Covid Catch Up

Because Lytha requested it:

This year has been a real struggle on so many levels. Let me start by saying we are all fine, staying as safe as it is possible with the plethora of covidiots running around without masks. The big challenge has been figuring out how to deal with the social isolation of a viral pandemic where the virus is easy to transmit via casual interaction and zero contact. Plus, we can add the American benefit of some of the population believes this is a hoax, not serious, not deadly (or at least not deadly to those of us they value), and somehow wearing a mask has come to determine: 1) masculinity, 2) white power, 3) libtard vs conservative, 4) level of stupidity (which is argued on both sides about the other) and 5) potential risk of mortality or brain damage due to increasing the CO2 levels you are breathing (which I would say you are already dealing with if this is a serious concern of yours).

America may be the reason we cease to exist as a species.

On behalf of my country, I apologize.

So, here goes:

1. Ashke has a melanoma

 

In front of his right ear. It has been there since 2014, when I thought it had been caused by a barn worker twisting his ear and damaging the cartilege. In May, it doubled in size overnight the day before we did hock injections. Doc took a look, stuck a needle in it and declared it a melanoma.

 

Other ear for comparison. 

I walked around for a couple of days in a complete depressive episode, crying my heart out on the inside. I was at the barn and feeling so sad. Ashke pinned his ears and snapped at me. He didn't come close, but it was enough to get my attention. He told me very clearly and concisely that I was not to grieve for him. The melanoma was a long way from his heart and he wasn't fucking dying. I needed to fucking stop. That was enough to snap me out of it. Hopefully, the growth will stop and nothing else will happen with it for a long time.

 His ear no longer goes all the way forward, though. The melanoma is too involved with the structure of the ear for surgery (and I have no reserves to spend on surgery, so anything that potentially might happen will have to resolve with minimal costs). 

We are working on riding all of the dressage things one handed. He still needs the support of two hands for some of the canter work, but we are getting closer every day. He is learning to figure out the canter pirouette and most of our work is off my seat and legs (this is helped by riding one handed since I stay out of his way better). Our flying changes are still a work in process. He is so good switching to the right, but I still struggle to get out of his way biomechanically going to the left. 

One of these days we will haul out and ride. We both need it. The only thing keeping me stuck at the barn is the potential for mishap and what happens if either of us are injured. Some day it will be safe to take risks again, but for now we are making do. I am riding either three or four days a week right now. No competitions, since my budget no longer includes show fees. I figure by the time we find the ring again, we will be competing one handed at whatever level we decide to ride at.

2. If you need to be stuck in isolation during a pandemic, having a new-to-you house is always helpful.

 

Maya sitting under the sprinkler.

She is such a doll.

I don't know if you remember my yard, but it was an empty dirt patch when I moved in. This was early April and some green was beginning to grow. I don't care what kind of green it is (dandelions, morning glory, scraggly weeds of indeterminate origin) I just wanted it to grow to cover the ground. It has been a delight to see it spread out to cover the dirt. It has gotten even thicker since I seeded it with white clover and added a bit of fertilizer. I am hopeful that by the fall it will be established solid enough that next year it won't need so much water. I plan to seed in the fall and do a fall fertilizer to help sustain the viability, while taking advantage of the snow and moisture we should get. 

I covered the inside of the fence with ply, 4' x 8'. The fence needs to be replaced at some point in the future, but for now, this blocks Lily from being able to see through to the neighbors backyard and try and eat the dogs that live there. She still barks, but only about 1/8th as much, and she is no longer bouncing the fence with her front feet in a very effective method of trying to knock the pickets out. 

As you can see, we have patchy green, made more so by the battle I am waging against the Canada thistle that seems to want to grow. I am using boiling water poured over the leaves to kill them back. It is a lot of work, but I think I am mostly winning. Mostly.

There were two sheds on the property when I moved in. One is a wooden shed with tight walls and a locking door. The other was this rusted out heap shown above filled with objects and items that really should have been tossed before we moved in. My plan has been to remove this shed and clean up that area of the yard since we first saw the house. One Saturday in May we had a derecho come through. It was basically an earth bound squall line that lifted that shed up, twisted it around and dropped it back in my yard. (Our neighbor's shed ended up a couple of houses away). That was enough motivation to remove the shed.

It took T and I five hours to tear it apart. Some of the screws came out, some had to be hammered apart and in some places the metal ripped like paper. We got it taken down and stacked for disposal without either of us being hurt. The dirt pile next to it, that looks like a compost pile, was actually grass clippings tossed over bags of garbage. Taking that hillock apart and getting the garbage out was a smelly mess and I am still picking pieces of plastic out of the yard as Maya continues to work her way through the spread out dirt. I did some research and ordered a Bagster from Amazon. It was big enough to hold all of the pieces and parts of the shed, including the rotted out wood from the floor, plus the last bags of straw from the spring raking of the yard. Then I scheduled a pick up, Waste management obliged and I am now debris free. Best time, energy and money spent on the house to date.

What that space looks like now.

The only drawback to removing the shed happened on this past Saturday. Our neighbor's dog was able to use a built in planter on the back side of the fence (directly behind where the shed sat) to scale the fence and come into our yard. Which I discovered at the same time my dogs did, moments after letting them out. That was a raging, snarling, crying mess of five minutes. Kudos to Tristan for hearing me scream his name (waking him from a deep sleep) because things could have been a lot worse without his help. We got Lily and Skittle in the garage, Maya wrangled into the house (she stood back and barked at the intruder and supported her sisters' murderous intent from afar) and the poor pup reassured. She is a border collie mix of some sort and much smaller than our dogs. Her owners came looking for her when they discovered she was out and reassured me they would fix the issue so she couldn't escape again, but I'm not sure she would try to get into the yard again, anyway. I don't think the experience was pleasant for her at all.

