Garden Update....Meh

 If anyone is interested here is how my garden is doing.

These photos were taken on June 12th....

Green Beans plants on the left, baby  Bok Choy on the right.

The barrel of lettuce going gangbusters.

12 Tomato plants about halfway up their cages.

And 4 Collard plants hanging on.

And the same plants on June 21st.....

The Green Bean plants now have buds and blossoms.  The Bok Choy bigger and needs thinning out.

The seeds planted on the other side of this bed never germinated but there are a few volunteer Morning Glories up over there.

The tomato plants are now about at the top of their cages and there are many blossoms hidden among all the greenery.

The Collards are much bigger and starting to flourish.  One Green Bean seed sprouted in this bed but none of the Yellow Squash germinated.  There are also 3 volunteer tomato plants coming up now in there.

I didn't photograph the lettuce barrel this time.  It's doing well and I harvested my first crop of lettuces this past weekend for dinner one night.

In the front bed a nefarious chipmunk is digging plants up.  So far he/she has taken out a Celosia plant, a Pansy plant and 1 of the Sunflower plants we grew from seed.  The only things it's leaving alone are the Coleus plants.  I read that chipmunks will eat Coleus.  Weird.  I guess this one doesn't have a taste for them. ;-)

I scaled back our gardening efforts this year due to no enthusiasm for it lately and focusing on getting the house ready to sell instead.  If the house sells before the harvests come in we've done all this work for nothing so that's sort of squelched my desire for gardening.

Are you growing anything?  How is your garden doing?

Sluggy

Haphazard Gardening at Chez Sluggy

Between unexpected trips this Summer and unexpected critters reeking havoc in the yard you've managed to put in a decent garden showing so far.

Unexpected was the Celosia we grew last year coming back(they are the light green plants).  None of bloomed yet so there is that to look forward to.

We planted striped petunias and coleus but we only got the one colorway as we were late to the nursery this year.

In the background is a decorative kale plant near the tomato plants.  We got green and red tipped ones.

This particular green one has really dwarfed everything else!  It's got to be 18 inches across, a monster!!

And at the back of the flower bed is a line of various types of tomatoes, doing well and getting heavy with fruit.

More Coleus and Petunias around the unknown shrubbery.

We have two half barrels in the back by the deck.  I found a violet plant that wintered over in the back garden bed so I moved it here when we planted the back bed.  There was some lettuce(since picked)and the Morning Glories then started expanding and taking over in here until the deer found it and have munched nearly everything down to the soil. sigh

Fortunately Hubs put a wire cage around the other barrel since I had moved my lavender plant from out front to here.  Some red lettuce came back from the seeds it shed last Summer and of course, the Morning Glories started expanding and overrunning everything.  Hubs ended up putting a netting over the barrel too as the deer found the lettuce and are eating everything that extended above the netting. lol

The lavender plant didn't bloom at all last Summer but it did in early June as you can seen above.  It smelled so great too.

Since the chipmunks dug up all the broccoli plants(making Chester exceedingly sad)the only thing in the back deck garden are tomato plants and morning glories.  The glories just started their never ending blooming late last week and we had about 6 in bloom this morning.

In the backyard garden one lone marigold has survived, along with lots of weeks and a few straggly green beans plants.  There will be no close-ups of the green beans so save Anne's sanity. ;-)

In the other bed the cukes are hanging over onto the walkway in their and the zuke plants are climbing the fence believe it or not. lol  My version of "Where's Waldo?" this Summer is "Where's the Zuke?"

If you look closely you'll see two almost ready to pick.  sigh. sigh. sigh.  Planting more than ONE zucchini plant should be against the law....am I right?  

This pot of min-petunias I bought Spring of 2020.  When Fall came I had Hubs put it in the garage in a garbage bag, thinking I'd reuse the pot next Spring.

Well we go to get it out and the plant was still alive!  I trimmed it back some and we kept it watered until the rains hit and it's growing mini-petunias again.  You can't see the color well in this shot but it was a nice surprise!

