Finished Raised Bed

Before we left The Aerie for Long Grove, IL, I finished up the raised bed putting in a pair of gates and then installing rabbit fencing all around. Then I put in the tomatoes and peppers and herbs Terry had bought/saved from the old bed.

I think it turned out pretty good. Virtually everything was recycled except the cedar used for the gates. The hinges came from cabinets from our home in Dover (many, many years ago), the rabbit fence was left over from a separate project, and the wood was redwood decking from Morristown. At least things are getting used that I've saved--and moved--from house to house.

Since we left last Sunday, there's been plenty of rain so my only concern is that things may be too damp.

Working on the garden.

Spent today recycling more of the redwood from the Morristown deck. Turned it into a 42" high wall around the rebuilt raised bed garden. Well, the redwood formed the frame. Tomorrow I'll install the gate and tack up some chicken wire for a stop gap.

Then I can plant the tomatoes and peppers Terry picked up today along with the peppermint and chives we saved from the old garden.

Should be all done tomorrow afternoon. 

******

Today's weather was fantastic...except for that one hour when the heavens opened up. Temperatures were in the 60s most of the day and barely got above 70. Of course the humidity was in the same range! 

******

Spotted a fat ground hog out on the lawn today. It ran into the weeds as soon as it saw me. 

Rebuilding a raised bed garden (Part 3)

I was able to get out at 8 AM sharp and go to Lowes for the extra soil and pebbles that I needed. When I got home, I immediately went to work dumping the soil in the bed and then pouring the stone atop the weed guard along the edges of the bed. The latter will keep the weeds at bay (I hope!) and provide an open area to walk around the bed to work on the soil.

Finished bed being inspected by a chipmunk.

Nice and smooth. I like the concrete edging so much I may use it in several other projects.

River pebble and flat stone path along the back.

River pebbles line the front to keep the grass back. Yeah, the "lawn" needs some repair from the use of the backhoe.

River pebbles along the east side and weed guard at teh base of the lilac. I'm going to have to get some more river pebbles.

I also put some landscaper's cloth (the weed guard) around the two lilac bushes to control weeds under them. Those were held down with some of the flat stones I got out of the garden bed. I'll add some river pebbles one of these days to help smother the heck out of the weeds.

Finally, I took the rototiller to the soil in the bed, broke it up really fine and mixed it with the peat moss and preexisting soil to a depth of about eight inches. Then I raked it all nice and smooth and as level as I could.

Now it's all set for some plants! Terry will be picking up some tomato and pepper plants tomorrow while I contemplate how to put some fencing up to keep the critters at bay. They've never eaten the tomatoes but the peppers have had their struggle with ground hogs before.

Speaking of ground hogs, the family that was living under the shed (at least six little ones with a big momma) have apparently vacated the premises. I haven't seen them since I was talking about the merits of a .22 or 9 mm hollow point. Of course my constantly going up to the garage to sit in the shade every hour or so and going into the shed to get tools and such may have discouraged them. It was an easy live while we were away for two plus weeks, but I guess they don't like the company.

******

Then Terry and I made a run over to the dump. We had five bags of trash--a lot of it plastic bags from the garden soil and river pebbles, some recycling stuff, an old suitcase, an old toilet seat, and some other stuff that was just laying around we wanted to get rid of. At $3.00 a bag, it would have cost us a bundle to get rid of it all. As it was, because the clerk at the dump said our "load" was under 50 pound it would only cost us, well, $3.00. A bargain!

******

I mixed together a sprayer full of Round-Up and sprayed the plants that were growing in the other vegetable garden bed. Some of those "weeds" were gorgeous and I hated to do it to the daisies but the growth was too luxuriant to let stand. I hope to reclaim at least two of the beds before long. I may just cover them with weed barrier rather than plant anything there.

The other large bed needs to be completely replaced as it too was constructed of landscape timbers and they have rotted away. Currently it is one large 8' x 16' bed with a very steep drop--approximately 24"--on the downhill side. I'm thinking of making it into two beds 3' x 14' with a path between them. Sort of a terraced garden, if you will. This one may have to wait for August, however. There are trips to Chicago (1 week), Quebec (1 week), and Nova Scotia (3 weeks) between now and then. Besides, I need the time to get over my aches and muscle cramps.

