Pouring/Spilling Water

An early morning boat trip that I will write about on my other blog...soon

Yesterday we brought down the bird feeders. We had not been filling them for a couple of weeks, but it was time to wash them to remove any mold, fungus, or diseases so we could use them next fall.  A small percentage of my finches carry eye disease and I do not want to spread it to the other birds.  Birds rarely come to the feeders this time of year anyway because the bugs that are flying and crawling about are much higher nutrition and also the type of thing that is digestible to the baby fledglings.  

I have a deep sink in the laundry room and sprayed the feeders with a pet rug spray. (It really works wonders, something I bought when we fostered that dog.)  I then add a cap of bleach to the water in the sink and soak the feeders for an hour.  

I went on my merry way to do so many other chores that had been piling up but had to go back to the laundry room a while later to drop off some laundry.  I was dismayed to find that the faucet had not been turned off completely and water was sneaking over the counter and down onto the linoleum floor as well as behind the doubled stacked washer and dryer and then into the floor vent!  This was when I learned that my laundry room deep sink does NOT have an overflow drain!  It was just a small bit of water running, but that can add up in no time.

It took 30 minutes to mop up, move the heavy rug on the floor and wring out the rags I was using.  I had stopped the water from flowing across the floor from behind the washer to the floor vent, but next had to check the basement.

The water was dripping rapidly from ceiling tiles ( a dropped ceiling) and flooded the tiled floor to hubby's office and his boat gear room.  I had him help me carry out the dripping rug to the table on the patio and then went back to put a bucket under the main area where water was dripping and to mop and dry the rest of the floor with a portable fan.

At least 8 ceiling tiles in the basement are stained and will have to be replaced.  Since I avoid going on ladders, I will need to find a helper!

This was most annoying because earlier this week our heat pump in the attic had frozen coils which filled the aluminum pan beneath the unit and then dripped water out the corner of the trim to the attic stairway and onto the wooden floor and side of the oriental rug in the guest bedroom.  Hubby and I were in bed and the evening rain had started.  At first, I thought that was the sound of rain on the roof, but realized the rhythm was weird.  Fortunately, we caught that "spilled" water in a few minutes and turned off the heat pump as hubby sopped up the water from the drain pan with a sponge and I cleaned up the floor and put down a bucket.  (The repairman recommended replacing both AC/Heat units as they are 18-years-old!)

I know that pouring water is a ritual in many spiritual communities, but I had to look up "spilled" water.  It seems that in most cases it means a change to good fortune or good luck---don't we all need that! I am waiting... guess it happens after the fortune we have to pay for two new HVAC units.  

Since I keep spilling a small bit of water when filling my coffee maker in the same place, one article said it was a spirit that was trying to get my attention! 

Do you have any water issues that you confront?

Heavy Brain Stuff

No matter how busy I get I find I also require time on my hands as I get tired both mentally and physically.  I have an artistic side that needs feeding...no I am NOT an artist, but clearly, my brain pushes me there.  

Digital photo

I am trying to wrap my mind around aging and the march towards endings.  Then this contrasts so much with my recent (number 4) grandchild's arrival and all the wonderful beginnings of life.  (The first for this particular set of parents.)  I have teenage grandchildren and when they arrived there was so much more energy to share on my part!

I am still wearing a mask indoors in public as this is the price I feel I should pay to be able to hold my new granddaughter on Tuesday.  (My husband and I were the only ones masked at our recent in-person gardener's meeting.)  I also updated my DTAP shots the same day I got my second COVID booster and while the medical experts said I could certainly do both, that knocked me for a loop for at least two days.  When you have not been sick in years, a mild reaction to shots can be an awakening.

I have only seen this new gal in her mother's arms in the NICU and she was so tiny and quiet back then. Now she has been home for almost three weeks and parents are slowly descending from cloud 9 to that period where you sit exhausted between chores, errands, feedings, and changings and wonder if you will survive.  They are in their 40's, so "survival" is a bit larger challenge.

I find that night-time thoughts go to dark places and I really must work on meditation or unwinding or more artwork to displace this.  Thoughts about things I said or did years ago that were unkind, thoughts about my carelessness with life, thoughts about all the dangers my loved ones will encounter as they move forward in their lives.  I worry about the medical challenges many of my friends are facing.  I do not think this mind wandering is due to COVID or Wars or even aging chemistry because I remember when my own little ones were growing I kept being sad about when they would move into adulthood and leave. Yes, a bit of an odd duck am I.  It is just the way my brain is wired.  Be thankful you have balanced electricity in that gray matter up there. Crossed wires can be exhausting.

Do not worry for me.  I am strong and realize I have no control over the universe, even though I think I could face that challenge.  I feel I could do a bit of a better job at it...much less suffering, please!

Now I am going to go downstairs and run on the elliptical.  I have not done that in almost nine days.  LAZY ME!

Today I Am in Midsomer County

I have spent way too much time re-watching the Midsomer Murder TV series. I do try to exercise while watching to justify, but I got my second COVID booster shot on Tuesday of last week and for the first time since I have been doing these shots, I got very fatigued. Just felt like sitting in front of the TV after a short nap. Hubby slept the entire day! 

Yes, we are elders and no one should be surprised. I was surprised as my first two vaccines and the first Booster did not give me any side effects.   I was pretty non-reactive.

Today I feel as if I am in some cottage garden in England.  It is misty and foggy on the river and there is no sun because the gray clouds are drizzling spring rain everywhere.  This should be posted on my other blog about the great outdoors, but I started here on this blog!

Spring rains and an abundance of flowers.  Below is our native geranium.

Above my "rose arbor" just like the flowers in Midsomer.

Poor Iris always want to bloom when the rains are so heavy!

The yard is full of columbine that scatter their seeds EVERYWHERE.

And below is a photo of one side of my house, that I think DOES look a bit of a Midsomer Garden...wonder if there is a body down that foggy hill to the river?

Big Yawn, Big Sigh

I am exhausted. Could it be that it is because I got both my Second COVID booster and a DTap shot today? Surely that is not the reason. 

Could it be because I have my electrician friend here working on a mercurial outlet on the deck that jumps the fuse that also goes to my new freezer in the basement? Could it be my concern because this dear man has lost his job with a big utility company because he failed to follow up and inspect a job that he had assigned to an underling and that meant some customers went without electricity for 30 minutes? He was the man I wrote about earlier who helped us and we helped him as he got out of jail and reunited with his family for new beginnings. 

I am exhausted. Could it be because I wanted to take a nap after my shots and now I cannot because he showed up?

I am exhausted.  Could it be because I was lifting moving and standing the former two days on my feet setting up, being available, and taking down the plant sale for the County Master Gardeners and being outside one whole day in the cold and drizzly rain--- a sale that brought in more money than ever this year?

I am exhausted.  Could it be because the very next day, Sunday, I was summoned up early that morning by my son whose wife gave early birth to a new baby girl, 4 weeks early, who is now in NICU but should be released in a few days? (So lovely!)

I am exhausted.  Could it be because last week I invited over a friend for lunch that we had not seen in years due to COVID and I ran around trying to make everything hunky-dory instead of just relaxing and enjoying company?  She is an excellent baker and I did feel intimidated.

I am exhausted.  Could it be the lovely post Mother's Day dinner I had with my daughter and granddaughter at the lovely Mediterranean restaurant near their house?  Followed by the very long drive back home.

I am exhausted and I know spring is getting away from me.  Still so much weeding and planting to do!  I need an 8 or 9-day week!

Sorry, I am not going to read your blogs to catch up.  I now have to find a manual for my electrician.