and getting back into the bedroom.

Beyond that, tearing out some things in the bathroom and beginning to work in there.  It's still a bit cold.  A frost could be a problem while working in there, still.  I'd like to save the mirror, as much as possible, that is glued to the wall.  Perhaps I could cut the drywall out with it, then work to get that off.  Why?  I saw a neat project... an inset shelf with a mirror back.  Why waste?  The cabinet in there, however, is toast.  There really isn't much there worth saving.

I am planning to order a few tools this month.  But with plans for the lawn mower I have to go easy.  Next month I am hoping to buy a smaller, portable, but powerful enough table saw.  Ugh... but it's time.  Other than a router, and maybe a set of more powerful cordless power tools, I am mostly set up for pretty solid woodworking and home care.  I would like to learn more about electrical work though, and be able to run some lines, check lines, and rewire a few runs that don't work... plus make sure I have enough power, and have it safely run, in a few areas.  Perhaps, with a few small jobs, I might figure out how to do a larger one or two runs to the garage.

Yeah... well... I am doing things.  Things are getting done again.  I'll keep at it, as I can.  It's pleasant to work well enough that a day off a Sunday, a holy day, is needed.  Good night.

I wouldn't have believed it.

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So, out I went.  Oh, but I had to come back in, find the instructions, read them over a bit, and then get to it.  I had all the tools I needed, where I needed them.  I just could not remember how, distance, depth, and such.  Rhubarb first.  I only have six of those, and they just go into a pit.  Nothing fancy, and not to full depth or more.  I cut the plastic around, as well as the cardboard, then dug a good nine inches of dirt out.  More than needed, but I hate ending up having to dig more while in the process.  Plus, it loosens the soil.  All good.

I did each kind at it's own end.  I fudged distances a bit, but then their notions were ridiculous for my setup.  I suppose commercial farmers would be more attuned to their odd ways.  Then again, I guess we will see.  At least two should be fine.  I left an area in the middle I am hoping to plant garlic and maybe daikon radishes, if they will grow.  They may be a bit too water needing to do well here.  Still, I'd like to give it a shot.

Then out to the asparagus bed.  I dug three cross-angle trenches, to see if that would work.  With 25 (plus one extra) root bundles, I would need to dig another nine if I was going to plant them all, done all today, dug and planted some today some later, or what, I did not know.  I decided to go with the dogs to the butt.  If they started barking I would give it a rest... or at least if they barked and bit beyond my tolerances.

The angled trench was perfect for two to three root systems.  I also cut the roots back just a bit before putting them into the ground.  I had needed to do nothing with the rhubarb.  Still, no fuss... save that I was on my knees, crawling around.  Oddly my knees didn't bug me.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.  Of course I was wearing knee pads.  Not that that always helps.  I finished the three trenches then reassessed my situation.  Good!  So, on I went.  I dug the rest of the trenches, unsure if I would be able to finish the planting.  On I went, trimming the roots, burying as I believe the instructions suggested, on down the line.

Done.  Before I knew it they were finished.  Well, for now.  The instructions suggested digging a six inch trench, putting them in, but only burying them to two inches, at first.  When/if the bulbs shoot up, then when ready, bury them to near the surface but just another two inches.  Finally, when they are ready, bury them the rest of the way.  They say it could take four to six weeks.  Okay.  Reminds me of women.  Only they are never done.  :p

Finished?  No.  I was still doing well.  So... I grabbed the spade and root shovel to begin digging starter holes for the other other bushes.  Six holes.  I don't think they are deep enough, but they are mostly dug.  When, probably Monday, I get out to finish those, I will trim their roots, set them in water for four, six, maybe eight hours, then dig more... if I think, where they are, I will need the pick-awl.  I'd like to get about a foot maybe up to half more diameter hole at least a foot deep.  After they have been watered in preparation, then I'll put them in.

Anyway, not bad.  I can handle this well.  My legs are slightly stiff, but not back to a full on concrete feel.  I have a reasonable sweat going.  And I feel like I did a bit of work.  Digging is work, but the heaviest thing, for me, is going down to a kneel and getting up from it.  Actually, the whole process of working on the knees, digging, and all... it's all a reasonable effort.  On the good side, I can do it fairly well, when I can do it.  Tomorrow will be a good day down.

Later.

I hate when I can't get to bed well.

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I kept thinking about bed.  Between the sore legs and that keeping me from burning much energy, I couldn't get to sleep well.  It was well after 4:00, possibly as much as two to three hours later.  Annoying.  Of course, when I go down late I often can't wake for six to more like eight and sometimes up to twelve hours later... depending on how much I have been working before having the problem.  I think I hit about eight hours this time, about where I want to hit though.  Too little and I can be (more) tired all day.  Too much sleep can have a similar affect.  Silly but that's how it works.  Even with eight hours I can be a bit groggy all day, but over time that will work itself out whereas other sleep times will just get worse.  I still remember, until I was on some heart medicine, sleeping many hours, even days, and sometimes for nearly weeks and months, and never even coming close to feeling rested.  That went on for decades, that was a little form of hell... like being in a lake, but in such a way that the only water you could drink was from rain... whenever that would fall.  Water, water, everywhere but nary a drop to drink.

Life is still a bit tough, at times.  But now I can push through, do things, and willingly pay a price for goods... not just suffer whatever exists.  I can barter, push, pull, make things happen... if not as much as some, more than even others.  I don't understand why people don't... do more... or try for more.  Maybe not every time, every year, in every way, but something new, something old, some borrowed, something blue.  Not just a marriage thing (though I think something to keep in mind... did I ever mention, blue is my favorite color?).  Be wed to life.  Explore in it, through it.  Be curious, inventive, creative, procreative.  "Do!"  Amen.

Anyway, I just think, whatever else you are doing, are required to do, should just be the start.  Find other things to do, figure out how to get beyond your means without going bankrupt.  Meet people who can and will teach, then learn enough to pass that on.  My sleep pattern problems make it difficult for folk to be my friend.  I end up seeming like a terrible friend.  So, often, I avoid involvements.  Folk don't understand.  Life has them cowed and they are trying to avoid involvements as they can... for their own reasons.  Anyway... worth a shot if you can do it.

Today?  Well... I think I might try to plant some things.  The rhubarb, then what of that asparagus I can get in.  Yeah, I know.  But my legs are feeling much better.  I can rest tomorrow, and will probably have to rest.  I am surprised they are eased and ready to work today, or seem to be.  I don't know that I will be able to work all that long.  I'll do what I can.  I just know, when things are finally all planted and dug in, I can take some time off from heavier work, just do cleaning, and... get ready for the next push into plumbing and maybe some woodworking and carpentry.  Yeah...  I'll plant what I can today.  If I can get it all, I will.  I just... don't think so.  This is going to hurt tomorrow, but I will have both chosen, and earned, it.

A Sixpence in your shoe.  Later.

Fair is fair.

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Normally, when I wake sore, stiff, or both, time is good to me.  Unless I really overdid things.  It seems I really overdid bending, kneeling, lifting, and all else.  My legs started out a bit sore and stiff.  Now they are concrete.  I have, mostly save for cooking, been off my feet.  That usually helps.  My legs aren't cramping, if in part because I take vitamins and double down on electrolyte types.  Well, not a pure doubling down, just an additional extra of b vitamins, calcium, potassium, zinc, and some others... not quite doubling, but probably, save for a lot extra potassium, 150% of the normal vitamin and mineral intake in those areas.  The water pill makes that advisable, anyway.  I know if I weren't taking those, at the doses I do, my legs would be cramping harshly, and would have been for days now.

Yeah, okay, a day or three off is just how it has to go.  I even gave in and finally, for the first time in some time, took anacin.  My legs are like not-quite-set concrete.  And when there is some movement in there, it hurts in a ticklish manner.  Have you ever eaten sweet and sours?  Right, like that, only inside my legs.  Not sure, quite, what that is all about.  It's... different.  I am sure it is because of something I am eating, or missing, in my diet?  Almost sure, I'm just not quite sure.

Sometimes, even with the anacin taken an hour ago, I still... sort of wince.  They are almost cramping.  It's a good thing, if inconvenient.  It means I have worked them and well.  I will skip doing dishes tonight, or much else.  Hmm, it's about bedtime anyway.  Good night... uhrm, day.

My first shot at artichokes.

