Walk Softly and Carry a Big Camera

So our neighbor has installed a bee brood box right along the property line. I tried speaking to him about it because he has done none of the things a polite keeper does to keep them from our yard. He gave me some nonsense about bees only going straight out of the box and never behind.  ignorance flag one.  He proceeded to tell me that any offsets will put it in his yard and the bees don’t like mowing. So they will be happier with the heavy equipment going in ours? He has done *nothing* to force their path to go upward.  ignorance flag two. He has a *metal* brood box he put directly into the sun. Yes…that is ignorance flag three. So what he has done is to inform me of what sort of neighbor he will be about concerns. You know what? I now have documentation of his negligence if anyone gets hurt on my property. Mostly, I just know that in a hobby that loses 60% of its hives the first year, he is pretty sure to lose his brood.  It would be a bit of schadenfreude if it didn’t involve something living. My favorite in all of this is Mary taking the side of someone she literally met two weeks ago…so pardon the language but fuck that old broad for her constant disrespect of me. No more niceties will be sent her way. 

Okay, so that is my grumbling.  Everything else is going so well and we met 3 additional more neighbors this week.  It seems our lovely retaining wall has made people realize we are serious  The fellow we share that property line came over and offered to buy crushed stone for his side of the wall if we thought it might help. I told him my wildflower plan and he enthusiastically agreed that was a good way to deal with it.  He also told us to never hesitate to reach out to him if we had any issues. Another was the guy four doors down that only glowered before now.  He stopped by to talk flowers. My differently designed tulip bed has gotten a lot of attention, a surprising amount of admiration and a lot of “I never would have thought to do it that way!” I happily tell them about how I spread out the early, mid and late bloomers to be en ever changing sea of color. 

Talking to the fellow a few doors down also gave us another puzzle piece.  it seems part of our bedroom is also an addition! That does explain a lot.  Both additions to the house were done without consulting an engineer and both were put in spots that definitely interfere with water flow on the property, thus the problems we are seeing. The retaining wall is done, the rest of the lawn is being regraded and we are currently looking for an engineer about getting the sinking of the additions addressed. While we are being more aggressive about fixes than we initially thought, we are still, managing to do everything with the resources we have. It does slow the payoff plan from three more years rather than four, but I think that will be just fine  

Lots to do today. My morning was nicely lifted with a visit to the window boxes in front of the master bedroom by a hummingbird. It has made me smile every time I think about it.:)

I think that is one of the strangest things in all of this…we have hired people for doing outdoor work. So not only do we have the landscapers, but we have a mowing service and a turf place. Moving from an insanely high cost of living to a medium cost area has been huge for us. Well, that and the RSUs going up to 4x the price they were given at. Makes getting the fixes to our 1960 ranch a heck of a lot easier. We have found so many problems so far and I am so grateful to not going into debt to fix them. The new hot water tank out of left field, as a for instance.  That is my cheap example.:( Once the retaining wall and what will likely be French drainage goes in, we should be able to more transition to wants rather than needs,  like a potting shed and outdoor bbq area  

I will be walking the property soon to see the work…it has taken me ages to get this little bit out.  One of my favorite things about the place we use is that we always get the same crew. Anibal, the crew chief and I get on well. He always wants to know where I get my plants because I get some of the best plants he has ever seen.  I have been soooooo picky about bulbs. We’re going to walk and talk about fall planting and how much I will need to buy.

I shall do my utmost to be a bit more present but as always I make no promises.:)

 Going to be utterly shallow because I can’t be anything else right now. Life outside of this house is becoming harder to fathom by the day. 
 

So far, we’ve gotten at least 14 inches of snow and now the second pass is starting. I am so grateful that we have all we need and Pete can work from home. Both pellet stoves have been running steadily throughout the storm. I spent part of yesterday just sitting in the family room, fire keeping me warm while I watched the local bird population eating seeds we put out. 

