Wonderful weather. 60 degrees, sunny, breeze 10-11 mph.
12 hours of planting and cultivating today. Planted 8 more arborvitae along the western edge of the property for a windbreak. Then I mowed for 4 more strawberry rows and tilled 3 of them while M dug holes for our fruit bushes.
We then planted 2 sugar maples, a dwarf apple tree, a dwarf pear tree, a Bartlett pear tree, 5 blackberry bushes, 9 raspberry bushes, and 6 blueberry bushes. That was done around 6 PM.
Then M started the third tilling pass through the three strawberry rows I had started, while I filled in peat moss and hoed and raked behind him. 3 hours (including 20 or 30 minutes for dinner) later, 2 of the rows were tilled, fertilized, raked, hoed, and covered with weed-blocking cloth, and the 3rd row was tilled. I was ready to collapse. Mostly, my arms and legs were shaking uncontrollably. I used my legs to fight the tiller and do most of my shoveling. And I've never had much arm strength, and all the tilling, shoveling, hoeing, lifting, and raking across the 10 1/2 hours of work we did just turned my arms to Jell-o. I honestly don't know how I'm able to type right now. But I do know that my thumbs really, reallyreallyhaveareallyreallyhardtimepressingthespacebar.Oh,mypoorpoorthumbs.
Other than being Jell-o, I'm not sore (yet), and M's not either, though he's going to have quite a bit of pain when his tries to move his lobster-red neck tomorrow.
Incredibly disappointed that we didn't get more done, but our yard looks completely different now. It doesn't look or sound like we did much, but I think the grubs and worms in our soil would beg to differ (if they could speak, of course).
* Stringham high: 13 trees and 20 bushes planted today!
* Stringham low: Strawberry rows not done, and not one of the 100 strawberry plants got put in dirt today. :(
* Stringham super-high: We keep digging more glass and crap out of the ground. (This is good because it means there's a little less junk in our soil every day.) Click the title of this post to see what we dug up while making the hole for our very last blueberry bush.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
OMG Trees!
We had soaked the roots of the trees that were delivered on Wednesday. M dug holes for all the trees while I was at work on Thursday so we could plant them all. While I was at work, I got a text message from M: "The good news is that I have all the holes dug. The bad news is that we got more trees, so I don't have all the holes dug." Poor bastard.
So when I got home and we had had dinner, we started the planting...got about 5 or 6 planted before the rain started. (We were moving kind of slowly because M was so sore from all the tilling and hole digging and because I'm...well...a wuss still. No upper-body strength built up yet this year.) No worries, just a little rain. But we worked a little faster. Then it got gradually harder, and thunder started in the distance.
I suggested to M that we stop, so he said he wanted to get the fruit trees planted. We stopped planting the evergreen windbreak and moved to the other side of the driveway. As we planted the first or second tree, I saw lightning to the south. We hurried a little more as we saw a little more lightning. Then the lightning started showing up to the west--heading our way. We were pushing dirt and planting soil into the holes around the trees as quickly as we could while also *trying* to be gentle with the trees. No real TLC for the fruit trees as we planted them. [Title links to how they feel.]
As soon as we finished those holes, we nearly ran inside and closed everything up. We had planted 28 trees in under 2 hours. Nothing like the fear of electrocution to speed things up!
After I got cleaned up, we went out for ice cream, and then went to bed.
On Friday, M got up, walked to the couch, and fell asleep again. Then more trees were delivered.
That was the last of 'em.
We used Friday evening to get 3 more bags of tree and shrub soil, 8 more bags of peat moss, 10 more bags of mulch, some more weed-block cloth and stakes for the cloth.
Today is the big challenge. It's supposed to be a beautiful day, warm (well, 60 degrees) and sunny (that part is true so far). The alarm went off at 7:15. [M woke up earlier from the excitement. He said it was because he had napped all day before, but I know, it was really the excitement ;) ] We've had breakfast and are preparing to work our asses off. [I've said it before and I'll say it again: I wish the phrase were true, because I could stand to lose some ass.] We have to accomplish as much today as possible because we are supposed to have more storms tomorrow and snow on Monday and Tuesday.
Yes, you read that right. Monday, snow. Tuesday, snow. April 6 and 7. Snow. Spring is taking a nap, like M yesterday.
Updates tonight if we can still move....
* Stringham high: Who needs an exercise regimen? (Oh, and we now have "landscaping" to go with the giant ruts and mounds of dirt left behind from the geothermal heat pump line installation.)