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Actually this is my second time.  The first time I ended up having no idea how to work them.  Sometimes you just think cooking and eating something will make sense, right until it doesn't.  I ended up just tossing it, partially in embarrassment a bit from anger if with some strange hunger.  Sour grapes?  Of a sort.  Unwilling to give up I decided to do some research and eventually give it another try.  So it went.

I must admit I was not extremely pleased.  Then again, I am not sure these were the best artichokes.  As well, I am not sure I cooked them just right and I didn't have a good sauce for them.  I attempted to make mayonnaise.  I am beginning to think that the eggs I have used before may be different.  Perhaps they have started pasteurizing them.  My guess is that would make it impossible to make homemade mayo.  It wouldn't surprise me if just reading my blog would be enough to cause a change in behavior.  Lawsuits, but also a want by growers and such to band together to stop people from doing things on their own.  It almost doesn't matter what it is, from cooking to preps like this, to carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing... they don't want you to do it yourself and have set things and changed things to work against you.

Anyway, so no mayo.  I may see what options exist for purchasing fresh eggs I can trust... which haven't been 'cooked'.  Of course, if I find a source, I won't be writing about it.  Even red states are much more blue than they seem.  Frustrating.

I fixed the lamb shoulder chops, going with a spice mix more akin to a pumpkin pie than a shank of beef or ham... nearly sweet.  Baking them to make sure they were done, then pan searing two of them, and it worked well.  For a sauce to go with the artichokes, I melted butter and added lemon and lime.  It was a decent sauce.  It isn't as if the artichokes were horrible, it's just that they weren't... all that much.  Think of something with the consistency of mashed but then formed avocado, but without all that much flavor.  The citrus butter was good, and the artichokes weren't bad, it's... just... a lot of fuss for not much.  Still, it was a bit of a unique and special meal.  Overall it worked well.

Hmm?  I don't know.  I might get in and do the dishes yet.  I am, especially after dinner, falling behind.  It would be good to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen to catch back up.  Then do a bit more, like vacuum seal the salt and sugar jars and put those up, sweep, get the counters back in order, and who knows what else.  A few steps more than where I was at.  Later.

Not going to happen.

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As I was going about getting food for a meal and just setting up my waking time, I realized work was not going to happen.  I have micro and mini cramps all through the largest muscles in my legs.  From my calves on up, including my sweet cheeks, pain ripples when I kneel, bend, or stand up from those.  It isn't brutal, per, but in combination it is more than I wish to suffer.  So, today is a day off.  If I can sit and fold laundry, then stand and hang what needs that, I may.  Although, beyond the leg cramps, I am truly tired.  It is difficult to focus.

I never did find the screening for the worm bin.  However, I have an empty water jug which fit just about perfectly.  There are still, say, three to four inches to either side of the jug, lengthwise, to allow air in.  It is too heavy for the girls to move.  And it seems to be the perfect method for keeping them out, in the short term.

I haven't been able to find my router.  I just don't know where it might be.  There are only three places it has ever really been... the garage, the back cabinets, and the back hallway.  It is in a heavy plastic case, green I think.  I won't look more today, I... it drives me to distraction when I can't find something.  It's not the best.  I may end up buying a new, more powerful, one.  But it would be nice to have one, a much more powerful one, for a cabinet and one for simple freehand work.  Things do disappear here, from time to time, just not expensive stuff usually.  I'll keep looking, when I am doing better.

Oh well, a day off isn't a horrible thing.  Even if I don't, can't, get back to work until Monday, I can live with it.  I keep doing more, and trying to keep up.  I need time down from time to time, more than not at times.  All good.  Hmm, I think I could cook though.  I believe I have lamb shoulder chops ready to be cooked.  Baking them for about ten to fifteen minutes, then frying them to finish, works well.  It's more work... or fuss anyway.  I have learned to use aluminum foil in a 'glass' cake pan for easy cleanup.  As long as you don't run temps near aluminum's melting point, you shouldn't have a problem with poisoning.  If you think that way.  Oh, and I have what I need to attempt making mayo, and I just bought fresh artichokes.  I'd like to steam those and try it with fresh mayo, as a side to the lamb.  It's... a thought.

Later.

Darker, slower, later.

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It is difficult to push through the dark and cool.  More so when after a mild uptick the dark comes back twice as strong.  As well I am rather sore and stiff.  It wasn't that much work, but enough.  Two days in a row, doing as much as I can, and tinkering with other projects, have left me on an edge.  Even so, with the hand clippers found, and everything ready, I am hoping, perhaps, yet today, to get out and plant some or all of it.

I don't mind working to this point.  I'd like to push more.  I am doing more than my body would suggest I should.  I know that is the only way to get stronger though.  I know the sun would help.  At least right up until it became another sort of problem.  All good, then I'll work more inside.

What today?  Mostly just planting asparagus, rhubarb, and those bushes.  I doubt if I will get to the bushes today, actually.  I'll scratch those for now, because I have to do some work with them ahead of planting.  I'll plant rhubarb first, then do what of the asparagus can be planted.  If I still have energy, and light, I might dig where I will be planting the bushes tomorrow.  At least where those will be going, sod isn't so much of an issue.

Finishing the dishes and taking a shower are also on the list, as well as a review of laundry.  I don't know how much of it will get done, though dishes and a shower are higher priority.  I have sure enjoyed working as I can.  A bit warmer and sunnier would be nice, up to a point.  I'll do what I can with what I have.  Later.

The ghosts that haunt me now.

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Some things are truly with me now.  They have been with me, in significant numbers, for a week or more now.  It has been some time since their presence has been known, even as individuals.  Now?  It almost seems as if there are more dead in my area, than living.  They are showing themselves in many ways, most commonly as shadows.

Even when listening to music, I sense when the girls are near.  Their 'non-verbal' communication, that which they use with each other, I have learned to appreciate to some smaller degree.  Even without light, or with bright lights from the computer which should blind me to their presence in darker areas, or simply when they are coming up from behind... I often take note of them anyway.  Well... these... ghosts, spirits, or other things... they have been throwing me for a loop, taking the place of my girls.  Only when I reach down there is nothing there.

My dreams, too, seem to be filling with human and other loves, family, friends, even enemies, who are lost... of flesh.  If I suspect some of them are not from this time of flesh, for me.  Not a few, not many, hosts of hosts.  What is happening?  I really can't say.  Many, many many, here, now.  One of my cousins, while not here this time, one who recently visited... she is... remembered by some of the others.  Why?  I just don't know very much.

It is dug.

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The sod has been removed, along with many weeds and their roots... or what I could get of them.  Then I went back over it all, digging again.  I didn't double dig, and probably won't.  I will hit where I am planting, digging down more if needed.  Otherwise that is that.  It was a lot of work.  While it was much less than what I did yesterday, I was worn from working yesterday.  That is that for outside for tonight.  The cool is taking it out of me too.  The sun was out, not that it seemed to matter.  As I was coming in I checked the temp... right around 36~38.  Yeah.

After a break, I will get in and do the dishes.  Perhaps then a shower.  After a break from that, maybe I'll do some laundry... mostly just clothes to be put up.  Actually I think that is all there is to do regarding laundry... unless some of the older stuff needs washed, I never did end up checking that.  Dinner would be good too.  I just don't know what to make or heat up.  There is ham and bean soup, but... maybe not.

This week seems to be going fast.  I think it is more from wanting to get things done and not having the energy.  That is what eats times, if it causes grief as well.  We'll see, I'll do what I can as I can.  Later.

Take care.

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Can't say it will, can say we haven't been closer in a rather long time.  Just... don't be surprise.  Have a plan, some medicine, and take care.  Reminds me, I need to get water in and down, and do a few other things.  Yeah.  Really.

Ah, yes.

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I've been awake for about an hour, maybe two.  It's been a slow go at it.  Just that bit of work removing sod sort of beat me up.  In part because the cold has been making me move less and work less.  Without using muscles, those muscles shrink, maybe atrophy to some degree.  So I was a bit stiff and sore through the night on into waking.

Even so, I am hoping to get things together and get back out today.  The sun has been out, off and on.  Two hours?  I think maybe three hours now.  Yeah.  Well.  As I was writing this, I ended up doing this and that, then the machine crashed, I had to go to the bathroom.  Focus?  Both of us?  Never mind.  I mean, humorously for my part, something or other.

How does one know one should participate in a particular field?  For me, for example, woodworking?  Ah.  By who else seems to be involved in the field.  Now, of course, there are always exceptions.  Even so, you can sort of tell.  Find out what is, generally, right with those folks... and what is wrong with them... in the both good and bad sort of ways, then take a personal inventory.  Do you fit?  I do, to a degree.  There is room for someone like me, if I am more of the milquetoast variety.  Examples?