Rebuilding a raised bed garden (Part 2)

Couldn't get out there early today as I had a dental appointment over in Wellsboro at 8:30 AM. That was a shame as the temps were int he 60s at that hour and I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed working then rather than the 75-85 degrees between 10 AM and 5 PM. Oh well, such is life.

Stopped at Lowes on the way back from the dentist and picked up 12 bags of Miracle Gro Garden Soil and two small bales of peat moss. Then went to work:
redistributing/leveling the existing soil
laying the keystone edging along the front...oops! You mean there are two types of block so that they dovetail together better? I didn't notice that until I was part way through the process.
Ended up having to go back to Lowes to get the missing complimentary blocks. And another 12 bags of garden soil and three bags of river pebbles.
laid landscape cloth/weed barrier--that Terry cut while I was doing the back and forth thing with Lowes--along the front back and sides of garden bed and began covering it with stone
Finally got all the keystone edging in place and began to distribute the peat moss and then the garden soil in the bed. I'll let that "dry" over night before raking it out--right after I go get eight more bags of garden soil and four more bags of river pebbles.

Any way, I'm nearly finished. See!

Nearly Finished

I even put in a redwood barrier to keep the oregano and eumonymous in place. And, yes, the keystone edging is lower on the left than on the right. That's the way things are around here. Nothing outside the house is level or flat for any definition of the words "level" or "flat." Everything slopes one way or another. Here, the difference is just 3-1/2 inches on a run of 14 feet. It looks a little strange because that back wall IS level. Otherwise, I think it's just conforming to the curvature of the Earth.

Rebuilding a raised bed garden

Since we came back from Florida (and other points south) I've been busy rebuilding the raised bed directly in front of the cabin. The nine year-old landscape timbers were rotted through and grumbling so it needed to be done. Plus, the redbud tree we had planted and which occupied a 2.5 foot square in the middle of the garden had given up the ghost after a couple of harsh winters and some storm damage back in 2010.

I tore the old timbers apart using a crowbar, brute force and shear stupidity. It took two days to get it apart as I had used spikes to hold it together. But, get it apart I did; salvaged most of the (slightly bent) spikes, too. As a bonus, when I used the tractor to haul the timbers to the back of beyond, I came across some morels! There's some right fine eating in them things!

The tractor and it's backhoe attachment came in handy to uproot the stump of the redbud but that took some doing. That little nine year-old tree had one heck of a root system. And for being completely dead, it was also surprisingly flexible. But, out it did come. Along with some pretty big stones--what else is new?

Then it was time to start rebuilding. I had decided to go with pressure treated 4"x4" timbers instead of straight stone or landscape timbers. I'm hoping they will outlast me at this point. After a false start or two, I decided that the down hill side would be mostly 4" thick solid concrete block with standard cinder block atop that and then the three layers of 4"x4" on top of them. The timbers would be held together with hex head lag screws and would simply rest on the cinder blocks. The weight of the timbers would hold then blocks in place and themselves as well.

Like most places around these parts it's difficult to find flat, level surfaces. The bed I was rebuilding slopes from a high point in the south east corner to a deep hole some 20" lower on the northwest corner. This is the area where the landscape timbers had sagged over the years so there may have been some slumping going on.

A butterfly bush on the left and the lilac on the right were crowding the old 16' by 8' bed. I reduced the size to about 14' 4" so they both get a little more room.

Raised bed under reconstruction.

 With the solid concrete block and cinder block in place , the timbers were laid out three high on top.

Terry wanted to save some of her oregano and the eumonymous on the right.

Euonymus

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 I originally toyed with the idea of using some of the many flat stones we have laying around to prop the walls of the bed up. But, after I had constructed a couple of piers using stone, they seemed too flimsy to withstand the pressure of soil from the inside. So I went with concrete blocs and cinder blocks.

Deepest corner with solid block, cinder block, and three timbers from bottom to top.

