6/13/21

A Slow Day

It rained for most of the day yesterday. It makes me fear for things in the vegetable garden. We planted our first garden in many years last summer. Prior to that our last garden had been in 2012. The long gap was due to a gardening season like this one, when it rained and rained and rained right after we'd planted our seeds. 

In 2012, absolutely nothing came up. It's a lot of work to plant a vegetable garden, especially one the size of ours. So we gave up on gardening for many years until last year when we planted one to fill about 1/3 the space. Everything grew and thrived, and we were happy. Here's a picture taken at the end of July last year.

Now, this year, we're having another wet year, and things are just too wet and too cold to do much growing. Most everything has come up, but not in the numbers I planted. And I've replanted several things at least twice. Sigh. When the rain came down hard last night, I decided we'd get what we get and be happy. At this point, we're planning a travel adventure for next summer. There probably will be no garden. Perhaps by 2023, we will have forgotten the disappointment of 2021. Time will tell. And maybe it's too early for such gardening despair. One can only hope.

It was a pain day yesterday. I had several things on my list to do, but it seemed my arm had other ideas related to sitting and being quiet. Some days are like that. My shoulder hurt, and my thumb was on fire for most of the day. No idea why, except possibly wrestling with And On That Farm may have taken a toll. Where slow stitching is concerned, I just stitch through it. I finished up the section I was working on:


And then moved my hoop up to the next section. I'll be finishing off the tops of some of the bottles in the next round. There's a little more higher up and outside the hoop, and then I'll be moving to the right.


Also, I managed to get the binding sewn onto the farm quilt. All that's left now is the hand-stitching and the embellishing. And thanks to everyone who chipped in about the bushel basket. I'm going to leave the handle off.


Now let's just turn our attention to the cats of the Three Cats Ranch, shall we? As I mentioned, we purchased a Litter Robot for them several weeks ago. Mike, the Pooper Scooper, is loving it, and it's working out great. It makes it less worrisome to leave the kitties for a few days when we take a short trip.


With that addition, there was just one more thing we wanted to try to improve: treat dispensing. When they're left for a few days (never more than three nights running), they have their catio, they have plenty of food, plenty of water, and they have each other. I'm sure they're happier staying home than they would be if we took them along. The one thing we still felt guilty about is that we aren't here to dispense treats for them pretty much every five minutes. So Mike invested in this automatic dispenser. 


Now they get treats every several hours. It's been a good investment because it means they aren't begging from us constantly. The treat dispenser takes us out of the equation. Now they have a Litter Robot to clean their litter box and they have a treat dispenser. Pretty soon we will be completely irrelevant, and they'll ask us to move out so they can redecorate and have mouse parties. It's every cat's dream, dontcha know.

And speaking of cat dreams, I caught Sadie lying on the catio catwalk yesterday. I've never seen either of them climb the ladder we provided (although I have seen cats climb ladders), but they do like this little cat walk that extends to the corner shelf.


And today is Sadie's "Gotcha Day." She joined the cats at the Three Cats Ranch five years ago today. We had a pre-celebration Bees Knees for her yesterday evening...which is just another reason it ended up a slow day. It did make my shoulder feel better though. A little honey, lemon, and lavender, spiced up with a helping of gin, and all your aches and pains fade into the background. Just sayin.


Today my shoulder and thumb are feeling pretty much back to normal. I was thinking of hoeing the garden, but I'm afraid I'll just be walking into a mud hole. It seems like a better choice to stay inside and make my way around the quilt binding.

Right now, though, it's time for Sunday morning Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes, and so that's where I'm headed next.

14 comments:

Barbara said...

There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt. ~ Erma Bombeck

Darlene S said...

No hoeing for you silly girl. You do enough already to make your shoulder and thumb start screaming pain and hoeing would certainly do that. Please do not hoe. I'll fly up and hoe for you, if that is what it takes to stop you. Sorry to hear about all the rain you are getting and what it is doing to your garden. I wish you could redirect that rain south as we certainly need rain in all parts of California. Your well cared for cats look like they will be be fine alone for a few days, when you head out for your next getaway. Too funny to think about a cat with their own robot. What will engineers come up with next?

Julierose said...

Oh that's really too bad about all the rainy weather; and here we are in a drought...today is lawnmower day for the neighbors, they are behind us and on the sides as we sit at the end of a cul-de-sac. We have retreated inside until they finish...

Hope you feel better hugs Julierose

Karrin Hurd said...

We sure could use some of your rain. We are in a drought too. I have planted a few vegetables this year. Hope you have a great week!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Wow, it only feels like 2-3 years, not 5 years. My son is growing the garden, and he has to keep watering, since we've been dry and hot. It's looking like the zucchini will start coming in about the time we leave for 2 weeks. Oh well, the neighbors will appreciate the zucchini (my son doesn't eat veggies).

Little Penpen said...

That’s a pretty stitchery. I hope your pain goes away. Sounds like a nerve issue???

Lyndsey said...

We almost gave up on our garden two years ago as it was so wt. Last year we had some success and so we continued with the seeds this year and so far it is going fairly well. Now we are having to water every day as it's so hot and dry.

Sandra W said...

I can honestly say I've never thought I might do some hoeing. Such a thought would never enter my mind.
So you dropped a little hint about a big trip you have planned for 2022! Can we hear more?
The cat treat dispenser sounds great. My cat (deceased) would never have anything to do with such a contraption. How do you know that one cat--Smitty?--doesn't eat both shares?

piecefulwendy said...

While I agree that the hoeing might have had an impact on your shoulder, I also wonder if your shoulder acts up with weather changes? My FIL is a walking barometer due to his back injuries (built houses for years and fell from roofs numerous times). So as soon as you mentioned rain and shoulder aches that came to mind. Anyway, glad the Bee's Knees took a little of the edge off. That kitty treat deal is pretty slick!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Sorry to hear that your pain ramped up yesterday, Barbara. Glad to hear that the interesting sounding martini fixed you right up! Thanks for sharing the recipe link with us.

Grandmother Carolyn said...

You might do well to jot down how you are feeling (where it hurts, how much it hurts - that kind of thing) and a commentary on the weather of the day (rainy, cloudy, barometrically-challeged). I find that there is a direct correlation in my little world, and have always attributed it to (sorry!) aging.....I have acquired bumps, bruises, scars along the way, and the residue there is always the first to let me know it may be time to take the umbrella with me that day!
C

Susan said...

Happy Gotcha Day Sadie. You should get extra treats today.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

All the rain you've been getting probably has something to do with the pain level...I know it bothers me. I think if I were ever lucky enough to get another kitty I'd be investing in one of those litter systems. Living in a small space means the litter gets pretty 'P-U' pretty fast. And...happy 'Gotcha Day' to Sadie - hope she got some special treats!

Dorothy said...

A bit of vodka in that "Bees Knees" and I am right there with you