bounce

true story : when one day you set an alarm for 5pm to make sure you get up and feed all the animals and soforth, but you never actually end up going to sleep and miss the alarm while you're doing things, and then day after day you think - but I do fall asleep for a nap sometimes in the afternoon - a 5 pm alarm makes sense - and just turn the alarm off when it happens, whether you're asleep or not - as a reminder 'I should be awake now, things to do'.. and then weeks later realize : this is just my 5 o'clock alarm now, nothing to see here, move along.. no why would I get rid of it, it's the 5 o'clock alarm, right?  

(above : Loki and Minion enjoying our hexagon structure outside above the fenced in yard)

 R(x)=Pi(Chips + Salsa)

For some reason, I thought of that in the middle of last night and it made me laugh.  I enjoy that - when I am sleeping and something so absurd but highly specific comes up, and I have to wake up and write it down.  It's not always so funny once I've done so, but anyway, it's a spice of life.  Much better than the twisty-turny even weirder dreams I have, some of them are great, but usually confusing, cave of wonders type places, foreign libraries with books that don't exist, work in a parallel dimension type thing and time travel paradoxes etc.

It's been the work weekend - short route but got overheated anyway on Saturday, lots of extra work once had gotten home and sorted myself out - we cloned the prettiest of our coleus plants and some more begonias, repotted petunias and other things.  Then I had some more work today, and we talked about but did not repot the ivies - Mark is thinking about what kind of trellis would be best for those.  And I work tomorrow, too, now - I found out a few hours ago.  Been trying to keep my hands in order, and my knee from hurting, and get enough sleep, took a two hour nap this afternoon but made myself get back up at 5 pm.  

we did six tubs of these!

the purples are so vibrant

 

we're cloning the prettiest ones to increase our gene pool as we will be collecting seed from dozens of plants to save for planting next year's crop

found a little non-dangerous brown ringneck type snake under the watering trough, numerous frogs and beautiful little (and very fast FAST) skinks

Have done Japanese, French, Hungarian, Chinese and Catalan (from Spanish) language lessons.  Have played a lot of Stardew Valley in between things (a 'day' takes about 15-25 minutes in the game, and it can only be saved at the end of a day) and that is all in French.  I find it funny sometimes I have a hard time talking to Esme about what is going on in my game because my brain immediately wants to bring up the French word for everything - Tonneau instead of Keg, Bacal, instead of Preserving Jar.

Duolingo main profile : About to reach level 9 in Chinese, level 12 in Catalan (from Spanish), still at level 10 in Hungarian (from months and months ago), but halfway to 11.  Japanese at level 19.   

phone profile: Catalan at 9, Japanese at 9, Hungarian at 5   Definitely see the differences as I've only been playing on the separate phone profile for little over four months (150 days), and usually just about the minimum, as well, compared to years of work on the other profile and 30+ languages bouncing around, and depending on how much time I have etc.   One thing I do like about this 'tandem' of doing the same language at diff. levels is that it shows me where my weaknesses are in the higher level one when I've just done some lower level stuff and vice-versa.  And the phone has the speaking lessons, which boy - I feel like I know some of these until I try to get that combination to come out of my mouth and sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised and other times I feel like that cat in the l'eau meme (included below, for completeness) that can't get it's tongue to stop curling.

not my pic, for reference only, as it is a famous meme

Will try to find out this week if they know anything more about what happened with our truck.  Originally, they said it was just low on gas, but then I told him about the water in the gas in the town and asked him to check it a little further to make sure we didn't end up with the same dangerous situation from before.  When it started doing the weird stuff the gas gauge was well above a quarter tank... and by the time he got it started and working again, he said the gas indicator light was on.  Mark says that is a good sign something was 'up' there, and condensation or water in the gas mixed with it being an old vehicle could have caused a false reading there, at the very least. 

 

 

I've done the laundry and need to steer myself towards sleep for another long day tomorrow.  Three pink tomatoes from the garden - they look so strange on the counter with our pink and green eggs.  Speaking of eggs, all of the other chickens seem to be doing okay, so far.

Community Scrabble Game at the flea market

 

We were out at our local flea market and showing off the 3D printed things, the magnetic Scrabble game, and our greenhouse plants.

 

Make sun shades for indoor start seedlings, prevent sunburn!