Hmm? Oh, just thinking.

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It isn't all my fault mind you.

More.

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While I had dug the asparagus bed well it has rained every day since then.  In one way I was surprised at how well it was still dug, but some of it had clumped.  Further, the dirt is much heavier being about as sodden as it can be.  Any more moisture and it would fall apart.

As it went, I was able to de-sod and redig about half of it.  Oh, and it is chilly out there.  Between the damp, the lack of sun, and all else, my fingers are chilled.  My body is okay.  Chilly, even very cold, sub-zero, weather doesn't bother me, unless my hands are wet or working with whatever might be cold.  Both, wet and working with the cold soil, this time.  Even so, that isn't what got me.  It was the dark, if anything, and the weight of pull the sod and separating the dirt from it.  While I didn't finish removing the sod, as a last effort, I did dig up the rest of the sod again, in hopes I can finish it tomorrow.

I am hungry, but not for ham and beans.  That is good from time to time, but not even daily.  I have hamburger thawed, but I don't feel like cooking.  I think I'll do a drivethrough somewhere.  Yeah.

I am hoping to do any laundry that is left, finish the dishes, and perhaps do some work with the cast iron.  Oh, and I'd like to find screen material to hot-glue to the worm bins.  While the worms don't get out, the girls... are curious.  Yeah, I'll get some sort of screen on there, tonight.  I did find a worm on the ground.  I know it didn't get there on it's own, or it wouldn't have been alone.  I am not interested in offering the girls another kitty litter pot, or live toys.

At least some things are going on.  I was surprised the sun is still, sort of, up.  It's a bit past 20:00.  It's more a heavy dusk, but how much of that is from overcast, and how much from the sun being over the 'hills', I can't quite be sure.  Still, it was easily bright enough for me to work, and still work for a bit I would guess.  If I could work.

Oh, as I think of woodworking, several tools I had heard of were brought to mind.  I have heard of the kreg jig, of various sizes, for... a very long time.  The problem with anything like that is that it is proprietary.  The screws, the drill bit, and who knows what else.  I hate "subscribing".  Now, I really hadn't thought of finding another way.  But, while looking at general tool instructions, build projects, and such, several videos popped.  And, yes, I am going to give the non-joiner method a shot.  I suppose if I had hundreds or thousands of holes, and was making money from it (saving money does not count), than... I might consider something faster.  But I don't so... I would at least like to give the diy jig a shot.

Yeah.  Later.

Well, a bit.

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Something to eat right out of the gate.  Ham and beans.  It works.  I left one meal out, in the pot, the rest I put up last night.  Yeah, I can get away with that in the very short run.  Then I checked some specialty items I had put in the wash last night.  I have been considering using microfiber wash clothes and towels for various things.  Before I went with better ones I bought cheaper ones to give a go.  Well, they had been put up.

As I was finding tools and such, I found these.  They seemed fussy, so I hadn't bothered with them, then the project ended up buried in confusion and exhaustion.  I gave them a wash, to begin using them.  They were dry.  I pulled one for use today.  I can't tell from one use if it will do.  I will know soon enough.  There are several issues with them, of course.  One is, they need to be washed with likes.  They work on a principal of being able to pick stuff up... through loops of the material, piled, which grabs dirt and moisture.  If you wash them with things that have lint, like cotton or wool or such, that lint will diminish the ability of the fabric to work, mechanically.  I'll see if it works as I hope.  The thing is, you sort of have to have a lot of them to be able to wash them as a special group.  And you need to dry them before putting them in to launder, and it will take a while to collect enough to wash on their own.  Lots of little complications.  I'll see if it is worth the effort.

Next I got a shower in, then set the dishes to soak.  There aren't that many dishes, I just don't want them to blindside me, as they often do.  Even the bean pot went in, pretty much right away.  With the fridge clean and being kept up, it's easy enough put foods up right away.  Next I plan to get out and work on the sod.  I think I can get much of that done.  If I run out of time, I'll simply put the rhubarb in, perhaps the bushes.  I need to find a trimmer, to cut the roots a bit, then soak them before going out to dig the holes for the bushes.  As to asparagus, I'll cut those roots, perhaps, a bit, but as they go in.  Yeah.

It's still dark and wet out.  Oh well.  I'll give it a whirl anyway.  Later.

Sigh.

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I simply don't seem able to push on through.  The weather is not helping, though maybe, at this point, going back on medicine is part of the problem.  It can take a day or two for that to have an affect.  I still think weather is the biggest problem.  It's just a bit too cool to kick off.  If it had been cool the whole time, that would be one thing.  But we had an early warm spring that went away.  You would think I would be over that by now.  Nope.

A bowl of soup, first thing.  Then a shower.  Then, hopefully, finally, out to sodding and then planting.  I think I can.  If I get that done, I really want to track down my router.  I have found all of my other tools.  I have want of that beyond simply figuring out what functions it has, or can have.  If it is static, there is a possibility a plunge portion can be purchased for it.  I am hoping to put together a nesting screen system by which to separate worms, from casting, from composted earth.  Worms will not overpopulate.  So, if I want more worms I have to, at some point, create more bins.  I have no idea how many worms, or of these particular worms, can live in an 18 gallon bin (if it isn't close to full, though nor should it be).  I am thinking that, perhaps, 1k~2k would be about maximum, for the amount of peat and paper I would be willing to have in there.

Yeah, lots of things on my mind.  Never quite sure what to hit first, when any particular thing will be tended, and such.  Feeding, and checking a few things, are on automatic.  The worms will get fed today.  Every two or three days, and about half a pound of shredded foods.  Though they seem, as noted previously, to be consuming paper too.  Interesting creatures.

I found some bubble warp that arrived with an order, a lot of it.  I figure, as I vacuum seal the two salts and sugar I will pack those quart jars wrapped in bubble wrap pockets, then stow them in boxes.  Hmm... mice tend to rip boxes down.  I might just put them in pockets and stack them in that way?  I'll... figure that out when I get to it.  I do hope, if I finish planting and find the router, to store and tend those items yet today.

Later.

Well, so much for plans.

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I am continuing to do little things.  Not everything even on that list, though some things randomly get done as well.  The weather, really, simply has me stymied.  No great worries, it will happen, weather, health, overdoing things, or a host of other problems will end up kicking my legs out from under me.  I'll get up when I can, do what I am able to do, and figure things out along the way.  As should be obvious, I really shouldn't be alive.  Some suggest, in ways, I am not.

I need to put the ham and beans up, though I may part the ham down plus separate beans for use with the hamburger.  I didn't finish the salts and sugar sealing, but it is ready.  I may take a look in the garage, to see if the router is out there.  Perhaps I used it and tucked it away out there.  I have kept up on cleaning, and am gaining just every so slightly... until I make a mess of beans or cook something else.  If it warms up I may do more cooking on the grill.  Some things, however, simply do not do well on the grill.  Meats and some vegetables, with or without a pan, might do well on the grill.  A small cast iron pan, some veggies, and butter, would go a long way.  Beans not so much.

I will most likely be getting to bed early.  Even though I haven't done much I'm hitting a wall.  Medicine?  Yeah, maybe.  If I still think weather is the major headwind I face.  No problems.  I will get a shower in, after checking for the router.  After those, I may do just a bit of research on my tools.  I would like to see if my circular saw will take dado bits, and whether that is worth my time even if so.  Perhaps just driving cuts, with a little care and maybe a minor jig, would do a better, safer, less expensive, job.

I am learning much, even if some of it gets lost in time.  Some of it comes back, or even if not fully, leads to future questions and then answers more quickly.  I love figuring things out.  Good night.

Little things.

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While figuring out how to get started, I am starting with side shows.

I am gathering my power tools.  Locating each, then putting them in a general area.  I would like to put them all together, and explore each so that when I go for a tool I will know which tool is which, and know it in their cases by their cases.  As well, as I begin considering working, I would like to explore each of my tools.

I bought each in it's own time, for specific considerations including price and particular specs.  I have learned more since then, though I probably was 'heavier' on any particular tool topic at the point of purchase than I am now... unless it was an immediate need... though even then I usually steeped well into research.  However, what I knew then and now...  Anyway, as I begin considering doing some woodworking and carpentry, I would like to review the tools I have.  I am not sure where my router is.  My biggest questions are whether it is a plunge router and what size collet it takes.  I know it runs on 120v/15~20a, easily.  I'll have to do more looking for it, however.  Not sure where it might be, exactly.

