What a year...

 Has it really been over a year? 

I had grand designs like always to update more. I thought 'with the pandemic, clearly I'll have time do this stuff."  And yet...

I did do a garden and it was okay. I didn't go anywhere so I was able to pay more attention to it.  Still, some things didn't work quite right.  I tried starting seeds and got MORE successful with it this year, but some stuff just died. I may be the ONLY person who can kill zucchini/summer squash plants.  

I did get lettuce and spinach.  The tomatoes didn't come full on until after classes started so my plans for those were scuttled and we just tried to keep up.  I was able to freeze spinach (I have pictures..maybe I'll post those); I made pickles, canned tomatoes eventually. I even canned some corn from when we bought 6 ears but only ate three.

So far, I've ordered seeds and am awaiting them. The greenhouse is ready to receive them. I need to buy more seed pods (those little things to start them).  

I found a crop rotation 'map' in a book so that will help that.  

Right now I hear birds singing in our 'fake spring' that comes between first and second winter in Ohio. The geese are moving, and I smelled evidence of one of our skunks that is now out of hibernation (or whatever they do).  My irises are starting to poke up too. 

It's been a long, dark year.  I don't know if we're out of that particular tunnel yet, but at least Mother Earth is proceeding accordingly.

Update on Mom-in-Law and more Winter Garden Dreaming

I suppose, as I am sitting here bemoaning the briefest January thaw ever and wondering how hard Mother Nature is laughing at me about my last 'woohoo Imbolc' post, I should do an update on Janet.

(It also occurs to me, I should have pseudonymed her at some point, but it's too late now...)

She's actually still doing fairly well, all things considered.  She knows her name, knows our names, takes care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner as needed.  She does her laundry, she cleans her room and bathroom.  She can still bathe and basically take care of herself.  We did get her a chair for the shower and a hand held shower head to make it easier on her.  There were a couple of other minor adjustments to living arrangements that I can't remember right now.

She does look to us a bit more for validation.  She will ask to verify the date and day of the week, and nine times out of ten, she is right.  She gets numbers more and more confused in her speech, and possibly in her mind as well.  There have been some near misses involving money.  She misplaces things, and typically I find them for her, usually very quickly.  They just aren't in the first place she looks so she gets mad at herself and just stops looking.  She blames it on her age.  Of course, she laughed the other day when it took me twenty minutes to find my coffee cup.

J:  "Oh, you do that too?"
L:  "Yes...at least three times a day."
J:  "Well, I don't feel so bad, then."

We've taken over helping her to pay her bills, largely because she has cataracts and a hard time seeing.  Those are getting taken care of in March.  The larger issue though is at night, she has gotten very confused over her evening insulin shot.  It's been the same number of units for, well, ever.  However lately we have to help her set the number on the insulin pen, and even one day had to explain to her how the pen is used.  She hasn't had this problem (she says) for her post-meal shots, though.  It's very concerning, as we can't be there during the day to monitor it or help her out if she gets confused.

It would be hard for someone with cataracts to see the numbers on, so we are hopeful that the cataract surgeries will fix it.  If it doesn't, it is shocking how quickly it came on.  One day everything was fine, the next it wasn't.  It makes me wonder what will be next, and if we'll be home to help, or even recognize it when it does.

BUT, we had good holidays I think.  We splurged and bought an upright freezer for the garage.  Janet paid half (at her insistence).  It's large and beautiful and we can see everything in it.  The crappy old chest freezer is dead in the garage.  It had a good life.

Already I am thinking about all the things I can put in it this harvest.  Last year I didn't care too much about yield for freezing because where would we put it?  Now, however, we can put it in the big gloriousness in my garage.

AND...gentle reader, if you have made it this far, I am the proud owner of a PRESSURE CANNER! Thanks to mom and dad for Giftmas.  I'm ever more excited for spring to get here so that planting can happen, then growing, then harvesting and preserving!

In sum: Everyone's hanging in and waiting for spring.