Yep! Hubby and I got our first dose of Covid 19 vaccinations today. So far, nothing more than a slight headache. Next ones will be due March 3d. From what we were told, the 2nd vaccinations can cause slight side effects ... low fever, chills, body aches ... nothing too terrible that could last for a day or two. We will see ...
Well, we did have a HUGE SNOWSTORM over the past 2 days. Can't really estimate how much cause of drifting snow, but we probably got about a 2 feet of the white stuff! And of course ... the snow plow guy we called NEVER showed up! So, hubby and my stepson shoveled the driveway late yesterday afternoon. Hubby also paid 2 kids who had been out in the neighborhood with shovels to shovel again today to widen the driveway. The snow piles on the side of the driveway are about 5-6 feet high! We are expecting another storm during the beginning of next week, but it's not supposed to be as bad as this past one. DAMN GROUNDHOG!!!
Bunch of birthdays coming up. Both me and my sister-in-law share 2/6 ... my younger son 2/12 ... a niece 2/13 ... and another sister-in-law 2/17. This year I am turning 70! Damn! People tell me I don't look my age at all. Yeah, WHATEVER ... but ... well, my BODY feels like 70! Achy knees, a bit of brain fog now and then, and my stomach doesn't tolerate junk food like it used to ....
Since there is over 2 feet of snow all over my yard, there is nothing new to say about outside gardening right now. I know there's stuff planted under all the white stuff, but I really don't think it will be an early Spring this year. I really don't like to start seeds indoors (don't really have enough room) but I will take a stab at it this year. Maybe in late April I'll start some morning glories and black-eyed susan vine seeds in peat pots. I have 3 tall trellises in large pots on the back deck, and MG and BES vines always do a great job covering them. I just have to START THEM MUCH SOONER. I waited too long this past summer season and got no MG blooms and the BES vines were ... Eh!!
Well, that's the latest from the Poconos! And as always so new photos for your pleasure or ... displeasure. : - ))
Can't believe it's January 2021, and I'm hoping for a new year that's nothing like ... 2020.
OK ... I am going back an entire year now. January 21, 2020 (LAST YEAR) I had gone to see my local doctor cause I was very sick. Chills, fever, bad cough, headache, anevere body aches. I was so lightheaded I could barely stand up. I almost passed out in the examination room with my Doc. Thank God my hubby was there cause he caught me when I tettered over. Anyway, to make a long story short, my Doc checked me out, tested me for FLU, but the test came back NEGATIVE. He asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, but I said, NO. I am very THICKHEADED. He put me on TAMAFLU and I basically slept for the next 2 weeks! Gradually, I got better, but I had NEVER felt like that in my entire life. As a breast cancer survivor, I had gone through Chemo & Radiation ... which is awful ... but this experience was actually worse. I remember while I was recuperating, I told my husband that the way I was feeling must be what it felt like for someone who had fallen down a flight of stairs! Side note ... I have NEVER fallen down a flight of stairs. I did get well ... and then COVID -19 became FRONT PAGE NEWS a short time after. I didn't see my Doctor again until a few months later for something else, and I asked him if I might have had COVID 19 when I last saw him? He said ... good chance I did! He gave me the ANTIBODIES test, but the results came back NEGATIVE for antibodies. Good chance the time between had been too long past to show positive ANTIBODIES results. All I can say is, whatever it was that had made me very sick, was very, very NASTY!
Staying on the Covid -19 topic, I have 2 sons and a daughter-in-law that all work in Healthcare (Medical assistant, Physical Therapy Assistant, and Robotics Equipment) and I worry about them each and every day. They are all temperature tested numerous times a day, take all the precautions that they must, but they are ALL working EXTRA LONG HOURS. Needless to say, I pray for them ... A LOT.
Well, this is a Gardening Site, so ... back to the GREEN STUFF! Nothing going on outdoors ... and indoors is a bit limited. My Thanksgiving Cactus bloomed beautifully. I have 3 Amaryllis potted up ... one making leaves ... the other 2 doing nothing. Side note ... I staggered the Amaryllis planting hoping for a long blooming period. I had planted these same bulbs last year and they all did ... NADA! No flowers ... just leaves. If they don't flower this year I am tossing them and buying budding plants for Christmas 2021.
I don't particularly like starting seeds indoors, but this Spring I will start Morning Glory and Black-eyed Susan Vine seeds inside. Last year, I started them outside and it was a bust. Morning Glory never bloomed, and the Black-eyed Susan flowered but a bit too late in the season. Some seeds I will sow directly outdoors since they do fairly well. Foxglove, Poppy, and Coneflower seeds like a bit of a chill.