That's about all that's growing around here.

How are your gardening efforts going?

Sluggy

The To-Do List....the August Edition

 Let's see how we did with our To-Do List for August..........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always done first.  Had to pull from the Slush Fund to cover it all but we had the funds.

* Read 1,2,3 Books  PASS  Well I barely read 2 Books.

"What Would Dolly Do?:How to be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World" by Lauren Marino

Marino styles herself a super fan of Dolly Parton and it shows in this tribute Ms. Parton.

Lot a lot of "meat" in this little book but it's "well done". (See what I did there? lol)

There are many facts to Dolly Parton beyond the country singer and dumb blonde image she projects.  She is an entrepreneur and has spearheaded many charitable works around the country.  She has also brought many jobs to her little holler in Tennessee, an area of crippling poverty where she grew up.

A quick read and two thumbs up.

Then I read this one........

"The Bonanza King:John MacKay and the Battle Over the Greatest Riches in the American West" by Gregory Crouch

This one took forever to get through.  It was very detailed and after reading it you will know EVERYTHING having to do with the "Comstock Lode".  The author got caught up in the minutiae at time and other parts it sailed along but overall it was a very enjoyable and interesting read.
I had never heard of John William Mackay(pronounced Mackie)before reading this book but his is a true rags to riches story.  Though he became one of the "giants of industry", like Carneige, rockefeller, Morgan, Gould, Getty, Vanderbuilt, etc. he is often forgotten.  He wasn't one of the Robber Barons but a humble man even with all his wealth and he never took advantage of the working class men like his fellow "giants".  

I learned a lot about mining and such.

Four thumbs up for this book.

* Hold Giveaway  DONE  A different kind of  Giveaway this past month thanks to Sonya Ann. 

*Mail Giveaway  DONE  The Virtual gift card was easy to mail. lolz

* More Decluttering  DONE  Most of the decluttering was due to stuff found when Ex-CB moved out and the subsequent moving of stuff from other rooms.

* Stuff to Sallie's  FAIL  

We have an overflowing box of castoffs(mostly thanks to Ex-CB leaving)but it still sits in the living room.  Maybe next Sunday when Hubs goes to the rifle range I can get him to drop this off at Salvation Army because even though the store is closed on Sunday they are back to accepting donations in the back.

* Dr. Appointment  DONE  I had my visit with my new primary(I just get a doc broken in and he leaves....is it me? lol).  He's young and shiny like a new penny.  He's sending me to Orthopedics for my leg.

* Continue to Deal with Garden Harvest  DONE

We've stayed on top of the veggies the garden has produced(eaten it all-nothing to preserve)being as there hasn't been much.  It's been a strange year in many ways not just due to Covid.

* Fill more Giveaway Boxes  DONE

I've got 6 boxes ready to go.
Go me. lolz

* Continue to Deal w/VA Stuff  PASS  Still dealing with legal stuff and hoping we will be at a point soon to make some relocating decisions.

* Access Damage in Bedroom and Fix  DONE

Other than lots of cleaning the bedroom didn't get anything else done in there. 

Furniture reposition-ed, day bed added and the toiletries stockpile organized and stored away all in one location.

This was the big August project and it's complete.

Done and dusted as far as I am concerned. ;-)

* Eat Down the Pantry  FAIL
With all the doom and gloom predictions of higher Covid numbers in the fall and food shortages we didn't see the need to eat down food stocks here really once the month began.  We've pretty much been restocking as we eat down so we are status quo really on food.

* Surgery  DONE
Trust me, you don't won't to see pictures of this! lolz  I am glad it's over and the surgery site is  mostly healed up.  Soon I can go bra-less at night....yay!  Now we await the medical bill for this.....not yay.

* Work on Details of Winter Trip  PASS  I am reticent to commit to tickets and reservations still but I am working on making this happen.  Still in the "pull the details together" stage on this but making progress.

