Lets be honest.
Late in August it can get annoying to water the plants everyday.
Today, I dont have a list of things to ease the monotony. Its been really hot for a few weeks here is Portland, ME. The heat melts me when I open the windows to water the window boxes. I feel like all of my AC is waisted and slipping outside – and often the plants need to get watered twice a day in this weather. I like overstuffed boxes and this is how I pay for the look.
I did harvest my first pepper – was was very hard and yummy. I ate it raw.
So, water at night or in the morning and pray for a break in the heat.
New NETBOOK
Today, I got myself a little HP net-book. I think I would have gotten the larger storage “eee” brand if they would have been in stock – but, I have an external drive – so I think its a wash. Im not a computer wiz – but, so far this seems easy to use and perfect for a little school computer.
Later on in the fall I want to get a new computer but, cant spend the money right now.
Dusty is laying on the floor – half barking in her sleep. People say that means they are dreaming but, her eyes look a little open. I hope she is O.K.
She started to chew on the side of the door frame a few weeks ago. I hope that the change in her medicine will help. Im thinking that she might have felt the urge to go outside and chewed because of nerves. I am also going to work on some leadership skills. I think that when I come home I am gonna make a real effort to wait 15 min or so before I take her out. I am also gonna try to make her earn some of the love I give her. Like asking her to sit b-4 I pat her.
She continues to be the sweetest dog. Yesterday we went to a new park where she found a little hole to dig in and a bug muddy lakeside to roll in. I love watching her explore and have fun. After I am done enjoying my new little toy I am gonna take her over there again.
After we left the park, I stopped to get some ice cream. I gave dusty a little finger taste of it – she immediately barfed all over the seat.
I am working on a project for the Kitchen in my condo. I want to add a skylight to try to get some of the natural light that fills the other rooms in the place into the Kitchen. It is a little darker in here than I would like for it to be.
Anyhow – I hope this new little netbook does the trick – !
Computer mess – and sleep apnea.
I don’t know what is going on – I just got the computer back from the repair guy and it seems like it is still broken?
I think I might pull out my old tower and be done with the drama of this one.
Today I have another sleep study scheduled. Last week, I found out that I had sleep apnea but, I did not sleep enough during the night for them to be able to fit me with a CPAP. I am excited about the chance to start getting good sleep again. Now, I feel like I spend all night dreaming and not enough time in deep sleep.
Because I have been overweight for so long I am working through a Weight Loss Surgery program. The television shows dont show half the process that is involved. There are so many appointments. So far, I think I have been to about 15 appointments. Maybe a few more than that. I started the process in June. One strange thing about the program is that the patient has to go through all of this process before the request is submitted to the insurance. It is possible to go through all of this and then be denied.
I am happy that I have learned about the sleep apnea, regardless of what happens. I have done a little Internet research and it looks like apnea is a prevalent as diabetes, more common in men and can effect any age group. I am hopeful that some of the side effects of apnea are effecting my daily life and might resolve some after I am using the cpap.
Some of the side effects are daytime drowsiness, heart burn, forgetfulness, depression and snoring. I don’t know what symptoms are simply exacerbated my the apnea or what might resolve or partially resolve. But, I am hopeful. Does anyone have experience with this?
I hope I will spend some time today cleaning my living-room. I have had so many boxes in there for weeks. It is starting to get annoying.
New Kitchen Shelf-
I came home from the HLCCA conference with lots of new pottery! I collect different kinds of Vintage American dishes and art pottery. My friend came along back to Maine with me on the promise we would go to the August Brimfield and visit Allentown, PA.
When my friend was here visiting he offered to help me build a new shelf for my kitchen. I was in desperate need for more shelving and I have not done much inside so far- so, I jumped at the chance!
We used wood pieces that I had been picking up from junk shops and the RE-Store. I think I have a total of less than 10.00 invested in this shelf. (including the nails!)
Here is what the wall looked like before.
WOW- Im looking at that bare wall thinking “DO SOMETHING!”
Here is another pic of my kitchen. My condo is about 250 square feet.
That is the other side of my Kitchen, as you can see the brick wall is on the left. -
My friend has a wonderful collection of pottery and he has shelves that he had built all over his house. I loved them when I saw them in his house and wanted to take those idea’s and use my style to have a shelf of my own.
Here is the shelf -
We spent about three hours total building this shelf. I am in love with the extra space it gives me in my kitchen! After my friend went home I added some under the counter lights. It was easy for a novice like me to install the lights – I am impressed with the touch pad control they come with. There are three settings for the brightness. The extra light a very welcome addition to the lighting in my house. I also love the way my pottery collection looks under the lights at night.
We also put in some smaller shelves on the side.
Here is a shot of the other side of my kitchen now that I live here -
One remarkable thing about the door frame we used as the front of my shelf is that, the same trim is used in some of the other units in my building! I don’t have that kind of trim in my unit. I love that connection to history.
I think later I will use some darker stain to age the pieces of wood that were not as old as the others. But, for now I am very happy!
Garden in the city!
I bought my first condo and am so excited that I have some places to garden outside.
There are 6 other units in the building and we are lucky enough to live in a brick row of townhouses that were built in 1860. Our house is on the end of the block – and we have a street beside us.
I love living on the street side of a building because it allows for more light. I love bright direct sun and here at Wintercress I have lots and lots of sun!
Today, Im going to talk about my window boxes-
We live in a brick house so, I had to hire a carpenter to drill them to the wall. I had them put up in May and at that time I did not own a power drill. (I have one now!)
He attached the wire boxes I got at a local box store. I chose them because the locally owned plant shops had window boxes available in wood and in a heavy gauge wire. I was afraid wood might rot – and of not following the historic code – I did not want to have the boxes detract from style of my house. Wood seems too casual for my house. The heavy gauge wire boxes were 50.00 each and that was way out of my budget. I chose to buy some simple black wire boxes that were about 20.00 each.
I thought about spray painting them a red color to match the trim on my house – but, because I do not really like the brown coconut filler on the inside I decided to stick to black with the hope that my plants would grow over the sides and hide the look of the boxes.
I chose to fill my boxes to the brim with veggies and flowers. I like things to look full and overgrown. I chose to plant cabbage and peppers along with some traditional hanging flowers that would bloom all summer and grow to hid the coconut filler fast!
The coconut filler might retain more water than other kinds of boxes- I like that allot because, overfilling boxes usually means endless watering. But, not with this filler – it really seems to retain moisture and avoid evaporation.
Here are some pictures of the window boxes that I took this morning (august 10). You can see how full and lush they are- I have enjoyed spices and lettuce from the boxes. I have also enjoyed looking at the lush boxes from the street. Many people have walked by my house while I have been watering them and complemented me. Saying my window boxes transported them to a vacation they had or, made them feel joy.
You know I love that!
My condo-mates have been so nice to me letting me put op the boxes! I asked first and people though they would be a nice thing to try out. I only did two boxes because I wanted to see if I liked having them and if I took care of them through the summer.
Next year I hope to put two more window boxes up.
Give them a try. I think that finding some cute boxes to match the style of your house – getting permission to put them up and looking for some plants you like is the fun part! The “work” part is pretty easy – water once a day. Whats that 3 min a day?
