April 2013 Review

Ralph's not the only gardener in the family (although he's by far the main one).  Several months ago I planted young blanket flowers (gaillardia), which are now all grown up and blooming next to our house.  

Thanks to the successful stent implantation in February, Ralph is now bursting with more energy than he's had in years.  He chose to spend much of that energy this month in the garden, which reminds me of how he used to be 40-some years ago when he planted and lovingly tended expansive fields of vegetables on Cape Cod.

Ralph, circa 1970s.  He uses the same pitchfork now when gardening except these days he wears a lot less clothing!

Me during the 1970s spreading seaweed mulch on one of our gardens except now I often wear a lot more clothes as protection from fire ants and other pesky insects. 

These days, in addition to planting, weeding, thinning out and picking vegetables in his existing container garden by the house, Ralph also spent time setting up a new container garden up the hill beneath a broad oak canopy.  His hope is that by using a shaded location it will be cool enough in the summer to enable cold-weather crops like broccoli and peas to continue producing despite heat elsewhere.  We'll know better in a few months how the concept works in action.

Ralph used bamboo poles (of course!) to train the pea vines to climb up the fence in his new shaded container garden

Next to the new shaded container garden, Ralph also set up two in-ground beds for oyster and king stropharia mushroom cultivation.  He also inoculated a couple dozen oak logs with 1000 shiitake mushroom plugs and he's attempting to grow more oyster mushrooms inside using kits purchased through Fungi Perfecti.  So far the indoor mushroom garden hasn't worked very well but he's still hopeful for the outdoor beds and plugs.

A couple of the tools Ralph used to inoculate oak logs with shiitake plugs.  The crockpot was used to melt wax to seal the plugged holes after they were drilled. 

In the middle of a line of oak logs inoculated with mushroom plugs is one older log sprouting a shiitake mushroom 

Once they start to develop, shiitakes grow quickly.  Ralph harvested this mushroom less than a week after it appeared

While Ralph poured most of his attention this month into growing food crops, I enjoyed watching the annual explosion of running bamboo shoots.

So many new shoots...And how quickly they grow!

My main obsession in April, however, was watching, photographing and documenting the progress of a family of sandhill cranes nesting on the lake.  I discovered the sandhill cranes' nest back in March and marked the gestation days (30 - 32) on the calendar.  On April 12, the first egg hatched and for the next 8 days, I photographed the baby bird on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, only one of the two eggs hatched.  The cranes abandoned the second egg a couple days after the first baby arrived.

The tiny yellow ball of fluff on the left is the day-old crane already exploring it island home while mama sits on the remaining egg.  A few days later, the parents abandoned the second egg.

All went well during that first week but on Day-9, the entire family of cranes disappeared. To say I was upset would be an understatement.  The same day they vanished, I saw my first alligator of the season so of course, I imagined all sorts of horrid possibilities. Luckily, none of them happened.

Springtime (mating season) is when we usually spot alligators in the lake

For whatever reason, the cranes left our property by foot (baby cranes can't fly until they are 70 days old) and wandered onto an expansive stretch of uninhabited acreage and canals that abuts our land.  Although disappointed the cranes no longer lived where I could see them everyday, I was relieved to know the entire family was okay.  In case you hadn't noticed, I get kind of attached to "my" wildlife.

Thanks to the cranes, I started rowing again so I could see them up close and take pictures.  In April, I don't think I missed more than one or two days of being out on the water stroking my way from one end of the lake to the other.  In addition to seeing the sandhill cranes, I saw all sorts of other wildlife from my seat in my 49-year-old aluminum rowboat (a birthday gift from my parents when I was 13).

Below are a few pictures from my rows:

Pretty dragonfly on a reed

Great egret scratching an itch

Osprey in pine

Great-crested flycatcher on bamboo

I'm not sure if this wading bird is a sandpiper or a plover 

Red-bellied woodpecker on dead pine tree

Screech owl in its cozy snag home

Ibis fishing in still water

When Ralph and I weren't busy with our gardening or wildlife-watching projects, we were often out picking berries.  Blueberries ripened this month and, although we don't have any plants growing here on our property, there's a great U-pick farm only 5 miles away.

Enjoying U-pick with Trillian at Lake Catherine Blueberries in Groveland

Other April activities included taking care of our rental properties.  I found new tenants for one of our rented units and we entertained offers from buyers interested in purchasing the condo that Toby has lived in during his undergraduate time at UCF.