Well, this is my news for the day. I posted a few pics for your viewing PLEASURE or DISPLEASURE.
Jane
Well, we got a doozy of a snowstorm December 16/17! Probably a good 18 inches or so. It started Wednesday afternoon and finished up about 11:00 am Thursday. We live in the Pocono Mountains of PA ... our elevation is about 2000 feet. Goes with the territory, I guess. We haven't had a big snow like this, though, for quite a few years. 6-8 inches is usually the norm. Easy enough to handle the smaller amount, but this time we needed a plow guy! We had 2 on the line to plow, but then neither of them showed! Grrrr ! My stepson and a friend shoveled the driveway and it took them quite awhile.
Don't know if anyone is familiar with the Pocono Mountains of PA, but up here, it is SKI & INDOOR WATERPARK RESORTS ... Heaven! CAMELBACK, GREAT WOLF LODGE, KALAHARI to name a few. Every place is pretty much booked right through Christmas week. The COVID-19 Pandemic obviously hasn't scared away the tourists. Lots of our regular restaurants & diners are now TAKE OUT - ONLY. Still very busy. And fast food places (take out) like McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, Wendys, Dairy Queen, and KFC are SUPER busy. We do take-out ever so often, but we do cook mostly at home.
I posted some of our "Big Snow" pics for your viewing pleasure ... OR ... displeasure. I was watching the weather news a little while ago, and less than a week ago it was 60 degrees! Now, it's in the 20's and feels like 10! And WINTER hasn't even technically arrived !!!!
I never thought I would be so happy to see the end of this year coming. Don't mind me if I rant. Every now and then everyone gets a case of the CRAZIES!!!
You see, I just saw my hubby outside shoveling some snow off the driveway ... just a dusting was predicted, but there is about 4 inches of the white stuff on the ground. 4 inches of snow is not a tremendous amount of snow ... BUT it is for a man who had a semi-major surgical procedure 2 days ago!!! GRRRR ....I yelled at him as if he were a child. So NOT like me to do that! Anyway, he came back into the house and quietly slinked away into the bedroom to rest. My hubby is a big guy ... 6 feet tall and about 230 pounds. I am 5 feet tall ... not fat, but a bit chunky. Generally, I am pretty calm. I don't get mad easily, but this is the year 2020. Who knows? Maybe some aliens landed in a field close by and one of them tried to take over my mind and body. Hmmn .... interesting theory, don't you think? Ok, I think I will move on now .... 😁
The gardens have been put to sleep for quite awhile now. This past year I concentrated on scaling down even more. Living in DEER COUNTRY has its own special set of problems. You keep learning what the deer will ... and will not eat. BUT ... there's always a BUT ... it still can vary from year to year. For the most part, Daffodils, Foxglove, Catmint, Siberian Iris, and Poppies are left alone each year and I don't need to fence them at all. These plants are in a large, rectangular garden in the front of the house. I just make sure I have a steady supply of Foxgloves growing from year to year. I also tend to plant more groups of daffodils each year (King Alfred in particular). They continue to multiply and they last a very long time! And I happen to love Daffodils!
I do have some other plants bordering my front deck ... Peonies, Astilbe, Bleeding Hearts, and tall Phlox that I DO have to fence or cage. I also have a small FENCED side garden next to my back deck with Hollyhocks, Lilies, and purple Clematis. Early this past Fall I moved a Little Miss Kim Lilac from the front of the house into the side garden in the back. It seemed healthy, but NEVER bloomed. Maybe I will have better luck with it in the back garden where it will get more sun.
I'm not really into house plants, but I do have a few. I have a Thanksgiving Cactus (going on to its 3rd year) that bloomed great this year! I have one potted up Amaryllis (no idea what color ... with small leaves starting to show) and a 4 more bulbs that I will pot up over the next few weeks, staggering the planting times. I'm hoping they will bloom this coming year. They all grew beautiful, healthy leaves last year, but no flowers.😒
Well, that's all the news for now. I posted some pics for your viewing pleasure. Happy Holidays to all! Stay Well!😊
Well I am on my Winter/Spring Sowing kick again. Been saving water/milk jug containers. I don't plan on potting up a lot of containers - Well ... SIGH, that's what I am saying now. I hope I don't wind up with 50 containers on my back deck!
2/22/2020
planted:
Cosmos Sensation Mix
Foxglove
Lupine
