My goodness! Is the year half-way gone already?
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Category: Diary
Tuesday Thoughts
First, I’d like to apologize if I seemed a bit absent the last few days.
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Friday Thoughts – The Day Before…
Actually, it’s 2 days before. Tomorrow will mostly be spent in travel with a 90-minute flight to Los Angeles, endure a nearly 4 hours layover before hopping on a 10-and-half hours flight to London.
Last night, when I found out our seats got assigned, I thought, that just made the trip more real. We’re flying to London in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I’ve flown on the 777 before and didn’t like the seats at all – too narrow and not enough legroom. I’ve also flown on the Airbus. Personally, I prefer the Airbus with its roomier leg space. I’ve heard good thing about the Dreamliner though, so I hope it doesn’t disappoint.
There are 9 seats per row and my mom and I are in the middle. Since we went with the cheapest option, we didn’t get to pick our seats. So far, there’s no one sitting in the third seat and there are 40+ empty seats on the plane. I hope it’ll keep it this way, then mom won’t be squished into me. I like my personal space, if you haven’t noticed.
* * * * *
I planted 9 tomatoes last night. 9!
If you told me I would be able to plant 9 tomatoes in an hour a year ago, I would’ve told you you’re crazy. I probably wouldn’t be able to stand the next day.
My back has been sore since December and I’m currently going through physical therapy. My therapist has been teaching me to stretch in the appropriate places follow by electro-stimulation at the end of the session. The stimulation is nice. It’s like 4 pairs of gentle hands loosening my tight back. I feel better afterwards though it’s always been temporary. Oh well, I have 18 more sessions to go.
Anyway, back to tomatoes. Thankfully, I invested in a set of auger that can be attached to the drill. It’s a lot easier to press a button than to dig the hole myself.
I’ve also gone minimalistic when it comes to the amount of amendments I put into the planting holes. Last year, I’d put bone meal, blood meal, vermiculite, perlite, so many others but last night, I just scattered a few handfuls of worm castings and fertilizer. As much as the initial planting matters, I now believe in the importance of subsequent fertilizing. Besides, after spending so much time and energy last fall adding manure compost and amendments, the soil was incredibly rich and full of earthworms – a sight any gardeners would love to see.
Anyway, I just drilled, threw in worm casting, fertilizer, and plop went the tomato plant. I’ve also put cages around the indeterminate tomatoes, hoping to keep them tamed this year. Wish me luck.
As a documentarian, I have to document the garden before my trip. Otherwise, what would I have to compare when I return 2 weeks later?
I will also note that 2 of the broccoli plants in the new raised bed is beginning to head, will I return to beautiful broccoli heads?
Hello May 2023!
Monday Thoughts – Panic Mode
It appears Mother Nature has heard our prayers.
The snow had ceased as of last Wednesday but I think Mother Nature might had turned the dial on the thermometer a little too much because it was hot this weekend even though it was only 60-degrees-Fahrenheit. It went from 30-degrees on Wednesday to near 60 on Friday. If I feel this hot when it’s 60, how will I get through the days when it’s 90+?
Anyway, the foot of snow in my backyard finally melted on Saturday and I spent the weekend catching up on my planting. I’m so late this year. The peas were supposed to be in the ground in the middle of March and so were the cold-hardy vegetables. I was in panic mode for other reasons as well. As of Saturday, I’m 4 weeks aways from my last frost date. There are many things that should be planted at this point but what? My mind was drawing a blank, which it’s what happens when I’m in panic mode.
I was also in panic mode because not only there’s a crack in the hose splitter, I still haven’t purchased the material to reconnect my drip irrigation system. I had to cut a large chunk of the system because my current design doesn’t fit the 2 new raised beds I installed last fall. With mom wanting to follow me everywhere I go, I might need to take a Thursday off from work, get the material, and install it myself.
Also, with Mother Nature turning up the thermometer, I hope I’m not too late with my tomatoes. I started them indoors on the 2nd of April and they are just now popping up. I’ve grown tomatoes for the last 2 years and I’ve transplanted them just prior to Memorial Day (last weekend in May) in time to let the cold-hardy crops finish up.
Oh, I’m so sore today, definitely overdid it this weekend.
- The Johnny Jump-Ups (viola) began blooming on Saturday. They are such pretty flowers and so cold-hardy.
- Poppy and alyssum seeds scattered in the backyard, in hopes that it’ll create a carpet-like groundcover to deter weeds.
- The soil in my Greenstalk towers are loosened and amended before popping the remaining 6 strawberry plants in there along with some lettuce and spinach seedlings. The seed potatoes I planted before the last freeze still hadn’t come up. I hope they are okay.
- Planted snow peas and shelling peas in the L-Shaped bed and Napa cabbages in the new raised bed next to the broccolis, which miraculously survived the last freeze.
