Dot`sThoughts

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Ever feel like God must be trying to protect you from yourself? Today I decided to see if
I could get some of the leaf raking done. Weather report says rain this evening. I figured it would
be a lot easier to rake before the leaves are soaked and matted on the ground. Plus being wet makes them heavier and harder to rake. I fed the dog, filled the bird feeders and headed outside to rake. I started raking about 8 AM and managed to get the front lawn and part of the 2 lots on the other side of my home raked up. Then I noticed my daughter and her husband already had bags of leaves waiting for the town to pick them up. That told me this must be the week the town is doing the spring pickup. I must have missed the notice that is usually in the newspaper.

So, I stopped raking because I do not bag my leaves for the town to pick up because I have a three section compost bin that I save my leaves for. So, I can rake the rest anytime. But, I had a large pile of tree branches to get rid of. I often wished I had one of those mulch machines that chew limbs up to use in compost . But, since I don`t, I have to cut them up small enough for the town to put through their chopper. I finished cutting them small enough and then made four trips carrying all the branches out into a neat pile near the road. By the time I had finished doing this job, I started to do some more raking. I knew I was getting tired and should stop, but wanted to get more done.

Well, no more than I started raking again it started sprinkling, so I knew I had to stop and put everything away before it started raining harder. So, I put the wheelbarrow away in the shed. Never ended up using the wheelbarrow, but had planned on using it to carry the raked leaf piles to the compost bin. Then I remembered how much easier it was last year when I used an old bed sheet. So, this time, instead of using the wheelbarrow , I again laid the sheet on the ground, raked the leaves onto the sheet and carried the leaf filled sheet and dumped it beside the compost bin. Made four trips and the leaf piles were all cleaned up. So much easier than trying to keep the leafs from flying off the wheelbarrow with each tiny breeze. Also much faster using the sheet as I can rake the leaf piles onto the sheet much faster than I ever could have picked up the leaves, put them into the wheelbarrow, pushed the wheelbarrow all the way to the compost bin and then dumped it with every load. Also the sheet holds more leaves than the wheelbarrow can which means less trips.

To get back to the rain. I hurried to take care of everything. Put the wheelbarrow away, took care of the rake, my garden work gloves, and the large limb cutting shears, plus the phone I always set on the porch so I will not miss any important phone calls. By the time the rain was coming down harder, I just grabbed the sheet, shook it good, picked up the phone and made it onto my back porch. Not quite fast enough, so I had to get out of those chilly damp clothes. Then I decided I deserved a rest. I feel I should be thanking God for bringing the rain when he did instead of tonight or I might have kept raking till I had done more than I should have.

Funny how you usually find yourself feeling better when you have accomplished something. Yesterday I was on pins and needles as the saying goes. My only Aunt had an operation to replace the battery in her heart machine- monitor. or? She will be 89 years old on Sunday. Her Birthday is also her Wedding Anniversary date. So having lost her husband just before Christmas, this will be her first Anniversary without him. They would have celebrated their 68th Anniversary. Her Birthday, which should be a Happy day, will be a sad day spending her Anniversary without my Uncle. I was relieved when my cousin Tom phoned me yesterday afternoon to let me know the op was over and they were back home and that everything went well. I was down visiting her the day before and she was having trouble getting enough air and was feeling light headed and a bit dizzy. The new battery should get her heart beating faster and solve her other problems. She was so scared before the op, but she should feel much better now that it is over.

Yesterday my twin sons- Walter and Roger- turned 54 years old. WOW, that made me remember how old I was getting. Next, I remembered their older sister will be 57 in September, shortly after my 78th birthday also in September. Boy, how time does keep flying by.

April 4th, Rained again today. Said possible snow, sure glad that was wrong. Have seen enough snow and shoveling for this year. So, can`t work outside. The rest of the leaves will have to wait till another nice day comes along. Going back down to 31 degrees F again tonight. Can`t wait for some warmer weather to arrive and stay for more than a day or two. Garden seeds sprouted and are starting to grow taller. Looking at them makes one wonder how those tall skinny plants will eventually grow into tall thick stemmed strong plants. Every year when the plants first start growing I get impatient to see them growing stronger so they can amount to the large great producing vegetables I look forward to having. Then I remind myself they start this way every year. Will have to keep them inside until after Memorial Day before I can set them outside. Can have a frost until then which could kill the plants. So, they still have another 7 weeks to grow stronger in. Every year i look forward to what i call "My Stand-up Garden". I use the Earth Boxes and made standards to sit the boxes up on, so I can just stand up and walk around the boxes to take care of the garden plants. Always have good luck using the earth boxes. Glad someone invented them, or I would have had to give up gardening when I could no longer work the large regular ground gardens.