As well, I set up the salt containers for more filling.  I found the vacuum sealer and attachment for wide-mouth jars.  With the counters clean, and mostly clear, doing that, and the sugar, should be easy enough.  Eventually.  Ugh... it's difficult to get going.  I am doing these little things, and other small chores and jobs, in order to attempt to prime the work pump.  Oh, and I found the instructions for cleaning the oven.  I'll read that shortly.  Bleh.

I love doing something if I can't do what I want.  In time I will get all of it done.  I just added the ham to the beans, which seem nearly done.  In an half hour I may have a bite of that.  Just a nibble, as dinner will be coming.  I just want to make sure it is done, then putting it up for food for the week... then cooking hamburger, spicing that, and putting it up for the week.  I'll check the eggs.  If they are good, I  may boil what little I have left.  Yeah.

I'll keep at it.  Later.

Sort of?

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Yeahhes.  *blink blink*

Bits and pieces of this and that, if nothing big, are going forward.  A meal was had, a good one.  Meats were brought out to thaw.  Some that is thawed will be cooked later.  Food is more than just important, it is vital for work.  And, yet, it is work itself.  It gets deep, quickly.  I can go without food.  I simply cannot go without food and work, or well.  Too many details for singles, to be honest.  It takes two just to get one to work well.  Something lost in and to modernism.

Beans are cooking.  On cool to cold days, especially in dry areas, cooking beans is a wonderful thing.  Are beans keto?  No, not really.  But perfection is for another time.  If I am doing more work, I need to tiptoe out past keto a bit, from time to time.  The thing is moderation as well as the right stretch.  Avoid true sugars, go with natural starches and carbohydrates.  Beans, rice (whole), potatoes, and the like.  These are, like or not, real foods.  Mixed with a gooder portion of proteins (I don't count even rice and beans as a true protein... just a partial) and solid real animal fats, and these foods will do you well.  As is, I plan to use most of the beans with ham.  Some of them, however, will be cut out and mixed in after frying up hamburger.  The smell of cooking beans is a good thing.

Then again, I am a bit unique.  Beans, as a general rule with exceptions just to prove I am not wholly inhuman, do not give me gas.  Nor do most things which disturb most people's gastrointestinal workings.  Cabbage, from time to time, will.  Radishes, beans, hot food, almost nothing else does.  Overeating, actually, is the greatest risk.  It makes enjoying beans, and the cooking thereof, quite a bit more pleasurable.

I have the furnace at 74 F and it still seems a bit chill.  Even with the beans going, and the oven earlier, at 350 F, and... a persistent chill remains.  I am hoping that all these things, plus a shower, and I might warm up.  If that doesn't do it, perhaps working might help.

I do hope to get everything planted that I have today.  Which will require removing sod and digging down.  I spoke with my neighbor about the bird house that was blown over.  He thinks just burying it is the way to go.  Well, and rewiring with "bailing wire", or what passes for that these days, onto the heavy duty t-post.  The thing is I would like to scrape it, sand it, then paint it before putting it back together and then back up.  Perhaps a waterproof sort of paint.  I may trim some of the bottom off as well.  See if I can get to good wood quickly.  So, that won't happen today.  Though I might move it over to where it can be worked on more easily... and perhaps get it out of the rain.

A shower first.  Then on to work?  That is the hope.

Is there a better way?

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I don't care what it is that I am doing, I always wonder, in the back of my mind, if there isn't a better, faster, more sure, cheaper (less expensive), and/or easier way to do it.  Three might be other qualifiers for, in essence, optimization.  In many cases, with some limits due to scale, there is usually a trade-off.  Expense for speed, or strength for weight, etc.  You can have some of what you want, just not all of it.  How much strength does the item being produced need?  How much can it reasonably weigh, cost?

Is there, truly, a perfect way?  I honestly don't think there is, for example, a perfect way to make a dresser.  Add in time... not the time (mostly) to produce the good, but time as in the passing of large amounts of time... years, decades, centuries.  At one time, lumber was expensive.  But that no one had much wealth, it was offered in trade or procured as part of one's life.  You had help as you helped others, with some grants for rank and popularity.  Fifty years ago, wood was rather accessible.  It is, pretty much, all that was available but it was very available.  Today there are many sorts of items, but wood has become dearly expensive.  So, over time, things change as values and costs change.

Now, in a given time bracket, say over a decade, or maybe two, there are probably methods that are better.  Although one has to still plug in the variables and their priorities.  Cheaper, heavier, longer lasting, solid woods or other, just how exacting are you willing to be?  Or do you just want to make a simple dresser or desk?  Is it cheaper to just buy?  Easier?  Even if it is junk-in-waiting, $150 and immediate use, to many, beats procuring tools, the skills to use them, the materials to do the construction, and then the time to do it.

The same can be said of every activity in life.  From food production to processing... is it better to grow your own?  Cheaper?  When all is said and done, I really don't know... not about costs... certainly not with the time added in.  Though there is something to be said about using your time in real efforts rather than "making a dollar" with which to spend.  In a perfect world, where things only "get better (easier?)", earning the dollar is probably more sure.  But with any drastic change in the value of that dollar, the ability to earn that dollar, and so on... having real skills is far superior.  More?  I would say building your own life by using your own time to make things in, an grow things for, your own comfort and living, is far superior.  You aren't just a cog, you are.  Not because you think, but because you make it so.

A bit of this, a mix of that... I can't say working for a dollar is the worst, or is to be avoided.  I am, more, suggesting that mixing and matching, some of this and some of that, is the better way to go.  Learn to learn, and do.  Perhaps keep that day job, so long as it is of value, but do more for if that option goes away or the value disappears.  Who can work if they literally can't afford to work.  I have known many who have worked at a net loss, but that usually fixes itself much more quickly than not.

A perfect way?  For life, a particular project, foods to eat, or anything?  Well, don't stop looking.  If you find something that might ease something, and it doesn't cost too much or require too much care?  Go for it.  But don't expect, not here, not now, not in the future, to find a definitively best way.  Just find a way that is good enough for you, doable, repeatable, reliable, and affordable, then do it.  It's a fallen world, I don't think these things can absolutely be known.  I do believe it will be better, first in heaven, then after.

Raining, I think.

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Dark, cool, it's just how it has been lately.  No worries, I think I'll be able to figure things out today.  Rain seems to be letting up in the afternoon.  The sun has been making weak brief appearances as well.  Though I may attempt to work earlier, I'll simply want to have a rain coat on if I do.

I woke to a terrible racket.  I wondered if they were digging the phone line in.  Nope.  The water fountain, for the girls... cats... was too low.  I know it wasn't rumbling all night, just, at most, an hour or two this morning.  I filled it.  I'll have to pay closer attention.  Though, perhaps, that will just happen from time to time.  There isn't a really good, or easy, way to tell the depth.  I bet I can fix that without too much work.

With the dishes caught up and the tub/shower clear, getting a shower right away... or... as a first thing in a bit I mean... should make the rest of the day move along a bit better.  Oh, hey!  It looks like the sun is peaking out.  Anyway... a shower first.  Then some air dry time, maybe breakfast, and medicine.  Then to work.  If I can get a clear shot at things, I should be able to finish all the tasks that remain on my planting, growing, digging list.  If so I might just get to working on clearing gutters.

With those things done, I'll get back to housework.  I have been keeping up with where I got, at peak.  So digging further will be simple enough.  The kitchen and the main bedroom are the focuses.  Though, as I found, other things often either get in the way or work as change of pace.  The main back hall, for example, could be cleared and cleaned as I clean the other areas.  As well, bringing the back freezer into use, emptying and cleaning the main freezer while at it, might also be an ongoing task.  As well as any number of other small chores, such as getting the hoses in the basement, and the basement itself, back into order, might be another little thing.

While cleaning is good, I like to mix in other sorts of chores... if I can.  I would like to work on the bathroom and kitchen sink drains, work on the dripping faucets, spray for bugs and weeds when the weather deigns to allow the sun to shine, and perhaps polish some of my leather boots.

The goal isn't to work myself to death, it is to catch up, keep up, and advance... to a point where keeping up and doing other things is in the playbook.  Learning as I go, improving my home, organizing my life and tasks so as to simplify them and other tasks in the future.  Work, work, work, work, work.  It's not all I ever wanted, but it is a solid part of it.  I like to work, I like to do things, make things, improve my lot, learn, and experiment.  I may never know much, but I sure enjoy realizing how much I don't know.  *grins*

Good day.