Timbers joined with lag screws and held in place with rebar at the corners.

 Once all the walls were in place, I tacked up some landscape cloth along the rear and west wall where it was deepest. Then I began to refill the hole left by the tree removal. This is going to take some additional garden soil. Lots of additional garden soil.

Dirt (mostly) redistributed. Front support board in place for the concrete edger.

 I built a backer-board for the front edger to be placed against out of redwood decking from our previous home in Morristown. I had replaced that deck in the summer of 1994 right after I retired. The wood was stored up in the Bolt Hole's barn and then relocated here. So it's not only aged, it's well traveled, too!

Al that's left over from the materials I purchased. One bag of river pebbles--which will get used--one solid concrete block, four cinder blocks. And the cinder blocks are left over only because I used four that had been sitting beside the shed for ten years.

Left overs.

 The concrete blocks to be used for edging along the front are shaped like keystones and are interlocking.

Edging blocks

Well, that's where it stands today, Monday. I'll probably get that edging stone in place tomorrow and then get some additional river pebbles so as to build a weed-free walkway on both sides and along the downhill wall. I've enough flat rocks to put on a bed of pebbles to make it almost like pavement.

Just a thought: This would be so much easier on a flat surface!

Out and About: Birding and Gardening

Got out and got active today...finally.

Started the day out at Hills Creek State Park with the weekly bird walk sponsored by the Tiadaghton Audubon Society. It was cool (35 degrees at 7:45 AM) but sunny (it got up to 45 degrees by 10:15 AM) and only a mild breeze blowing. We had seven folks show up and had a nice long walk (almost 2 miles) starting at the overflow parking area and going up to the amphitheater and on into the woods at the north end of the lake.

Things were quiet on the lake with only a few ducks, mergansers and grebes on the water. The shoreline was a different matter as there were hordes of warblers (mostly Yellow-rumped) and swallows (mostly Tree Swallows but others as well).

Here's the full list of species we saw today.

Canada Goose
Wood Duck 
Mallard 
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Osprey
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch

******

After lunch, I grabbed a shovel and went out to turn the gardens over. I worked slow but steadily and finished four of the five garden plots. Almost ever shovel of soil turned over exposed three or four earthworms. I'll have no trouble obtaining bait when I decide to go fishing! 

With the soil turned, I'll let it dry a bit before spend time with the rototiller tomorrow afternoon to break up the clods of clay that  forms much of our soil despite the bags and bags of garden soil and peat moss I've added. I still have to get down to the store to pick up the snap pea, beet and radish seeds as well as onion sets. 

For now, however, I'll relax and watch the Mets do to the Yankees what the Yankees did to the Mets last night.

Monday I take the Tundra to get repaired. Tuesday, I got to the urologist to have the stent removed. Wednesday, If the weather permits, I'll get those seeds and sets in the ground.

What's Been Happening

When last I posted, back on April 22nd, [Really? April 22nd?!? Slacker!] I was telling you what I had seen while birding in southern New Jersey. Things have been busy since then.

I began (and finished) building a new raised bed garden measuring 5'x12' and 18" deep. It seemed the "dirt" was half stone.

New (semi-)raised bed in progress

Putting in the pressure treated walls required that the "soil" be leveled. I got two of the three sides nice and level but the third side had one little stone sticking up that needed to be removed, so I started to dig it out. Well, things aren't always what they seem. Like the ice berg--where 9 tenths is beneath the surface--this little stone was just 1 one-hundreth of the entire stone.

The "little" rock that needed removing.

Yeah, that bad boy, measuring just 1"x1"x1" above the surface turned out to be something like 24"x 15"x8" and weighed...well, a lot.

I got it out and everything leveled and put together, filled with sifted "soil" and mixed in some mushroom soil, garden soil and peat moss. Then I built a 2'x2' box in which to plant potatoes and planted seeds of lettuce, okra, and string beans.

******

In between my starting the new semi-raised bed and planting the seed, Terry and I did some traveling for her birthday. Taking separate vehicles, we first went to Long Grove, Illinois north of Chicago to pay a visit to my son's in-laws.

