Growing things

A couple of years ago I was in San Diego visiting my dear friend Becky (love ya, Becky!). Her husband, Brett, is very proud of his yard plants, including a variety of cactus and succulents. Being from the midwest I found many of his plants exotic, and I admired them. Brett offered to send me home with some "starters" for my own plants. I said, OK, and he later presented me with 16 cuttings, none of which were more than a couple of inches high. We put them in a box, no soil, just the dry little cuttings, which I feared would never make it back to Illinois alive. I carefully packed them in my carry on luggage, to avoid the temperature extremes of the baggage hold on the plane, and off we went back to Southern Illinois.

When I returned home I bought some special potting soil for cactus and succulents and 16 little pots. I also invested in some grow lights, since I knew these plants would never survive outdoors in Illinois, and my sunny windowsill space is very limited. It took nearly an entire afternoon to set up my little "garden" on the north corner of my kitchen counter. I wish I had taken some "before" pictures then, but that was way before my blog existed, and who knew!!!! Keep in mind none of the cuttings was more than about 2 inches high.

These tall ones are succulents. I'm sure if they were outdoors they wouldn't be as "leggy" and would fill out more, but all things considered, they're doing fine.

We're now down from 16 plants to 6 of the originals from San Diego. The rest fell prey to curious cat paws (some cuttings were replanted several times before giving up the ghost), overwatering (my mistake), or whatever other maladies plants can succumb to. But the "San Diego Six", as I refer to them, are doing well! The original small pots are long gone, and truth be told, several of them need repotting now, but if I get bigger pots, they won't fit under the grow lights.

The plants that survived my cats and my clumsy efforts are now threatening to take over the entire north end of my kitchen! I keep thinking if I leave them in the current pots, they'll eventually stop getting taller, but so far they keep climbing.

I'm afraid I'm not totally impartial to all my plant "children". I have favorites. My very favorite is the little skinny cactus that started out about 2" high and is now having to be propped up against the light cord to avoid bending over. (He's the one in the blue pot.) The cats liked him too, and I had to rescue him from the floor and repot him at least three times before I finally persuaded the felines (with the aid of a squirt bottle) to leave the plants alone. He managed to survive all that and just kept growing. What a little trooper!

The plant in the red pot on the right is not one of the original California plants, but is growing from a leaf that got knocked off another plant of mine. I stuck the leaf in water and it rooted and here we are.

From inside plants we go to outside plants. The last week in May I finally felt well enough to drag myself to the local Rural King store to buy some tomato plants and potting soil. I hauled out the large pots from the shed and filled them with the potting soil, which has "Miracle Gro" fertilizer built in. I transplanted the tomatoes into the pots and took this picture about a week later, in the first week or so of June.

I took these pictures this afternoon, approximately 6 weeks later.

Gotta love that "Miracle Gro"!

As you can see, I have some nice size green tomatoes coming along. I can't wait until they're ready to pick, probably in another week or two.

This one is already starting to pinken up. Two of the plants are cherry tomatoes and the other is a mid-size variety, which will be just right for sandwiches.

When I was a kid my dad always planted a large garden. For many years there was a two-lot vacant lot next door to us and he got permission from the owner to put in all in a huge garden. No tiller or cultivator, just a spading fork, a hoe, and a lot of sweat. I loved to help him with the garden and he taught me how to recognize and pull weeds (instead of the tiny seedlings that were sprouting). I got a nickel a row for weeding and all summer I could make a dollar a week. (Hey, in the 50's that was big money to a 10 year old!) He grew all kinds of stuff, mostly for us to eat: lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, potatoes (Idaho and sweet), beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, rhubarb--boy, my mom could make a fantastic rhubarb pie!--strawberries, cantalope, squash, cucumbers, peppers, and watermelon. Each year he'd plant one row of something unusual, and in early fall I'd haul it off to school for show and tell. The ones I remember are peanuts and cotton. I guess my "green thumb" comes from Dad. He'd be proud of my tomatoes.

