Best Accomplishment This Weekend

My plants were put in the planter in record time this year. Only the verbena sat by itself during the week. Every spring I'm reminded I like to design and plant flowers.

What I do differs every year. It depends not only on changing my mind, but also on what's available. I love annual phlox. It smells very nice.  It's prone to mildew and our recent wet summers wouldn't be good for it, so I haven't grown it. The flowers I've planted have always been favorites, as well as the colors.  I wonder if I could find a more color-coordinated watering container. 

I hope my potted garden grows well this year. Last year I used different potting soil and it was not very good. The only plant that did well was alyssum.  Even the fertilizer didn't seem that great. This year I went back to what I used before, except for a couple spots near the end to fill in because I ran out. It might affect the catmint. I'll have to buy a small bag of the good soil. What my family used when I was growing up was Swiss Farms, a local company in Philmont.

I had wanted to clean up my bedroom and hall this weekend.  They have been sorely neglected while Mom was sick. It wasn't easy afterward, either. Easier said than done. It turned out to be a good example of how my allergies rule my life.  I have too many and if they're combined, I run at half speed.  I take many supplements that help, but the fatigue remains.

Over Planted Again

I decided I should plant some flowers this year in case the bumblebees make another nest nearby. One evening after work I found the verbena plant below.

I wanted to plant some violas with it.  However, when I finally went to the garden center that's not open in the evenings, during the week, first I found the lovely Calibrachoa MiniFamous Neo Double Pink.

I also bought my violas, Sorbet Beaconsfield Viola.

After I tried potting them at home, I realized I couldn't use the pot I had in mind and I had to go  bigger. I went back to the garden center to buy another calibrachoa to flank the verbena set in the center.  While pondering what to use to add a little height,  I thought catnip!  I had tried salvia last year and failed miserably.  Partly it was because the plant was small and I wasn't going to pay the prices for large plants.  It was also because the potting soil was poor.  I had mixed success growing traditional catnip because the aphids liked it. A different garden shop had a hybrid I thought I'd try, Kitten Around Catmint (Nepeta faassenii). Maybe the aphids won't like it.  I planted it behind the calibrachoa flaking the verbena. I nipped the tops off to make it branch. My cat Emily gave them her approval.

I just had to buy two pots of the lovely Viola Rebecca. I planted the violas on either end of the window box, the Viola Rebecca behind the Sorbet Beaconsfield.

Then there are the two purple verbena I didn't need for filling the box. Plant or gift? I hope my window box amounts to something this year.  

Good Bye Little One

On my way home tonight I saw this billboard along I-787 north of Albany:

I thought it was thoughtful and kind of Lamar Advertising.

That May Holiday

I find that May holiday that comes in mid-May is upsetting me.  So many places advertise sales around it.  I can't avoid seeing the phrase "Mother's Day." I don't have my mother anymore and each time I see or hear it it's a reminder. 

Knitting helps me feel a little better.  Normally I would knit tonight, but I'm sore near my right clavicle.  I need to ice it and watch something funny instead.

Mom would have enjoyed this video.  She loved Toothless.  She also loved lilacs.  The bushes outside work are starting to bloom.

I was very surprised to learn at work I was receiving a raise.  I guess the company couldn't ignore 8 months of perfect scores.

For A Friend's Baby

A special friend is having a baby and a shower on January 26.  I had to wait until I was paid to buy the yarn and the pattern.  I didn't just fall in love with any pattern.  It had to be a set with a lovely figured pattern in Norwegian. That is not one of my languages.

I know my friend would love it.  I think I have a way figured out.  The same stitches are featured in a dress designed by the same person and it's offered in English!  I can compare the two.  There's also Google Translate and translation offered by DROPS. If I hadn't knit anything like this before, I wouldn't bother.  I had some success figuring out a Japanese pattern.

I ordered the yarn from Webs which is in a nearby state.  I've gotten their yarn quickly before.  I wonder if I can really pull it off.  Sometimes I can be too ambitious.  I keep telling myself these are pieces for a tiny, little baby.  I had better start printing the patterns and translating them.

UPDATE

I was close to figuring out the pattern, but I had a feeling there were construction details I wasn't picking up on.  I decided on the Henrik Baby Set by Tove Richter instead that was in English.  Reading it, it seems to have come  from a Norwegian designer with the same sort of construction detail so maybe I can figure out the other pattern for the future.

Pass Up LG Commercial Front-Load Washer

Tonight I decided to try the LG Commercial Washer with Inverter Direct Drive at my local laundry mat.  My favorite washers were being used.  I forgot about the older front-load washers.  I wish I hadn't.  It seems like the LG washers are only good if your clothes are basically clean anyway. Or possibly you have to fill it only half full. I did not pack my clothing in. It was not all full and the clothing was still loose.

Not all the cat puke was removed from my clothing (one shirt and a couple socks).  This is the first time in using laundry mats in recent memory that this happened. Some of the puke was nicely broken up and distributed on all the clothing.  I had to shake them out when I took them out of the machine. I never had to do that before. The cat puke stains on my jeans aren't gone either so I have to wash them over again.  The shirt I'll do by hand.  I saw there was some stray detritus left in the washer. There is something in me that makes me really not like taking my laundry out to wash, so having to wash something twice is very annoying.

If you're someone who's likely to have cat puke, dog puke, or kid puke on your clothing, and maybe just food stains in general, I don't think you want to use these machines.  I guess the future the engineers envisioned was entirely devoid of mess and bother, food, pets and babies.

C Diff Awareness Month

November is C Diff Awareness Month. My mother died from advanced dementia brought on by repeated relapses of clostridium difficile (c. diff).  C. diff is an antibiotic-resistant gastrointestinal infection that kills more people than HIV, AID, and drunk driving combined, yet people are not very aware of the danger they and their loved ones are in. 

Deaths from c. diff aren't reported in the media  I have a feeling if they were, we would be shocked. C. diff infections and related deaths in nursing homes, where our most vulnerable relatives are, are not reported to New York State government. At least in Massachusetts where Mom died, her death had to be reported to the state government, but it was not publicized (until now). If we are to protect our relatives and stop c. diff deaths, this has to change. C. diff infections and deaths must be reported and published. We need to know how well facilities are or are not controlling and eliminating c. diff infections and where not to let relatives go.

I miss my mother every day.  Last fall she was in the hospital every full moon from August to October, twice with a septic episode, once with a fever.   I've been reliving it emotionally, since I had to be strong last year.  It's been hard, especially since at work I have to help medical offices request procedures that allude to what my mother had or experienced.  I keep feeling like I have to get into the car and drive somewhere to visit Mom, but I can't anymore.  

I've never really enjoyed the winter holiday season and I'm not looking forward to it at all this year.  For years, my maternal relatives only paid attention to Mom and me when it suited them, maybe once every few years combined.  We only celebrated the holidays together by ourselves.  Now there is no one else.  Even my cats aren't getting along very well right now.  

Use antibiotics only when you really have to. Be careful of where your family members go for medical treatment or hospitalization.  Make sure all surfaces are cleaned.  Clean them yourself if you want and do it repeatedly.  Research the facility where s/he is.  I think how well they take care of the patient is also reflective of how well the facility is taken care of.  We need figures on patient infections and deaths from c. diff to be released to see how safe our relatives will be.  I tried very hard to get Mom out of the awful place she was in, but it was already too late.    For more information please visit the Peggy Lillis Foundation.