Random 5 for September 22 – Aging, birds, good news, gym, crazy people

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These beautiful irises have been distributed to friends and other parts of the yard.

Another side effect of aging – We have a fairly long driveway with a three to four foot strip of land that runs along the neighbor’s stone wall. It was a tough place for plants because it gets hot between the macadam driveway and the stone wall. Because of the slope, it also gets a lot of rain then, then is baked dry. The deer liked to cruise for dinner too. Over the years I found plants that work. Irises, ribbon and some other grasses and day lilies that deer don’t like. It’s work. It has to be weeded (yes weeds grow in any environment) and at the end of the summer, everything had to be cut down. This year we removed all the plants and are putting in landscape stone (my least favorite thing in the world). It will look clean and be a lot less work. Won’t be as pretty but my bones and muscles will appreciate it. #toooldtocare

These yellow lilies were not a favorite of the deer. That red on in the front they ate with relish!

They are here! – We have holly bushes along the front of the house. The berries are starting to turn with half of them red and the other half almost red. Every year a flock of robins comes in at some point to eat them all. It’s a flock of at least 20 birds. Yesterday I saw a scout checking them out. Those berries won’t be around for long. #hungryhungrybirds

Finally, good news — The past few months have been full of bad health news about aging relatives. This week we heard a bit of good news. After almost eight weeks in either a hospital or rehab facility, my oldest brother came home. He is 91 so it’s a miracle that he is doing so well. #hopethislasts

The gym update – One of the very few people I talk to has been MIA for over a month. She had a health crisis. Although she wants to come back, she doesn’t have the stamina yet. The crazy lady who had me mixed up with every other white older woman there is in Africa for several weeks on vacation. It’s been a peaceful but somewhat lonely time at the gym. I don’t like a lot of jibber-jabber (especially before coffee) but a few sentences of greeting are nice. In the meantime, I’m upping my routine. #thegrassisalwaysgreener

People are crazy – There has been a lot in the news lately about not letting your car run while you dash into a store. Too easy to steal. Yet every day I go to Starbucks there is at least one engine running and no one inside. They may have done a mobile order and expected to be back out in 30 seconds but even with pre-order, you often have to wait. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to turn the engine off. #stupidpeoplewonderwhythingshappen

So how was your week?

 

 

76 thoughts on “Random 5 for September 22 – Aging, birds, good news, gym, crazy people”

  2. Great news about your brother. He’ll do even better at home.
    I’m slowly relinquishing ideal plantings/flowers to more easy care, too. Weeding Irises ( ours are the really tall ones is difficult – especially in the heat – but the rain made it easier). The plants are having their pre-fall growth spurt. The plumerias suddenly started blooming again but at the same time have started browning and dropping leaves with the shorter days. This weekend is the spread fungicide on the lawn then fertilize one more time next weekend – and lawn is done. I’m thinking rocks and naturals at the next place – do not intend to fight deer over plants…well maybe a few flowers in pots….so hard to break habits HaHa
    Have a great weekend!

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  4. Can’t say that I really notice any cars left with the engine running. However, I do read or hear on the news all the time about a parent running a “quick” errand in a store, leaving the kids in the car with the door unlocked and engine running (maybe to keep the a/c or heat on as the case may be) and returning to find the car and kids MIA. Geez, I don’t even think about leaving a cat in the car by itself either with the engine turned off or on… and especially unlocked. I don’t get it. Good news about your brother.

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  7. That’s such good news about your brother, Kate. i’m sorry that I somehow missed that he was still in rehab! But after all that he and your SIL have been through, I’m sure you are all incredibly grateful!

    I took all my berry-type bushes out when I started having grandchildren just because I couldn’t always guarantee “hand to mouth” calamity. I now miss them. I do watch the birds eat guavas on the neighbors bushes that overhang our driveway, and that’s delightful!

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    • You didn’t miss it. I have too brothers and this is the “other” one. The one that was in the accident is marvelous! I never thought about childproofing a yard but people often take dangerous plants out for pets.

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  8. Glad to hear about your recovering relative. I love irises but know they are not without some maintenance. I need to divide my own 40 acres of them. I through a dozen or so in a bucket last year. They’re still waiting to go from bucket to permanent location. Egad I’m a horrible gardener! 😈

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    • These poor babies have been in the same spot for 16 years. The soil is clay so any attempt on my part to divide required a backhoe. Yet they did so well. I have nestled them in the part of the garden that I don’t use until spring. Then I will transfer to permanent spots. We are getting a big tree cut down and there will be a sunny area on the other side of the house. I’ve done what you did a couple times with other plants trying to keep them happy in a temporary container. Every time I walk out of the house they’d say “Did you forget me?”

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  11. Hi Kate. I wonder about those cars left running. I’ve never done it, but if I did, no one could get into my car without the key. I have one of those remote things. I keep the remote in my purse or pocket. The car will automatically unlock when I walk up with that remote. So, I wonder if that’s what some people are doing. I’m not sure, but it might not be able to drive without the remote key as well. I know the car won’t start unless I have it with me. Just wondering if that’s the case with a running car.

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  13. Different tasks for different ages. I remember (not fondly) the huge scruffy yard I was in charge of mowing when I was a kid. I drastically downsized my gardening duties fifteen years ago when I moved into this house. We have lovely grounds, but someone else takes care of it and I enjoy it, as I also enjoy the flowers I see on my walks. Sorry to see your lovely yellow irises go, but … What’s that bible verse? To everything there’s a season.
    Good habits make everything easier, habits like always turning your car off and taking the key when you get out.