Blessed event

Early in June my daughter, who lives in northern Florida and has all kinds of animals, called me all excited.

"I just found out my horse is pregnant!"

She got her horse, an Appaloosa named Dusty, in November of last year. Horse gestation periods are 11 months, so the person she bought the horse from didn't realize Dusty was expecting either.

"I could see she was getting fatter," Kim told me, "but this morning when I went out and looked at her I could see all the 'fat' was in her belly and I could swear I saw a hoof poking up!"

As it happened the ferrier was due later in the day to trim Dusty's hooves and he confirmed she she was indeed a mother-to-be. "Not only that, it's going to be any day now," he told Kim.

The very next day she called me. "We've got a baby!!!!"

Baby's name is Penelope and she and her Mom are both doing well, I'm told. I'll be going down in August to see them, so I'll get to know the newest member of my family soon.

Isn't she adorable?????

A Dog's Life

Is this the picture of relaxed or what?

This is my main man, my four-footed squeeze, Madison, reclining next to his stuffed duck, which he played with until he flopped over into this exhausted heap.

The other day I discovered a doggy friend of mine, L's Cozie, has the very same duck. L and I recently entertained one another squeaking our respective dogs' ducks over the phone. Actually, rather than squeaking, this toy makes a noise that I presume is supposed to be a duck call. It sounds more like a large dog fart. But anyway, Madison loves his duck, and Cozie loves his.

Same dog, different angle. Isn't he pretty? He needs a bath and a trim, but I haven't had the energy to get him to the groomer yet. Soon, baby, soon. Meantime, I've been brushing him with a gadget that looks like a looped curry comb. The fur flies-- into the air, into my mouth, into his water dish, onto whatever I'm wearing--why is it I always seem to take a notion to brush the dog while I'm wearing dark pants?

Madison has been worried about me the past several weeks. He managed to get his 90 pounds up onto my bed various times to check on me and has started sleeping on the floor at the foot of my bed or in the hall just outside my bedroom door instead of his regular bed on the couch. I realize he sensed that I wasn't feeling well. But now that I'm better he's still keeping close tabs on me. You never know what your human is going to get up to!

This is Madison looking forlorn because I wasn't throwing a toy for him to fetch. I was busy with the hose, washing and refilling his bowl, watering my rose bush, and filling the bird bath. He thinks when I'm in the yard I should spend 100% of my time throwing something for him to chase. When I'm not around he chases squirrels and chipmunks. So far he's never caught one. They're onto him and know just when to run when I let him out. The squirrels in particular like to tease him, running partway up a tree, then scolding him loudly. He barks his head off, of course, and I swear I can hear the squirrels laughing.

Yep, it's a dog's life.

Vennie

The Lost Weekend..and then some

Well, well, I can't believe it's been over 2 months! Most of my readers already know, but I was ill and just not up to posting, but I'm much better. Still not quite back to "normal", whatever that is, but getting there. So I figured it's time to get blogging!



While I was ill, I spent some time thinking about time. I frequently felt I was "losing" whole days and weeks of time. My markers, my daily schedule of what to do and where to go, all disappeared, except for Dr. and hospital visits. I slept odd hours, sometimes sleeping 12 hours at a stretch, sometimes staying up until nearly dawn and then napping later in the day. Once I began to feel as if I was getting better, I felt like I was surfacing through time like I would have surfaced from being under water. Two months had gone by. While it was happening I had no concept of the amount of time passing, so it didn't seem that long. How odd it felt to have "lost" a sixth of a year.



Time is a strange concept. When you're really bored, or when you're looking forward to something special it can drag out, especially if you're a kid. Remember how it seemed after Halloween that Christmas would NEVER get here? Remember when school let out for the summer how it seemed like you had an eternity of softball, swimming, and just plain fun ahead of you?



