respublica

In Need of help on computer issue

When we returned from a weekend down on the Huzzah, my laptop would not start up. It had been turned off before we left, but when back home nothing happened. I was in a panic but too tired to try and figure out what the issue was. Yesterday I tried unplugging, that did nothing. I honestly did not know if the battery was dead or even how I'd deal with that.

This morning I went to Google and asked the question, "Why is my laptop not turning on"? Many answers, most with battery issues. I was ready to take the laptop to a computer store of some such to see if the battery needed changing or was it something else. Finally I sat down, picked up the laptop and turned it upside down, sideways, etc.Dusted it off and set it down. For some reason it powered up. 

It's a mystery which will probably return until I get professional help and I cannot do without this laptop. I need it to do a lot of things Dale needs done professionally as well as my own things. It's a scary thing when something I depend on day by day goes blank,.

Updates and more updates

Speaking as someone who has owned an iPhone and iPad for years, I am thoroughly miffed at the constant demands for updating apps and even the entire device. What this too often does is make a mess of things. Update and then fill in the user name and password. again and again for each thing. I'm not one who uses the same password for each program or app which means having to find my list of these things and hope I haven't changed anything and forgot to write it down.

Yesterday a game I've played for two years which helps me settle my brain down or relax when I've been doing too much physical work on the house or in the yard, now demands I update to the newest version-16 something. My iPad can't do this until I update it to 16. My iPad is too old and can't do it. So what this means is, forget this Word Search game or buy a new iPad. We recently got new iPhones so I am not in the mood or position to buy a new iPad. I just hate all this.

But Apple isn't the only tech device which wants updating. My laptop is the same way and all of this is getting on my nerves. This seems so wrong in many ways by these tech companies.

This struck me funny today

What the grocery store shopping cart says about you

I rather liked this no hold bars description of what grocery shoppers do or don't do with their carts. As someone who goes to Schnucks almost every day for one reason or other, I've seen a lot of lazy people leaving their carts in any old spot or putting a large cart in the small cart corral or vice versa. This kind of drives me nuts. How hard is it to do it the right way? This description is titled, "The Shopping Cart Theory" or, "The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing."

Click to enlarge

Yes We Have No Raccoons Today

Our raccoon guy came yesterday and took away two of these animals who got themselves into the cage traps and he replaced the cages with two more. This morning we had none! No raccoons or even a ground hog. Oh happy day.

However, Dale did mention that the past several years the raccoons were more likely to have shown up in July. I just hope not.

Raccoon update

Yesterday our longtime animal remover, John, came and put a few cages around the house and our neighbor's house. And just like that this morning we found raccoons in two of them. The worst one was the raccoon who had been taking up residence in the ceiling of the garage. Not a ceiling, really just an area in the beams which had sheets of ply wood up there.

That garage raccoon went into the cage which was placed right inside the door and he is really really mad. He growls loudly whenever one of us goes near and raises those long arms with the long sharp finger nails. The second raccoon was in a cage up against our front porch. This one seems smaller and has not interacted like the other one.

I'm tired of this happening every single year around this time.

Well, guess who's back

Every single year around this time we get raccoons in our yard. We really believed we would be free of them this year, but no. This morning we were standing our our deck looking down at the garden when all of a sudden a big raccoon ambled down our driveway and into the garage. Once in the garage we heard him making his way into the rafters. The past few years we had a critter control guy come out and trap them. The last two years he took away 6 or 7 until we had to stop. It got too expensive. But this is really ridiculous that we get these cute, but very mean, animals every year.

The picture is not the one from today, but last year. Today's is much bigger.

A Tedious Gardening hack

Ok, gardening news advice has now shifted from how best to plant to how best to protect the vegetables and fruits which have begun to form. This is one of the more absurd things I've come across. We are advised to bag each formed vegetable or fruit with a mesh drawstring bag to keep insects and critters from getting at them. I don't know who this person is who suggested this, but he or she must have a lot of time on their hands and a lot of mesh bags. Or, really good knees to stay bent over for the time it would take to do this.

We have a strawberry patch in our yard and I cannot conceive of doing this for each berry. Or tomato or anything else.

 

One big gripe on this Spring

It has been too windy. I mean, not just light breezes but hard wind. This makes it miserable to be outside or even sitting on the porch or deck. We're getting blown to bits and it isn't doing the new plantings any good.

