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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Otherwise known as What I Did This Weekend...<g>

I had a cast iron dutch oven that was sticky-wasn't seasoned properly,
so I put it in the stove and decided to start over on seasoning it.  I
suppose I will be working on that for the next few days.  This is the
second time I have started over with this pan. For whatever reason, I
just can't seem to get it nice and shiny black like the rest of my cast
iron.  This piece is just being stubborn.

It was a high pain day today.  I haven't taken Enbrel since early
December, and until today, I haven't taken my anti-inflammatory.
Normally, I take the anti-inflammatory (Diclofenac) every day, morning
and night, but while I have been trying the turmeric this past week, I
haven't taken any.  I've noticed some swelling and increased pain over
the last few days, and I realized that I needed more turmeric than what
I was getting, that is why I bought the capsules.  I took capsules today
which is 1000 mg of turmeric but it did not help.  I ended up taking
both Diclofenac and a pain pill this afternoon.  Tonight, my hands are
less swollen and I am a lot better, whether that is the result of the
additional turmeric or the prescription meds, I don't know.    I'll
continue the turmeric trial without taking the other meds, but I just
couldn't handle the pain today.

I pulled out my wooden clothes drying rack as I usually do in winter.  I
try to dry as much as possible on the rack instead of in the
dryer...saves energy.  I actually have two of them, but my living room
is kind of small.  Also, it make a nice drying rack for pasta, and I
hope to make some fettuccine this coming week.  I noticed that the rack
needs repair from wear and tear and that sparked a conversation about
possibly building a new rack of a different design.  Ron suggested that
an A-Frame design might be more stable.  I do have a good number of
towels, and today I was drying a comforter..the rack was rather wobbly.
 I was wondering if anyone here had any thoughts or suggestions of
design for wooden, indoor, clothes drying racks.

We loaded wood onto the porch today, it was nice to have help in that
chore as I certainly did not feel like wrestling with wood and the
wheelbarrow alone.  I also assisted Ron on a ladder..scary for me...as
he put flashing up to keep water out of his workshop.  I just stood on
the ladder and held the flashing in place, nothing fancy or complex, but
for someone who is afraid of heights, standing on a ladder holding
something instead of hold on is a bit scary.
Slowly but surely, we are raking the leaves up and piling them into the
garden beds and into large compost piles.  It seems like a never ending
job.  Everything is wet, so raking is a pain, but necessary not only for
the grass under the leaves to grow, but so that I can add leaf mold and
mass to my garden beds.


I've been exercising and practicing my tai chi/chi kung, but I am no
closer to doing a push up or a pull up than I was last month.  I've been
doing some resistance work with the tube bands, too.  My goal is to be
able to do 5 push ups and one pull up before mid May.  I've just never
had any arm strength, but I'm working on it.  I am also looking forward
to warmer weather/longer days when we can get back on the bikes and
ride.  I've lost about 5 pounds so far.  It is not much, but I am on
target.  I'd probably lose more if I could quit making guacamole.<G>  I
am seriously addicted. I have some seeds sprouting in the greenhouse,
and about 10 more in water in the house.  Today, I discovered another
use for avocado seeds, the big ones anyway.  Many are too small for this
purpose, but a few seeds are almost egg sized.  I have two seeds that
could have sized as medium eggs, so I washed them and put them in the
nestbox as 'lures'.  I normally have golf balls in there(orange ones
fade nicely and become almost the color of brown eggs), but the avocado
'eggs' look natural, too.  For anyone not familiar, the fake eggs serve
two purposes...1. it encourages hens to lay 2. it thwarts snake predation.
Speaking of eggs....
We candled eggs today, two days late by my reckoning.  This is day 12,
and I like doing it on Day 10.  Of the 28 eggs in the incubator, we only
had two that were not developed.  The remaining 26 look good.  I still
have 46 chickens out there, all growing and looking good.

Bev




--
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race"

~ Calvin Coolidge