If you're dreading something, or enjoying yourself doing something really special, time can seem to collapse, with the hours and minutes rushing by. How about that last few days before school starts in the fall, when time flashes by. Or that special vacation, or honeymoon, or visit from a loved one that you want to last forever but just flies right by.



Of course, although our perceptions of time passing may vary, time itself is unchanged, right? Time is linear and only moves in one direction--it marches on. Or does it?



Several months agao I saw a TV program about time. It was fascinating, but the part I remember most vividly is an experiment that was done to show that time really CAN be slightly speeded up or slowed, and not just because you perceive it to be. Recent physics discoveries also have shed some light on the nature of time, which is apparently affected by gravitational fields. Within the intense gravitational field of a black hole, for example, most likely there is no "time", as we know it. Moreover, it is now thought that on the subatomic level, i.e. quantum physics-wise, time actually runs backwards for some subatomic particles. (Please don't ask me to explain this. I'm taking it on faith, since I can't get my brain around it either.)



So what about traveling in time, like Marty Fly in "Back to the Future"? Is it totally science fiction dreaming to consider the possibility of time travel? Serious cosmic scientists used to scoff at the very idea of "time travel". However, the scoffers are no longer scoffing, at least in theory. While it's not likely that a "time machine", like a souped-up Delorean, would enable one to travel though time, it is postulated that if one can move fast enough and far enough, it could be possible theoretically to travel in time. Fast enough and far enough is the rub, of course, since we're talking really fast (near the speed of light) and really far (to stars that are light years away), which is not doable with our present technology. But one can't help but think along the line that a hundred years ago getting from New York to Los Angeles in a few hours was not "doable" with the technology of 1908. Hmmmmm.



Well, it's all very interesting, and I guess as good as any topic to restart my blog. There's an excellent and beautifully illustrated book, "The Mystery of Time" by John Langome, which delves into the way we humans have evolved in our concepts of timekeeping, mechanizing time, fine-tuning time and theorizing about the nature of time, including time travel. I bought it after watching that TV program. I end up with more books that way....



Vennie

The Toilet Paper Revolution?????

A few days ago my friend L sent me an email that described a product which one could easily have guessed to be a fake, a joke, an email spoof. The product is "ShitBegone" Toilet Paper--and I'm here to tell you it's no joke and no spoof. It's the real deal.


I was so intrigued by the idea that I went to the website and ordered a case. It just arrived via UPS, and while the name of the product was not on the box, it was definitely identified as toilet tissue--96 rolls. (I think the UPS man wasn't sure whether to be amused or offer me sympathy for requiring this huge case of tp.) (I ordered the full case, because with a full case I get a free "ShitBegone" mug. How could I resist that?)


Anyhow, I immediately opened the box and took out a roll. Naturally, I grabbed my camera to memorialize the moment.




































Jed, the creator and owner of the small business enterprise that markets this unusual product, claims that ShitBegone is "the future of toilet paper." Says so right on the label.



I gather I am also now a member of the "ShitBegone family" with all privileges and responsibilites attached therewith. One of those responsibilities is to "fold" my toilet paper, not "wad it up". That way you use less and get better, ah, coverage. I confess I have been a life-long wadder but am trying hard to reform.











Of course, I had to put it to the test as quickly as possible. Since at the moment I had no need of the paper for its intended use, I decided to do a couple of other comparison tests.

From my master bathroom's paper holder I tore off a five sheet length of a major tp brand--the kind that Mr. Whipple used to admonish the ladies for squeezing (surely you remember that!) I tore off a similar length of ShitBegone, and folded each piece over once and then again. I placed one "pad" of paper against each cheek (the ones under my eyes) and considered. Hmmmmm. Yes, actually the "major brand" does feel a little scratchier, even though it has all these poofy, quilty designs in it that are supposed to make it soft. Hmmmm again.