That's about it from here for August.  Nothing much exciting but we are bumping along in life during a strange Summer.

How did you do on your To-Do List for August?
Let us know all about it!

Sluggy

It's Thursday Already?

This week is just slipping away from me.

My prayers and hug go out to our Cheap Chick blogger in Canada.  I hope they caught it early and her prognosis is good and she'll be with her hubs, her mom, her step kids, her Buddy and back to our blogging family for years to come.
Please keep her in your thoughts as I will!

Last Saturday we had lots of excitement in Sluggy's Teeny Tiny Town.  First I went to Dollar General and bought this........

4 x Pantene Rose Water Shampoo and Conditioners @ $3 ea.=$12.00
4 x BioFreeze patches $1.75 ea.=$7.00
1 x Oral-B Toothbrush $2.00=$2.00
5 x Gatorade $1.00 ea.=$5.00(not pictured)
6 x Bella wet dog food trays=$2.50(not pictured)
Subtotal=$28.50

Coupons used
1 x $5 wyspend $25 DG DQ=$5.00
2 x $5/2 Pantene Rose Water line P&GQs=$10.00
2 x $2/1 Biofreeze IPQ=$4.00
1 x $1.50/1 Biofreeze DG DQ=$1.50
1 x $2/1 Oral-B Toothbrush DG DQ=$2.00
1 x $1 wybuy 5 Gatorade DG DQ=$1.00
1 x $1.50/6 Bella wet dog food trays DG DQ=$1.50
Coupon Total........$25.00

$28.50-$25.00=$3.50 + sales tax
I had another $2/1 Biofreeze IPQ but forgot to  use it so I could have gone down to $1.50+tax. duh

Then later that day we had a black bear traipse through our back yard.  Our neighbor, "Mr. Tree Hater" who cut every tree down on his property also keeps his garbage cans outside next to his house so Mr. Bear had a nice early dinner buffet out of his cans then wandering over to see what he could find for his dessert in our yard.  Hubs and I were upstairs screaming at him out of both bathroom windows to "git!" while Chester set off his alarm/barking system downstairs.  Eventually Mr. Bear wandered off back into the woods behind the houses on the main road into our development and darned if I didn't get a photo of him between all the shooing him off.

Then I saw a small rabbit on the front lawn enjoying all the clover that's shot up there and couldn't get a good photo of him due to the window screen.
See?  Even if I remember my camera I am thwarted at every turn. lol

On Sunday I bought the items above after discovering that the small Total SF advanced whitening tubes that the $5/3 Colgate toothpaste L2CQ applies to this on sale $2.99 tube which you can also use the $1/1 R-A in-ad Q on.

3 x Colgate toothpaste on sale $2.99=$8.97
2 x Venus single smooth sensitive Razor on sale $7.99=$15.98
SubTotal....$24.95

Coupons Used
1 x $5/3 Colgate select toothpastes L2CQ=$5.00
3 x $1/1 Colgate select toothpastes R-A in-adQ=$3.00
1 x $4/1 Venus razor L2CQ=$4.00
1 x $4/1 Venus razor Insert Q=$4.00
Coupon Total.....$16.00

$24.95-$16.00=$8.95+.48¢ sales tax=$9.43 paid with Bonus Cash and $8 in new BC was earned on the 2 razors.

I did this same deal again but the next time one of my razors also had a $1 Peelie Q on it and the cashier manually pushed that additional $1 off through so my total was $7.95+.42¢ tax so $8.37 paid for with BC and earned another $8 in new BC.

I went to Weis this week and Walmart too.  Whoopee Do!

The garden is growing well now.

My spinach barrel needs clipping and using as it's starting to bolt.
I'll replant in the early Fall more greens.

The collard plant in the kennel garden is taking off whereas the plants next to the deck are fighting for space with the morning glory vines.

