Had a very busy weekend starting with the dock.   We’re having holiday company and I anticipate some time spent there so I wanted it to be “freshened”.   That meant repairing/replacing some rotten deck planks.   Joey and Mark came up on Saturday and attacked it with vigor.   To start I walked around pressing down on suspect boards to determine whether or not they needed replacement.  I pressed one and went right through.  So I was down on the dock with my leg dangling into the lake – so the job was properly blooded.   We ended up replacing a dozen or so rotted planks with no more happenings.   So the dock is ready for company.  Thanks guys.

Later that day, I was in the tub cleaning up and Nancy was asleep on the couch when this crashing sound occurred.   It sounded like a tree had fallen onto the roof – hit hard then shifted down the roof.   I got out of tub and walked outside to see where the damage was and Nancy went out the front to do the same.   Nothing.  Then she found that the crash was inside in the laundry area where a cabinet had ripped off the wall, stopped by the dryer and the power cable I have connecting the house with the portable generator.   Of course the cabinets were full so the appropriate mess was made.  After trying myself to deal with it, clearly it was nothing I could handle myself so I alerted Tom and Joey that we needed emergency assistance.  Tom was already scheduled to come up Sunday so he said he’d come up earlier than planned and between us, we’d get the cabinet removed.   And that’s what happened.  It took us about an hour but we got it removed and ready for replacement.   Joey/Mark are going to look for a replacement cabinet and install it.   No rush on that.  The back of the cabinet is/was fiber board and I guess, over the years, it absorbed moisture and just gave it up.   The wall looks just fine so it’s only a replacement job, not a repair.  I think if it hadn’t been for the generator cable stopping the crash, it would have damaged the utility room doors and possibly the clothes dryer.

But best of all – Baby Bay visited!    He (and his parents) stayed overnight on the way to Tom’s Thanksgiving day party.  He loved the garden and the lake and being carried by his nana.   He’s tiny but has a big voice to grow into. We’ll be hooking up with them later today for the Thanksgiving celebration. Should be a great day with all the grandkids on hand.

The garden is full!   Between mature plants, seedling transplants, and seed beds there’s virtually no open planting space.   The last addition was a 2’x10’ row of beet seeds and another 2’x6’ row of carrots and radishes.   Also used the last of the fall compost pile.   A few weeks back it was full – 3’x3’x6’ – 54 cubic for the math challenged.  Now it’s doing its’ thing in the garden.   I always have two compost piles going with all new stuff going into one while the other cooks.  At this point I have one that will cook for the next 3 months and one just getting the first inputs.   That one will be the fall load for 2022. 

I had troubles with a few things last year but those items seem to be doing just fine this year.   For some reason I just couldn’t get a decent spinach crop last year.   Had trouble even getting seeds to germinate and when they did, the plants never produced.   I compensated for that this year by planting more seed but have been surprised by how many popped out and are going gangbusters.  Last year I had good swiss chard which made up for the poor spinach but it looks like this year both the chard and the spinach are off to a great start.   The first run of turnips proved so good that I planted another patch.   The lettuce likewise was not all that great last year but off to a strong start this season.   One thing I did differently this year was not growing much at all during the summer.  It was so hot and buggy that I decided to give it (and me) a rest.   Perhaps that is why the new stuff is doing so well.   I have 6 Fennel plants going.  Never grown them before but they look healthy.  In the herb dept, nice basil, rosemary, and parsley.

The vegan lady brought us over some new dessert a few days back.   This time it was a chocolate tuxedo cake and a pumpkin-cranberry cake.  The tuxedo cake is a feature at the Costco bakery but not the vegan version.   Both full vegan, both full delicious.   Her cakes are really dense and moist as opposed to dry and airy.  I think this is going to be interesting when the garden is putting out at peak.

Getting close to spec season.   It’s gotten cooler and that usually triggers action.

Our new neighbor is turning out to be an interesting character.   Gretchen is a serious Vegan and baker.   In Jersey she owned a vegan bakery for 10 years and has a fairly strong on-line presence on the subject now.   You can check it out at http://www.gretchensveganbaker.com.   On Utube it’s wwwutube.com/c/GretchensBakery.   Her last entry was for an apple upside down cake which is incredible.    The other night she knocked on the door with 2 pieces.   She explained that she makes stuff for her shows and needs somebody to eat up the left overs.   Would we please mind?   and if it get’s too much just tell her we’re being overloaded.   So far that’s not a problem.  Although she’s a dessert specialist, can’t wait to see what she does with the garden veggies.   She picked some turnips this week and commented on how tender and delicious they were.   We’re always had way too much coming out of the garden but I’m thinking maybe that problem is solved.   

I think I’m mostly over the last kidney stone attack.  It totally plugged me up which led me to an emergency visit to the urologist for a catheter.   My day to day rhythm was totally messed up as I tried to keep my system flushed.   The doc prescribed a med which caused me to lose stability and nearly pass out several times.   I quit taking that and have had no problems since.   Bad week though.

Got some good stuff popping in the garden now.   The weather has cooled so my winter stuff is now surviving.   The Swiss chard is looking great with over a dozen healthy looking seedlings in the garden.  Also I tried a row of spinach and it looks like that seed is germinating just fine.  It’s always marginal with spinach seed which doesn’t have much of a shelf life.   I soaked the seeds overnight before planting and that seems to have done the job.   Also put in the first fennel plants.   Never grown them before so really don’t know what to expect.  I read a caution that they may deplete the soil around them of nutrients causing other plants to have problems.   I’ll keep an eye on them.   Cabbage coming along fine and expect we’ll be eating some before the end of November.  Tomato and pepper plants looking mostly good with plenty of blossoms.   It’s always nip and tuck to bring in a crop before we get any frost.  I keep hoping for global warming to kick in but so far, looks like Pierson is out of the loop.