Things are going.

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Outside, however, is at a standstill.  It is, and has been, raining.  Perhaps it has let up, I haven't checked in a bit.  I am still hoping to get out and clear the ground and plant yet today.  I won't do it in the rain though.  Probably.  ~~  As things turned out, by the time it stopped raining it was simply getting too dark.  I could have gotten a lantern of some sort going.  I simply wasn't in the mood for it.  I knew it would be wet and cold.

I did carry on with the dishes, and making several meals... keeping up on dishes the while.  As well, I worked on the laundry.  I put the whites through a second time.  I had set the washing machine to a setting I thought worked one way.  It seemed to leave the laundry sopping wet, so I had to wash them again anyway.  Those are in the dryer finally.  I haven't folded or hung the clothes from the last two loads.  I just... yeah, no.

I had the furnace jacked up to 74.  While that made life... better... it wasn't quite enough to kick over.  I'll keep at it.  A shower in the morning, then, if I can, rain or shine possibly, I'll get back to work.  Hmm... if I wake early enough I will try to make it to the post office.  Something that was supposed to be delivered to my home has not arrived.  Perhaps it, somehow, was sent to the post office... it's just unusual for that carrier.

I'll be heading to bed shortly.  I am back on medicines, and am actually feeling better, oddly, for it.  Or so it seems.  Whatever.  Good night.

Down late up later.

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I think it was around noon when I finally woke.  I had an opportunity at about 6:00 but knew that I would be exhausted all day so I went back to sleep.  It was well after 2:00 when I went to bed, perhaps as late (early) as 4:00 or 5:00?  No worries, it just... the weather is a bit part of it.  It became overcast yesterday and has just stayed that way.  The cool came in and that just did things.  Well, I did start medicine back up, but it doesn't seem as if that is the problem.  Not yet anyway.

I am thinking of getting a shower in.  Perhaps that will help.  Making breakfast while I am at it, give or take.  Then out to the asparagus bed.  Hmm... I think I forgot to move the whites over to the dryer.  I'll do that too, as a first thing.

With a lot of the little things, mostly, managed, I am hoping to get sod removed and complete planting today.  It's not bad, really.  Later than I hoped, if I think it will work out.  I have let the neighbors know that, whenever it is convenient for them, I would take those berry bush starts.  Everything should be ready for those, too... just a cut through the plastic and some digging through pre-loosened soil, and a bit of watering perhaps.

If I can get those things done today, I might begin working on clearing the gutters I do have.  They are all full of dirt, leaves, and... who knows.  Oh, and I'll finally take down the Christmas lights... rightly.  :p  Yeah, yeah, I know.  Things are improving.  I hope to not get so far behind on things from now on.  Later this spring I may end up climbing to remove a few of those branches I didn't finish with last year, in the evergreens... and with some help, plan to trim some of the leafing tree branches.  I'd like to figure a time with both the electric company and some help so that the wires will be undone while I do some of the work, then put back up afterward.  I don't want the risk of playing around the wires or even going without power for a day or five.  They get fussy when you don't include them in your plans.

Yeah, not bad.  More things to do than what I can do in any sort of short order but much has happened, much is happening, and I am becoming more able to do more and more.  I think that is part of the trick to life... to always have more to do but not so much more that you get buried in it and not so little that there is no drive... purpose...  You must have it.  Just don't let it choose you, you must manage it, even if handing it off to God when you aren't sure.  He really doesn't want us to be His slaves though, He wants us to begin learning to choose rightly, then doing so... only returning to Him for advise, or when we fail, or even to share in the joy of a reasoned purposeful existence.

Later.

Not quite ready for the next area.

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This year it's lawn, garden, and the final kitchen appliances.  Next year, perhaps, I may dig in, more heavily, into woodworking.  I am, from time to time, buying bits, pieces, tools, here and there.  Next month I might be buying a jigsaw and a oscillating saw, for example.  Then again, I don't have the electric hooked up in the garage yet.  *shrug*  Always something.  I... may... well... I can't afford to mess with that as is.  Maybe that will be my first paid project for next year?  Maybe.

I would like to get a couple of 220~240, perhaps one by 60 amp, one by 30 amp, then a number of 20 amp outlets... an half dozen or so?  Well, and a new shop light, or lights, a driveway light, and then an automatic garage door... the electric first, possibly two panels, maybe three?  Ugh...  The garage door will probably be another year, or two, out.

Bit by bit, this and that.  With a home, to a degree, you are always behind.  The bathroom, the kitchen floor, the electric to the garage, raised beds and starters, trees planted, trees down, tools, equipment, etc.  On the good side, there are much worse things you could be doing with your hands.  Idle hands lead one astray.  Though, that really isn't a problem for me.  I am having to use every ounce of my ability just to... lift a hammer, shovel a plot, or sort out a worm farm.  Even so, I like to, when possible, keep my hands busy anyway.

I suppose I could do as this fellow suggests, and start out with, basically, scrap equipment.  I would rather not.  If I won't be able to start out with a room full of $3k pieces, I wouldn't mind a couple of machines at about half that cost, the rest as I may, more on the cheap, if I have some numbers of those already.  A good table saw would allow me to begin making some of the other pieces, such as a jigsaw table, or router table, as starters or even final products.

That's better.

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I did, finally, get the worm farm constructed, mostly.  I still need to cut an airhole in the lid.  For now I may just go without a lid.  Hmm... I wonder if that billhooked utility knife would work?  If so, I may be done with that.  I simply don't want to find, set up, then take down, a heavier saw, like the reciprocating saw.  I really need to get a jigsaw for little jobs.  It's... yeah... on the list.

I also found scraps to chop for worm food, the last of three heads of romaine.  I also added a bit of gardening lime and eggshell, plus some water, straight out.  As to worms?  I must admit, there are more in there than I thought.  They simply don't clump, like red wrigglers.  There is no place without worms.

I didn't add more "dirt".  It does look like they do more than simply tunnel through the shredded paper, they seem to be eating that just as if it was any other food.  All good.  I mixed what was in the buckets in with the dirt, then added what I had left of shredded paper.  I seem to be doing well with it.  Though, when it starts to warm, I am probably taking them on down to the basement.  I would like to figure out how much to feed them, and then do that about every third day.  If grass trimmings work for them, I will use that as well.

Experiments abound.  I ended up spending more money than I thought though.  Ugh...  I am going to have to start being more careful.  I do want the riding lawnmower though.  I think I can.  But after that I believe I will take a month or two off from spending.  Saving up for this fall, for a snowblower attachment, then near Thanksgiving, for a new refrigerator and/or dishwasher and microwave in a group buy again?  Something.  Then I have to begin saving for a trip in the spring.  It's never just gas, who knows what the cost will be, and it is always more than all indications suggest.  Always.

I also got the last load of laundry.  There are a few wool socks, lost halves of pairs, but not enough for a load.  It was just whites, cottons, dish towels mostly.  I might be able to finish laundry and regular dishes yet tonight, cut out airholes in the worm bin, then be ready for a shower and work on the asparagus and alt-berry beds tomorrow.  Yeah, maybe.  I just hope there is a little more sun.  Just not full blast!  Ugh.

Good night, or later.

There is always hope.

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I ended up napping.  I can't tell you how long I napped.  I do know that even when I woke I wasn't very awake.  I did get a shower in, then set the few dishes to be washed in a hot soapy soak.  Then I started the last load of regular laundry.  I might have a load, perhaps two, of synthetics.  I might get to them yet tonight.  Then I decided to wash the counters and stove.  All in one quick effort.

I will look over the instructions about how to clean the oven compartment.  It has an automatic cleaner system.  I think adding water in a container, or just in the a basin at the bottom, then having it steam out, is the way this one works.  Though I might have mistaken this model for another one.  I'll need to remember to removed the tin foil on one of the racks.  I'll replace that, on both racks, when the cleaning is finished and the oven is cool enough.

It is too cool for me to mess around with much else outside.  I will, however, put the worm bin together.  Which order things go I can't say.  Though I think I will be doing the worm bin first.  Though, really, I could probably start the oven and then hit the worm bin, all at once as with the other work.  Neither task, other than figuring out what the instructions actually say for the oven, is difficult in any real way.

I hope, tomorrow, to be able to get right out and plant things.  Well, after finishing removing sod for the asparagus beds and the plots for the other berry bushes.  The rhubarb will go in easily.  I won't get strawberries in this year, but maybe next... if all this works out.  Along with a few other things.  Money, time, and energy keep pulling up a bit shy.  Still, not a bad grouping this year.