 We've now got baby yellow squash too

We've also got baby tomatoes now(see one in bottom right of this photo).

We need to replace our recliners in the den and ventured into a furniture store here to have a look.

I liked the smaller profile of this one and the color(grey).  The controls are electronic and located around that cup holder on the left(there is even a blue light you can activate in the cup holder?)

The color on is one was acceptable though not my favorite and it has a wider profile.  It has a hand held electric control device and even better-it has a lumbar support button so is even more comfy that the other chair.

But this bad boy stole my heart.  It's a love seat w/two recliners.  The color is more to my liking than the other two, each seat has a cup holder, there is a phone dock and usb in the center.  The arm opens and the electronic control device stores in each arm.  In the middle is another lid that opens to a storage area and the back middle between the seats also opens upward to reveal 2 led lights(and a switch to dim those).  Need I mention this love seat also has a lumbar support function too?
Sigh.
But the cost is this is $400 more than buying two of the more expensive chairs above.
So decisions, decisions.

Other than that I've been laying in bed with my leg on the heating pad or parked in the recliner. 

The meal plan this week has gone to shit.
And frankly I don't care. ;-)

So what's life like in your neck of the woods?

Sluggy

2020 To-Do List....May Update

*PLEASE NOTE--Posting may be a bit sporadic over the next week or so as I am sort of on vacation between getting stuff done here in Virginia and don't feel like writing blog posts worth reading.
I'll try to write something worth reading a few days a week.  Thanks for your indulgence on this.


Let's see how we did at getting stuff done in May.........

* Pay Bills  DONE
Always number one on the list and always done.

* Read 1, 2, 3 Books  PASS
I only got 2 books read in May.
First off was this lovely tome..........

"The Land Will Be Deluged in Blood: a New History of the Nat Turner Rebellion" by Patrick H. Breen

This one read like someone's Master's Thesis that they expanded a bit.  Very boring for the most part especially if you don't like reading about history.  But I say that reading a book is always ok if you learn something from it.  Specifically I learned about the dual justice/court/legal systems in the Antebellum South which I was totally unaware of before this book explained it in great detail. 

and then there was this one...........

"Shakespeare's Rebel" by C.C. Humphreys
If you enjoy historical novels and are in love with all things of the Tudor/Elizabethan era and Shakespeare's plays then run and get this one!
The protagonist is a deeply flawed character called John Lawley, a drunk, ex-soldier and sometimes actor/sword master and fighting choreographer. Lawley is a fictitious character who interacts with historical persons of the era: William Shakespeare, Richard Burbage,
Queen Elizabeth I(my 4th cousin), Sir Robert Cecil(father in-law of my 10th cousin), and Robert Devereux the 2nd Earl of Essex(my 6th cousin, etc.).
I didn't get through a 3rd book in May.
Ah well.....


* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  The first winner never contacted me in the 48 hour window so I drew another winner and she has received her goodies and is enjoying them.

* Do a Sewing Project FAIL  Nope, didn't get anything sewn.

* Cash in a Savings Bond  DONE  We had a  Bond mature in May so it got cashed in.  Don't let US Savings Bonds sit if they have fully matured.  It's like putting cash under your mattress and letting it sit and not earn a penny.  Put it somewhere it will earn at least a little bit(or better yet, if you have debt, throw that cashed in bond toward your debt).

* Mail Cards  DONE  I needed to send two sympathy cards out to 2 friends.  The rack of cards was decimated at the store, the sympathy ones, I suppose due to Covid 19 victims lately.

* Plant Garden  DONE  

We planted our usual garden along the backyard deck. Dan planted green bean seeds along the back of this area but nothing came up so after that the buckets behind the fenced barrel in the photo below, holding the collard plants I finally found at the nursery well after everything else was planted got put where the green beans didn't germinate.

And greens were planted in the 2 half barrels on either side of the backyard deck garden.