* Stringham low: As M keeps pointing out, with all the supplies, it costs more to plant the trees and bushes than to buy the trees. [Steph: well duh!]
* Stringham super-high: In 3 years (if the birds don't eat too much off the "buffet"), we'll be rolling in strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and maybe a few apples, peaches, pears, and plums. Oh, and cherries.
So when I got home and we had had dinner, we started the planting...got about 5 or 6 planted before the rain started. (We were moving kind of slowly because M was so sore from all the tilling and hole digging and because I'm...well...a wuss still. No upper-body strength built up yet this year.) No worries, just a little rain. But we worked a little faster. Then it got gradually harder, and thunder started in the distance.
I suggested to M that we stop, so he said he wanted to get the fruit trees planted. We stopped planting the evergreen windbreak and moved to the other side of the driveway. As we planted the first or second tree, I saw lightning to the south. We hurried a little more as we saw a little more lightning. Then the lightning started showing up to the west--heading our way. We were pushing dirt and planting soil into the holes around the trees as quickly as we could while also *trying* to be gentle with the trees. No real TLC for the fruit trees as we planted them. [Title links to how they feel.]
As soon as we finished those holes, we nearly ran inside and closed everything up. We had planted 28 trees in under 2 hours. Nothing like the fear of electrocution to speed things up!
After I got cleaned up, we went out for ice cream, and then went to bed.
On Friday, M got up, walked to the couch, and fell asleep again. Then more trees were delivered.
That was the last of 'em.
We used Friday evening to get 3 more bags of tree and shrub soil, 8 more bags of peat moss, 10 more bags of mulch, some more weed-block cloth and stakes for the cloth.
Today is the big challenge. It's supposed to be a beautiful day, warm (well, 60 degrees) and sunny (that part is true so far). The alarm went off at 7:15. [M woke up earlier from the excitement. He said it was because he had napped all day before, but I know, it was really the excitement ;) ] We've had breakfast and are preparing to work our asses off. [I've said it before and I'll say it again: I wish the phrase were true, because I could stand to lose some ass.] We have to accomplish as much today as possible because we are supposed to have more storms tomorrow and snow on Monday and Tuesday.
Yes, you read that right. Monday, snow. Tuesday, snow. April 6 and 7. Snow. Spring is taking a nap, like M yesterday.
Updates tonight if we can still move....
* Stringham high: Who needs an exercise regimen? (Oh, and we now have "landscaping" to go with the giant ruts and mounds of dirt left behind from the geothermal heat pump line installation.)
* Stringham low: As M keeps pointing out, with all the supplies, it costs more to plant the trees and bushes than to buy the trees. [Steph: well duh!]
* Stringham super-high: In 3 years (if the birds don't eat too much off the "buffet"), we'll be rolling in strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and maybe a few apples, peaches, pears, and plums. Oh, and cherries.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Livin' on a Prairie
I had a migraine that kept me from going to work this morning, but as it turned out, that was fortuitous. The headache was well under control and down to a dull roar by 11, then throwing a nasty hissy-fit around 11:30, just before we got a large delivery of trees and plants. This time, it was the rest of our seed potatoes, 25 strawberry plants, 2 magnolia trees, 24 evergreens for a windbreak, and [most of] our super fruit tree (8 of 9) collection.
Well, M wanted to get started right away, but we couldn't realistically plant all of them, especially with my head roaring at me. So we did our research (ah, don't we always?) and got my headache under control with the meds, the sunglasses, and some lunch, and away we went to get mulch and weed-blocker cloth and all the other planting things we needed. [Including a gorilla wagon, which is awesome. It has four wheels and has a dumping basket. We can carry up to 600 pounds in it and dump up to 300. It took an hour and a half to put together, but after 5 minutes of not having to lug around a bag of wet peat moss, it was totally worth it.]
M tilled a big stretch of 100 feet for the strawberries after we agreed where to plant everything. At 6:30, we started mixing peat moss into the soil, and at 8:30 we were done. Tomorrow, the trees...
* Stringham high: Trees, trees, trees! Straaaaaaaaaaaawwberries!
* Stringham low: What's there to be sad about on a day that was sunny and in the 50s?