John & Cindy

We enjoyed a great meal at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and then went to Shedd Aquarium.

Then Terry and I drove (separately) north to Milwaukee to visit with our nephew Brian and his wife, Vicki. For Terry's birthday we enjoyed another great meal, this one at Mo's A Place for Steaks, and a surprise got to see the Celtic Women. (Brian had scored the tickets from work.) Since the Women and Celtic Thunder are two of Terry's favorite groups--thanks to all their appearances on PBS--this was one very special birthday!And it WAS a great show!

Celtic Women

I then headed back to the Aerie to continue work on the new garden bed while Terry drove south to Laurie, Missouri on Lake of the Ozarks to visit with her sister and her husband (Brian's Mom and Dad), as well as Brian's sister Laura and her baby son, Matthew.

Terry returned just in time for the annual Tiadaghton Audubon Society picnic.

Between everything else, I've been doing a good deal of birding as well as some photography.More of that later. Promise.

Week 25: Knees, Fingers and More

Approaching six months since I had both knees replaced and things are going just swell! The only hint of pain I still experience comes from climbing stairs snd even that is les than I was having in the weeks prior to surgery. Once the weather cooperates and I can get out there walking the trails and woods I expect that even that will disappear.

******

Meanwhile, I had a follow up withthe doctor about my frostbit fingers. The thumb, index and ring fingers are still numb at the tips--almost like a callus--but they are normal in color and seem to be recovering. The middle finger is another story. The blisters I photographed last week are shrinking as the liquid is being reabsorbed but the entire pad and tip of the finger is numb and a rainbow of colors--predominately purple. The doc was not optomistic about my saving all of the finger. His prognosis is that theres a lot of dead tissue and deep. That could lead to infection or worse. He referred me to a hand specialist/plastic surgeon in the orthopedic offices in Corning. I've an appointment set up for Thursday.

******

The weather here at the Aerie has been, shall we say, changable. A week ago Saturday we saw minus 13.5 degrees and then this Saturday it was positive 48 degrees. A 61+ degree swing. While things have cooled off a bit, it has been into the high 30s and mid 40s the Sunday and Monday. As a result, nearly all the snow and ice has melted. The grass in the lawn is once more exposed and deer and rabbits are taking advantage of the fresh forage.

******

I've been taking advantage of my forced idleness to peruse the Burpee's Seed Catalog. One of the most difficult things about this time of year is standing on the deck and looking down on the gardens and thinking of what I would like to plant this spring only to realize I won't be able to even turn the soil until the middle of April--if I'm lucky.

Still, looking at the pictures of vegetables, fruits and flowers--both annuals and perennials--lifts the spirit. I always seem to go way overboard when I order from the catalogs which is why I've been picking up seeds and plants at Agway and Lowes the last few years. Besides, finding a window or setting up a light system with trays and heat to propagate seeds with four cats who like to chew on greenery is problematic. Might do it anyway.

******

The water from the well is running clear. It's a pleasure to have not a hint of red or gray coming from the taps or even going into the cistern. It even tastes excellent.

Week…23 (?)

It’s been almost two weeks since I last posted anything here. That’s partly due to this being a slow time of year and partly due to laziness. Oh…we’ve been doing stuff, but it’s been mostly dull routine stuff.

After nearly two weeks of operation, the water from the new well has cleared up and there’s no color—red or gray—when it goes through the filter. Having gone through several cycles of filling the cistern, even the water in the 500 gallon tank is clearing up. Guess there’s some truth to the saying: “Dilution IS the solution to pollution.” (I’m fully aware that that is NOT what the saying is, but in this case it works!)

 

Finally we can wash clothes and dishes, shower, flush...all things we took for granted but which became a constant worry when the old well was misbehaving. 

******

Terry and I drove into New Jersey to celebrate Christmas Eve with my sister and her family. Unfortunately my Grand-niece, Sami, came down with chicken pox the day before so she and her dad had to stay home. My other Grand-niece, Emilee, was there, but being just a few months old, seemed totally unimpressed with the goings on. Still, it was nice to visit with family.