* Make a New Garden  DONE
We have an old dog run from when we had our beagles which has just sat on the back side yard for years.
I finally had a good idea on how to use it in the flat circular area of the backyard where our pool us to be................

We moved the dog run there and I had Hubs build raised garden beds inside.  Not a lot more space but enough to grow a bit more veggies this year and expand the garden with a built in fence to keep the deer and rabbits out.
Go us! :-)


*  Start Seeds  FAIL  I just didn't find enough time to get this done.  Then we got a spat of very hot unseasonable for us weather so the seeds went right into the ground instead.

* Bathe and Groom Dogs  DONE

The perpetual motion machine Dixie and the guardian Chester after being bathed.

* Change out Clothing for Summer  PASS  I got everything dragged out and changed over.  I threw out a few worn out items and will be glad when I finally get a few more pounds off for good so I can donate a few more clothing items once our thrift stores open back up.

* List Items on eBay FAIL  No motivation at the beginning of May and then since I was going to be out of town I figured wait until I was back to list anything in late June.

* Pack my Bags to Get the Helloutta Here!  FAIL  Nope I didn't get my luggage packed even though I got the Summer clothing out since I didn't know for sure until the last minute whether this trip was going to happen.

* Plan Goals for 2020  PASS  We have very few goals for 2020 at this point in the year.  Maybe a vacation in the Fall and a few house projects with an eye toward moving.  I am working on getting the ball moving on that moving/relocating goal this week.

That's about it for the highlights from my May.
What did you(or didn't you)get done in May that was on your list of stuff to do?

Sluggy

The To-Do List....the June Edition

Let's take a look at what got accomplished(or didn't)in June.......

To-Do List for June

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything got paid on time or early including credit cards so no interest charged or paid.

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE
I read this.............

"To Kill A Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee

I hadn't read this since high school so it was worth picking it up again and reading it for "fun" this time.
I got a lot more of the subtext this go around.  Comparing  it to the 1962 movie starring Gregory Peck that was in my head was a challenge.  The book is so much more nuanced and delves deeper into characters other than the few leads.
If you know anything about Nelle Harper Lee's life you know that much of what is in this novel is autobiographical.
A classic novel is always worth a leisurely read.

And this one......

"Muskets and Applejack: Spirits, Soldiers and the Civil War" by Mark Will-Weber

This is a strange little book which explores a small corner of American history from a whisky soaked perspective.  As one reviewer on Amazon wrote, "....Spoiler Alert-nearly everyone drank and behaved badly."  I think that summed up this book perfectly! lolz
Spirits fueled the men who fought this war from the Generals on down to the lowly foot soldier.  It on one hand helped and on the other hand hindered each sides campaign against the enemy.  
There are many first hand accounts written by folks who lived through(or not)and saw the effects of alcohol on the war years about beyond.  After reading these journal entries how anybody stayed upright enough to wage war is beyond me.   Maybe applejack(and the sobering up time it took)is why it went 5 long years to finish this bloody shoot fest?
And another Spoiler Alert--troops from Louisiana were obviously the champion Wallpaperers and best friends of John Barleycorn!

An interesting, light read.....easy to pick up and put down, reading in fits and starts, which is how my June went. ;-)


* Get Chester's Shot  DONE  Chester needed a shot for Bordetella(Kennel Cough)before he could go to the doggie spa.

* Change out Clothes for Summer  DONE  I finally got all my clothes gone through and changed over for the hot weather.  Some clothing got thrown out, some packed off to Salvation Army and a pile was made of items that needed to be hemmed/fixed/taken in.  Of course I haven't gotten to any of the mending/fixing pile as the house is still in chaos with the bedroom redo.

* Have Trees Taken Down  DONE  Another item on our home projects was having 4 trees removed.  The bank account is very sad but I am glad to mark this project off the list.

