Nine's Bootcamp Experience (BRK)

#48

Took a mental health day to get some space. The thought of taking a day off made my brain entirely too happy to ignore.

Woke up with a bunch of energy. After Chris left for work, I started the kettle on our stove and made tea. Before I came here, this had been my pleasant morning ritual after I got off work. Come home, quietly make tea, check emails and maybe knit with a kitten on my lap until Chris woke up. Here, I've been out of bed later and later to avoid having to give up my quiet morning time. Today was a delightful resurrection of my past habit.

Except instead of needing to be quiet, I could turn up the music and get things done that I've been too exhausted to even think about. Miles and Thelonius dished the sweet tunes while I cleared and cleaned the counters, finally unpacked the bathroom, shook out all the rugs and swept underneath them, and a couple other odds and ends.

In the mid of all that, had a great chat with a long time friend I hadn't talked to in quite a while. He was driving across Texas, so we yammered on about life and such for nearly an hour. It was a good catch up.

Later I had a video call I had to jump on, so I showered, made my hair lie down, and made myself look presentable to the outside world.

Today felt successful. Hope you all are taking time to keep your whole self healthy. 💛

Jen Tuuli wrote:You're right, actually. It's purple deadnettle.

Aha! Thanks. If you find that you like it for an edible, I’d be interested to know.

Jen Tuuli wrote: Your message touched me. The little you mentioned of your place sounds wonderful. I miss having dogs and would so love to have one in my life again, but now doesn't seem to be the time. Give your pup extra kisses for me.

All of the kisses and pats for Kedz pup, plus extra -check! She thanks you. Currently cutting off the circulation in my foot and snoring- our fifty pound lap dog! Hope you have some puppy love come into your life when you need it.

Jen Tuuli wrote: Sometimes it definitely feels constricted with just two people, but after being here in a large group trying to make decisions.. maybe two people isn't as bad as it seems. Maybe ask the pup for advice from time to time. I do that occasionally with my kittehs, and sometimes it's helpful just to say things out loud to somebody else to be able to work through a thing. This forum is also pretty good at floating ideas if you want outside opinions, and even if you don't. Maybe you can stop by sometime and visit. There's lots of forest to get lost in if you want to get a good wander in, but it sounds like you could probably do that up at your place. I hope someday to have my own wild place to wander in.
Be well!

Your words had me chuckling and remembering a former life with far more people in it. We used to call it herding cats- trying to get everyone in our sphere on the same page and moving in the same general direction. With humans as with cats, it’s a tough row to hoe. Someone is always up a tree or chasing birds. Life really is all about balance! May we both find it in our respective worlds. It sounds to me like you are well on the path to your own wilds to wander, inside and out. What a beautiful thought.

PS. I may actually not be fit for public life anymore. I talk to myself, the dog, the birds, my plants. Even the stones and I have it out. To the point where I continue the conversations when in town. J is forever tapping me on the shoulder when I'm alone in some grocery aisle and asking, 'Who are you talking to? You look like a crazy person.' Yep, pretty much.

Rio Rose wrote:All of the kisses and pats for Kedz pup, plus extra -check! She thanks you. Currently cutting off the circulation in my foot and snoring- our fifty pound lap dog! Hope you have some puppy love come into your life when you need it.

Aww! I miss my puppers. I used to foster a lot of dogs, and they were always such fun. Litters of puppies were the best. Took a lot of willpower not to keep half of them.

Rio Rose wrote:Your words had me chuckling and remembering a former life with far more people in it. We used to call it herding cats- trying to get everyone in our sphere on the same page and moving in the same general direction. With humans as with cats, it’s a tough row to hoe. Someone is always up a tree or chasing birds. Life really is all about balance! May we both find it in our respective worlds. It sounds to me like you are well on the path to your own wilds to wander, inside and out. What a beautiful thought.

That is a beautiful thought, and I hope I am as close as it sounds.

Rio Rose wrote:PS. I may actually not be fit for public life anymore. I talk to myself, the dog, the birds, my plants. Even the stones and I have it out. To the point where I continue the conversations when in town. J is forever tapping me on the shoulder when I'm alone in some grocery aisle and asking, 'Who are you talking to? You look like a crazy person.' Yep, pretty much.

Wait, is that not normal?? Chris has generally stopped listening to me because he can't tell whether I'm talking to the cats or him. But yes.. I conversate with all the things as well. If that's not fit for public life, so be it. I'll head out to the woods..

#49

Worked in the garden patch this morning. Each of the cats came to help add compost. Such great garden helpers! Found a bunch of new things coming up. Fred helped me identify more plants. I'm excited to see how it goes!

Planted sugar snap peas and Fava beans along the fence. Matt decided he didn't want thistles in his patch, so I planted them near the openings in the fence where the pesky turkeys might stick their heads in. When it's all growing well, they're gonna get a face full of thistle. 😊

Got a couple garlic patches planted as well. Hopefully the garlic that comes up is larger because some of it is smaller than dimes.. 😒

Straightened up the paths, laid logs horizontally instead of.. whatever it was they were doing, put down bark mulch for the paths, and mulched some areas that didn't really have much on them.

Scattered daikon radish (groundhog variety) all over. I read it's a great nitrogen fixer, pulls up moisture and other minerals, extra long root to break up soil, and if I chop and drop the top I can mulch that under and the root will create space, compost, and give up that water to others around it. Sounds pretty ideal for out here. Also scattered poppies and black oil sunflowers as I was planting the others. We'll see how it goes!

Fred pointed out four apricot trees that grew up over the last year, so I have one to Dez, another to Lara, and transplanted one to a different location on my patch. It seems like they're fond of the shadier areas, so I moved it behind a rock jack. Dez and Lara both have North facing hugels, so I figured the trees might enjoy that until summer.

After lunch, got the electrical all hooked up in the Love Shack - the lights work and they're surprisingly bright. The batteries need to charge, but after that I think it'll be pretty dang awesome in there. Daniel continues to add little shelves and hooks as needed. I'll be glad when we're done working on it as a group. It's already 1000x better than it started.

[youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/z0R6kX9y2-Q[/youtube]
here's a video of the lights in the Love Shack

Jen, this one looks really nice but....
(thought you might get a kick out of this)