Toby graduates this year and will soon be moving to Gainesville to attend graduate school at UF.  The math department made him a very nice offer that includes TA responsibilities in addition to his studies for his masters and PhD work.

Toby and Sabrina both graduate from UCF and head off to further studies.  Sabrina will begin her medical training at UCF med school while Toby will work toward his masters and doctorate degree in mathematics at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Considering Toby's applications to grad schools, I found the first book I read this month, Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz, to be quite timely. I enjoyed Admission so much I encouraged Ralph to read it too.  He did and then we both saw the movie, which was the first time in years we've gone to the movies!  I didn't even mind (well, not too much) that the screenwriter took generous liberties with the storyline.

Two of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Berg and Susan Wittig Albert, had new releases this month, which I hungrily devoured.

Elizabeth Berg's novel is Tapestry of Fortune and Widow's Tears is the latest in Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayle series.  Both were both wonderful reads that i highly recommend.

The fourth book I read in April was a debut novel by Jennifer Close called The Sweet One.  I'm always so grateful when I have good books to read and I felt like I hit the jackpot this month.

One other accomplishment in April was setting up a Facebook page to document my many wildlife encounters. The page has the same name as my second book, Simply Wild - Untamed Wonders Large and Small.  I hope you'll come check it out and join me on Facebook by clicking on the page's "Like" button.

March 2013 Review

A male cardinal perches on a slender cane of Yin-Yang bamboo.  We enjoyed seeing many different birds in March as well as watching the bamboos and other plants respond to the warming temperatures.

March was a month of recovery.

The loquat and mulberry trees recovered from frost damage to produce small but tasty crops but as much as we appreciated both fruits, they were not nearly as significant or important as the recovery of Ralph's health.  Week-by-week his energy increased and his blood pressure improved.

By the time the month ended, Ralph was regularly getting systolic readings in low 120's and high teens.  In the 42 years we've been together, his blood pressure has never been so consistently low.  I guess the angiogram and renal artery stent did what they were supposed to do and solved the problem.  It's been an amazing recovery!

As the weeks went by, Ralph began working outside again, doing gardening and yard work.  One day late in the month when no one else was available to help, he even tackled a renovation project in one of our rentals where a weak spot in the floor needed to be repaired.

On March 10th, Ralph attended a day-long mushroom-growing workshop at Econ Farm in Orlando.  We almost always do such outings together but  since growing fungi is more Ralph's bailiwick than mine he offered to go by himself, which afforded me a rare opportunity to spend an entire day alone at home.

Ja Schindler (Fungi for the People) demonstrates mushroom propagation techniques

Ralph returned that evening full of information, excitement and plans to inoculate a bunch of oak logs with mushroom spores.  I responded by showing him my to-do list for that day with all sorts of domestic chores and activities checked off.  I weeded, exercised, cleaned, baked pies, read and relaxed.  We both got we wanted.

My "to-do" list from my day alone at home

Since Ralph was feeling so much better, I decided we should take a two-hour drive on the 14th to see Bill Staines perform at an evening house concert in west Tampa.

Bill Staines at a west Tampa house concert 

It wouldn't be too much of an overstatement to call us Bill Staines groupies.  We've been fans of Bill's music since way back in our Cape Cod days, circa 1970's, a few years after he broke into the folk music scene.

We first heard Bill perform at the aptly named First Encounter Coffeehouse in Eastham where we'd go to listen to folk music and help out when needed during intermission and with ticket sales.  Back then, Bill came to First Encounter twice a year and we never missed a gig.  One night after a concert, he needed a place to stay so we invited him to our house.  Shortly after, we visited with him at his parent's home north of Boston.  Many years and many concerts later, Jenny and Brett hired Bill to play at their wedding.  Like Jenny, Brett also grew up listening to and loving Bill's songs.

Below is a video of Bill doing his song "River" in 2007 at the Town Crier Cafe in Pawling, NY.

Even though we have seen him perform more times than I can count, I couldn't pass up another chance to listen to his wonderful music in person, especially in such an intimate setting as a house concert.  The concert was well worth the long, nighttime drive.  Before it began there was plenty of time to chat, catch up and bemoan how quickly time has gone by.  Bill has a new album out, Beneath Some Lucky Star.  It's his first release in 5 years.  We bought an autographed CD to send to Jenny and Brett.

Our favorite song on the album is Along the Road, which speaks of Bill's long term relationship with his old guitar.

