The Joy of Gardening

Already, simply by writing this title, I'm self cautioned about alternative meanings.  I am only referring to the real thing, clearing the ground, planting seeds (or seedlings) and weeding.  

We are struggling mightily with those tasks.  The perennial beds must be weeded and mulched.  This is unpleasant if you suffer from back pain.  The work in a garden is rewarding in it's own way.  Gardens are thought of as wonderful places.  We sow and we reap.  We treat the garden well for we must sustain the soil for future use.  In order to move the mulch I felt I had to fix the landscape wagon we have had for a few years now.  I needed a ball bearing and possibly an inner tube.  A visit to Taylor Hardware didn't solve the problem but they said to  check TSC.
They did have a replacement wheel and switching a tube between two other wheels got the wagon back to use.

Every Spring the gasoline engines have to be brought back to life.  This year the rototiller was in poor condition.  The pull rope broke on about the 5th pull.  I had removed the battery a couple of years ago so, in order to use the electric starter I used my jumper battery.  I'd get it running, disconnect the battery and in a few minutes it would stall out.
I know this shouldn't be a big problem but I'm kind of teetering on the edge of becoming an old man who doesn't do these things any more.  I got out the owners manual and watched some youtube videos and got my mojo back to work on the machine.  I think I'll have it in working condition soon.

So progress is being made and I have a feeling of accomplishment.  I enjoy the time out there and the work has made me stretch and flex a lot more than what I had been doing over the winter.

I spoke to an old acquaintance who told me about a series of DVD's  that were about these gardeners who were also amature detectives.  I have watched a few of these.  Not too good, but they keep me interested in gardening.

I've gotten interested in the NBA playoffs this year.  I would like to see the Heat win.  I think LeBron has paid his dues.  Last year I wanted anyone else to win, so I am throwing my considerable influence behind Miami this season.

Thanks for checking in.

Skateboarding Grandma cracks up

I never thought it would happen in our neighborhood but a couple of days ago, Brooke Lamson, Grandmother of two broke a foot bone in a skateboarding kerfuffle.  Having fun with her grandson Gabe and playing with the O'Brian twins she fell and landed on her left 5th metatarsal.  It has been a few days now and it isn't going well.  If you've ever had to use crutches, you know it's inconvenient.  It's also not so easy.  How can one carry something when the hands are required to push on the crutch grips?  How does one manage coupons?  Brooke doesn't want to use a fanny pack but something like it will probably be necessary.

Walking is slow.  Steps are difficult.  This  is supposed to be done for 6-8 weeks!  There goes tennis.  Robin (Brooke's sister) gave some tips. Robin had broken her ankle a couple of times. One tip is to get a chair that rolls and use that to get around when you are on the main floor of the house.  Robin also has a walker that she offered for use.  

We used one of the motorized chairs at Meijer yesterday.  That's not bad.  At least it has some speed.  Just as with a car, it's better NOT to back-up with them.  A few items in aisle 10 needed re shelving after we tried that. Once we adapt, I'm sure things will go more smoothly.


Oops, gotta go, Brooke wants tea!

RainyMood.com: Rain makes everything better.

RainyMood.com: Rain makes everything better.

