Why have I been gone for 11 years?

Part of why I haven't blogged for so long is...somewhere along the way, I forgot I had this blog (or my other blog, for that matter...turns out I have two). Also, I had some troubles. My son became disabled. The interior of my house was destroyed by fire. My spouse became handicapped (but they figured out the problem: rare pituitary gland failure, walking much better now!). But, I'm back now. Moved back into my house. Figured out how to carve writing time (and me time!) into my caregiving schedule (helps that the spouse doesn't need caregiving anymore). Way back when, I wrote a book. But, my pile up of troubles meant I was unable to finesse it. The book was pretty good (Kirkus Reviews said good things about it: Quirky, paranormal adventure...inventive first novel...provocative thesis...Knott’s sharp comedic sense permeates her writing...imaginative tale peppered with adventurous escapades...), but the ending was thrown together hastily because of THE TROUBLES (TT) never really promoted it. I didn't think I'd have time to fix the book because of TT. But here it is just 11 years later, and I found the time. Worked on it full time, seven days a week, for three or four months (one loses track at the keyboard). This time around, I am going to attempt to publish traditionally. Probably won't happen (the odds are astronomically low). But, if it doesn't, I will publish it myself some time in 2027. (You may be better off if I publish it as a traditional publisher will probably take until 2030 and who wants to wait that long?) And the good news is, after tearing the book apart, adding a new ending (fully 25% more on the end now), and really refining it, the book is really good. You will love it. It is titled Catching Nothings. The picture on this post is part of my garden. It's an old pic from before TT. That magnificent blue delphinium was my favorite plant. It made a great show in my garden for years. Then one of those yellow flowers behind it strangled it and a couple others. It strangled them over the winter, so I didn't even know it was happening. The yellow flower is gone now...I tore it to shreds. I didn't realize I could be so vindictive. I haven't found another delphinium like the one I had. And I've been looking for years. If you see one, tell me!

ArtofGardening.org: New fence. Old fence.

ArtofGardening.org: New fence. Old fence.



Click the subhead for a great link. A friend of mine turned an old fence into the most fabulous walling (is that a word) for his potting shed using old paint and stains he already had. I might like walls like this in my rec room. Great recycling creating a new, not new design statement.

Refinishing the leather couch is taking longer than expedted

The old leather is sucking up the dye at an astounding rate, as are the many and deep creases where the couch is tufted. Fortunately, the weather is holding so I can open the windows and work on the couch a little each day. A filler material for some of the larger cracks is supposed to arrive on Friday. After I attend to those cracks, I'm hoping a second coat of dye goes on quickly (this time, with a sprayer). Hoping a second coat (and the sealer) are all it will need.

Done with round one of my second pair of loom knit socks.

I decided I wanted a pair of handknit socks for myself...I guess to prove I did it? Unfortunately, I allowed myself to be intimidated by the snooty ladies at the yarn shop and paid $18 for the damn skein. At least is is washable 100% wool and very pretty. I'm taking it a lot slower on this pair so the arthritis and carpal tunnel don't get too troublesome. I do enjoy the knitting process...it calms me.

My mosaic art puts broken pieces to good use.

Mosaic is a perfect match for a dedicated recycler. Especially since I've found a cheaper source for broken glass.

Damn. Missed the good used hardwood

I saw on Craigslist that 1,000 sq ft of used Brazilian cherry in excellent condition came and instantly went (for $2 a sq ft, of course it would) at our local ReUse. I guess I'll have to volunteer there or something if I want to get an exotic hardwood floor. I won't buy one new, but I will buy one used.

It has now, officially been an entire year of nothing new!

It started as a sort of whim/challenge and has ended as a lifestyle. I am solidly entrenched in repairing, repurposing and generally trying to always buy used rather than new. I may go back to shopping the clothing clearance racks, but only because I am so good at it that I feel I was getting better bargains new than used (and it's not like I buy that many clothes anyway). Plus, I think there are so many women shopping the thrift stores so effectively that you have to be a rather cut-throat early and frequent shopper to get the best stuff...and I am just not that into expending that kind of energy on clothes shopping. That said, two of my favorite clothing items were purchased used. But, consider that during these 365 days, my "cheating" on buying new clothes added up to a total of $75 for 2 pairs of pants, 5 tops and a dressy hoodie, I did pretty good value-wise. I'm still looking for a not-new engineered hardwood floor. I know I'll find one. Can't wait.

How real women prevent power tool rust.

Yes, I cover my power tools in lady products then put them in a garbage bag for the winter (workshop is in the garage). I suppose if I were a lot younger or older, I'd use diapers.

Free not-new mulch

I was able to get almost all of the pine needles I needed to mulch the beds with this year. My soil is alkaline, so the pine needles help give it the acidity it lacks. Plus, they are a lot lighter to lug around and they are free! The pooch seems to really like them (which could be a problem come Spring). You can also see the half-arsed repair job I did on a birdfeeder. I repaired broken glass, replacing some with acrylic from another too-old-and-broken to fix feeder. I still need to find a part to make the top fit better. Oh well...cost me nothing so far.

This pair of handknit wool socks only cost $1.29...

and 48 hours of my life, some (hopefully temporary) carpal tunnel syndrome, and several days of heightened arthritis pain in my hands. So, I might not be knitting another pair any time soon. I do have to say, I enjoyed the process and the fact that it kept me away from snacking. This pair is going to the homeless as I can't imagine putting up with all that discomfort for just silly old me.