Next test: I took the pads to the bathroom sink. I unfolded them and turned the faucet on to a fast drip. One at a time I held each sheet by the ends letting the water drip into the center. The first one was ShitBegone. As the water wicked up the paper, the paper began to break apart in my fingers. It's pretty, um, delicate, and dissolves rapidly in water. (I would expect that would make for efficient flushing.) Next came the Char...opps... the major brand. Holding the ends, I let the water drip on it, wicking up until the entire length of paper was wet.
ShitBegone on left.....major brand on right




Nothing happened. I pulled on the ends and it did pull apart in the middle, but this stuff is not meant to come apart readily in water, that's pretty clear. Hmmmm.


Final test (at least for the time being): I took both wet pads of paper and wadded them up as tightly as I could. Keep in mind they were almost the same length when they started out, with the ShitBegone slightly longer. The ShitBegone ball of wet paper was about half the size of the other one. (It should be note here that both brands are 2 ply.) Either there was more paper in the major brand wad or it was coarser and less compressible--or both.


The ultimate and final test is yet to come. (Sorry I just don't have to right now.) But I will be sure to give you the results when the verdict is in.



Meantime, you can check it out at ShitBegone . Better yet, google shitbegone and take a look at how many much buzz has been generated about this product.



I promised sample rolls to a few friends, but the rest of you are going to have to check it out for yourselves. Think of it as "the paper chase", or "following the paper trail", or "getting your papers in order'' or any other euphemism you care to add.

A Walk in the Snow

We had several inches of snow yesterday and I had resigned myself to staying inside my snug little house. However, my friend Lawrence called and suggested we take a hike in a nearby park. After a few seconds to get my mind around hiking in the snow (after all I did just get back from Antarctica!), I said, "OK!" We arranged to meet in the park which is very near his home.

I grabbed a quick shower and put on several layers of clothes--about the same as I wore in Antarctica-- and added sunscreen and sunglasses. After brushing the snow off my car I proceeded cautiously through town. The streets weren't bad, but there can always be a slick patch that the plows missed. The highway was clear so there was no problem until I turned off onto a county road to reach the park. That road had been partially cleared by local traffic, but the further I went, the more ice and snow I encountered. Eventually I was creeping along at 20 mph on a winding, hilly road, wondering if this was such a good idea after all!

Giant City State Park is a beautiful area, created during the last ice age as glaciers pushed up huge boulders and gouged out caves and other interesting rock formations. It's a favorite spot for lots of outdoor activities, including camping, hiking, picnics, and horseback riding. At one time or another in the past I've actually done all of these--but never in the snow!

I took this shot several years ago when another friend and I spent an early spring afternoon in the park

Lawrence and I were headed for a hiking trail called "the trillium trail", but when we arrived we found that the severe ice storm which struck our area 2 weeks ago apparently had damaged the trail to the extent it was not considered safe to hike. The park administration had closed it off.

Note the red tape across the sign. The a small yellow sheet taped on the left side explains the ice damaged area is unsafe.

Here's a view of part of the trillium trailhead that we could see from the parking pullout. I imagine in springtime trillium is abundant in the area, as well as many other wildflowers. Since I haven't learned yet how to upload pictures from other net sites--but I will eventually-- click to see pictures of this delicate wildflower. Trillum

Good little citizens that we are, we decided not to defy the park administrators. Lawrence suggested we walk up the asphalt road for a bit to see if any other trails looked promising. Since the road was deserted, we made our way to the next trailhead.

Before we left the trillium trail area I took one more shot of where we couldn't go. The trail follows a gradual gradient up to the ridge, over and back down and is a little over a mile. Normally it's not a difficult hike, but even if the trail hadn't been closed, it would have been a challenge in the snow.

The wet snow had pretty much melted off the dark road surface but there were some slick spots, so we stuck to the side in the snow, which offered better footing. I turned around to take this shot, and you can see our footprints. It looks one set but that's because I was trying to walk in Lawrence's footprints, and not having much luck, since he's a 6 footer and I'm 5'3".