We stayed that night at Mom’s house in Linden and cleaned a few more items out of the garage and cupboards. There’s very little left that we need to remove before we close on the sale of the house.

 ******

 

We had no Christmas Tree at the Aerie this year. We were afraid of what the cats might do. One or two of them tend to chew on and eat any greenery in the house. And then throw up. We've got too many ornaments to allow the furry ones to dictate our deisre for a little holiday decoration, however. Besides, we need the extra Christmas Cheer a tree will instill. The sun just arrives too late in the morning--when it arrives at all.

******

Speaking of removal…A crew was hard at work today removing the old oil tank buried in the front yards. They discovered there was a small hole in that tank and, despite having been drained and filled with sand nearly 10 years ago, there was some soil contamination. Exactly how much will be determined as they work to clean it up. Hopefully, there isn’t much and they will be done in a day or two. We already have a contract on the house and the closing should take place before Presidents' Day.

****** 

We had that eight inch snowfall two weeks ago but that was followed by heavy rains and near 60 degrees so that by the following Monday (one week ago) all the snow was gone. Aah, but that was merely a temporary condition. Since then we’ve had two smaller, two inch snowfalls sandwiched around a couple of days of 40 degrees. Things are looking much colder later this week with lows in the negative area possible on Friday.

 

One of the most dispiriting things this time of year is to stand on the deck and look at the gardens and realize that I can do nothing until at least April 15th when the soil is no longer covered by snow and has thawed sufficiently to make working it possible.

****** 

So far, we've only had the usual crew of winter birds coming to the feeders. Goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays, juncoes...the usuals. One day we did have some purple finches but just one day. With the weather, the well, and dealing with Mom's home in New Jersey, I've not gotten out to do any birding in the field. That will be changing. Our Audubon chapter will be doing its Christmas Bird Count on January 1st. One of my New Year's Resolutions will be to spend at least five hours at least once a week out in the field bird watching. Another will be to regularly keep a check list of the birds I see on every outing and a running tally throughout the year. With the improvement of my knees, I want to take full advantage of them.

******

As the title of this post indicates, my knees are now 23 weeks old. They couldn’t feel better. Still a little pain going down the stairs, but they are feeling just fine. I need to remind myself to exercise more often but more importantly do stretching exercises daily.

******

I hope your Christmas was a Joyous one and that the New Year brings you Happiness and Joy.

Another Trip to Agway

Terry and I went back to Agway's going out of business sale today. There were things I wanted for the winter, the gardens and landscaping that I was going to buy anyway and with the discount...

 The closing of the Mansfield store means a little longer ride to get the plants next growing season, but we bought them over in the Wellsboro store this year. We bought most of our bird seed, garden seeds and onion sets as well as potting soil, ice melt, etc, right here, however.

With that in mind, we went back today and got some of the things we will need this winter and next spring. Ice melt, garden soil, mushroom soil, peat moss, decorative stone, etc. won't spoil if we don't use them right away and the price was more than right! We also picked up some new cat beds. The old ones are so coated in fur that they look a uniform gray/black.

After dropping over $500 dollars the last two days, the clerks were joking that they will see me tomorrow. They may be right. It's just a mile away from Elite Therapy.

The bags of soil, mushroom soil, ice melt, pelletized lime (for the lawn), colored pea stone for the steps, and peat moss were heavy, but with the help of the ATV all I had to do was lift them from the Toyota to the ATV and then from the ATV to their storage place for the winter. Even so, it was a workout moving nearly thirty bags around. The most difficult part was shifting the ATV's gears. That little foot lever (on the left side naturally--the one with the "slow" leg) was tough to move with the new knee. But, I got 'er done!

Wednesday Night Ramble

We got another 0.15 inches of rain Tuesday night which really soaked everything in the garden where the closely packed tomato plants lean against one another creating a nearly impenetrable jungle. I decided that rather than get myself soaked picking a few that ripened since Tuesday noonish, that I would let them stay until I get back from physical therapy on Thursday. That should give me another full bucket of cherry tomatoes and another half dozen Rutgers. Processing the accumulated tomatoes will take the rest of Thursday afternoon and should produce a couple of quarts of tomato sauce. The exact amount will depend upon how much I want to boil it down to thicken it.

