If I understand correctly, mousies are stirring in?though not all through?the house. As a rule, I'd be well into the gardening year: Picking "Little Marvel" little green garden peas, cropping mustard turnip and spinach "greens", admiring the progress of two or three varieties of carrots and anticipating transplanting onions next month. Unfortunately, I enjoyed mild cerebellar stroke in early August which has rendered my body's left side "notional", as my wife describes it, making tool use highly problemmatical and learning to walk again a real adventure. February or early March generally is starting time for spring-summer "warm season" veggies and maybe by then the old body will be a little more cooperative.
recently trapped 16 mices and 1 northern short tailed shrew from around the foundation outside the house. no chewing noises since then. alas, still not sure where they are getting in, will likely have to scope that to find it when the weather gets warmer.
there's 3-4 more months here before i'll be doing much outside other than shovelling when it comes down enough. my leg is still healing - it is now in the slightly acheing and itchy healing stage. i went through this with my arm too. i just hope to not have any slips or falls that wrench it.
be careful down there. i know what it is like to face- plant into the edge of a wheelbarrow or the many other wonders of clutzyness. tripping on hoses seems to also be a thing - one uncle did that last fall and broke his arm - another uncle fell on the way to the doctors office and broke both of his arms plus a nasty head wound...
i won't get into the other long stories of family and friends lately - it's been almost a constant circus.
the phone company says it might have our line fixed by this afternoon, etc.
Ours just smells like ham. Between weight (me) and diabetes (wife), we don't make many cookies anymore.
Mine is in stealth mode. I have seed catalogs, and need to get my orders figured out. I start the tomato seeds in February, so the time is getting close. I need to remember not to start other things that soon. Last year, my basil was beautiful a month before last frost, but barely alive by planting time (planting thyme?).
First indecisive choice -- bush or pole green beans?
If I get spring under control this year, I hope to have a better year. Last year, I procrastinated, and the weeds got ahead of me.
My wife covered the garden rows with landscape fabric this week to minimize the weed problems in the spring. I had pulled up the tomato cages and pea fences for the winter to make way for the fabric.
She pulled what we believe are the last few parsnips and carrots out of the garden this morning. However, there are seed trays on the grow table in the laundry room already. When they sprout and grow a bit, she'll move them out to the greenhouse.
The grandchildren just don't eat enough bad stuff.
I have oodles of re-mesh (6x6 inch wire) towers, from when I was still trialing tomato varieties. But bush were what I first grew way back when. I have the debate between emotional and practical.
We have a pretty long season -- Ohio -- April/May through October.
With you there. But maybe coked with enough bacon . . . .
I have free mulch from the recycling center (ground brush/branches). Based on the current view of the yard, they have way too much mulch. But I have to actually invest the effort to do it TODAY.
Most of this year, I thought I'd do it next week, next week, next week . . . .
I think I've learned my lesson. We'll find out in April/May whether I did.
We started with an 8' x 10' greenhouse kit. It had an aluminum frame and do uble-walled polycarbonate panels. Unfortunately, the panels tended to blow off in a high wind. The next year, I built a sturdy 10' x 14' frame of 2x4' s attached to the south side of the house. I got some polycarb roof panels from a nearby supplier and used the thinner panels from the kit for the sid e walls. It's held up well for the past ten years.
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