Happy Thanksgiving!

 Also Happy Albania Independence Day! November 28 commemorates when Albania raised the Albanian flag in 1912 declaring independence from the Ottoman Empire. 

We aren't doing anything. Hubby worked last night so he is asleep for now. Later I will put a chicken in the oven. It's just the two of us and we aren't fond of turkey. I don't have anything major to write about so, just a list of odds and ends.

It's cloudy again today. My petunias are still green but no longer blooming. It's been in the 20's but will be in the teens at night for the foreseeable future. I think I will pull them. Poor things. They really hung in there!

Thank you to my friend for the compliment on my string of hearts. I have killed it in the past. I discovered why. This plant develops large potato-like tubers that hold a good amount of water. If the potting mix doesn't dry out quickly enough the tubers will rot overnight. My solution was to pot them in a shallow pot that was actually a plastic bowl that I made a bazzillion holes in. It fits as an insert into this beautiful ceramic bowl my daughter gave me.

This was some sort of food bowl that came with a frozen dinner hubby bought once.

Fred Ives, I'm done with you! (I still have the main "head") I'm ditching this and planting something else in this pot. Fred insists on growing HUGE and pale from not enough light.

Burrow's tail needs repotting and water! You can see Fred Ive's "head" in the background.

Miscellaneous Adromischus pot, the long-leaved one in the back is going to bloom. It's fussy. It will drop its leaves if it gets too dry and also if it stays damp too long.

Next I'm working on windows. These are double-pane windows with the worst frames ever. I need to line the lower 4 or 5 inches with bubble wrap to keep them from freezing. You can see how the moisture builds up and black mildew forms on the frames. Ugh. Every winter.

East window

South window has some bubble wrap but not enough. I will move the plants back a bit and add more bubble wrap.

Results tomorrow.

Note----I couldn't find anything about cell phones. We got new phones in January because our old phones were 4G only. Apparently 4G will still be supported but 5G rolled out and is faster. If you need a new phone, buy one that is 5G so it can use the faster networks. 

Have a great day!

Winter is Here

 The petunias are looking sad but are still blooming. Our temperatures are taking a nose dive this weekend. The high today was 36.

I'm finally getting around to working with my plants. Some need transplanting. I'm trying to make my collection smaller because my plants keep getting bigger. I trimmed the dead leaves off my gold vein oxalis. They go to sleep once a year, sometimes in summer but maybe in fall. All the leaves fall into a dead heap. Many people think they have lost the plant at this point and throw it away, but actually it will grow all new leaves after it rests for a couple weeks or so.

One of my favorite oxalis and kind of hard to find. I bought mine from Glasshouse Works in Ohio. The owner passed away so they went out of business.

New leaves emerging in the rubble (they look like fuzzy white canes)

This is why I trim off the leaves instead of pulling them. The bulbs are very tiny and uproot easily. I think they reach the size of a pea.

String of Hearts. I'm so happy it's growing well for me.

I have trimmed it back a couple times now

Bulbs are forming on the stems

I zipped the babies off the leaves because they kept popping off. It was so satisfying!

I got this cute Christmas tree and stuck it here

My hoya are growing like crazy

Hoya Curtisii. I love the leaves

My mini white orchid is going to bloom again!

I fixed Burim's laptop. It's working well, could use more memory, but I would need to buy two 8Ghz chips. It has two 4Ghz now. I have most of the drivers upgraded. It won't upgrade to Windows 11, the processor isn't powerful enough. Microsoft is extending driver support until October 2025, meaning about 400 million PC's will be stuck in limbo. The good news is, they can still be used for some time. My desktop struggles. It's an all-in-one, and has a slow processor and slow harddrive. It does have a nice beautiful monitor. It will do for the time being. On the other hand, they are predicting next year will be a banner year for buying a new PC if that is something you are considering.

Getting sleepy. Happy Thanksgiving! We are cooking a chicken tomorrow.

My Broken Life

Some days I think I have it "together", other days I cry. Mostly it just sucks to be me and I put on a happy face for people who love me. At times I would like to think that my daughter is aware of me and other times I think it's better if she just sleeps until the Resurrection, because what daughter would want to know that their death broke their mother?

Last night my hubby went to visit his friends and stop by the store. I forgot I set my phone to vibrate and then I forgot it on the end table and didn't hear him call me SEVEN TIMES. He came home frantic, and angry because he was frantically worried. He forgave me, of course, and I felt really bad for putting him through that.

I had one good day this week so far. I happily cleaned and cooked. Friday and this weekend will be good. Hubby is off Friday and my older daughter and her hubby's kids are driving up for the weekend. My hubby and her hubby both have mandatory overtime on Saturday, so my daughter's hubby is driving up after work. We are having an early Thanksgiving dinner Saturday night, and leftovers on Sunday, before they need to return home.

It has been mentioned to me about getting counselling. I can find nothing in my Medicare benefits about that, except for Hospice, or for being hospitalized. There is a psychologist in town, a man. What is a man going to know about a mother loosing a child? Only a mother who has lost a child can understand a mother who has lost a child. Hold your breath. Unless you are a mother who has lost a child, you wouldn't understand. Period. Besides, I'm pretty sure my benefits won't cover it.

In spite of it all, yesterday I got a few things done, and I plan to get off the computer and get more done today. I have the rest of today plus 2 more days to get ready for company. They will be very welcome. I laugh a lot with them, me and hubby, both.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice. My neighbor across the hall and I hope to go for a walk.

Hubby's work is going well. Did I mention he got a raise? He's also training to be an Operator! The other day the big boss did a surprise safety check inspection, and my hubby got "caught" with a perfectly clean, safe and well-maintained work area. The boss gave him an "atta boy" and shook his had, wrote him up as GOOD. Everyone else in the room had stuff like pop cans and tools strewn around and out of place, so they all got written up as BAD. Sometimes it pays to be slightly OCD.

Ok, it's time for me to get some stuff done, and I'm feeling better.

Day 24: Happy Thanksgiving!

Hubby and I are both thankful he has tonight off, and we are thankful for my daughter's company. We are thankful my other daughter and her family visited last weekend.

We had a nice dinner, not as fancy as I normally would cook, but it's all I could do with my neck and shoulders, and this tiny kitchen. I am extremely grateful and thankful that my daughter washed the dishes for me while I dried and put them away. Otherwise I would have been hurting a lot more than I am by now. She also baked an awesome pumpkin pie, her signature dish.

No pictures tonight. I'm tired and sore. Hubby went to see his cousin for a little bit after dinner. We will probably watch movies when he comes back.

That's all for now. Need to relax.