And worse, the wind is sending dust everywhere. The inside of our house has to be dusted and vacuumed almost every day, sometimes every couple of hours. I can't remember a year when the wind was so consistent.

Big time planting season

We are pretty much finished with our planting, but it seems as though many people around here are just getting started. I drove by Creekside Nursery in Collinsville yesterday around 12:30 and the parking lot was totally filled and cars were lined up on the road on both sides big time trying to  get in. I was glad I hadn't planned on going there.

This planting is a good thing, lots of work though.

We have just couple more things which need to go into the ground and that is today's job. I'm pleased to see the radishes are showing red, it won't be long before we can pull some of them. We have quite a few strawberries forming thankfully. You never know with them.

In any event, today's job is to go after the weeds which have the nerve to insert themselves into the good things.

Unexpected Spring Cleaning advice

CNN posted an advice story which made me groan. Seriously? The title is "Reset Your Body and Mind With 10 Spring Cleaning Tips". Spring Cleaning our bodies and minds, I mean come on.

Four of the ten have to do with movement. Exercise, movement, Exercise, movement.

Then there comes body cleansing which deals with food and drinking water. "Naturally cleanse by eating more plants." I don't know about you but when I hear eating plants I think of geraniums and potted plants. But I guess they mean broccoli, tomatoes and potatoes etc. Plus seeds, nuts and legumes, grains and fruits and vegetables. Nothing about meat but don't eat the good stuff like crackers, cookies, baked goods and fried food. I will never give up baked goods from Kruta Bakery.

After all this, drink water and more water. No alcohol.

Sounds like a boring way to live. I'll spring clean our house but not my physical self if all that is what it takes.

Low Maintenance Perennial Vegetable plants

Initially I was interested in what might be in this article. I mean who wouldn't like a vegetable plant to come back every year. However, the plants advised are things I would most likely never plant or eat. With maybe one exception.

Asparagus. We have asparagus growing in our back yard and have for some years. The problem with them is you really need  lot of them to make a decent dinner. Or a huge yard. Asparagus seems to make up its own mind as to which plant will pop up and which won't. This look cool growing but really aren't worth it unless they have of space.

Rhubarb. We don't like this fruit so forget it. And, when I was a kid our neighbor had a Rhubarb patch and every year it became overrun with snakes. So I have no desire for it.

Horseradish. We have a couple of these plants growing, the initial plant starter came from a sale booth at the Collinsville Horseradish Fest. They come up every year and are kind of fun.

Berry Bushes. We have strawberries growing and they bear well enough to freeze some for the winter meals. Takes a fair amount of room though.

Artichokes. Nah

I've found most vegetable plants are easy to grow and bear well without needing to be perennials. It takes some initial effort but worth it. We so far have potatoes, tomatoes (not in the ground yet, too cold), onions, cantaloupe, lettuce, brussels sprouts, broccoli, parsley, basil, oregano. We have to be careful not to overdo each item in our small yard, but most bear really well and we have plenty. My favorite is the cantaloupe, they are so so good.

Asiatic Lilies

The past couple of months we've become big fans of Asiatic Lilies or Oriental Lilies. A couple of weeks ago Dale brought home a bouquet of them and they were amazing, like no flowers we've ever had. Not only did the blooms get huge but they lasted for a couple of weeks in the vase. The fragrance is just wonderful as the flowers poof it out several times a day and they come in many colors. We've replaced the bouquets with others we have found at our local Schnucks, often picking different colors. These are the flower of the year for us.

So imagine how exciting it was for me to find these Lily bulbs for planting at Joe's Market Basket in Edwardsville yesterday. We are planting them in our back yard today.

Two days in April

The past two days have been just nutty. This was mostly due to the weather. The prediction for Monday night was for a hard frost and the predictors were right. We spent a good part of Monday afternoon covering everything we'd planted and this was not physically easy. But thankfully the towels, sheets and other coverings saved our frail vegetables and flowers. Come on April get on out of here.

I did spend a bit of time at Joe's Market Basket in Edwardsville yesterday looking for a few more vegetable plants I can't find in Collinsville. Noteworthy was cantaloupes. I was thrilled to actually see them for sale because they have done wonderfully in our back yard the past two years. Even a nice variety of tomato plants. we've found tomato plants at the Collinsville Home Depot, but the tomato plants at Creekside have been very tiny, most skinny and maybe two inches tall. I noticed people still bought them, but they were too small for me to take a chance and I wanted to get going. I believe Creekside is not as interested in vegetables as other places. Either that or they waited too long to get them planted. Not a complaint, we love Creekside for flowers, they are the best.