We have made a decision about what to put in where the hydrangeas formerly were… Mister Lincoln tea rose bushes and lunaria. It’s Rita’s garden after all and I want it to be a good memorial based on Pete’s fondest memories of her gardening. And when the retaining wall goes in, it’s going to be swamp milkweed at the lower edge and less water loving versions at the top of the hill. Putting in the retaining wall itself should get the taproots for the Tree of Heaven out, thankfully. Stupid trees are the worst and attract lantern flies. 

okay, that was my I am alive post  for the time being. Love to all and I hope all of my friends are safe.
 

 After yesterday I will definitely be seeking a new gastro doc. It started in September when I told her I would rather just deal with the endoscopy for the stomach issues. She pushed and pushed to add the colonoscopy because I was “overdue” by current guidelines. After trying to do otherwise I finally shrugged and agreed to do it all at once. Now, in all of that, she had been informed about how much my stomach can rebel and yet she went with what I found out yesterday was the extended prep. Monday night after the magnesium citrate made me super nauseous, I was not able to eat.  The next day when I started Gatorade mid-morning, the ulcer kicked in on full blast.  Since I had no way to stop the acid, that meant I was throwing up a short while later.  By the time I was supposed to take my *third* kind of laxative, my body had had enough. The miralax would not stay down.  Pete ended up calling the on call doc who said “keep trying and if you can’t keep it down they can still do the endoscopy.”

Which gets us to yesterday. I was pretty clear and over 40 hours without eating at that point. The nurses all knew my situation and one of the ladies was aghast I had been given the extended prep. Both nurses I dealt with told to ask for sutabs next time. When they talked to the doc, red flag number one came up when she was disrespectful and dismissive of them. She initially didn’t want to do the colonoscopy but between one of my nurses helping me and advocating for myself, we ended up going forward. The pics all are contradictory to her putting down I would need to go again in a year due to poor prep. There were no polyps and nothing to see. She swears I wasn’t clear enough to rule out diverticulitis to which I say “bullshit” because every person I know who has it knows that one long before the doctor. All in all, it was not a fun time. 

Doing better today. I was coddled by the boys for the rest of my day yesterday and was able to get back to treating the lipodema so I am not one giant ball of pain any more.  The endoscopy showed what is very likely the ulcer and I will know in  1-2 weeks. I have no doubt that is what it is…even the same location my dad had his in. 

The fence is going in today! The neighbor that lets her son cut through our yard and lets the dog pee through the old fence ruining our grass seems peevish about it.  She called the town to complain but it’s a fence and we don’t need a permit for it. If she had trained her dog, this never would be a priority to do. But, since she and another neighbor think it’s okay to let their dogs bark all the time here we are. They bark when they are bored and see us through the doors in the family room for crying out loud. 

The fence itself looks great. We ended up with a simple cedar with five inch posts. Given the last fence was older than I am, the difference is tremendous. The next step involves moving the hydrangeas to the back of the property against the new fence to get them out of the constant sun of the front. After that, I have nearly 200 tulip bulbs to plant…which is not nearly as many as it sounds.:)

It looks like the RSUs will be good enough in December to get the retaining wall earlier than planned. Since that is the lynchpin to getting the backyard changes, it is good that is the case. We are also taking our charitable donation from that pot and it has been agreed we will give 80% to the local food banks and 20% to the MVSPCA. It’s going to be harder for people who need food this year and helping locally seems far more important at this time.

Lastly, Aaron finally has an interview. Fingers crossed!

 After stressing for ages over the whole new dentist thing, my appointment went quite well. I did a lot of research ahead of time which helped. After the usual explanation of the dodgy work when I was 17, they made sure I was comfortable as possible and gave me the hygienist that had deft touch. She looked at the tooth my former dentist kept saying was going to need a crown and disagreed vehemently it was a problem. The sensitivity was simply being overdue on my cleaning in conjunction with the lipodema. The dentist agreed and I left with a bag a things for sensitive teeth, my next appointment set and no need to worry about needing a crown. So yay, that stress can now dissipate. It also didn’t hurt that when I first got in the chair, the first thing Gigi said was that I looked nowhere near my age.  A little shallow, I know but I do like to hear that..:)

Fence will be going in this week. The chainlink is being swapped for something that offers a little more privacy. With 3 yards behind us being homes for a plethora of untrained dogs, this should reduce the barking at least a little.   I will just be happy to not have a fence that is older than me.:)