GADS

Today's progress isn't much to brag about.  I'm not sure where the morning went, I guess I spent it wandering around dealing with one thing and another.  I'm not sure if it's my age or my personality or what, but it seems I set off on a task only to see something else that needs doing and then setting off on that task only to be sidetracked once more.

Case in point: I went out to open up the greenhouse this morning.  On my way to open the door, I saw a piece of cardboard lying in the yard and then I remembered that today was garbage day.  So I headed for the garage and got out the trash cans to take to the road.  On my way out of the garage, I tripped over the Screech's cat dish which roused him from his morning nap.  So I set the trash down to feed him.  When I set the cat food container down, I noticed the chicken feed sitting in the corner and remembered the chickens needed to be let out for the day.  I headed for the chicken coop, let the girls out and then saw they could use their feed topped off a bit, too, along with their need for fresh water.  On my way back to the garage to get the chicken feed, I realized I had left the garbage cans sitting next to the cat food dish, so I hauled them out to the end of the driveway.

On my way back up the driveway, I noticed the greenhouse was still shut tight, so I opened it up and checked the last ten flats I planted on Saturday to see if any new germination occurred.  I was able to take the plastic dome off of one flat that was nearly 100% germinated.  The other nine have a way to go yet.  The water circulating in the heat beds needed topping up, but I have to get that water from a soft water faucet in the house, so I carried a 5 gallon pail to the back porch.  That was when I remembered the chickens needed fresh water, so I went and refilled their water, but forgot their feeder.  I saw the 5 gallon pail on the porch, so I went in to fill it and while it was filling in the bathtub, I let Teddy and Pudding out for their morning potty breaks.  By the time I got the dogs back in the house, the 5 gallon pail was almost running over.  I took the water to the greenhouse and filled the bucket.  Then I was sidetracked by two guys who stopped in front of the house and put another newspaper 'tube' thing up for delivery. (By the way, I did remember to add feed to the chicken's feeder just before dark tonight.   They weren't out of feed, so don't worry, I'm not starving them.)   

See, it goes on and on like this every day.  I'll set out to weed one part of the garden, notice on the way something needs watering or feeding or letting out or hauling away or filling up or dumping out or scrubbing down and before I know it, I've frittered away several hours with nothing substantial to show for it.  I guess I have to face it.  I have GADS: Gardeners Attention Deficit Syndrome. I hope there is a support group out there,  I need one.

The afternoon wasn't much different from the morning.  Dale was here doing some lathe work on his feed mixer parts.  He left around 2PM.  This afternoon Joel had another dentist appointment.  He's been having trouble with his new fillings bothering him; hopefully this time they've got it fixed.  Richard and Emily stopped in  around 2:15PM to drop off the maps they borrowed from Joel and we had a nice visit.  Carl came home and they left (he always thinks he drives people away, but it's just a coincidence, lol).  I walked up to Mom's to get the 574 and Carl and Joel went up with the car to pick up the H and the 184 and brought the old Dixon lawnmower home on the trailer. We pulled the grill out for supper tonight which was good.  Ann came over to plan a trip she is taking to Iowa and Dale stopped in time for dessert.  Ann helped me with the dishes and I went out to clean out my car for tomorrow's adventure (stay tuned) and Carl went back to working on the lawnmower til around 9:30PM.  It's still not fixed; I need to buy parts tomorrow, but it's getting closer.  We took the tractors home at 10PM and finally called it quits.

We bought this lawnmower back in 1995, and it was a good one.  It looks pitiful in this picture because it has been sitting in the machine shed for the last four years.  This is a ZTR (zero turning radius) mower, operating on a clutch and chain system.  It is only a 33 inch cut with a 13 hp motor, so it was a bit small for our two acre yard.  We bought it because back in the day we needed to maneuver between all the little tree seedlings.  In 2000, we bought a much bigger 20 hp Dixon hydrostatic drive lawn mower which is a Cadillac to handle despite the 45" cut width.

We took the little lawnmower in for servicing in 2006, and they replaced all the worn out parts on the transmission.  Mom had the idea she could mow her lawn with this mower, so she paid over $800 to have it overhauled.  When we got it home from the shop, for some reason, the steering wasn't adjusted correctly but before we could load it up on the trailer to take it back in to the shop,  the starter went out on it.  Carl was always going to fix the starter, but never got around to it, so it sat until today, when GADS Woman, (me) decided someone else should be dysfunctional and drop everything else they are doing to work on Something Completely Different.  Carl wasn't too keen on this change of plans, but he gave in anyway.  The gardens will be there tomorrow night, right?

While Carl was working on fixing the little lawnmower, Joel was changing oil in the big one.  I grabbed Joel's camera and took some more pictures of the yard. 

This is another example of my disorder--the three red tulips on the north side of the quarry appeared from nowhere, but I haven't gotten around to transplanting them or adding more to their numbers.  Still, I kind of like them here, even if they don't quite fit in.

This is a closeup of Malus 'Louisa' a dwarf, weeping flowering crab in bud.

This last picture is one of David's; it is an extreme closeup of a rose leaf covered in early morning dew and it is one of my favorites.

More tomorrow, Karen, the GADS Woman