***

I managed to get on the stationary bike in the basement today and succeeded in peddling for 10 minutes. I had been having trouble getting the left knee to go around because the peddle placement wanted to bend the knee a tad too much. I guess PT has given me a little more bend to the knee. I can add the bike to my regimen. (Good thing too since walking the deck is out when it rains and I've got to do figure eights in the house until I get the garage cleaned up and the treadmill operational.)

PT tomorrow morning will be what they refer to as "clinical" which means on land. Standard "pain & torture" exercises. All (or at least mostly) self inflicted under the watchful eye of a therapists aide who is on hand to direct you to the next exercise, hand you any needed equipment or time a particular activity. They can also pick up the pieces when you start to fall apart. The young man (yeah, there's only one now that the other has gone back to college) and girls who serve in that role are actually very nice and encouraging. Virtually every one has had some major injury requiring therapy and they know what you're going through. We laugh and joke and they see to it you're doing the exercises correctly and push you to the limit. I know that I will eventually "graduate" and I will miss them.

***

Got an email from Terry today saying they were having a wonderful time in Poland. She loved Krakow and they had a semi-private Chopin concert. (Only seven people in the audience. There's got to be a story behind that. At the museum perhaps?) Today they were heading for Auschwitz and the salt mines. Then they get in touch with family and visit them for a couple of days. One, Anna, was here in 1972 and attended our wedding. Terry then sent her wedding dress to Poland and Anna wore it when she got married. It may have been used several more times since then.

***

Just as well I didn't plan to do anything this evening outside. It started to rain around 4 PM and poured (thunder off in the distance towards Wellsboro in the west) until nearly 7:30 PM. We may still get a bit more before midnight but the next two days look to be lovely.

Tuesday Evening Ramble

Yesterday morning I wrote about how we were enjoying lovely weather at the Aerie with virtually no rain. Of course, it rained later in the afternoon and into the night. We ended up with 0.45 inches int he rain gauge, but since most of it was well after I had any desire to go outside...no worries!

***

Hydrotherapy today was a blast. The pool water wasn't as warm as I feared it might be so things were pretty comfortable on that side of the coin. The chest deep water provided buoyancy and resistance at the same time allowing me to do different exercises. I was disappointed that the session only lasted one hour. Oh well, I've another scheduled for next Tuesday. Thursday it will be back to the land based exercises.

***

I went into the garden again today. I harvested half a dozen Rutgers tomatoes and another gallon of cherry tomatoes. I tell ya, I can't eat my way out of this one. I'll probably go harvest some more tomorrow and turn them into tomato sauce. Never did this with cherry tomatoes but I've run out of suckers to give them to (Joe says he won't come up form Jersey Shore--140 mile round trip--just to save me from my killer tomatoes.) and I sure can't eat them all before they go bad. Tomorrow afternoon will be canning time.

***

I read today that the Mets traded Marlon Byrd and John Buck to the Pirates the two of them have a total of 35 or 36 home runs for the Mets and have been bright spots in the Mets line-up. (Although Buck's production has fallen off considerably since his red hot start.) Both players are in their mid to late 30s and both are scheduled to become free agents after this season. The Mets were unlikely going to resign either of them since they have some prospects in both the catching and outfield positions so it was a good move for the team. As for the two players...they suddenly find themselves in the midst of a pennant race with the pirates only a half game out of first int he Central Division so they have got to be happy. The Pirates needed some punch from the outfield (Byrd) and a back-up catcher (Buck) so they're happy too. Here's hoping everybody prospers from this.

Personal Progress, Gardening Successes and More

We’ve had some terrific weather during the last week. The nights have been around 50 degrees and the days topping out at 80 degrees. There’s been very little rain and the breezes make things even more pleasant. It’s nice to sit out on the deck and watch the hummingbirds fight over whose turn it is to be at the feeder. There are three of them now. That may be the result of a successful fledgling of a youngster. There were only two earlier in the year. The female seems more tolerant of the other female/fledgling but the male simply does not want to share. Sometimes he chases the other two around the yard and they buzz about like miniature fighter planes.