Another March highlight revolved around the antics of a pair of tall, red-crowned birds. Two sandhill cranes wandered into our yard shortly after I put out a low-to-the-ground feeding station made out of a repurposed fire pit.  Although songbirds were the intended recipients for the mixed seeds and corn kernels, the crane pair wasted no time adopting it as their own personal feeding station. It was incredible how quickly they emptied the feeder and how soon they learned to strut over to the kitchen window where they could see me to beg for more.

I only kept the feeder filled for a couple days after the cranes discovered it because their voracious appetite and bold behavior signaled potential problems.  Sandhill cranes that get used to being fed can become very demanding and destructive.  They've been known to peck holes in window screens and even break windowpanes.  Even though I enjoyed watching the cranes at such close range, after a couple days I heeded Ralph's advice and stopped filling the feeder with seeds.

Shortly after, I realized the birds had built a nest on tiny island in the north end of the lake (maybe that's why they were eating so much...).  The nest contains two eggs, which will hopefully hatch in early April.  I was so excited by these most recent sandhill crane encounters that I wrote two columns about them this month.  You can read them in my SIMPLY LIVING blog.

If you look closely you can see the two eggs.  Cranes don't sit on their eggs, they keep them warm by tucking the eggs beneath their wing feathers

Ralph's increased energy in March meant he spent more time outside gardening.  He planted seeds, weeded out existing container plants and  with Jennifer Baehne's help, set up a new raised container garden in a shady area where he hopes to continue growing broccoli plants through the hot summer months.

I've really liked seeing Ralph spend so much time gardening.  I haven't seen this much passion for plants since we lived on Cape Cod where his gardens were always expansive and extremely productive.

I have to admit to spending more time this month with books in hand rather than a garden trowel.  I read six novels in March starting with an interesting book by Sanjay Gupta, MD called Monday Mornings.  After that I read The Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand, Body Surfing by Anita Shreve and Ocean Beach by Wendy Wax.  Jane Green's novel Family Pictures and Holly Kennedy's The Penny Tree rounded out my March booklist.

In between all his gardening, Ralph managed to fit in a couple books too.  He read Penn Jillette's Everyday is an Atheist's Holiday as well as Willy Nelson's musings from the road entitled, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.  He enjoyed Jillette's book but didn't find much entertainment value or edification from Nelson's odd assembly of remembrances and musings.

And lastly, a photo that shows the sandhill crane sitting on her nest of sticks and reeds as seen through a curtain of vivax bamboo.  If March was a month of recovery, perhaps April will be a month of promises hatched...

 

February 2013 Review

Last month Ralph underwent a series of medical tests that determined his need for a kidney artery angiogram.  This month, our focus was on setting a date to get the procedure done.  That date turned out to be February 19th, two days before Toby's 21st birthday.

Toby turned 21 this month...

Needless to say, Ralph was anxious.  Not knowing what to expect, we packed the car with enough food and supplies to hold us over if we had to stay overnight.  We left the house around 4:30 in the morning in order to arrive at the hospital by 5:30 for what the doctor told us would be about 2 hours of prep time before his 7:30 a.m. appointment with Dr. Dalton, the interventional cardiologist who specializes in renal artery angiograms and stenting.

Prior to the angiogram, Ralph was examined by Jamie, a P.A. at the cardiologist's office

The night before our appointment and after consulting several youtube video, we decided to "shave" off some prep time by doing a bit of the work ourselves. Ralph took out the razor and together we removed a large swath of hair surrounding Ralph's groin area.  We thought our efforts at undergrowth removal were quite liberal, even a little excessive (I got kind of carried away...).  The next day, however, we realized the true meaning of the word excessive, at least from a hospital pre-op prepping perspective.

By the time the attending nurse switched off the electric razor, my husband was sheared from his knees to belly button except for a small "landing strip."  Our night-before efforts may have been far short of what the hospital considered necessary but at least we had fun doing it and fun was certainly something we needed on the eve of Ralph's first major hospital visit.

As it turned out, the operation itself was (as Dan Speelman so accurately predicted) "a piece of cake."  Ralph accepted Valium and Benedryl pills but refused all other anesthesia except for a local where they inserted the catheter.  Although he was awake and aware throughout, he wasn't able to see much of anything that was going on.  What was going on was the insertion of a stent because, as the doctor so excitedly reported afterwards, "I've never seen such a severely blocked artery before."  Of course, his comment prompted us both to wonder with belated trepidation just how many arteries he's examined...