Ball Machine - For Rent

It took more than expected to get the new ball machine ready and fully equipped.  The guy I bought it from on ebay, for some reason had used pictures of a different model machine.  Mine was one step up from the one pictured so it comes with a remote control for controlling the feed (start/stop) or the "sweep" (start/stop).  He said he never had the remote, so I had to buy one. That was an extra $65 when you include the $15 shipping.  The other thing of importance when getting a tennis ball machine, is consideration of the balls to use.  After researching this I found the only choice that made sense was to get Tretorn Micro X tennis balls.  They are pressureless so they don't go flat.  They have a well designed cover and will probably last for at least three seasons.  They each have 700 million air bubbles trapped in some kind of foam.  I bought the 72 ball case.
Today was the first day I tried out the machine.  It was nice and sunny with a pretty strong breeze.  I sat up the machine, it's a Silent Partner unlike my other partner.  I just guessed at what the controls should be set to.  You can control the ball speed, ball height, spin, feed rate (time between shots) and whether you want the shots to come to more or less the same spot or shoot randomly around the court.  I noticed the first two balls had more velocity than the rest.  I guess the battery loses just a little power and then seems pretty steady.  The feed rate was too slow, so I adjusted that and it was too fast then.  It took a while but I saw the balls had a slight back-spin even though I'm pretty sure I had it set to slight top spin.
I hit all 72 balls with forehand and I was terrible.  I reloaded and sat for a few minutes to let my heart-beat slow a little.  Everything was fine, so I hit a few volleys then backed up and hit backhands.  They were not quite as terrible as the forehands but pretty bad.  
I think I'll be improving quite a bit this Summer and getting a fun workout with my Silent Partner. I will let some of the tennis kids rent the machine and possibly they could work around here in exchange for practice time.  I wonder if kids these days would even be interested in that.  They may just pay the cash. 
 

A Beautiful Day

One never knows when that perfect or near perfect day will come.  Today, for me, was a nice one.  The weather has been unseasonably warm.  Yesterday I finished trimming the hedge and fell off the ladder at one point.  This is an omen.  I'll need to be more careful than ever when using ladders.  

I had looked at a tennis ball machine yesterday on ebay.  A couple of years ago I had been researching them and didn't buy one.  With the nice weather I got back into the mood.  Practicing and playing tennis is an activity that is both good for me and enjoyable to me.  I think it's worth  some investment.   The machine went for more than I was willing to spend.

Brooke and I spent a while loading some wood logs into the trailer.  She has as a goal, getting rid of these from the back yard.  Tomorrow we will take out one load.  To get it cleared it will take at least one more.

I took some books back to the library and brought along my tennis bag.  I thought I would stop at the down-town tennis courts to see if there was someone there to hit with.  As it happened there were three young boys practicing on one of the courts.  I could have practiced hitting serves on the other court, but I really wanted to hit with them.  Tennis  etiquette requires that one be invited to join in.  So, I forced the issue by sitting on the bench by their court.  Soon, they invited me to hit with them.

What a nice group of young kids.  They were all Sophomores at Fenton High School.  They played on the tennis team and reminded me of the hopefulness of youth.  There are some great kids out there.  

We ended up playing a set of doubles.  It was a lot of fun and exercise.  I want to make tennis a part of my routine this Summer.  I bid on another tennis ball machine this afternoon and got it.  This will be a big part of the summer's fun.  Gabe and Brooke will enjoy it as well as others at the park.  Especially me.

 To fill in the time before the NCAA games started, I watched Groundhog Day with Bill Murray.  This movie(at least in my mind) has a special connection between my children and me.  I think it's a great movie.  I really enjoyed watching it again.

That was my day, and also we had a thunder storm. 
It can't get too much better than that.
 

Taxes and...

We got all our tax information together and made an appointment at H&R Block.  This is for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011.  It sounds bad but we're early for the 2011 returns.  The other two years we are thinking we don't owe on.  We'll see in a few days.  Every year when tax time comes around there is nothing but stories about the deadline.  Everyone is told what they must do and how bad they are to be procrastinators. The pressure builds(if you allow it) and most people break and(as in school) cram and get it done.  Often we just don't get it done.  Then we worry about consequences.  If you have a refund coming though, you aren't in bad shape.  I'm really glad to get caught up again though.  I am a true believer in a simplified, possibly flat tax, system.  As citizens we shouldn't be put under such stress and  we shouldn't have to hire someone to do our taxes.

It is a little disturbing to hear that almost half of the citizens of the U.S. don't pay income tax.  It seems that maybe the lowest rate should be about 10%. Just so you feel like you're participating.