Later.

I couldn't.

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I did finish the one load of dishes.  I collected the dishes from this week... fewer than I thought though as I am keeping up on them, mostly, as I go.  That was it.  I couldn't even get a shower in.  Why?  Tired.  It isn't something that is felt, it just is there.  Focus is a problem, but after I worked to see past that, I realized I am physically, bodily, tired too.  Having the sun come out would help... at least so long as it doesn't come out and bake the world.  Ah well.

I went to bed early.  Even so I woke late.  I saw an opportunity to wake at about 6:00~6:30.  Normally that would have been the right time.  I just couldn't.  An hour or two later I was able to wake.  Though, honestly, I am still just on the edge of going back to sleep.  I realized that I have been missing medicine, for days.  I'm never absolutely sure if missing medicine is the problem, though, or a symptom.  I'll get back on them today.

I don't know if I can get to work today.  I'll find out in time.  I am hoping to get a shower in shortly.  That will help by either tiring me for a nap or waking me for the day... I hope.  Later.

Bumbling in the right direction.

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Getting started has been difficult.  It isn't pain or stiffness, merely a lack of focus.  I finally surrendered and turned the furnace up.  Without waiting for that to kick in, I went ahead with dishes.  Washing a few items that seemed troubling, though most things simply needed rinsed.  Glass and steel has been washed or rinsed as needed, dried, and put up.  Plastics, most of them, are soaking for the moment.

I grabbed clothes and a few other items to be set in the laundry room, then grabbed clean clothes for when I take a shower, which will be right after I finish the dishes.  Of course, now I have more dishes, from the end of the week, and I still have cast iron to clean.  Even so, It'... much improved.  A shower after the dishes, then I might set up the last of the regular dishes to a fresh soak, then start the last regular load of laundry.  A break after that.

Finally I will get out to the asparagus bed.  I do hope to finish that and the planting, but it might not quite be possible.  Either way, I should be able to get the rhubarb in.  I also ordered berry bushes.  They are similar to blueberries, though hearty enough to handle the temps around here... down to 40 below, Fahrenheit.  I think I have four of those, with two slightly different types, which are supposed to help with cross-pollination.  Those should be easy to plant... think planting a very small tree, perhaps a foot in diameter and maybe a foot deep at the deepest.  I am hoping to get those in the ground today too.  Even if I don't get all of the asparagus in, I hope to get the rhubarb and bushes in.  I will, in spite it being Sunday, finish the asparagus tomorrow.  Those really need to go in quickly, or be frozen... according to the information packet.

Worm bin?  If I run out of heavy steam, and have the other items in, I might get to that yet today.  Ugh.  It's difficult to do everything one suggests.  Sometimes the body doesn't comply, sometimes other things end up taking much longer to complete, always potentially something.  As long as I keep at it, even if there is a failure, I will keep at it.  Good day.

Awake for what that might mean.

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The clouds and cool are just not helping.  At least I didn't sleep more, or much more, than eight hours.  It is a bit rough this morning.

I am hoping to do something today.  To be honest, I want to hit the dishes first, and just power through them.  That in order to take a shower early.  Then get the last load of regular clothes through.  And, then, finally, out to remove the sod and double dig... perhaps planting while I am digging.  I might clear and dig down on half of it, then plant, so as to give my body a bit of variety?  It seems to help me stay on task if I don't do one thing for too long.  Mixing things up helps.

I did call my mother.  She is down with the flu.  Has been, that is.  She seems to be on the rebound.  I have to guess their weather hasn't been all that much better than ours, though that isn't always the problem.  I'll check on her early this coming week.

She suggested that I prepare for a drive back home next May.  Something about her, an aunt, maybe an uncle and cousin, heading to Texas for my eldest niece's graduation.  I must admit, the headstart helps.  I would sorely like to see family again.  My uncles and aunts are passing at an alarming pace.  As well, I would like to visit with cousins, second cousins, various sorts of in-laws and long family friends, and some others... we are all getting longer in the tooth.

Oh, I'm not complaining... about being tired, about the work, about getting older, or anything.  It's a good life, I enjoy work only wishing I could do more of it for longer periods and more often.  Yeah, I'll get to some of it again today.  More than I think... I think.  I hope you have a good working or resting Saturday yourself.  If nothing else, go on out.  Find or make something to eat, and go for a picnic.  Hmm... actually I am going to aim for that next Saturday.  Roasted chicken, steamed veggies with butter, and tea... perhaps something else.  I'll have to figure out how to keep it warm, and put together a picnic kit in the interim.  It's a goal, mind you.

Later.

Oh well, not tonight.

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Back to bed with no more than some food cooked... and eaten... if those things no longer count.  I didn't even cook all I had hoped to cook.  Drifting in and out of here and there.  Not from exhaustion, probably.  Though there is some connection.  It's more like the far end of a chain reaction from exhaustion.  Haunted by notions, this time it's her.  In no particular order and without any particular signs.  Does she, though?  Is she?  Am I?  Run, lad, run?

Long nap.

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I think?  I know I didn't go down near when I thought I would.  I just drifted, for an hour or three, more?  Then the nap went long itself.  Or seemed like it.  Too hot.  I should have turned the furnace down.  Oh well.  I can't sleep well at that temp... 72 F or higher, not until I get used to it.  Actually I still need the fan and ac to sleep.  Sometimes, even so, as the nap today, the sleep is what I call hollow.  It doesn't feel like I've slept, I don't feel rested, I wake up on fire.  Remember when I suggested I would get fevers that seemed to be from the outside in?  Well, imagine if that fever gets, pretty much, all the way in... that's what I am waking to.

I'll figure out how to cool off.  Of course, I've got the oven going, so as to make dinner, and prep meats for several days.  I'll cook several steaks, baking them a bit, then frying what portion I will eat tonight.  Then frying hamburger to have beef crumble around.  The sprouts did end up greening up, a bit anyway.  Not as much as I would like.  So, if the sun is out again tomorrow at some point I may give them one more shot at it.  I'll have a small bunch of them with dinner tonight though.

I am still hoping to wash the dishes, then shower, reset the dishes, and put in the last load of cottons while seeing what else there might be to wash.  I'll check old loads.  If they smell off, I'll take them in and sort them for a simple run through the wash again.  Yeah.  But if the cats nest in them, or the dust(?) gets to them, they just smell off.  No real choice.

If I get those things done I will do the worm bin.  I know, I keep promising.  I just ran out of steam and lost my footing.  It has been a very good week though.  There is still tomorrow.  And there is next week.  I am hoping to keep up and keep going until summer causes a break, then acclimate to that as quickly as possible... figuring out how to adjust bodily, how to make that smoother, and then figure out what I can do in the heat, or morning, or evening and do that.

I suppose, when it turns hot, with the ac, I can work in the en suite a bit more.  But I still want to do some things outside, perhaps daily.  The goal is to consider chickens.  If I do that, I will want to check on their food and water nearly, if not daily, possibly even twice a day until the systems check out, but then do that when the weather changes...  If I think of it as I do the cats, and when I feed and check the water and litter pan of the girls, go out and check the feathered girls and chap if I go that way.

It's been a long time that I have been here.  It took a while to get used to being saddled with the debt and responsibility... some of which I am still trying to catch up on.  I would like to go a bit deeper.  More gardening, if in easier mode as necessary... with perennials when possible... with drip automatic irrigation... and raised beds when that works better.  Then to chickens for eggs, though in time for meat perhaps.  And, finally, to a goat or two.  I am not sure it is all possible, but it may be.  Then again how long have I been on about all this?  Though this year is proving quite fruitful.  The last few years have been improvements year over year, so... maybe.

I best get to dinner.  Later.

Probably not.

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I am more worn than I thought.  I just can't get going.  The sun has been out more, but seems to be dying out.  Tired.  Not sore, not stiff, not troubled in other ways.  Staying awake is just a difficult thing.  I believe I will take a nap, then see what can be done later.  Mostly indoor stuff, perhaps the worm bin, only maybe on any of it.

The starters did arrive today.  I would love to get them in the ground.  The rhubarb shouldn't be a problem, there are only six to plant.  It is the asparagus that will be some work, more so since the bed isn't completed and I'll have to double or triple dig to get down deep enough for the roots.  If I finish the little stuff through today, perhaps I can get the asparagus in tomorrow... if I focus just on that.

