Well today is my first day off in 4-5 days. Again. I enjoy working and I enjoy where I work but there are so many other things I need to do around the house.
So today I woke up to Pat cuddling into the blankets with me, Ein cuddling my feet and Cole trying to pounce on my head as usual. Reasons to hate waking up and leaving my warm snuggly bed are many and usually have to do with the oodles of cuddles I get every morning. I decided to take Ein with me to drop Pat off at work and then to hit up Petsmart. We needed dog/cat food and I wanted to say hello to my favorite vet techs. I don't like the vets at our local Banfield much but the "nurses" are usually fantastic. My two favorites were in today and working front counter so they got to see Ein all prettied up. Normally they see my animals on their bad days, today I figured it would be a great treat for Ein and the nurses to see each other on a good day. We only stopped by the desk to say hello and show off the fact that his coat is finally better from the ravages of his flea allergy this summer but it totally made their days. Both nurses beamed at me and one got teary eyed when I told her we would soon be able to go ahead with Claudia's surgery.
From Petsmart to home Ein was really confused when I left his harness on. I then got myself ready, shoes, sash, bucket, reusable bag or sturdy construction, water flavored with just a tiny bit of fruit juice to make us both more likely to drink it. Then off we went to gather pine cones and kindling. Ein was loving it, racing across the lawn by the lake, snuffling through our little mini woods, even went down to the water's edge which is big since he is terrified of large amounts of water. We think he knows that he is gator food sized. I played on the computer a bit and am debating starting my NaNoWriMo after I start a load of laundry.
I need to do laundry, sort firewood, make apple and pumpkin preserves and make something for dinner. I also need to pick up my medication at the pharmacy before 7pm. Patrick gets off at 7:30 so no luck just getting it when he gets off work.
In gardening news my worms are going through organic matter faster than I thought possible, I accidentally starved them a little bit but have more than made up for it. My first dirt harvest yielded 5 pint size flower pots of worm dirt. It went to the peppers mostly but also to several other plants and helped to get them ready for winter. I bought some night crawlers to go with my red wigglers and provide my with a dirt harvest year-round and over wintered my plants.
Night crawlers are Canadian worms, they prefer cold dirt with more moisture. Red wigglers are warm weather, mostly southern US, worms that prefer a sandier, slightly more dry and warm environment By keeping both I have producers and a composter year-round whether it is warm or cold. The biggest worry is to keep the food coming so they don't eat my root vegetables. That and there has to be a larger area for the two types to hibernate alternately. An exploding worm population is only a good thing if you have the room and resources to keep it healthy. If not, well the local environment could always use a few extra tails from the worm kingdom.
I used spanish moss and ashes as a reusable mulch this year. The spanish moss helps to hold in heat and rots at a medium rate without adding acidity to the soil. Containers are good at retaining acidity so using most mulch isn't an option for low acid plants in a container. Also the moss can be placed directly around the plants and on the stems, mulch and most other toppers for winter cannot be because it causes nitrogen burn when they decompose. The ashes provide a great growing medium that is light and won't compact roots while also giving quite a bit of nutrients to the soil. Using the ashes on top of the spanish moss helps to fill in some of the holes and assists with retaining heat and water better. The ash is then watered down which also helps to keep the plant fed and keep the moss from blowing away. The spanish moss can be burned in the fireplace when it breaks down to far or more can be placed on top to provide an extra layer of protection. Moss and ash helps the soil and thus the plant to breathe, instead of suffocating it. Moss also does not inhibit growth of the plant or put pressure on the stems/trunks. That makes it ideal for plants that can actually grow during the dormant season and or for those like my bonsai which are malformed by improper use of restrictive measures.
Well until next time I suppose that to-do list need to get to-done.