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    • I’ve lived here 16 years and I can’t believe all the perennials beds I had then. Slowly I got rid of them one by one. I try to focus on planting flowers around the pond (which isn’t big) and leave it at that along with a few pots.

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  14. Good news about your oldest brother Kate … your family needs some good health news. I put in river rock all around the house and even put landscape liner in underneath and still get weeds, mostly the maple and elm seeds that sprout and create a lot of weeds. At least with mulch, I often just turn it over in the Spring when the elm seeds are wild. I was not as diligent as I should have been weeding this Summer and I even got the Dawn soap to make the “recipe” for safe pesticide … just never implemented it with everything going on here at the house … next year for sure, as I understand it works great.

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    • With the intense heat this summer, gardening wasn’t fun for me at all. Truly a chore. We have mostly pachysandra as our ground cover but are using the stones along the driveway as it’s too hot and sunny for pachy. It will be a stark look but it is what it is.

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      • Yes, there comes a time for abandoning hours and hours in the hot sun tending to the garden, especially if we’ll keep getting these hot and humid stretches. This Summer was not what I dreamed about on those cold Winter days. The rep from the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” was on the news today giving her Fall prediction. She honed right in on November saying it would be quite rainy and snow by the end of the month – made me feel bad to have bad-mouthed Summer.

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  16. great news about your brother, hope his recovering continues and he does great at home!

    I don’t get the car running thing, unless you grew up where I did (Sask) where actual temps can be -40F …. if you don’t leave it running you’d better plug in the electrical engine block warmer.

    Never was a Starbucks fan but I’ve discovered their cold brew and I must say … yummy!

    Here’s to no weeds, ever!

    -MJ

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  17. Oh My about leaving the car run! I mean really, what’s the point, and yes, one is just asking for the car to be stolen doing that. There is no end to the stupid people in this world, is there!
    Awesome news about your brother coming home! Hope he continues to do well!

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  18. Completely different experience with keys and cars … just yesterday I was searching high and low for the car fob. For the life of me I couldn’t think of where I might I have left it after I last used the car on Wednesday night.

    I found it. In the car.

    I didn’t tell my husband. Some things are better like that.

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  19. When Bill and I were very young we made a happy spur of the moment decision to go away for a weekend. No preplanning – just go! But we ran inside to get jackets first and left the car running with the keys inside. Live and learn. The car was gone in less than 5 minutes…stolen.
    Glad your brother is doing so well…what a long time to be in the hospital and rehab.

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  20. That is good news, about your brother. Weeds are a staple here, I think some idiot put them on the endangered list. I’m not good at gardening. I tried to help Michelle a couple years ago, with weeding out her square garden. Who’d a thought, that baby strawberry plants didn’t resemble weeds. I don’t get asked to help weed anymore.

    Speaking of weeds, our eagle-eyed drug interdiction helicopter, ordered a raid on a man’s tomato garden a few weeks ago. Apparently, we pay them well, but they really need a cheat sheet for identification of the main thing they are looking for.

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  23. I’m glad to hear about your brother’s recovery! As for people leaving their cars running while unoccupied – you get a ticket for that in Denver. We have enough trouble keeping the air clean that we don’t need that! It is somewhat effective, but people still want to warm up theirs cars in the morning during harsh winter weather. Many of those are either ticketed or their cars is stolen. So we have less of a problem here….

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  25. You live in a nice neighborhood if people are leaving a car empty with the engine running. Not so much in my section of the world. But they also specifically designate a kid to stay in the car, so they can leave it running. Several times this year I have heard the arguments in the parking lot about who would stay in the car and who would go in.

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    • Hardly. I’m just north of Philadelphia. I was in back of a luxury car in the Starbucks drive-through and the car turned off every time they moved up and stopped. Then started itself. I thought it was odd but found out that’s how the car works. I have no idea why people keep it running.

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  28. We came upon a situation at Panera a few months back ~ a mother had left her 3-4 year old in the car with the car running and the A/C on. She locked the car and went inside to pick up an order. When she returned to the car, her keyless entry wouldn’t work. And her daughter was too engrossed in a video game to see that mom was asking her to unlock the door. We suggested she call the police, or the car dealer, or both. #hadabadday

    Yay for your brother’s recovery ~ 91 and counting. #goodgenes

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  29. Great news about your brother! I’ve significantly reduced the size of the areas outside that need “trimming/picking/weeding/planting” every year. I’ve turned into a confirmed “if it fits in a pot on the front porch or back deck I’ll have it” kind of gardening. Can’t handle acres of stuff to maintain anymore. YES people are crazy – very – I didn’t seem to notice them as much when I was younger though!

    Hugs, Pam

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  30. Great to read about good health news. Hope your brother continues to improve. Your lilies are beautiful. Most interesting to find out that certain colors aren’t tasty to the deer. Those animals are as fussy as they are annoying.

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  31. Your day lilies are beautiful, Kate. Sorry you have to let them go, but you are right about the upkeep being easier. Mine are at a point where I wonder if they will survive. It’s hard to grow much in this Florida sand. We’ve decided to let our back yard go natural. All the pine trees make it hard for grass to grow. There is this one swash of grass (weeds) that haven’t given up yet though…~Elle

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