For Barb (Bumped)

She's counting down...

Days Till I'm Done With The Little Bas***dsCountdown

Stress Relief

Much needed after this week!

I hear they're petitioning for a screened-in porch!

Many, many thanks to @amyalkon

Friday Garden

...late winter edition.

It's supposed to freeze again tonight.  But, no precipitation like we had Tuesday night.  Ran errands this AM, including getting dirt for the garden.  It was nice enough that I went ahead and got the beds as ready as I could:

I have the kitchen garden dug up.  I want to put cedar boards around it to raise it a bit, and improve the soil.  Which has a fair amount of clay in it. This will have Rosemary, Oregano, Sage, and maybe a tomato.

I have the front tall bed cleared, and two tomato cages ready to go.  I'll put a couple of melons on the left side, and *maybe* a couple of peppers down the middle.  Two bags of top soil for the kitchen bed.

 I adde a couple bags of soil to the back bed, and moved the Quince tree to the far corner.  There's a blueberry stick in the front right corner, and a tomato cage in the back.  More peppers, or maybe a melon here. too.

Got the rose bush pruned back last week, and it's starting to bud out a bit.  Got the debris out of there, so that part of the garden is more accessible right now.

 

The low bed is half full of garlic.  These are left over from last year that over-wintered in the ground and have sprouted around the garden.  I collected them and stuck them in the dirt last week, too.  Topped this bed off with some fresh soil, and re-planted them individually, except for the little one that are bunched together in the background.  I plan on onions in the back half of this bed.

No sign of Tiger Lillys or Kings Candles yet.  I have some Gladiolus bulbs that I'll plant as well, maybe this weekend.

Actor's Rule: Never Work With...

...with kids and dogs!!

No matter what is going on in your life, this will make you smile & laugh! Bookmark it for emergency happiness! http://t.co/kiqtHcW1iE
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) January 26, 2014

One Man's Take...

...on the Catholic Mass



WARNING: Unclean language in spots!

Thanks to The Anchoress!

We Can Repair Him...

...we have the technology!

Had my consult with the neurosurgeon yesterday.  He did a bit of poking and pushing on his own, and confirmed what I was pretty sure of - surgery is indicated.  Both L1 - L2 and L4 - L5 are pretty well munged, and L2  -L3 is also degraded.  (My numbering may be off a bit - it's the whole lumbar part of the spine.)  I could get away with letting the L2 -L3 go, but on the other hand, we both agreed that going back in later was something neither of us wanted.  So the entire lumbar section of my spine will be "decompressed".  Basically, that means re-opening the foramen (the hole) that the nerves pass thru, to alleviate the pressure, and thus the pain and weakness.  (I did a quick look on spine-health.com. which goes into some detail and apparently has videos.  I only take umbrage at the comment "A condition that primarily afflicts elderly patients, spinal stenosis is caused by degenerative changes that result in enlargement of the facet joints."  Elderly my tuchus!)

He expects the procedure to last about 2 1/2 hours.  He's not sure if there's any interesting disk degeneration, but will tend to that if need be.  He doesn't want to do a fusion at this point.  Based on my recovery, I'll be in the hospital one to five days.  My personal goal is one day only.

I go in on the 16th of this month.

Prayer in any denomination is appreciated.

Cebolla Verde

...from Unorganized Hancock


My second favorite jazz number after "Take Five"

Via Sippican Cottage