The cheap hand-knit sock is too expensive for me.

I don't knit. Or, I didn't until I made this sock. I made it on a knitting loom, so I'm still not sure if that qualifies as knitting. Anyway, as near as I can figure out, it took me about 24 hours to make this ugly sock. It is 100% wool, so it is warm...and the yarn was on sale, so it only cost about $1, but it's that 24 hours I can't afford. Sure, those were hours that I wasn't snacking, but I did get carpal tunnel syndrome while "knitting." Perhaps, if I take it real slow and only do an hour of knitting a day, I might find the time easier to spare. But right now, I think my time would be better spent looking for someone else who only has one sock than to knit the mate to this.

The plot thickens.

I forgot to take a pic until after I started putting the plastic back on, but I think you can get the idea of how much dirt there is piled on my plot. I'd say a little less than half of the purported 10 cu. yds. is spread out over the approximately 220 sq. ft. I tried doing the math to figure out just how high that should be and I discovered that I can't perform math in 3 dimensions. I ran out and bought a bit more plastic to cover the plot and tried to secure it down as best I could, but I'm nervous. They are predicting torrential rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph tomorrow. I guess I'll see how it holds. (Probably shouldn't have bothered raking the leaves?)

Get a load of this dirt.

I was very nervous about ordering my topsoil off craigslist, but--by the looks of it--I have nothing to worry about. This 10 cu. yd. load of 50/50 topsoil/compost looks pretty durn good to me. At $395 delivered, I think it was a decent price for this area. I did think 10 cu yds would be a bigger pile, but this will certainly be enough for the time being (I want to spread it in several other places besides my 220 sq. ft. front yard veggie bed). If it were just a matter of spreading it out on this bed, I might have been able to do it myself...but since it's going all over the place, I hired some muscle to help. Gonna pick up some sand to spread on my clay soil as well (not sure how I'll get it under the existing pile...maybe I'll just sand the open section). In any event, feeling like I'll have a chance at a decent harvest next year.

The plot turns: got my clay soil rototilled and actually found some real dirt.

When I put a shovel in my plot, I found about a 1/2" of soil over solid grey clay. I knew that digging that myself would likely kill me. I wasn't even sure that rototilling could turn the land into anything close to arable, but knew that was the only route remotely possible. It would cost $45 to rent a machine and I have no easy way to transport it, so I was thrilled to find a guy on craigslist willing to rototill for $65. He had to do several passes to get it to look like dirt. He was surprised it came out this good considering all the clay. So was I. Now, I just have to get topsoil/compost delivered. The company I called wasn't sure they'd be able to do it before closing up for the winter. I'd really, really like to have it done in the fall rather than the spring. We'll see. They are supposed to call me.

The black plastic did its job preparing my garden bed.

Finally pulled off the black plastic that's been covering the grass all summer. I had been worried it might not kill the grass as planned since I had a container garden on top of it and that got watered almost every day. But, that didn't seem to hamper the killing. Hopefully, it got hot enough to kill all the weed seeds, too. I guess I'll find out next year.

The plastic was thick (3 ml.), so it still looks in pretty good shape. I'm going to re-use it to cover the bad for the winter after the plot is tilled and the topsoil and compost are spread. Not only was this a cheap and relatively easy way to get rid of the grass, I didn't have to use any toxic chemicals!

Hot peppers finally turning red.

For awhile, it looked like these were never going to change. I only harvested a few. But, whether it's the coldfront that moved in or the shorter days, they finally started to ripen. Phew! They are the only edibles in my garden that thrived.

I now have a pair of "not new" dress sneakers.

I can only wear sneakers on my bad feet so I wanted to dress them up a bit. Okay, a lot. This was EXPENSIVE...I didn't use the cheapest rhinestones, but I also didn't use the most expensive. These machine-cut gems gave me the best bang for my buck (but, I'm thinking I easily have over $50 in stones on these). I also Shapied the white rubber sides and got dressier laces. Probably took about 5 hours. I'm tough on shoes, but will only be wearing these when I go out to a movie, dinner or some special event. We'll see how they hold up. (I think I could do a lot of damage if I kicked a ne'er do well while I was wearing these.)

My hot peppers did great in containers.

A reader commented that her peppers and eggplants did well in containers and perhaps it was the heat. I think she is right. The only veggies that did well for me in baskets were my hot peppers. They were more productive in my lousy baskets than peppers I planted at my very fertile rental plot last year.

The onions and carrots I grew in baskets are pitiful.

I grew everything in baskets this year as I transitioned from my rental plot at the farmer's to my new plot in my front yard (the only place I have enough sun). I put black plastic over the plot to kill the grass and will soon be ripping that off and getting in a giant truckload of topsoil/compost to make the plot (hopefully) viable. The contractors sell the topsoil when they build houses around here, leaving barely enough dirt for a lawn. The land is mostly clay. But, it's got to be better for my carrots and onions than the baskets. This is my entire root vegetable harvest. The (purple) carrots aren't even as big as my little finger (last year, at my rental plot, some were bigger than my head). The onions haven't fared much better.

At estate sales, it can pay to be very late.

Went to an estate sale today at the last hour. There wasn't much left, but I was able to bargain down some great prices because I bought a big pile and there wasn't much time for anyone else to buy the stuff. Very happy to now have several new prints from an artist I have long admired (had one of her prints for a long time...screen prints, which I like...couldn't afford her originals).