I did put the sprouts in a window, in the hopes they will get whatever sun might show through today.  I may move them to some west facing window in the hopes there will be just a bit of sun later this afternoon.  It is, simply, a dark day.  The last few days have been dark, which hasn't helped.  No worries, I probably needed a bit more rest.

Later.

I needed the rest.

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I think all I did, yesterday, was a couple of loads of laundry, resetting the dish soak, and a few other very small things.  I am feeling better, if still at the edge, today.  No matter.  I do have things to do.  Dishes, first off, if I will want to reset the water again.  Yeah, but when it gets cold it just doesn't clean.  I am waiting on a shower to do my next load of clothes.  After dishes are reset though, I'll do my normal waking routines.  Then I'll put the worm bin together, then do the dishes, then do my last load of cottons.

At that point, I'll probably wait for asparagus and rhubarb starters to arrive.  They are supposed to be here today.  Hmm... actually, after a bit of a break from the above, I should get out to begin pulling sod in the asparagus bed, and digging down more, to loosen the soil rather deeply.  I'll want at least cardboard as a mulch, then maybe actual wood chip mulch on top of that.  At some point I would like to check the jerusalem artichokes and horseradish.  I am curious to see if anything is happening with those yet.

It'll be a long day.  If I don't get it all today I'll continue tomorrow.  I should be able to get it all done, though who ever quite knows.  If I do get it done, my weekend starts tomorrow.  That doesn't quite mean I'm off the hook though.  I am going to start using weekends in an attempt to just catch up on the house, to where I was during my last push on the interior.  Oh, and perhaps light things, such as spraying for bugs and weeds in the driveway, if the weather finally permits, there is time, and I have the energy.  Though, if the sun comes out today, I might get those things in today as well.  I never can tell what will get done.  The clock is ticking and it is late already.  *shrug*

Later.

Not exactly a tattoo.

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Thinking of mother.  I am on her mind as well.  We both know why.

Some laundry takes more time.

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I am finally finished with most of my cottons.  I did wrangle another load together, but had already started in on synthetics and winter clothing.  I wanted to finish that.  As with the poor and war, there will always be those and/or rumors of such.  *looks at you sideways*  Oh, it's true.  Just gauging your reaction.  Anyway, the thing with synthetics is that it takes a lot longer to dry.  Can't use heat... or in my case, after enough was enough, not much heat.  I finally put it up to the lowest setting and let it go.  It seems to have worked well enough.  I suppose I could have air dried it.  But with as rainy as it has been, I think I would have hit the same problem.

With the second load on into the dryer I can start on the cottons.  Oh, and I suppose I will drain the dishes and reset that to a hot wash.  While doing so, I'll fill one of the smaller dishpans with hot water then clean the kitchen counters and stove top... changing water as needed.  It shouldn't need changed but you can't always tell.  Then a sweep, a rest, and then back to the dishes in an hour or two.

After the next load of laundry is complete, I'll work on the worm bin.  Oh, and those extra bins I had intended to use to eventually grow my worm farm?  Some of those are being siphoned off for other uses.  In one I am placing woolens.  I may end up needing two, as I am including some cottons, silks, and other natural materials, mostly for winter use.  I will be going with mothballs.  I have reviewed herbal defenses, and those fail, in truth.  I'll go with the stuff that is much more likely to work.  Another bin will be being used for heavier general clothes, such as lined pants and jeans, heavier gauge shirts, and such, as well as synthetics.

That still leaves me with enough for two worm bins.  And, should I need more, I know where to get them and at a price I can tolerate.  It's a good, but dark and cool day.  I won't complain.  Though a little sun, to green up the sprouts... daikon radish and something else... would be nice.  There is tomorrow.  Worse comes to worse, I'll figure a way to get them up close and personal with the full spectrum lights.  I'd like to see how well that works anyway.  Not sure if it will green them, in truth, at all.  But would be good to know, or find out what might work... thinking Alaska here.  Yeah, that's... still a thought.

Very slow.

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To be fair, it has been dark all day.  Then it started raining an hour or two ago.  It is still raining.  I did put a load of laundry through, dried it, and have cycled two others through.  I need to deal with the load in the dryer and move another into the wash.  Then, perhaps, hit the laundry.  I think I can do the worm bin yet.  I am not sure much else will happen.

It's not a terrible thing.  I needed a bit of a break.  Or wanted one?  The soreness has eased, no stiffness remains in the muscles and bones.  Though I suspect if I do the dishes, stooped over as necessary, I'll get a hitch back, here and there.  It's all good.

Well, I may not get much more than those three things, if not even those to completion...  I don't think I'll hit the cast iron, though I will probably finish the dishes in soaking.  I may or may not finish all of the laundry, if I will get whatever I wash on through, folded, and put up.  I would like to sweep, maybe do a bit of work in the bedroom, and wipe the counters... which I can do while washing the dishes a final time.

It's all going well.  Even the rest day, as needed.  I had hoped to sneak out and do some of the sod, but with it raining, I don't feel like pushing past the cold and wet.  Then again, that would kill this being a rest day.  Messing with sod, stooped over, having to sometimes do more digging to get it right... it's a bit more work that I really hoped to do today.  Just fine.

It is a wonderful spring day, even with the rain.  It's keeping me in check.  Rest.  Needed.  Wanted.  And, it'll keep me focused on what I wanted to accomplish.  Later.

I am a bit stiff and sore, finally.

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This isn't as bad as, what, last week?  This is just on the edge of pain and a stiff body.  I either broke things loose last week or my body is simply in better condition to handle what causes those things.  I simply don't know.  More sun definitely helps.  Getting out and working in the fresh air is a good thing.  That helps.  But that couldn't be all there is.

I didn't get to the dishes, finish the last load... wait maybe I did that, but I didn't get a shower in.  The goals today are much simpler.  I would like to finish the dishes, do another load or two of laundry, and get the worm bed working.  If I have anything left, I would like to work on the new asparagus bed, remove the sod that has been mostly dug loose and then maybe dig it double deep.  If I finish, I will cover it with cardboard.  If that is too much, or I do what I can then that is it, I could do some work in the bedroom, or just back track clean in over the kitchen and bathroom to keep those up.

It is meant to be an easy, slower, day.  So if after dishes, laundry, and the worm bin, I think it is time to ease back, I will.  Going to town shopping, perhaps, or not.  I ought to pull meat to thaw though, whatever else.  I'm not tired, oddly, just slightly sore and cranky of the body.  Anacin, with meds, first thing, too.  Later.

Not bad.

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I did finish the outdoor work, plus a bit.  The berry bush bed was completely weeded and the sod was removed.  Then cardboard and plastic was overlayed and staked down.  As well, I put logs out to help keep everything down.  I then finished cutting down and into the sod on the asparagus bed one way, then came back and hit it the other way.  That sod is a lot more difficult, or seems to be, for whatever reason.  It should be much easier to pull that sod though, being spaded in a grid pattern.  And, I checked on the bird house.  I don't think the damage is too bad.  I might need a few nails and hammer to get the roof back on.  I dug where the post had been.  It had just been set an inch or two into the dirt, then wired, I suppose, to a heavy t-post.  I dug down about a foot, then loosened another six inches.  I think I have a post hole digger, and may do more soon.  I'd love to cement that in, though I'm... just not sure about it.  I'll do a bit of research.

That really was quite a lot of work.  I'm not completely done.  While I forgot to deal with the laundry, I just reset that to go for a bit, and will work on that load, and the other load, but put no more in tonight.  Then I hope to start on, and maybe finish, the dishes.  If I do anything else it would be to take a shower.

Tomorrow?  A very light day.  I might clean up behind myself... sweeping and any light dishes.  I might clean some or all of the cast iron cookery.  I might do a load of laundry, or two.  Perhaps I could do a bit in the kitchen and bedroom.  I might do a bit of grocery shopping.  All of that, some of it, whatever seems reasonable.

Gah!  I need to get the worm bin set up.  I think I will make that a priority for tomorrow.  It is light enough as far as work goes.  Anything else would just be extra, thinks I can live without if I'm not up to it.  I don't want to plan too much, with asparagus and rhubarb arriving Friday, to the best of my most recent information.  It doesn't seem like it would be all that much work, but... yeah... twenty five asparagus and six rhubarb starters, possibly needing to dig even deeper than what I have it, down to a foot to eighteen inches?  I might not get it all done Friday, especially since I still have to pull all the sod.  There is Saturday though... and next week if need be, with a day off Sunday.