- Planted the remaining seed potatoes in 10-gallon grow bags and placed them in the front yard to take advantage of the southern sun. Getting to plant beneath the southern sun is such a game changer because my front yard gets full sun and facing south, it’s much warmer than the backyard, which at the moment, it’s highly advantageous as I’m in a hurry to play catch up.
- A 15-gallon grow bag was also filled and placed in the front yard, in which I sowed carrots and some Asian greens. I’m looking forward to those.
Now, I just need to locate a couple of blackberry plants to plop in my backyard.
Hello April 2023!
I feel like even before it begins, I’m happy that a new month is here. I have good feelings about April, is that too presumptuous or did I just jinxed it?
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Welcome March 2023!
Hello February!
I don’t think I’ve ever welcomed the month of February before, at least I don’t remember doing it last year.
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Welcome 2023!
I welcomed each month in 2022 and I will continue doing the same in 2023 but first, let’s give a nice warm welcome to 2023! May you be brighter than your predecessor.
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Final Thoughts of 2022
I’m pretty sure these won’t be my last thoughts on 2022 as I have a few posts pending to be posted in the upcoming days but these will be pretty darn close to being my last 2022 thoughts as I’m writing this on the 29th of December, 2022.
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Post-Christmas Thoughts
Thoughts on this Christmas Eve
Monday Thoughts – Rough Week Ahead
I have this feeling this is going to be a rough week.
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Friday Thoughts – December 2022 Garden Updates
Friday Thoughts – Stop it with the Grandeur
I was writing a post a few nights ago when all of a sudden came a knock at my door. Before I could say, “come in,” mom entered and announced, “I can’t sleep.” What was I supposed to do? Should I had sung her a lullaby? Read her a story? Counted sheep with her?
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Friday Thoughts – 3 Short Thoughts
Friday Thoughts – Only Matter when…
Even after enduring it for so long, I still find it sting every time I’m treated this way and yet, I still help them. What in heck is wrong with me?
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Friday Thoughts – An Update on Health
I don’t know why but I feel like I don’t write enough about my physical health.
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Friday Thoughts
Losing a Friend
Avoidance
I thought I would be okay now that the nightmares have subsided. I thought I would be okay to drive to my doctor appointment on Friday (two days from now).
Maybe not because I find myself stressing out just to step into the garage. I can’t even go into the garage to retrieve some insect powder for the garage. For some reason, every time I put the thought of “go to the garage” in my head, my brain would automatically override the thought with another like “walk 1000 steps” or “watch TV”.
I have already reschedule the appointment for next Thursday and part of me want so much to reschedule Friday’s appointment. You can’t, a voice says firmly. Friday’s appointment is a dietitian/counseling appointment and I need to talk to somebody who understands what I’m going through. Maybe then I can have the strength to get back on the road.
Curiously, I googled “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms” and one of the symptom that came up was “avoidance” and it includes:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967
- Trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event
- Avoiding places, activities or people that remind you of the traumatic event
I remember when I went grocery shopping with mom on Sunday. It took all my strength to hurl myself into the garage and into my mom’s car. The house key was in my pocket and when we returned, I entered the house through the front door instead of the garage.
My mom didn’t understand this. She doesn’t understand I can’t stand to look at my car – the missing fender, the hole in the door, all of it. She doesn’t understand about PTSD.
I have been in accidents before, none was my fault, but I couldn’t recall having such a strong reaction as this time. I was able to step into the garage. I was able to get in the car and get back on the road. Why is it so hard this time?
Meanwhile, mom isn’t making this easy. Not only does she keeps talking about it, she’s saying it’s my fault that I got into an accident which prevented us from taking a trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming last weekend and possibly any trip in the future because of the deficit I’ve spent on getting the car fixed.
She also wants me to call the auto body shop and ask them to give me a quote to add blind spot detection to my mirrors. I don’t see why I need it. It was never a problem and I don’t want it to be another crutch for me to rely on. To be honest, I hate all the gadgets cars have these days and I’m glad my car doesn’t have features like lane departure and blind spot detection because it makes us more distracted and reliant on these feature instead of focusing on the road and drive.
I emailed the person who did the quote for my repairs but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet and I doubt he will. His business card is in my car and given my current dilemma, I don’t know how I can retrieve it.
This will take a while…
Please note that this is quite a long post. I won’t be offended if you skip this one.
Physically, I’m fine but mentally, I feel like I’m once again at a breaking point. It will certainly be a while until I’m truly comfortable driving again…
Yesterday was supposed to be a day of fun, a day which I head into the forest once again to seek solitude, a little time to myself, and to enjoy nature but it looked like someone had another agenda for me.
This week has been a series of unfortunate events with the biggest one of them all on Thursday.
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A New Lens!
My mom once said my dad is living through me via a camera but I think it’s the other way around.
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This is Another Story 