Plant Day 2021

*Please note, this was written yesterday but pictures would not upload to Blogger at that time. An asterisk means it was written just now.

Regular readers will know that every May I take a week off for vacation, and one of those vacation days I call Plant Day - the day I go out and get ornamental plants and put them in pots to watch them grow and bloom all season.  Yesterday was looking to be the nicest day of the rest of the week, so that's what I did, but I ran out of potting soil so had to get some this morning to finish up.

The old tree stump is starting to fall apart now, especially the front side.  I actually tried to get less plants than I usually do so fewer pots on the stump, but not sure if I succeeded.  We also normally get two hanging pots, one for by the front door and one by the back door, but the hanging pot in back is in full sun all day so plants there usually get pretty rough looking by the end of the season.  I did put the yellow flowers you see on the stump in a pot that can be hung.  Those and the purple ones like it are meant for full sun, so if it stays looking good it may get put on a shepherd's hook by the back door at a later time.  

I also have some petunias in a long pot by the back door.  Petunias are usually pretty safe and easy - when the rabbits aren't eating them, anyway.  Several plants aren't really blooming here yet, but with time I'm sure the pots on the stump will get more colorful.  You can ask me the names of the plants, but if it's not the petunias, marigolds or geraniums then I'll have to go look it up as I don't usually remember that kind of thing very well.

Today is much cooler (currently 45ºF!), overcast and rainy, as tomorrow is expected to be, before we get back to seasonable temperatures.  The big peony started opening its flowers on Sunday, and I worry because sometimes all it takes is one real heavy rain after the peonies open for them to go to shit, so you have to enjoy them while you can.  At the back of the garage are two other, smaller peonies, as well.  A white one left of the gardens and a pink one to the right (or opposite, I forget).  Those aren't blooming yet, they're always a bit behind the big one by the house.

And just a quick back update, I have an MRI scheduled in less than 2 weeks.  Hopefully I don't need to see the neurosurgeon or have surgery and can get the shot shortly after - and it works.  This pain sucks, so wish me luck, please.

*Pictures of the peonies and other things I found interesting after the break!

20th Anniversary

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, well, no real celebration since it was a Tuesday, but we did have a few friends over for fire and cake last night.  This is the first time we've had more than just another couple over for a fire and socializing in well over a year.  In fact, possibly since late 2019 as it was early spring in 2020 when the shit hit the fan.  I put the word out to several friends that we've not seen in a very long time and about half showed up.  It was a little disappointing as we didn't even hear anything from the ones that weren't here, not even a congrats-on-20-years text.  Perhaps they weren't ready to socialize yet, but who knows?  Ever forward.

I bought cheesy t-shirts for the occasion, and also bought a digital picture frame that has a battery.  I went through a lot of old pictures we have in the basement and scanned in almost a hundred for a slide show of us through the years.  All pictures were at least ten years old and some 23 or more years.  It almost coincided with our full transition to digital, so only a couple of the 'newer' pics were already on the computer.  I think all found it to be interesting, and it was good to get those pictures in digital format.  It does take more time than you'd think to scan pictures, but it was also fun and interesting because even I hadn't seen those pictures in a very long time.

I also learned of Starlink, a series of satellites that fly single file across the night sky with the goal of bringing broadband internet to every corner of the world.  Currently there are at least 1,625 of these satellites orbiting the earth and, from what I've read, SpaceX wants as many as 30,000 of them up there.  I must say, it was interesting to watch.  I did try to get a picture of it, but none came out.  I'll be more prepared next time.

While it was strange at first to have multiple people over, we soon fell back into old habits and just enjoyed the company.  It's hard to believe how long it's been since we did anything like this.  I'm grateful for all our friends that shared in our special occasion and look forward to doing this again this year.  I'm also on vacation this week so my wife and I plan on finding a time to go out to eat to celebrate between ourselves.

Despite all this, the back is pretty much the same.  The prednisone taper helped a bit, but not much.  Tomorrow morning I have my first physical therapy appointment, then the next morning I'll see my doctor.  I fully expect a referral to the neurosurgeon and an MRI to happen in my near future.  Hopefully just a shot in the spine will do it and I won't need surgery.  As bad as it is now, I know I've had it worse in the past.   It just takes so damn long to work through the steps before getting much needed relief.

Back Steps

Step 1, exercises, ice packs and muscle relaxers.  Step 2, give in and see the doctor.  Step 3, get prescribed steroids, pain relievers and muscle relaxers.  Step 4, physical therapy.  Step 5, MRI and referral to a neurosurgeon.  Step 6, steroid shot in spine.  Step 7, surgery.  Repeat as needed.  I hope these steps are a whole lot more familiar to me than any of you.