Yeah, I'll finish the laundry and dishes tonight, then get a shower and be to bed as early as that all allows.  It'll be two to three hours at least.  In case I don't post again, good night.

Before going back out, again again.

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I did set the laundry to finish drying, if it hadn't, the last time I went out.  I will deal with that load, then transfer the wash over, adding one last load for the day... to wash.  Dishes later.  I might finish those today, if that isn't all the dishes.  Just the load I had set up.  Cast iron pieces remain.  Then back out for a bit more.

I did finish removing sod and weeds from the berry bed.  Now I just need to take cardboard out, and with the plastic, cover that back over.  That was a lot of work.  The asparagus bed will be quite a bit of work as well.  Almost as long, definitely as wide, but I'll have to dig more holes, and perhaps deeper.  With twenty five asparagus starts arriving (I believe, and from my understanding), I am planning to plant them at a staggered angle on down the line.

Anyway, after folding laundry, and shifting loads, I plan to go back out, do the covering up, and break the last... say... half to a third of the asparagus bed.  After I break it one way, I would like to break it up another way.  I don't think I will actually get to removing sod today.  It will just be a bit easier when I do get to it, probably tomorrow... maybe Friday though, when the starters are supposed to arrive.

In some ways I am ahead, and I did a job or two that wasn't really on the schedule.  All good.  Who knows how much I will really end up doing today.  The trick is to not work up too much of a sweat, nor to go too slow.  There is a nice medium pace, I think, that will allow me to do optimal performance.  I can hope that this pace will improve.  I don't know what the real limit is, if that can be improved, or how much improvement is possible.  Could I get to a point where I can work all of the time, or say 20, even 40, hours a week?  Will I always have serious failures from time to time?  Just... what is possible?  I honestly think, even if my heart doesn't improve, that I can improve greatly.  If I could control sleep patterns, have a regular day, it would be... interesting to look back at school.  Though we all know, at some age, a new employee is just not going to be hired.  No experience, and beyond a certain age, and that's that.  I am most likely there.  Though that isn't always the point.

I best get to the laundry, then on to the rest of it.  Later.

The plans were fine.

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Even so, I decided to change them.  I wanted to work outside first.  I was worried it might be cold, perhaps rain, so I grabbed a jacket.  I did need that for a bit.

The first thing I started working was the raspberry bush plot.  Digging sod and weeds that were there or returned.  I got about half the way through, which was more work than I had thought it would be, before deciding to do something else for a change.  Then I tore a couple of boxes apart, spread them over the rhubarb (etc.) bed, put the plastic back over that, then used the tent spikes to hold that all together.  Finally I got the hose cart where I could use it, but first checked out a shorter but full rubber hose.  It was working, and allows me to put a sprinkler off it anywhere in that side yard, so put that on the cart first, then added the longer one, so as to put a sprinkler anywhere in the front or maybe back yard, depending on how I want to do things.  I then added a sprayer on the final section, hooked up the cart to the hydrant, and checked the whole system.  The cart connections still leak.  I'll try something later.  It's together and working, mostly, for now.  Oh, then I took the extended hose around and washed the side of my home I missed earlier.  Finally, I rolled the hose up on cart and moved it over out of the way.  Worth it?  I'm not absolutely sure.  Better for lighter, regular, garden hoses I think.  And while the leak isn't too bad, I would like to fix that.  It is annoying.

The work wore me well enough that I believed it time for a break.  Lunch, too.  A bite to eat and then watching stuff...  I'll probably wait another hour before getting back to it.  Oh... I will reset the laundry in the dryer though, and maybe kick that out while I am resting.  Then I'll go back out to finish the berry bed.  The real goals, as I see things today and now, is to finish the berry bed including putting cardboard and plastic over it, then do the worm bin, and finally finish the dishes and a couple of loads of laundry.  When I am finished with the outdoors, I will sweep the kitchen.  I've been dragging in bits and pieces of soil.  If I still have a bit more energy, later, a shower and maybe some work in the bedroom.

It's not heavy, or hard, but it is testing me.  I still think, perhaps, in time, I might make it to much better fitness and be able to do much more work in a day.  Though, truth be told, pushing, every day and every time, while laudable in ways and at times... leads to burnout.  I would like to... increase my capacity, be able to really push at times, and be able to work hard, heavy, and long when needed or even just wanted... and mostly on call... but I don't want to become a workaholic shell of a being either.  I've... known some of those.  They don't have time for family, or love, or themselves.  Even their time for God is... abbreviated so as to get back to work.  A prison, of sorts.

It is wonderful to be working, more, and getting real things done.  I have plans, and more work than I can really do in any easy foreseeable future.  Some of it... a new floor in the kitchen, and back hallways... completing the en suit... a new furnace and air conditioning, and a few other things... I... just don't know.  Big, little, pricey, seasonal, trees in and out, branches cut, cleaning, sorting, storing, tossing...  Wonderful.  I love to be right where I am, living my little life, figuring out problems even if it takes me years...  Wonderful.  I hope you enjoy your puzzle that is life, at least often enough to make playing at it worth the time and much more.  Good morning and day.

Up, at it, slower.

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Actually, I woke at 6:30, really, but didn't kick out until 7:00~7:30.  I'm feeling just a tad rough, but nothing... immediately identifiable.  Perhaps a general internal pain thing going on, organs, being stressed from work, from muscles pushing them there, yanking them back.  That is the general sense.  Or... just being compressed wholesale, or a mix?  Nothing to keep me down.

As to speed, that may be gone.  I didn't finish even the dishes or laundry last night.  When I went down for dinner, I, mostly, didn't get back up.  So, actually, those are the things I will hit this morning, right away... after my waking routine of course.

First to set the dryer to a twenty minute warm-up/fluff.  Then the dishes again, then setting them to a rinse... perhaps drying some of them.  And, if I can right then or at least after a break, back out to remove sod, perhaps remove sod for asparagus, perhaps even double digging that bed down to 8" to 12".  Probably a break at some point in there.  For those beds, if I get the new one dug down, I'll cover whatever is fully ready, as I see things, with cardboard and plastic.  When I go to plant things, I may just cut an "x", and plant right down through... perhaps mulching on top as well, or removing the plastic, then mulching over the cardboard?  I'll... research that a bit.  I am hoping to finish the digging, weeding, and covering of these things today.

If I still have some mojo, the worm bin could be assembled and set in motion, the bathroom sink drain change could be attempted, and maybe even a shot at the kitchen sink could be made.  Cleaning in the kitchen, clearing the table, plus a general area sweep to include the areas I have already hit... maybe a start at clearing the back hall... and work in the bedroom... are all possibilities.  Oh, and of course, dishes and laundry along the way.

Really though?  I don't expect all that much.  If I can finish the dishes, do two more loads of laundry, finish the beds, and do some work in the bedroom, I will... be satisfied.  More?  Cool.  The worm bed would be the prize, the apple of my eye for extras, today.  Though who knows.  Sometimes I hit fourth and just run things over without a thought.

Good morning.

Midnight to midnight.

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Not literally.  As I lived for the day, worked through to suffering, I die to the night.  Such... things... while I do so.

Slower upon slower.

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Dishes were washed once.  I'm giving them another go.  Laundry has been cycled, two loads, today as yesterday, is it.  I also finished the cleaning the counters and then cleaning up from breakfast.  I am having to push, but not quite shove, to get through to more.  I need a break right now though.

I am planning, even yet, on digging out the last of the sod for the raspberry bush bed, then covering both beds with cardboard and plastic on top of that.  I will be skipping the asparagus bed today.  With two loads of laundry left, and one more quick wash, rinse, and drying of dishes... both sets I hope to complete yet today, I just don't have enough for digging.

You should see the place.  If, perhaps, before and after pictures might help.  Though it might actually be easy to see the cleared and cleaned from the other, and how much... if it had all been on par... has been done.  I am feeling extra special.  Dead, or dying, but extra special for certain.

I finally ordered a full on ham radio license manual.  Being in a valley, surrounded by mountains, seems an unlikely place to work such.  But with repeaters, probably both public and private(?), and some other techniques, it's just as doable here as anywhere.  I am almost done with the gardening books, so can begin this... or this and one on square foot gardening.  I'd like to begin plotting a plan.  A more full blown garden might be a year or two off.  But it is closer than ever.  Actually, it is starting, just more on the perennial side?  Something like that.

Ugh... this isn't enough.  I'll have to rest my bones a bit more, a good hour more.  Good afternoon.