* Stringham super-high: We took a break after working the soil and laying the weed-blocking cloth and laid down on the grass, staring at the sky. In that moment, ah, the contentment! I spent my morning and early afternoon freelancing (in the semi-darkness) and the afternoon working to plant our food. I spent the whole day with my husband, working on our little "mini-farm/soon-to-be orchard," and lying next to him in the sun. Only a couple of kids and a dog running around could have made me feel more delighted. [The title links to an article about mini farms. What we are doing is not absent of power tools, nor is it focused on making ure to be pesticide free, but it is very close to this.]
Well, M wanted to get started right away, but we couldn't realistically plant all of them, especially with my head roaring at me. So we did our research (ah, don't we always?) and got my headache under control with the meds, the sunglasses, and some lunch, and away we went to get mulch and weed-blocker cloth and all the other planting things we needed. [Including a gorilla wagon, which is awesome. It has four wheels and has a dumping basket. We can carry up to 600 pounds in it and dump up to 300. It took an hour and a half to put together, but after 5 minutes of not having to lug around a bag of wet peat moss, it was totally worth it.]
M tilled a big stretch of 100 feet for the strawberries after we agreed where to plant everything. At 6:30, we started mixing peat moss into the soil, and at 8:30 we were done. Tomorrow, the trees...
* Stringham high: Trees, trees, trees! Straaaaaaaaaaaawwberries!
* Stringham low: What's there to be sad about on a day that was sunny and in the 50s?
* Stringham super-high: We took a break after working the soil and laying the weed-blocking cloth and laid down on the grass, staring at the sky. In that moment, ah, the contentment! I spent my morning and early afternoon freelancing (in the semi-darkness) and the afternoon working to plant our food. I spent the whole day with my husband, working on our little "mini-farm/soon-to-be orchard," and lying next to him in the sun. Only a couple of kids and a dog running around could have made me feel more delighted. [The title links to an article about mini farms. What we are doing is not absent of power tools, nor is it focused on making ure to be pesticide free, but it is very close to this.]
Thursday, March 26, 2009
That's What She Said
* Stringham high: We got our stuff (well, the weapons) back from the sheriff's department today!
* Stringham low: M surfed for so much porn and downloaded so many TV episodes from the Internet these past couple of weeks that he's been unemployed that he drove us over our ISP's fair-usage limit. [It didn't give us a warning like it was supposed to when we got NEAR going over.] It'll be about a month before we have normal service again. (Hilarious side of this is that when we logged in to our account, it said "Last 30 Rolling Days (You are over your FAP threshold)" I laughed and told M he's definitely done surfing for porn. [If you don't get this, you can ask, and I'll explain. Or maybe it's explained on urbandictionary.com.]
* Stringham super-high: Our new modem may be good, but we'll have to make sure M doesn't exceed his FAP limit again.
OH, and while we were spending time together this evening (testing the limits of our new Internet service and how much we REALLY have to download to exceed our allowed downloads), we came across this article: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/sex/dear-em-lo-whats-so-wrong-with-cheating-on-my-husband-432916/;_ylt=AvBjqwU4MAIs9RkHupwvJBWNb6U5
And we would like to say "Amen to that!"
That is all.
* Stringham low: M surfed for so much porn and downloaded so many TV episodes from the Internet these past couple of weeks that he's been unemployed that he drove us over our ISP's fair-usage limit. [It didn't give us a warning like it was supposed to when we got NEAR going over.] It'll be about a month before we have normal service again. (Hilarious side of this is that when we logged in to our account, it said "Last 30 Rolling Days (You are over your FAP threshold)" I laughed and told M he's definitely done surfing for porn. [If you don't get this, you can ask, and I'll explain. Or maybe it's explained on urbandictionary.com.]
* Stringham super-high: Our new modem may be good, but we'll have to make sure M doesn't exceed his FAP limit again.
OH, and while we were spending time together this evening (testing the limits of our new Internet service and how much we REALLY have to download to exceed our allowed downloads), we came across this article: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/sex/dear-em-lo-whats-so-wrong-with-cheating-on-my-husband-432916/;_ylt=AvBjqwU4MAIs9RkHupwvJBWNb6U5
And we would like to say "Amen to that!"
That is all.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Spring Has Sprung. New Beginnings Abound
* Stringham high: We have sprouts starting in the peat-pellet trays. Leeks and cherry tomatoes are really taking off.
* Stringham super-high: The geothermal heat pump and zone controls (pictures to come soon, I hope) are fabulous! It's never been so comfortable in our house.