I've driven in this area when there has been snow on the ground, but I'd never walked through it. The woods take on an entirely different dimension in the snow. It was very quiet, but after a few minutes we could hear a snow plow in the distance.

By the time we ambled up to this lot the plow had cleaned it up and was scraping against the asphalt. When I took this picture, the driver decided to leave. Maybe he thought I was a spy for the park rangers, checking up on him!

The trail behind this parking area was not closed, so we decided to give it a try.

In my haste to get ready for the hike I had forgot to bring my walking stick. Lawrence found some deadfall branches and broke off two pieces for us to use as temporary walking sticks--and they worked just fine!

It would have been illegal to break off a branch from a tree, but due to several recent ice and storm storms there was plenty of deadfall to choose from.

Here's Lawrence as he started off to find some suitable small limbs already on the ground. When we came back down from our hike we left our "walking sticks" near the trailhead in case some other intrepid hiker might want to use them.

The trailhead begins just beyond the picnic shelter on the left.

As we hiked I stopped several places to snap pictures.

Things that usually look very ordinary take on an entirely different aspect in the snow. Nature's "ornaments" on this evergreen are more beautiful than those on any "Christmas tree".

Eventually we reached an area where the trail became steep and the rocks looked really slippery. We both paused, considered, and pretty much simultaneously agreed it would not be wise to carry on any higher. We could probably get up, but coming down could be an entirely different deal! Personally I don't do down nearly so well as up, so I was considerably relieved that my friend also didn't want to pursue the trail further.

We weren't really ready to head back, however, so we brushed the snow from some flat rocks and sat down. Happily, before leaving home I had decided to don my waterproof pants, so I was quite comfortable on the rock. This shot was taken looking back down the trail from our rocky perch.

I made use of Lawrence's arm as we made our way back down to the trailhead, since I figured he'd rather have me lean gently on his arm than pick me up if I lost my footing and went down.

We walked back up the road to the trillium trailhead where both our vehicles were parked and stood talking for a while. After a few minutes we were somewhat surprised to see an enormous Peterbilt truck slogging up the road toward us. The truck stopped in the middle of the road, and since it seemed highly unlikely someone would be expecting a delivery in the park, Lawrence walked over to talk with the driver. Turned out the guy's actual destination was another mile or so up the county highway and he'd been given the wrong info about where he was supposed to turn off. As a result here he was in the park with his big-assed truck and no place to turn around.

Lawrence has had some experience driving big rigs like this one and told me he doubted the truck would be able to turn around, even up at the next trailhead parking area, although it was considerably larger than the pullout where we were parked. However, the trucker decided to give it a try and started on up the road.

My friend shook his head and said he didn't think the truck would be able to turn around. We waited, and sure enough, after a while the truck reappeared, slowly backing up the winding asphalt road. After another conference with the truck driver, Lawrence and I pulled out of the parking area and headed slowly back toward the highway with our hazard lights on and the truck following carefully--backing up! That trucker knew how to handle his rig, I'll say that. We pulled out onto the highway and Lawrence got out to help guide the trucker back onto the road. Once his rig was headed in the right direction, he gave us a big high five and went on his way.

We continued the additional half mile or so into the quaint little town of Makanda and found a little ice cream/coffee shop open. We enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate (mine was raspberry flavored-ummmm) and then headed back to the highway. Lawrence showed me a different route to get back to Carbondale, and that road was totally clear, which was a relief. (BTW, I strongly suggest you check out the link to Makanda, as it is an interesting little "hippy haven" town, nestled in the hills. It was also the home of the late Senator Paul Simon, who loved Southern Illinois with a passion.)

Working Out at the Rec

"The Rec" is the affectionate abbreviation for the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Student Recreation Center, located on the SIU-C campus about a five minute drive from my home (unless I hit the eternal stoplight, which isn't really eternal, only 90 seconds. It just seems like an eternity.)