Speaking only of my lower back, I've been completely through these steps twice now, in 2000 and in 2010.  In April to June of 2018 I got to step 6, but two shots in the spine.  The first one didn't work so I was given a choice, try the shot again or schedule surgery.  I chose to try a second shot and that time it worked, until now.  Currently I'm at step 3, moving to step 4 in 12 days.  A few physical therapy sessions may be helpful, I think.  How far it goes after that is still up in the air, but I'm hoping this is where it ends this time.

I've had to write this a bit at a time as it's difficult to stay seated here at the desk.  And I had written about what I'm going through currently in much more detail, but no one wants to hear all that, so this will be a short post.  Suffice it to say that while this totally sucks, it is certainly nothing new to me and I will survive.  I'm encouraged as I think I'm feeling better already, but that also may just be the opioid in my system.  I should probably take a nap here soon.

So, nothing else to really talk about as this has been all that I've been up to since my last post.  I'm not writing this to ask for sympathy, I just have time (I'm bored) and this is what's been happening recently.  Back issues are pretty popular, has anyone reading been through any of this?  Feel free to share your own war stories in the comments.  Stay well.

May This-And-Thats

I have a few things on my mind, and it's too small to hold them for long, so it must be time to get them out.  Nothing very major, just some updates, thoughts, and an announcement to my email readers, so it's time once again to just start typing and see what happens.

• Blog emails are going away in July, they will no longer be supported.  I've been looking for another widget or service to do this, but I'm not going to pay for it so it may not happen.  I have over a dozen friends and family currently signed up and I'm afraid I will lose those readers when this convenience goes away.  If you are one, click the link to the site at the bottom of your email and save it as a favorite now!  I'll provide more updates when I have them.
• 
  Remember when I wrote about my site being probed?  Well, it's happened each month since.  739 hits on March 24 and 760 hits on April 26.  I have no idea why, who or what it is, but it doesn't appear to be doing any real harm, either.  We'll see how many hits I get for May in a couple weeks, I guess.
• The extra dirt and old grill are gone.  My wife put the dirt on the neighborhood farcebook page and in a day one neighbor picked up a couple big buckets and a day or two later another took almost all the rest.  The little that remained I found places for in the yard and gardens.  Also, the rotting wood that was the old gardens I cut up and took to the dump last weekend, so now I have my garage back.  And that old grill I put out to the curb a day early and it didn't take long for it to disappear, no sticker required.  Maybe someone will try to clean it up and get another year or two out of it, but more likely it will be sold as scrap metal.  But now I have a 35 dollar sticker that I don't need.  Maybe I'll pay it forward and have my wife put it on farcebook and give it away to someone with an appliance they need to get rid of.
• I mowed the lawn for the first time this year on Wednesday.  The front needed it more and the back just in places, typical for the first mow.  Thus begins a (mostly) weekly ritual that will last until late fall.  Thankfully, it's a small lawn.  It's also showing wear in areas that I'll need to get grass to grow again.  This is likely due to me spraying the weeds instead of getting down and digging them out.  Trouble is, my back is no longer built for all that low work.  The good news is last summer I got a tool that I can get the weeds out while standing up, but it does leave a divot.  I'll just call that aerating the lawn.
• 
  Remember the drawer that I built downstairs for the cat's litter box?  I still look at it and think of how nifty it is.  After using it now for quite some time, I really like how it contains the mess a whole lot better than when the litter box was on the floor.  Oh, litter still gets dragged out, but mostly only onto the walkway and a bit on the stairs, and I just sweep it into the drawer.  If anyone figures out how to get a cat to wipe their paws, please let me know.
• BW left a comment over at Nic's recently that got me thinking.  It's about getting used to music that's not on CDs or records.  To a certain extent, I have the same issue.  I do have many releases on digital only by now, but I also have YouTube Music as a premium member, so have been trying to use that more.  The issue I'm finding is it's geared more towards individual songs, not whole albums, and I am very album-oriented.  Are all music streaming services like that?
• I have my spring vacation in a couple weeks, and I expect it will be better than last year's.  I don't have any big projects in mind, but I'm sure I'll think of something.  Or maybe I'll just sleep until noon every day and have a fire every night.  It will be different because my wife will be here working from home all week, but I'll hit two weeks after being fully vaccinated so I do plan on going out and about.  We also want to start inviting friends over for firepits and outside socializing soon.  I know vaccination is no guarantee, but I feel the benefits will outweigh the risk, at this point.

Well, that was fun.  The weather has been seasonable and we're still getting overnight frost now and again, at least for this next week, it appears.  Might be a good night for a fire, tonight.  Have a great weekend, everyone.

Nice Spring Evening

 

New fence, new gardens, new spring growth.

First Cardinal of spring, that I've seen, center.

I enjoy watching the air traffic.

And the trees are filling in nicely.