Are you ready to garden this year?
Our calico cat is, and she swears she's helping.

I am going to show how to make a cheap effective sun shade, to prevent sunburn on your newly transplanted indoor seedlings.

This is very important!  A lot of people will sunburn their seedlings without knowing it, because they forget to harden them off - or they buy them from a hothouse that did not harden off properly.  Sometimes, the sun is just too much for an indoor-raised plant.  It will show by bits of the leaves turning white or pale yellow and flaking away, like brittle paper.

To help prevent it, we are going to try to block some of the noon and afternoon sun from hitting the plants full force.

It is also important that this be a light colored, but not bright white cloth.  Bright white will send too many rays reflecting back off the cloth.

I grabbed this cotton cloth because it is handy.. and I don't care that it will not survive to next year.  The sun will damage the cloth over time and make it brittle, too - but by then, your plant will have grown up healthy, we hope!

Cut a rectangle off your fabric about as wide as your tomato cage and at least as tall, maybe more.  Cut an inward gash on all four corners, but not too far, as you don't want the fabric to tear completely and the strip to come off easily.

Now you will tie the top two strips to the wires above your plant, creating a little 'tent' for it.  I do this on the WEST side of my plants, because I have trees to the EAST that block most of the bright morning sun.  If you pull the fabric a bit over the middle of the cage as well it will block direct noon sun...

If you are out in the open and need protection on both sides - make two shades, one for each side, or tie the rectangle more over the top - we aren't blocking all the sun, just the hottest sun so that the plant can have a rest.

In some years when I only had one or two plants I would set up a few buckets and a board on the west side and be done with it - but this is the way to ensure each plant gets some shade when it needs it most.

Just loop a slip knot around the wire and then pull it shut - but not too tight, as it could tear.

I usually tie the bottom ties as well, positioning the shade so it blocks most of the sun at 2 or 3 o clock in the afternoon, putting them out about this time will ensure you are blocking the light all the way to sundown.  

You can do this with old shirt fabric or an old sheet and protect your time investment in your seedlings.  Sometimes I will tear up some of these shades later to help tie bits of vines loosely to the cage, once the plant is big. 

The other tips I got from my mentor was to bury my tomato seedlings 'all the way to their ears' in the hole, but not with the leaves actually touching the soil!  If the leaves touch the soil that keeps them moist with dew and that can invite viruses and bacteria to the plant etc.  Add a little loose dirt and water at the bottom of the hole, and then put the seedling pot contents into it.  Gently press loose dirt in and around the seedlings pressing the outer corners of the pot soil down into the dirt, while trying not to break the stems of the seedlings.

Sources :

I was taught to do the sun shades by Tom Carpenter, of the University of Minnesota Experiment Station, way back in 1994 when I was at one of my very first employments.  He had also had my father on the farm when I was a small child and he was in the National Guard with Mr. Tom.  I was proud to hear about the gardens, see my father's picture on the wall and learn the different ways to take care of plants.  The plants we made 'much larger' sunshades for were delicate shade plants that were part of experimental seed trials.  But, he explained to me it could be done for even a small plant or with a large sheet for an entire area, as long as it was secured well, and to take it down in a high wind or heavy downpour.

 My 'bury them to their ears' comes from Mr. Harold Cole who I worked with at Lowe's.  It was a long time ago, but once in the breakroom he was talking about planting and gardening and I was all ears. Ha!  He said the plant will grow extra feelers / suckers in the stem to take in more nutrients and be stronger if you bury it all the way up to the leaves delicately and water it in gently.  He said he planted 90+ tomatoes every year from seedlings!

Also be sure to water your plant in and check on it the next day and the day after that.  It is only common sense - but you want to make sure the shade has not been torn or blown away.  And remember if it is going to rain hard you will want to maybe put a 5 gallon bucket over the top of your seedling and 'squidge' it in to the soil (so it doesn't just collect water under the edge)  Remove the bucket as soon as you can - or it will get hot under it the next day.

Enjoy, good gardening!

Monday

8.45    - gardening, greenhouse maintenance
--the petunias are not up yet
9a    - standing in square (public school simulator!)