* Stringham super-duper-high: I'm now looking at a few job options. One of them is a possible position with the company one of my friends and former colleagues is now at. The second (though I don't really WANT to consider it) is the full-time version of the job I'm currently in. The final one is freelancing full time. I had a conversation with another former colleague, who is a co-owner of one of my customer presses, that was enlightening. In short, after crunching some numbers and showing them to M, I know that if this customer can give me what seems (to me) a very "do-able" amount of business at a steady pace, I could be able to do this full-time once my contract is up in May. I'm crossing my fingers and toes and arms and legs and hair and anything else (including the cats' tails, which they aren't so happy about)...
* Stringham super-high: The geothermal heat pump and zone controls (pictures to come soon, I hope) are fabulous! It's never been so comfortable in our house.
* Stringham super-duper-high: I'm now looking at a few job options. One of them is a possible position with the company one of my friends and former colleagues is now at. The second (though I don't really WANT to consider it) is the full-time version of the job I'm currently in. The final one is freelancing full time. I had a conversation with another former colleague, who is a co-owner of one of my customer presses, that was enlightening. In short, after crunching some numbers and showing them to M, I know that if this customer can give me what seems (to me) a very "do-able" amount of business at a steady pace, I could be able to do this full-time once my contract is up in May. I'm crossing my fingers and toes and arms and legs and hair and anything else (including the cats' tails, which they aren't so happy about)...
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Beware the Ides of March! (Just Kidding)
Quick update for the week. Nothing major has happened, but some upcoming happenings:
M's still unemployed, but he's got 2 or 3 jobs lined up to look into and apply for. Woo!
Four more mouse casualties, but I wasn't thrilled about them. M cut into a nest of at least one adult and three pups with the tiller the other day when he was tilling up a new area for the garden. So four more potential house invaders down, but this time, they were out where they belonged...
We're (I, and M's going to be a captive) starting a new "diet" tomorrow. It's based on the book The Fertility Diet, and we're going to see how it goes. It's designed for eating the correct (basically, natural) foods and in the correct proportions and for getting all necessary nutrients from the right sources. It's not meant to be a weight-loss plan, though of course weight loss is suggested for those of us who are above our suggested weights. M thinks I'll be hungry all the time on it, but it suggests a starting point for you to adjust based on your size and activity level. We'll try the recommended plan this week and tweak as necessary. It looks to me like everything will be good and tasty, and the point of the foods from this diet are to be naturally healthy and filling.
Also starting tomorrow is the installation of our geothermal heat pump. (We are incredibly excited!)
So here's to new beginnings.
* Stringham high: We have seeds in hand and our garden planned!
* Stringham low: It's almost spring. We don't have any real lows, except some short-term money grumbles.
* Stringham super-high: Woo, heat pump!
M's still unemployed, but he's got 2 or 3 jobs lined up to look into and apply for. Woo!
Four more mouse casualties, but I wasn't thrilled about them. M cut into a nest of at least one adult and three pups with the tiller the other day when he was tilling up a new area for the garden. So four more potential house invaders down, but this time, they were out where they belonged...
We're (I, and M's going to be a captive) starting a new "diet" tomorrow. It's based on the book The Fertility Diet, and we're going to see how it goes. It's designed for eating the correct (basically, natural) foods and in the correct proportions and for getting all necessary nutrients from the right sources. It's not meant to be a weight-loss plan, though of course weight loss is suggested for those of us who are above our suggested weights. M thinks I'll be hungry all the time on it, but it suggests a starting point for you to adjust based on your size and activity level. We'll try the recommended plan this week and tweak as necessary. It looks to me like everything will be good and tasty, and the point of the foods from this diet are to be naturally healthy and filling.
Also starting tomorrow is the installation of our geothermal heat pump. (We are incredibly excited!)
So here's to new beginnings.
* Stringham high: We have seeds in hand and our garden planned!
* Stringham low: It's almost spring. We don't have any real lows, except some short-term money grumbles.
* Stringham super-high: Woo, heat pump!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Singing (Emo Songs) in the Rain
M has been officially unemployed for a week now. Last Saturday, he got in a full day of overtime, so that helped the final paycheck not suck so much.
So far, he seems to be handling unemployment pretty well. He's doing a good job at doing things at home so I can focus a little more on my freelancing projects, and he's been looking into a job position in Indianapolis. No interviews yet, but we think there will be one very soon. (Keep your fingers crossed for us.)