The weather here has been warm and sunny most days.  We've been out raking and cleaning out beds two or three times already.  I pruned the grapes today.  No sign of hops above the soil yet.
 The weather puts one in a warm weather frame of mind.  We might visit the grand children this week end.  I haven't seen Gabe in a couple months.  That's too long.  

I'm looking forward to seeing how Michigan does in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  That starts this week end also.  I don't have a bracket to fill out this year.  I'm not sure how much interest I have in any of the other teams.  

I cooked a pork tenderloin tonight with asparagus and sweet potato.  Brooke had bought it and thawed out the meat.  She was just too tired to cook though.  She overdid it working in the yard.
The meal was great.  Later, Ken.  
This Just in!!
Have you heard of SUD or SUDS. It's the Subjective Units of Distress Scale.
10 = Feels unbearably bad, beside yourself, out of control as in a nervous breakdown, overwhelmed, at the end of your rope. You may feel so upset that you don't want to talk because you can't imagine how anyone could possibly understand your agitation.
9 = Feeling desperate. What most people call a 10 is actually a 9. Feeling extremely freaked out to the point that it almost feels unbearable and you are getting scared of what you might do. Feeling very, very bad, losing control of your emotions.
8 = Freaking out. The beginning of alienation.
7 = Starting to freak out, on the edge of some definitely bad feelings. You can maintain control with difficulty.
6 = Feeling bad to the point that you begin to think something ought to be done about the way you feel.
5 = Moderately upset, uncomfortable. Unpleasant feelings are still manageable with some effort.
4 = Somewhat upset to the point that you cannot easily ignore an unpleasant thought. You can handle it OK but don't feel good.
3 = Mildly upset. Worried, bothered to the point that you notice it.
2 = A little bit upset, but not noticeable unless you took care to pay attention to your feelings and then realize, "yes" there is something bothering me.
1 = No acute distress and feeling basically good. If you took special effort you might feel something unpleasant but not much.
0 = Peace, serenity, total relief. No more anxiety of any kind about any particular issue.

Hope your SUD is hovering around zero.

Be Careful What You Say

I have three sisters and a brother.  Eileen is the oldest, Tom next(4 years younger), then Marjorie(2 years after Tom).  Then there was another boy who died when he was about three I think.  It's funny how little was told to my twin sister and I about him.  We were, and are(even at 68) the babies of the family.

My sister Marge is currently in Hospice with pneumonia.  She has been suffering from Alzheimer's
for years.  I haven't done much research on Alzheimer's so I don't know how much the brain is functioning in there.  I know Marge responds to music that was part of her family life.  She can hear.

I had picked up my text, Hypnotherapy by Dave Elman, last night.  I just wanted to read a bit and maybe increase my enthusiasm.  I can open this book to any page and find the information fascinating.  Elman taught hypnosis to Doctors in all branches of medicine for use in their practices.
At one point in the book he found that a patient had recovered from gall bladder surgery but a pain persisted.  No cause could be found. Through hypnosis the patient recalled everything that was said and done during the operation.  Even while under chemical anesthesia.  One of the Doctors had remarked,"Look at that gall bladder, She'll never be the same."  The patient took it to mean she would never fully recover.  Mr. Elman pointed out that the Doctor could have meant that she would never be so bad off after the surgery had corrected the situation.  She lost the pain almost immediately after hypnosis and it never returned. This made possible the finding that the patient can be given  suggestions that the anesthesia will remain long after the chemical effects of amnesia have worn off, making for an easier recovery.

Elman said that was his first major finding in the use of hypnosis.  This apparent hearing and functioning of the mind even under anesthesia, leads to many questions.  One conclusion is obvious though,  if you are in the room with a person who is unconscious or sleeping, say only positive things.  Avoid making the funeral plans in that room.  Quite the opposite,  the positive suggestions about recovery and going home can have a good effect on the outcome.  In this simple way, you can make a difference.