For Ralph, the worst part of the whole experience was lying on his back and having to stay still for 6 hours afterwards.

A nurse checks Ralph after the procedure

He had to spend several hours lying still but after a while, they let him sit up so he could have something to eat and pass the time reading

Ralph say, "I can even smile!  The procedure wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

We returned home the same day - no overnight stay needed, YAY! - and it became my job to make sure that Ralph stayed inactive for the next two days.  No lifting anything.  No jumping on the trampoline or going for long walks or doing pretty much of anything but resting and recuperating (darn, we'd have to lie in bed watching recorded tv shows...what a pity.)

He behaved himself.  On Day 3, the Take-It-Easy police (me) gave the go-ahead to resume his normal schedule.  However, it soon became apparent that even a minor operation takes a toll on a body and getting back to normal doesn't happen overnight.  

By the time Jenny, Brett, Maya and Ella arrived on February 24th, Ralph was feeling much better.  His BP was still fluctuating but most of the time it was in the 120 to mid-140s range, far better than it had been before.

Our visit with the MA contingent of our family went very well.  Amber, Atom and Trillian joined us on several occasions but Scott was busy with work and couldn't come.  Timmy and Malory came by often and Toby spent the night and one day with everyone.  Unfortunately, Sabrina had to stay home to study for an important test so we didn't get to see her.  I had hoped we'd be able to have one day when we were all together in one place at the same time but that just wasn't possible this time.

The only pictures we got of all four cousins together were taken in the bath

and on the trampoline

One of the highlights of their visit was watching the four cousins interact with each other. Atom was gentle with the girls and even had sweet moments of affection when he voluntarily gave hugs to Ella and Maya.  Trillian, Ella and Maya played alongside each other and shared toys pretty effortlessly.

At the beach by the lake, Trillian, who visits often, was quite at home playing in the sand and water.  Maya, on the other hand, was initially reticent about the sand.  As soon as she got some on her hands, she wanted it off, which is not an easy thing to do when you are playing on a beach. Ella didn't share her sister's concern and had fun digging with a plastic shovel and even learned how to say the word "dig."

Playing on the beach was fun even if it did mean Maya's hands got sand on them

Although Ella and Maya have a large sign language vocabulary, they don't say many words.  During their visit, however, Ella repeatedly said "Papa," which is what all of our grandchildren call Ralph.  Needless to say, her sweet repetition of that moniker was music to his ears.

The one time Jenny and Brett went out and left us to babysit, Ella and Maya woke up from their nap upset because Mama wasn't there so we sat on the steps to watch as Mama and Dada drove back to the house.

After Jenny and Brett arrived, tears disappeared and Maya eagerly helped Dada bring in the groceries

I took Jenny, Brett, Maya and Ella to the airport on the morning of March 1st.  Hopefully, our next visit with them will be in Northampton sometime in late April or May.  If we time it right, in addition to seeing everyone, we might also be able to enjoy a spring offering of daffodils, hyacinths and lilacs blossoms.

No hyacinths, daffodils or lilacs here but we do have lots of fruit, flowers and vegetables including this nice hand of bananas

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week:

Beautiful Trillian looking out the window to watch as her brother makes orange juice with Timmy and Malory

The kids had fun in the push car although I'm not sure how much fun it was for the grown ups to push them back and forth on the sidewalk 

Atom, however, is old enough to operate the car without  assistance

Playing on the trampoline was a major part of the visit

as was eating food!

and picking (and of course, munching on) strawberries at a nearby U-pick farm

Books I read this month included three novels by Wendy Wax, The Accidental Bestseller, 10 Beach Road, and Magnolia Wednesdays.  I also read Sue Grafton's latest offering, Kinsey & Me Stories, a collection of short stories many with an autobiographical bent.

The newest title by Erica Bauermeister was probably my favorite read of the month.  The Lost Art of Mixing follows up on characters in Bauermeister's previous book School of Essential Ingredients.

Two other books rounded out my February booklist.  At the beginning of the month I read The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern and just before the end of the month I finished Beth Harbison's Thin, Rich, Pretty.

Ralph did some reading in February too.  He really enjoyed Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma as well as Ray Kurzweil's latest book (Ralph's a BIG fan of Kurzweil's philosophy) How To Create A Mind.  He also ready MANY (too many from my perspective) books and online articles on hypertension and diet that all gave "absolutely certain" conflicting advice, so we won't mention those.

Click here to read my SIMPLY LIVING columns for February.