In any event our vegetable plants are doing really well, the broccoli, Brussels sprouts and onions look tremendous as do the potatoes in big pots. The strawberries seemed to survive the cold as well. Now I hope we get a warm stretch so the tomatoes and peppers can go in. With May on the horizon hopefully warm temperatures come with it.

 

Two nights of low temperatures

Wouldn't you just figure? Here comes the end of April, many plants have been put into the ground, and then comes really cold temperatures. The past two nights we've gone out into the yard and covered up all our vegetables and flowers. The first night it wasn't as bad as predicted, but last night, whoa, we had a frosty night. It seems as though everything managed to weather this cold, but it will probably be a day or so until we know for sure.

I just hope this is the end of the cold snap.

What not to eat

This article's headline had me going to the link. "13 Foods You Should Never Eat After Their Expiration Date."

I'm pretty fussy about keeping food too long, once you've had a case of food poisoning you will be overly cautious of eating anything that stayed around too long. I know there are those who can eat left over food days after it's been served the first time. I don't care if it's been in the fridge for 5 days, I toss it. And eating anything beyond its expiration just does not happen around here. I check the date when I buy most fresh or cold food. At the date, close to the date or beyond the date, it does not get purchased or eaten at home.

Call me paranoid. Explanations as to why for each thing are at the link

Here are the 13 foods

Infant Formula,

Meat

Eggs

Soft Cheeses

Deli Meat

Fiddle Heads   No idea what these are

Strawberries

Ground Spices

Restaurant Leftovers

Raw Fish

Leafy Greens

Nuts

Cooking Oils

 

Cork puller

I like wine. I'll admit it. But I've become kind of particular about just what wine I buy, almost always red. Unlike most wine experts I do not care for Cabernet Sauvignons. These are often served at fancy dinners or ordered when out to eat at up scale restaurants. Both Dale and i have had these many times at events and both found them to make us dizzy or quickly sleepy. It's either a higher alcohol content or a rich grape.

So I've found that I do best with Pinot Noirs and prefer those which come from France or Oregon. The California Pinots always taste too woody. Also, I try to avoid corks in favor of screw tops. The screw tops keep the left over wine much fresher. But I do often find a wine I really like which comes with a cork and the cork can be the very devil to pull out.

Which brings me to a product I saw written up somewhere and bought on Amazon the same day I read about it. It's the Secura electric wine cork puller outer. It came the other day and I charged it up over night and we gave it a try last night. With one pull of a button that cork was pulled right out. All Dale did was hold it and in seconds that cork was out. We were both amazed and impressed.

Just an FYI

Saving the vegetables

Last week many of the broccoli and Brussels Sprouts plants I'd planted in our raised bed were being chewed up and eaten by squirrels. It was just so defeating. But Dale went to work and built a cover for that area made with chicken wire inside a wood frame. That has really worked and those darn squirrels can't get in. The new growth is just so satisfying.

Before the cover:

I"d been trying to use Cayenne Pepper to keep them away and it worked until it rained.

Now things look so much better.

And the potatoes we are growing in pots on the deck are doing great.

How much is a penny worth

I've learned this year that many people are fanatical coin collectors. Periodically the American Legion across the street from us will have a coin show, usually on a Sunday. I'd come home from church and the parking lot was filled with cars. It surprised me that so many are interested in trying to sell coins or looking to buy them. It seems after talking to someone who knows about this sort of thing that there can be great value in certain coins. This is fascinating and we have a lot, really really a lot of coins in jars and bags and more jars. But I honestly don't have the energy to sort through all of that looking for one possible valuable coin. I saw this picture the other day with penny values.

When people start to reaize they're old

This is amusing in a very truthful way. An online website asked Millennial readers when they first realized they were getting old. Most made me laugh, but I laughed because they were true even for me much older than Millennials. Here are a few

1. Whenever I have to enter my birth date from a drop down menu.

2. I don't feel old, but when I'm going to do something nowadays, I think about if I could get hurt."

3. Doing nothing became my favorite thing to do on the weekend.

4. When my Mom moved into my mirror

5. My 'Check Knee' light turned on

6. Getting annoyed when they rearrange the grocery store

There are more at the link, some of which apply to people much younger than me.