3. Meet Snips

Snips is a Bur Oak. When she is fully grown she will be 80' tall, with a 80' diameter crown and a trunk that will be 4' in diameter. She might not develop acorns until she is 35 - 40 years old, and with care could live to be 400 years old. Since I plan on dying in this house, she will outlive me by a couple of centuries. There is something amazing about planting a tree that will outlive you. And your child. And your child's children (if he has any). She was planted in hope for the future. There should be enough natural moisture that once she is established (this year) she should grow even if the rest of us come to an end. And I have a wonderful oak that I can sit under, talk to, cry on and anchor my future around. It is a gift.

4. Garden Space

This was my garden space last fall.

We put a fence in between the main yard and the garden area and started creating planting boxes. This has been somewhat of a struggle. What I discovered as I started to pry apart the mounds of dirt in this photo, was the piece of carpet (smaller mound) the dirt was piled on, and the larger mound is sitting on top of a huge tarp. The ground was incredibly hard as well so rather than fighting breaking it up and tilling it under, I decided to try a raised bed.

This is a picture of the patio and fire pit T and I built, but behind it you can see the raised beds and fence we put up.

The raised beds did not go as well as I had hoped. The bind weed growing up through the beds and around the multitude of plants is not easy or desired. I have one bed planted with tomatoes (20) and jalapenos (12) and one bed with yellow squash and cucumbers that are mostly thriving. Well, both the squash and tomatoes are taking over.

Tomatoes are the big bush looking things on the right and the squash is the big bushy things to the left.

The tomatoes and squash are loaded with fruit and I am just waiting for them to fully ripen before picking them. In the meantime, I really wanted to grow some green beans, so last weekend I converted one of the bind weeds beds into another raised bed, albeit a bit different.

The wood below should keep the weeds from growing up through the bed.

There are 130 bush beans planted and mulched inside.

T and I have talked and our long term plan is to remove the large pile of dirt that's still there, get the large blue tarp out from under, and build a water feature of some type in the space surrounded by lilac trees. So, I also planted eight lilacs in the area, against the fence. 

 

This thing was a stick when I got it in the mail. I misread the advert and thought I was ordering a 1.5'-2' lilac tree. It actually was 1.5"-2" stick with a few roots attached. Currently, about 8" tall with leaves. 

 

 

This one had two leaves when I received it. I planted two of them and although they are growing slowly, they are growing.

 The two bush things against the fence directly above the back of the chair are two more lilacs.

They cost me a ton of money, but they are thriving as well. I should have a wall of lilacs around this section of fence by next spring.

 Hard to see, but two french lilacs (a bit more open and less leafy) in this section.

5. Inside the House

 I started working on the kitchen.

I hated the yellow - it was dingy and almost mustard colored.

 Went with a turquoise for the wall behind the cabinets.

I have paint sitting in the garage for the cabinets and may get that project started this weekend. 

I will need to find a good clean color for the ceiling when I am done, but I need to decide on the living room colors before making that decision.

 

Large pot of homemade spaghetti sauce.

So very good.

 Used this to seal them into quart jars.

Canning is something my mom used to do every summer. I decided to do so as well. I have been teaching myself the art of food prep/storage and have been enjoying it. This is the primary reason I planted the tomatoes and green beans. I have put up my mom's world famous meat seasoning sauce, spaghetti sauce, raspberries (to put over ice cream) and some diced tomatoes. This process really fills some needs for me - cooking (which I love), food storage (kind of a left over desire from being raised Mormon) and prepping for the apocalypse. Regardless of what happens, I will have food.

I've also been doing puzzles while T and I watch our way through the entire Star Wars cinematic universe. If you are a Star Wars fan and have not watched the Clone Wars, you should do so. The series really fleshes out what happened between The Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

6. New Animals

 Boo was a gift for my birthday from T last year.

She is fearless, fierce, demanding and independent.

 She and Maya have a special relationship.

I pretty sure that Boo believes Maya is her dog.

 

Maya doesn't seem to mind

 

I feel a lot better when Maya is with Boo in the yard, since Boo is a small cat and we have a hawk's nest in the tree to the west of our house. They have dive bombed her a couple of times. Maya acts as protection.

 

 

They hunt bugs together.

 

 

She is affectionate but on her terms.

I suspect her need to cuddle will increase once it is cold again.

 

 This is her ploy to keep me from going to work in the morning.

She will come up to me, chirp and smush her forehead against my lips for a kiss.

I spend a lot of time alone. I still do not want to date any one and the idea of being in a relationship is not something I am ready to deal with yet. This is not new to me and I am not struggling with it, but it can be lonely. I read a lot, play some Switch, cook, clean, mow and plant. The dogs have managed to train me to sleep on a sliver of my bed in order to make room for all three of them. I do struggle with finding the time and focus to blog. It just seems overwhelming sometimes. I try to minimize the stress and so it has fallen by the way side. It is also hard to keep blogging about riding circles in the arena. 

Hope you all (the readers that might be left) are staying home, staying safe and wearing masks. Find some activities that you enjoy and settle in. I think this thing is here for the long run. We should have made better/different/informed decisions and actions in January if we wanted any hope of containing this virus. Or even February, although there is plenty of evidence that some of the people in our govt were aware early on. It is both criminal and heartbreaking to be where we are now.