--Daddy said it went down like this.  Come start school now.  I want my public school!  Really, it was better?  Yes.  By now it would be 'stand in your square and face the fruit (painting)  time' for getting in trouble at breakfast, right?  I loved stand in your square time!  Really?  Really.  OK, come stand on this towel for ten minutes.  // and thus, with a few reminders and discussion about public school again, she stood on a towel for ten minutes in front of the desk to prove her point.  Then she was ready to do something more interesting.  //Mama shakes her head and continues on...  That really was nearly a daily punishment at her school..and one we didn't agree with..any more than 'sit on the rocks during all of recess because you were in trouble in the classroom...and don't pick up any rocks, or you'll be in more trouble and miss 'activity and activity' inside...'..*sigh*

9.15a    - copywork (quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog)
10a    - reading aloud (How the Birds got their got their colors)
10.15a    - break

10.45a    - dragonbox app (algebra prep)
11.45a    - break

1.45p    - PE (200x jumping jacks, 30x 10lb bench)
2p    - Planet Earth (ep 1 & 2)
3.30p    - done

We are watching Groundhog Day together :)

Monday business day

2015-1-26
9:30 - greenhouse operations,
---plant maintenance - the parsley is up!
---discussion of what someone would be able to buy her plants for
9:45 - discussion of making toys, materials, discussion of patterns, shops, 'make to order' and so forth
---math about supplies and prices
10a  - break to go to town

11:30a - Lowes, making calls, getting card signed for friend who is leaving our store, conversations with coworkers about homeschooling, what Esme likes and doesn't, her new shoes, plans, drawing etc etc...

One lady customer walking by said 'Sick, are we, home sick from school today?'...  We said, no homeschool - this is a field trip to talk to people, ask questions, listen to me make some calls and then go home and do our other things.  She said 'Oh'.. shot her husband a 'really now, would you look at that...' look, but walked on.

-----reading and using the vending machine by herself, 'breaktime'  I offered to pay for chips to split, but she really wanted a drink, found one she could afford (by reading the signs) and paid for it out of her own purse.

-----hard lesson (offer to pay for piece of brass fitting)  She didn't know what it was, and didn't know why she couldn't have it because it was lying on a shelf behind a display in a dust pile.. but STILL...and she tried to lie about not having anything in her pocket, so I pressed the morality of it.  I asked the store manager to price it for her, and made her pay for it.

         Even if it is trash, even if you don't know what it is.. if it's in a store and not yours, don't take it unless you ask or offer to pay for it.  That is stealing, and it is wrong. 

12:30 break to get back in car and go uptown

1p - supplies @ Dollar Tree and WalMart, post office

2p - lunch and association word game (her choice)
-----She would say a word, then I would say a word to go 'with' it, and we would decide if it was funny, a good match or a bad match for the word.  I was impressed by her choice and she had a lot of good ones.
2:30 break

3p - feeding chickens and puppy vaccinations (disc. watching Daddy give them to the puppies)
-----opening comic books that came in the mail, reading Power Pack 1985 with help
4p - break

//She also helped Daddy open a package of ground beef and split it up into six sections and deliver one section of it into a pot for him, which will be our dinner tonight (sloppy cheeseburger). We discussed the hard lesson with Daddy, as well.

She does feel very accomplished for the day, and has put her comic books (with my urging) into a fold-a-file so dogs and cats and other things can't get to them but she can have them by her TV to read.  I really hope this encourages her to read more and want to read about what happens to the four kids in the Power Pack.  We had gotten one issue at a flea market stand last year and she has read and re-read it so many times, amazed at the kids having powers and being siblings.

I have some planes to make tonight!  And we have flea market in the morning.

Thursday greenhouse and more

10:30a     - supply run to stores
                   discussion of science experiment needs
                   supplies for greenhouse, petunia seeds, spraybottle
She kept a little notebook checklist for what she wanted to do/get and helped me check off the items on my list, as well.

11:30a     - groceries, shoe comparison shopping,
                  math during checkouts, self-checkout
12:00     - home, break
1.15p    -  Kahn Academy math, subtraction, equating, word problems
1:45p    -  break
2:15p - Greenhouse operations, dirt, transplants, planting
She helped make dirt.  For a kid who has been head-to-toe in mud often, she seems to have acquired a strange distaste for dirty hands.... We transplanted the geraniums - having her make the pots and transfer one whole by herself.    Then, I had her prepare three four-part pots for the petunias and plant the seeds - but there were only nine seeds!  So she chose some Kale.  She watered and made labels reading off the packages.

