Things are stirring, even the mice!

    Slogging through February but there are signs we are moving beyond dark winter.  

The days are growing longer, not warmer but longer.  

Guess who figured it out?

Three girls remain and started producing 2 eggs a day!  👏

Go chickens!! 

There have been blue skies and frosty winter eye candy everywhere.  

During these cold frosty days I decided to do something with those frozen tomatoes from last summer.  

Soup!  I may never can tomatoes on hot August day again!  Boiling pots of tomatoes and water are welcome on a 4 degree day in February!  If there is freezer room available in August, use it!

Dehydrated pepper powder from last years peppers are a new twist that adds a big punch of taste! 

Headed to the vault! 

I have ventured into the world of micro-greens; after reading about their nutritional value I decided to go for it.  Yes, I suppose I could buy them but I have potting mix and a wee bit of space so why not?  After watching countless youtube videos on grow lights, I searched for shop lights with a pull chain and T8 fluorescent bulbs.  Fluorescent bulbs are going the way of the dinosaurs.  They are around but I see these being phased out.  I looked online (expensive), and ended up in the hallowed halls of Home Depot. Finding a lovely older woman sporting an orange apron.  She had just started two days ago and admitted she didn't know anything about electrical or gardening but might be able to help locate items.  Whipped out my list of needed supplies.  She said: Have you tried Menard's?  I almost feel on the Home Depot floor, clean up on aisle 6!  "Well I think they have a bigger electrical dept. and they are right across the street."  I thanked her and went to the other place I hate, Menard's.  It was empty and I started hunting.  I found grow lights, 4K (would have rather had 5K) but they were $27 and if I sent in my receipt I would get 11% back;  or a third of a pound of micro seeds.  They were super easy to put together and plug in.  I love the disco feel of a dark studio corner! 

I have a heat mat under the tray to get them started but after a couple days turned it off.  

My first batch is kale, broccoli and lettuces; crops that like it cool.  Once germinated and just beyond the cotyledon stage, the heating mat was turned off. 

but in 7 - 10 days we would be harvesting! 

(these are 3 days old)

We have been to orchid shows and the orchids at home are blooming too.  We had a weekend stay-cation with a day at the Cleveland Botanical gardens.  It was heaven.  

I am still mired down in Physical Therapy daily and twice a week at the PT Center.   They decided against dry needling and instead went with laser treatment.  After 8 treatments, it was decided the laser treatments were not really doing much so stopped and just went with PT.  My co-pay is $60 a visit and twice a week for 4 weeks is expensive.  Once I heard the laser treatments were no longer necessary I backed off, going once a week.  Do I really need somebody to watch me do PT?  And because they are backed up I am rushed through so instead of the prescribed 30 reps they would say just do 20.  NO!  I need 30!  I have set up resistance band stations here at the house and do them religiously.  Am I better, not yet.  But I have dropped down the knee recovery rabbit hole!  Especially as I have never ever had pain like this for such an extended period of time.  By evening it brings tears to my eyes.  I have started moving my PT to evenings to keep some swelling down.  The only time I don't have any pain is on my bike, go figure.  Laying in bed, pain.  Sitting in a chair, pain.  Standing in the kitchen, pain. Walking, pain.  Bike, no pain.  Throwing at the wheel, hunched over, no pain.  Some of the PT brings tears to my eyes but I love the bike and I can watch the Olympics........ going for gold!  It's been almost a month and it is depressing when your body doesn't respond the way you think it should.  I cannot wrap my brain around not walking.  It has stopped me from doing so many things.  I miss the winter hikes and just going to the basement to get garlic or jars of food.  My knee doesn't bend enough to make it down the first step.  I have learned to sit on my butt and ease my way down but it just pisses me off!  I cannot work in the studio like I used to and work is languishing.  I have an order that has got to be out in another two weeks and it's killing me. 

Eating a very clean diet!  Have added a few things like turmeric, lots of last summers berries, comfrey salve topically.  Taken away; wheat, eggs, dairy and anything that causes inflammation including tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  Living on green beans, broccoli, salad and fish.  God I miss bread..... 

All my wheat berries are now sprouted for the chickens and they couldn't be happier! 

It's hard not to walk too much when there are so many things going on!  Temperatures hit the 50's for a couple days and the river started the Spring thaw.  It was amazing and I couldn't stop myself from running down to see it.  Took Kirby too, he can hear it.   I guess we were a sight as I stood with Kirby on the dock watching the ice flow go by and old geezer observed.  "Your dog blind?"  "yup"  "and your not looking too nibble; so if ya fall in I'm not saving you"  Not if I push you in first sir!

God, I love the midwest....... you are on your own!  We know what we have to work with, nothing! 

And just when we thought we were out of the woods and we saw green grass and new buds on the trees an Arctic Clipper delivered an ice storm and we woke up in a crystal palace this morning.  Breathtakingly beautiful.

but this is home and it's a grand place to be.......... 

and there might be a fresh batch of barley cookies!