12 Oakdale

We Have Squash   We have squash. Only 2 little yellow crook necks, but it is a start. The okra is still bearing, our first eggplant is ready to pick, and the southern peas are thriving. Bush beans have baby beans, pole beans have sprouted, English and sugar snap peas are starting to climb their trellises. Only the pumpkins are not setting. I may have to learn about female and male flowers so I can hand-pollinate them if the bugs don’t do the job. Clara is planning a pumpkin patch where people can come and take pictures.  First Eggplant   Two Bales Almost Ready to Plant  We are also trying gardening on straw bales, with 4 bales for our first go round. They have to be conditioned for a couple of weeks with daily watering and some applications of high nitrogen (N), fertilizer to get their composting started before we plant in them. I used Miloganite, (its NPK ratio is 40, 0, 0) when I repotted my ferns. (Ferns don’t flower or have much root systems, so they only need th...

Referral  After five months of no physical contact with anyone but Grant, I went to the dentist and had my teeth X-rayed, examined, and cleaned. Three sets of hands in my mouth, fortunately not all at the same time, but a lot of contact. Everyone wore gloves and masks. The hygienist also had a plastic shield. There was an air filter running in the exam room. Now all I can do is cross my fingers that we did enough to keep germs at bay. The bad news: the reason my tooth with the hellaciously expensive gold crown has stopped hurting is because the nerve has died. Now I need a root canal, in the best scenario, or an implant if everything does not work out. I'm ruing my decision to forgo dental insurance.  It also means I will have at least twp more dental appointments, this time at a specialist's office, because my new dentist says mine would be a tricky procedure. Sigh. And I still can't hug my children or go see my grandchildren. This pandemic is getting old.