2:45p - Minecraft discovery...summoning command, some reading involved...she was upset we couldn't summon a skeletal horse.  We did summon ender crystals and dragons and other horses.
Juiced a lemon with the real kitchen juicer to paint on paper to test a science experiment she saw

3:45  - break
4:30  - clothes care and maintenance, discussion
5     - done

//She checked out Gary's Mod again for her free time, trying to remember how it all worked.

Notes
Her attitude was some better, today.. I only had to remind her to do what she was doing about half as much as usual..   When she first woke up she thought we were going to clear the rest of the garden and till it all today.. but was sad when we said the weather was turning for the worst and there were other things to do today.  She was close to excellent in town -even though we were making a 'rush' of it compared to days we go to the library and playplace for our town trips.  She did complain about making dirt, and did argue a lot about doing the online math, but then saw that her Avatar grew again.. so that was better after that.  She has been somewhat upset this week because of the puppies being sold from this litter, and missing them... but she has done such a good job with socializing them that we have tried to stress how much better dogs they will be for their people as her work well done.

Thursday Greenhouse and more

 

This is the indoor greenhouse that Mark got for our anniversary.  And, now it is in its home at the top of the stairwell where the light is nice and there is a little space for us to work in.  It will be a few months before it is time to start tomatoes and peppers, so I picked up a few things Esme could plant now and watch over in the meantime.

Esme helped me put some dirt I had mixed the other day into the pots, and then plant some coleus and parsley.  The geraniums were from the last 'greenhouse science' we did, and she measured the biggest one and the smallest one and wrote it on the calendar (in the blue folder) with the seed start dates.

 

Coleus is pretty!

  The seeds covered up with saran wrap to help keep the water in until they germinate in 7 to 14 days.

8.30a    - Gardening, starting seeds, measuring distances
/after we measured the plants, she had to measure herself,and me, and the distance to the ceiling in the room.

9.15a    - writing in diary
9.30a    - discussion of public school
9.45a    - drawing
10.15a    - reading "Charlette's Web" chapter 9
I read - she listened, and kept track of what was happening and guessed at the meaning of words.
--during this time she also played Jungle house with her baby dolls and drew me a very nice black panther with a butterfly on its nose :)  Then I got to the end of the chapter and had to get ready for work.

11a    - break


12.45p    - Electric Company (ep 223, 227)
1.45p    - cooking; measuring spices

2.15p    - done

We'll probably do library tomorrow...

Tuesday Greenhouse science and puppies

 Esme sporting her pretend glasses (see yesterday) and pointing out the seeds 

we are planting today.

All ready for the project!

 Writing it all down in her journal

 Sillyness with Daddy.

8.30a    - Matific math games, measuring, distance comparison, shapes
9a    - break

10:30a    - science, planting seeds 3 diff.kinds with journal entry
------We planted geranium seeds 'Black Magic' variety that I ordered from an Etsy shop.  We also did sunflowers 'Lemon queen' variety and lima beans 'Florida Speckled' that were all from our garden last year.  I intend to have her notice the differences between the different seedlings as they come up, different leaves, how fast one grows compared to another etc..

11:30a     -  break

12.30p    - multiplication chart -- 0 to 5 again by herself, then try the sixes.
12.45p    - eye chart, Snellen variety with 20 foot line.
Determination : We all have somewhat bad eyesight. I couldn't read the 20/40 line even with my glasses on.

1.15p    - balancing; headstands
1.30p    - vocabulary words - 3rd grade set first column. copying from sheet
2p    - break

2.15p    - vocab words - using in sentences, reading own handwriting!
2.30p    - cooking; rice krispie treats
3p    - puppy retrieval and observation
3.30p    - done

Minerva had eight puppies.  We had all of the other female dogs fixed, but not her.  She was so close and had never had puppies... so we decided to let it happen.  There are several real beauties, and she seems to be doing well.  We have lots of misplaced hormone reactions in the other girls, though -- they all feel they should have puppies, and they are reacting in different ways.  Sweetie and Nova are giving wide berth but are depressed.  Daphne is intense about sitting outside the puppy area and growling at everyone - especially Loula, who is spayed but is now the only one who never had puppies at all.  We have a long week ahead of us!