I started going to the Rec about a year and a half ago, after a friend of mine felt my newly skinnier arms and told me my triceps were flabby. Well! Trying not to be insulted, I had to admit she was right. I was slimmer overall, but despite having worked out with hands weights for a while, I wasn't very well toned and could sure benefit from some formal weight training.

Being an alumna of SIU I'm eligible to join the Rec Center, which is primarly for students. However, a lot of faculty and alums go there to swim, workout and fight off the ravages of growing older. I often see friends there, including quite a few people from my church.


This is Amanda, my personal trainer. Although by this time I know how to use all the equipment, I know myself well enough to realize that unless someone is there waiting for me to show up at the appointed time, I can--and will-- easily talk myself out of going to work out. So I pay the bucks and have a trainer work with me. Amanda is my third trainer, not because they dump me--honest--but because of the university's changing schedule. My first trainer was Lynn, who is the manager of the Rec's Lifestyle Enhancement Center. Eventually Lynn's admin duties began to overwhelm her and she had to pass on her clients to other trainers. Then came Michelle, with whom I worked for over 6 months. Michelle is working on her master's degree and last fall her class schedule didn't permit her to have a client at my regular workout time. Since I was accustomed to the days and times I wanted to stick with my schedule, so Michelle turned me over to Amanda.


Amanda is currently waiting to hear if she has been accepted at Temple University to get her PhD. I hope she is accepted, but that will mean she will be leaving in August--and I'll be getting another trainer. (sigh) I wish I could depend on myself to stay with it without a trainer, but when I'm snug at home, inertia takes over unless I have a specific appointment.



Before working out with weights, it's important your muscles be adequately warmed up and stretched to avoid injury. Sometimes I warm up at home, doing low impact aerobics to music; then I stretch, grab a quick shower and jump in my car to head for the Rec.


Other days I go in early to warm up on one of the high tech treadmills available. These babies do everything but fix you a cup of coffee!
















This is the weight machine I usually start each session on. It's my favorite since I get to lie down. It's a seated leg press and primarily works the quadriceps, the largest muscles in our bodies. As you push against the weight plate with your feet, you raise the weights on the left side. I'm up to pressing 230 pounds, which I feel pretty good about. (I think I started with 100.)













This is another leg machine, the front leg curl. Amanda took this shot. Note the mirror behind me. Both side walls are mirrors so you can check your form. I try not to look.


This is a hamstring exercise, and is the complement, or opposite, of the leg press. Judging by these "thunder thighs", I need to do more of them!



















After 45 minutes of sweating and straining on the weight machines comes the very best part! I lie down on this mat and Amanda does passive stretching of my legs and hips and shoulders and then gives me a brief neck and shoulder massage. The massage is to keep my right shoulder from seizing up, which it has a tendency to do because I have an impingement problem. The massage feels great, and afterward what I'd really like to do is curl up on the mat and take a nap!






But no, it's back to the women's locker room, hoping I remember the combination to my locker so I can retrieve my coat and purse and lock up my weight gloves and towel until next time. I go twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings,and I try not to let anything interfere with these appointments. The weather has not been cooperative lately, however, and I've only been able to get in one session a week since I got back from my trip to Antarctica. I can tell when I miss a session because the next one is more difficult. When I was gone for two weeks on the trip, I lost some ground, even though I was doing a lot of climbing, walking, etc. It's not the same as training specific muscle groups. Like the old saying, "What you don't use, you lose."



Since I began weight training at the Rec I am notably stronger. I can heft my mom's wheelchair in and out of my hatchback much more easily and I scoop up 25 pound bags of dog and cat food as if they were nothing. Even 50 pound sacks of birdseed are more easily maneuvered into my cart, providing they are up high enough on the pile for me to pull them off and slide them into the cart.



Weight training works for anyone at any age. You just need to proceed carefully, prepare your muscles with a warmup and take your time. Patience pays off big dividends in this arena.