Here a deer, there a deer and a yard of rabbits

We live on close to four wooded acres and our large pond is a very popular spot in this drought, for all manner of wildlife.  To keep our garden from becoming the local salad bar for four-legged critters, husband has fashioned a very cheap cage to cover it. It seems to scare most of the wildlife and, when she was alive, Irritating little chihuahua would not go near it.

He found the pattern online but husband is not real knowledgeable about the internet and probably could not find it again. It’s made of chicken wire over a frame of flexible electrical conduit and it has its own screen door and a seat on the outside. We had it near the house but the Brown County Garden Club came out and built us a raised bed garden to fit in it. It weighs next to nothing for about seven of us to lift and put over the new garden.

Frankly, I see two more of these in our future.  And, thank you so much to the kind people and companies who donated their time and supplies to make our garden successful.

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Pedicure up–Back down

This could serve to show off my first and only pedicure but it is mainly to show the position I have been in since Thursday.

I was gardening in the square foot plot, felt that back twinge, went and put some very late getting in Watermelon seeds and thought to myself that it was a bit worse than I first thought.

Husband stayed out and I came in and, oh so loyal to my blog, did some blogging.  Then, the inevitable struck.  I had to go to the bathroom and my back did not want to move without undo whimpering.  It was like Rocky Horror Picture Show: One step to the left, one move to the right, do not arch the back, use your arms to push.  Sh**T.

One day after the insurance company “officially” said, “It was all a mistake.”  One day after they agreed to and did take three months of my premiums out, I was on my way to the ER. 

I have a pinched nerve, in my back, and I got a really good shot and some pretty good pills.  I sleep a lot, and I hurt a wee bit less than I did but I am using a walker and moving very slowly.

Since nothing ever seems to go smoothly in this house, I will add that when I got home with my $4.00 prescription for painkillers and EMT comes in for work and asks after me, and what am I taking, and kids at school pay a lot for those, and I say, totally joking, that I just better count them then.  Right after that, I found out that the pharmacist has given me 19 of my 30 prescribed pills.  I mean, these suckers are big enough that I could tell just looking into the bottle that I was shorted. 

No one else had gotten near them.  I had them next to me the whole time and both boys were gone to work and came home and were not alone with the pills. Husband is only a druggy if it involves something that allows his lungs to work better.  And, we even have a few of these left over, each of us, from previous injuries and surgery.  But, I answered the pharmacists “could it be” interrogation very calmly.  Of course, I was on a very strong pain shot, so I doubt I could have gotten agitated, even if I wanted to.

I had to go out, with my walker and pain the next day to get the other eleven pills.  The pharmacist who filled it would barely look at me.  I am going to write the main office, just as soon as I can be online for more than four minutes without being cut off.

Yes, folks, the ground in Indiana is soaked again.

I agree Xup, I hate paying for Satellite.  I probably will not be able to answer as I have been cut off four times for this.  I think I shall go live in a cave and quit paying for everything.  Except it’s hard to garden with a walker.

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Seeds for seniors

I want to suggest an idea to everyone, and since I like to dream big, to everyone in the world.  Okay, if it spread in the US, I would be happy.

 

I like to garden but have always just planted enough to keep us in tomatoes, hot peppers and green onions.  This year I added my watermelons to the mix and I do have about five but I do not know if they will ever get big enough to eat before the weather gets too cold.  When mom moved in with us, I threw in an extra tomato plant or two for her.

 

Now that she lives in an income based senior’s apartment building, I have been taking a box of tomatoes to her and she picks what she wants out of it.  I planned on putting the remainder on the table in the entertainment room.  Some stores will bring over breads and such and leave them there, so I figure whoever wanted tomatoes could have some fresh garden ones.

 

But, I only get as far as the elevator, from mom’s apartment.  The ladies on the second floor are all over me for my tomatoes.  You never saw them move so fast. It’s almost like Christmas to them.  A lot of these seniors are totally alone in the world and they do not eat that balanced of a diet.

 

So, next year, besides starting seeds indoors, I am going to plant as much as I can take care of and take the extra to their building.  Without having a lot of money to give, it’s a way I can feel like I am contributing to society and enriching their lives.  Not only does it help them to eat a better diet (and believe me, they need help with that) but it lets them know someone cares. 

 

So, how about it? Do you have income based senior housing in your town?  Do you have a garden plot? You will bring joy and nutrition to an elderly person by just planting a couple extra tomato plants and donating the leftovers.  And, when you see the delight in their faces and how fast those tomatoes disappear, I bet the next year you add more to your garden too. 

 

So, what can we call this? We need a catchy name, like Seeds for Seniors or Tomatoes – no, never mind, that’s not a good one.  Hey, and maybe someone is doing this already.  It’s along the lines of planting a garden in your front yard for the neighborhood to enjoy, like CrazyAuntPurl: The edible lawn…? talked about. 

 

 

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