***

Today, my knees are six weeks old. They still hurt and probably will for a long time, but there’s been tremendous progress made. I’m comfortably walking quarter miles on the flat surface of the deck. (Thirty feet—ten yards—from end to end. Forty-four round trips equals 440 yards. Sure, it gets a little boring but there are moments. Like when there’s a bald eagle soaring overhead, an indigo bunting flitting around the edge of the yard, or a pileated woodpecker flying back and forth. Or the day a military transport(?) flew over the mountain from the southwest j-u-s-t high enough to clear the windmills, low enough to almost see the pilot’s face, and then seemed to drop even lower as it flew north over the valley. Probably heading to Fort Drum.)

In addition to walking/pacing twice a day, I’m doing my exercises at home at least once a day. I wear 2.5 pound weights on each ankle while doing leg lifts and what I call line dance (forward, back, side, and cross-over steps for each leg). Then there’s step-ups (forward and side), mini-squats and lunges. Finally there are the heel slides. (Lay on your back. Put a strap on your foot. Pull the heel back toward your butt as far as you can and hold it there for a count of ten.) It takes about half an hour to do the exercises.

I’ve been going downtown to Elite Therapy three times a week for two+ hour sessions under their watchful eye and on their machines. That will switch this week as I will be reduced to just two sessions a week for a while. They are putting me in the pool for one of those sessions.

I’m still taking stairs one leg at a time. Good leg leads up and bad leg leads down. I’m this close to going up in a normal fashion, but down…. That’s going to be a little longer. Walking uneven surfaces like the lawn or the woods is doable, but slow. 

Terry has been my designated driver. Until she left for Poland, that is. Luckily, the physician and my right leg have agreed that I'm okay to drive the Tundra on my own. It's got an automatic transmission so the fact that my left knee/leg is what I consider my 'bad" leg has little affect on my driving ability.

***

Terry, her sister and their mother are in Poland. They landed there late Saturday afternoon following a long flight from JFK. They will visit family and tour parts of the country until next Sunday. Then it’s back to the US of A.

***

The garden has been winding down as to be expected as August turns into September. 

The squash vine borer has done its thing and all the zucchini and winter squash have died off—thank goodness. Terry put several quart bags of shredded zucchini in the freezer. (Takes up less space than breads in that form.) She also sliced several yellow squash and froze them. We also have half dozen acorn and butternut squash from four plants Joe gave us. The stringbeans have stopped producing--or we've just stopped picking--and we’ve enjoyed them and snow peas for several months while still putting some into the freezer for the future. I dug up the onions the other day. Virtually every set I put in yielded an onion 3-4 inches in diameter. That means ¼ bushel of yellow and ¼ bushel of white onions for the winter stews and soups. A small number of beet plants are still growing. They're the second planting and, if they survive, we should get a couple of nice meals out of them.

 The surprise this summer has been the tomatoes. Four cherry tomato plants and two Rutgers plants have yielded and yielded and yielded. Right now I can harvest a quart of cherry tomatoes every two days. Terry turned some into spaghetti sauce, we’ve eaten tons in salads and given several quarts away and still they ripen. While they taste like candy, there’s only so many you can eat at a time! And the Rutgers have been almost as prolific. Sliced they make a great BLT sandwich. Quartered, salted and peppered they are a nice side dish or snack. I’ve got to figure a way to preserve some more before I get completely inundated. The output is nice, but I’m about ready to say. “Enough is enough!” The previous two years we got very little out of the tomatoes. The blight took the plants just as the bulk of the fruit was about to ripen. This year I fertilized the plants with Miracle Gro with calcium. That seems to have kept the blight in check.

Two quarts of cherry tomatoes plus a passel of Rutgers. Care to try some?

That's about all for now, but I promise I'll be writing more soon. I've been looking at the upcoming college football schedule and realize it starts this Thursday. I'll be posting more on the Top 25 teams and their games in the next day or two.