On Friday, work took a drastic downward turn. It was strange when I first started but evened out. But in the past few weeks, we've had some change pains because of a new program manager and a move to a new area of the building. I was riding it out, but it has turned into a not-so-pleasant experience for me. Our little team moved into a new area of the building with the larger team, and it turns out that a lot of things that I was able to mostly ignore before aren't so easy for me to ignore in our new location. On Friday, I was ready to walk out of the place and give it the finger all the way out the door. But I didn't. I stayed and sucked it up. I get paid well to be a contractor there, after all, but I wonder if it's worth it, the way we are now being treated (more like 5-year-old children than 20- to 40-something-year-old professionals). I had happily forgotten about most of the issues over the weekend, but the subject came up in a phone call this evening, and now my stomach is churning. Something's got to give, but Lord only knows what. Apparently, I'm the only person of the contractors who is willing to speak up and put my neck out by doing so. But I can't sit quietly by and take the crap. Well, I can, I suppose, if I channel my mother's personality, but I have too much of my father in me. I'll bring it up, but I'm waiting for the right time, the right place. We'll see what Monday brings.
If I speak up, the worst thing that can happen is they let me out of my contract immediately. No worries (aside from Mike's monetary ones). I'll still get a good recommendation from my immediate boss and my team members. The best that can happen is that things change for the better (when pigs fly). If nothing changes, I work to the end of the contract and move on. As for applying for the job they've tried for months to get me into...I don't think I'm interested anymore. I'm most definitely looking seriously for another job now.
But anyway, what does all of that have to do with our house? Not very damn much, actually. But I had to vent (again, for about the 9th time, and it's not really helping me feel much better).
* Stringham high: Turns out that my visits to the dietitian aren't turned in to the insurance company, so I can keep going to my wonderful dietitian, even without our health insurance, which M was providing.
* Stringham low: See above.
* Stringham super-high: M and I have had a good weekend, spending pleasant time together and planning for the summer and dreaming about our geothermal heat pump being installed next week. And some of our seeds and supplies were delivered this week; we are going to start some seedlings indoors next week!
So far, he seems to be handling unemployment pretty well. He's doing a good job at doing things at home so I can focus a little more on my freelancing projects, and he's been looking into a job position in Indianapolis. No interviews yet, but we think there will be one very soon. (Keep your fingers crossed for us.)
On Friday, work took a drastic downward turn. It was strange when I first started but evened out. But in the past few weeks, we've had some change pains because of a new program manager and a move to a new area of the building. I was riding it out, but it has turned into a not-so-pleasant experience for me. Our little team moved into a new area of the building with the larger team, and it turns out that a lot of things that I was able to mostly ignore before aren't so easy for me to ignore in our new location. On Friday, I was ready to walk out of the place and give it the finger all the way out the door. But I didn't. I stayed and sucked it up. I get paid well to be a contractor there, after all, but I wonder if it's worth it, the way we are now being treated (more like 5-year-old children than 20- to 40-something-year-old professionals). I had happily forgotten about most of the issues over the weekend, but the subject came up in a phone call this evening, and now my stomach is churning. Something's got to give, but Lord only knows what. Apparently, I'm the only person of the contractors who is willing to speak up and put my neck out by doing so. But I can't sit quietly by and take the crap. Well, I can, I suppose, if I channel my mother's personality, but I have too much of my father in me. I'll bring it up, but I'm waiting for the right time, the right place. We'll see what Monday brings.
If I speak up, the worst thing that can happen is they let me out of my contract immediately. No worries (aside from Mike's monetary ones). I'll still get a good recommendation from my immediate boss and my team members. The best that can happen is that things change for the better (when pigs fly). If nothing changes, I work to the end of the contract and move on. As for applying for the job they've tried for months to get me into...I don't think I'm interested anymore. I'm most definitely looking seriously for another job now.
But anyway, what does all of that have to do with our house? Not very damn much, actually. But I had to vent (again, for about the 9th time, and it's not really helping me feel much better).
* Stringham high: Turns out that my visits to the dietitian aren't turned in to the insurance company, so I can keep going to my wonderful dietitian, even without our health insurance, which M was providing.
* Stringham low: See above.
* Stringham super-high: M and I have had a good weekend, spending pleasant time together and planning for the summer and dreaming about our geothermal heat pump being installed next week. And some of our seeds and supplies were delivered this week; we are going to start some seedlings indoors next week!
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