We had 4 trees total cut down-2 on the side yard by the road and 2 in the backyard.  3 of them were to open up the yard, to get more light.  The monster tree above was a worry to me.  So tall and massive and not very deep roots.  With all the excessive rain and windstorms we'd gotten the last few years I'm amazed it hasn't fallen yet and taken out half our house(because it's so tall it could if it fell just right).  This was something that we needed to do in order to sell the house eventually(and for my peace of mind). 
It was interesting to watch(free entertainment! lol)the whole process and the massive combination saw and crane gizmo they used on the monster tree was way cool!
I can post some more photos and video if anyone is interested.....

* Repair Bedroom Walls/Ceiling  DONE  
Ex-College Boy and I got the bedroom repaired and painted early on in the month.  It has been sitting since then awaiting new carpeting being put in by the carpet folks.  Hurry up and wait.........sigh.

* Paint 1, 2 Bedrooms  PARTIALLY DONE  We got 1 of the Bedrooms painted, ceiling and walls.  Can't really do the second bedroom until we can empty it and we can't do that until the carpet gets replaced in the first bedroom(and it's STILL not in at the store yet, let alone on the schedule for installing ugh!). 
Here's a piece of what Dan's room looks like until we can move all my crap out of there........

* Take Chester to Doggie Resort  DONE  Chester went to stay HERE while we were away.  I think he had a better time than us! lolz  


* Clean Out Closets  DONE 
 I had a burst of energy one day and got lots of closets cleaned out and organized, my bedroom closet, the foyer closet and the linen closet.

*  Clean Out Fridges/Pantry  DONE

The fridges still need a good washing down inside but I got them cleaned out/organized.  I also got the pantry in the kitchen cleared out.

I found TWELVE open boxes of crackers in there!  TWELVE and many were duplicates of the same crackers.  Heck, I didn't even know we had TWELVE boxes of crackers!!  
After consolidating, and repurposing some(crumbs for breading)we have a more manageable amount(and certain people here have been warned under penalty of death NOT to open another box of crackers until the open boxes are gone).

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  And it was received and enjoyed by the winner. 8-)

* Pack for Trip  DONE  I got to break out my new fancy shmancy lime green suitcase.

* Go on Trip  DONE

This trip was so out of my comfort zone and Hubs and I didn't know a soul going in.  But we had a good time.  I'll blog about this trip soon.

* Use Ollie's & CVS Chits  DONE

All this was free from CVS and I earned $5 more in Extra Care Bucks before going on our trip.

I rolled some Bonus Cash before we left and again while on the trip as we passed by some Rite-Aids in Maine and New Hampshire.

I also used my 15% Ollie's discount before we went away.  I hit some 50%, 60% and 75% off food stuffs and used the 15% off on other things like bird suet for Hubs' feeders and potting soil.

* Continue to Clean Out Garage  PARTIALLY DONE

After 3 weeks worth of crap from Daughter moving out leaving the porch and garage we again had a clear passage through the garage on both sides of my food storage shelves.  
I wish I could say that I've made more headway in there but it's been too hot since getting back from NH to spend much time out there.  Maybe I'll take this item off the To-Do List until September when it cools off.

* Move More $ Into a CD  MAYBE DONE  I didn't get this goal finished in May before the month ended so it straddled both months.  The money is now moved.

* Sell More Locally  PARTIALLY DONE  Well I listed some things when we got back from NH but I didn't actually sell them yet. lolz  I tried.....  I am putting this item on hold until after garage sale season and it's pointless to try now.

* List Items on eBay  FAIL  I didn't even get one thing listed on eBay as there is just too much still going on here to concentrate on that.  Fall is the high season for eBay so I'll wait until September to list there.

* Gardening  I know I didn't put this as an item on the To-Do List for June but we did have some growth even with our wet/cool month...........

Other than the broccoli and cauliflower the plants didn't seem to visibly grow much in June.

But the lettuce seeds I sowed mid month in June popped up quicker than they usually do and are making strides.
We should be in salad material by mid July.

That's about it for my June report.
Did you accomplish anything in June?


Sluggy