I walked briskly on the boardwalk at the beach today....probably only a mile round trip. It was beautiful. After I got home I did my daily back exercises and added some weight work using the exercise ball and hand weights.

I am really only doing shoulder and neck exercises. I have degenerative disc disorder between my c5 & c6 and a torn muscle in front of my shoulder on the right side. So I'm doing some stretches for that. And decided to do a plank a day. I'm on day 3 now. Not really timing them, just doing them as long as I can. I thought it would hurt my shoulder and neck while doing them, but it doesn't at all. I need to firm up my core. And my arms. And my legs. And back...... My body seems to have fallen and I need to get it back up again. ;)

LOLOLOL. Doofus. No one was mean! Not at all. Just that they don't like folks going onto the site and doing something different. I can really actually see their point. It'd be different if I'd been winter-sowing for 5 years. It'd be like a brand new gardener coming into the FB forum and telling everyone they're going to plant their entire garden in hay bales. Or stuff like that, you know? What was a little exasperating was that some of them didn't read the post entirely and so it wasn't really a dialogue. No matter. All is good. But if they're mean again, I'll sic you onto them. ROTFL! AND, can't you find anything that contains collagen on a vegan diet?? (Not being vegan, I would not know that, you know.) Rebecca, I'm not as worried about them frying, I mean there are a ton of holes in them. Further, cross currents are usually more effective at bringing breezes through than from just one direction. I will say, that even had I put holes in the top, I still would have put holes in the sides, too. But. Okay tell you what. I'll go put a couple holes in the tops of some of them! LOL My larger concern is the bottom watering, just because I haven't seen anyone else doing it. I can't imagine why it won't work, since the indoor seedlings prefer bottom watering. But I'm still nervous about it. Could you please give me your thoughts on that? (Our first row of holes above the bottom is 1 1/2 inches high, which was exactly as much water as it took to dampen all the pots.) At any rate, yes, if I notice anything going awry, I'll spring into action to correct. I would say in Oklahoma ANYONE who WSes is in danger of frying the plants! We ALL need to keep our eyes on that possibility, right? But yes, with you working, you're not around to hover over them like I am. NOW. In the horrible event that I get called out of town for emergencies, I'll have to hire my nearby gardener friend! . . . Then I'd probably move everything closer in to the house for a minimal amount of sun. But then so would a lot of the rest of you be in trouble, too. Last year, I spent a good bit of time scooting my 15-gallon fabric container pots back closer to the house (and under the half roof on that part of the deck, either to get them out of the sun, or to protect them from the rains POURing down. I can certainly do that with the totes, too. Yes, Dawn. . . . Rebecca's cute little daisy was discussed in this article. I loved it and got a good laugh. http://dailyimprovisations.com/fun-flowers-to-grow-from-seed-cape-daisy-or-venidium-fastuosum This hybrid. . . . I think it'd be great to actually get even just a few seeds to see if any of them turn out to be true to the type--that would be very cool. If I live another 4 years, Dawn, I won't be winter-sowing anymore either, as I believe I'm growing everything I'll ever need to grow (perennial/herb/hardy annual-wise) this year. Hmmm. Who am I gonna unload these totes and pots on. Here I was thinking it was going to be one of those depreciation items. Perhaps not. . . .LOL Oh, Dawn, that is very upsetting about something scary out there. Please keep us posted. And along the subject of pets, I also would rather watch puppies OR kitties than almost anything. We are loving Tom and Jerry. . . even Titan is just fascinated. These guys certainly are not anything like Daffy. He sees possibilities with them being entertainment. But occasionally gets over-enthusiastic. He thinks it's fine for him to lunge at them as they race past him (and it's not, we tell him), but he is VERY touchy so far when one of them tries to attack his tail or foot. We think it's very funny of course, but he at least hasn't snapped at them, just kinda growled/woofed them off. That is VERY good on his part. Also when they would approach his dinner. . .THAT is his wild animal trigger response. We've worked and worked and worked with him on that one. We normally shut them in the cats' room (formerly the art room) to be eating their own dinner, but before we got wised up to that, they'd go over to HIS food dish--I almost got bit once, as did Garry once. There were severe penalties involved. Also a bratty 3-yr old liked to tease him with it--unfortunately, he was the one who paid--but so did she. So it was fairly miraculous that when the kittens tried to interfere, all he did was growl angrily and boy did they back off quickly. We're feeling very good about the kittens and Titan, they all three are fascinated with each other and full of good cheer. But Titan IS part wolf, after all, and we always are very aware of him--in unexpected situations. I am 100% certain GDW and I are gold with him. But I always keep an eye on him when he indicates he's uncomfortable with someone or a certain situation, and usually take him into the house then. The kittens are his first test situation with trust, and he's doing SUPER, but we still keep an eye on him. Little thinker, Tom, has now finally decided GDW is okay, too, and so now is landing on HIS lap and in HIS way. They're just precious, both of them. Kim, I missed your supportive post earlier, that was SO sweet!!! Thanks for believing in me--you KNOW I believe in you, too. You are a marvel! We're both kinda Ruth Stout people, I think. Ruth definitely figured out what worked for her and followed that path! But if the rumor Amy heard about Ruth is true, that she gardened naked, I know neither of US is gonna do that. I don't even like wearing short-sleeved T-shirts while gardening. Gardening is like full armor down here! Okay okay, I admit. Oklahoma gardening is not easy!!! It's the damn bugs!!! The critters! The aphids, the bad beetles, the slugs, the ticks, the chiggers, the fleas, the voles, the gophers. .............................................. a person in OK would have to be insane to be gardening in their shorts and tank tops and flip-flops and bare-handed, in my opinion! Let alone naked. Amy and Eileen, tomorrow our trip to Broken Arrow. Our whole day affair. Short notice, so maybe we can actually plan the next trip. But if you can meet up, let me know. However, Amy has a good point--will have more seeds if we meet up in a couple more weeks--maybe we should start talking about that--the seeds we have to give. Aldi, then back through Wagoner for buttermilk and candles, and then back home. We have been SO hunkered down here. And you guys who are so tired of winter? We are, too, of course, but you know what? I've made my peace with it, somehow. I wasn't allowed to hunker down in MN or WY, working every day all through the winter nonsense. It was COLD. Not easy, especially with vehicles. Those of us smart ones (sometimes I was smart, sometimes not so much so) had engine heaters for the cars plugged in for overnight. When I lived with my son and his family in Mpls, we had a street-level garage, but the rest of the property sloped steeply up. When it snowed, we'd have great fun the first few snows in December; partying out there in the driveway--with the snowblower and the others using shovels. By February or earlier when the drifts next to the driveway were up to 5-6 feet, not so much fun. It was so MUCH colder and more brittle and so much dryer in WY and MN in the winter. But I don't care. It's COLD here. I'm with the rest of ya. I used to trot out on my patio in Mpls when it was -10, in my short nightgown, for a last cigarette. It's all just so weird! Well, HJ, speaking of rambling!

Leftovers are great, Nancy! It's not lazy. It's a way to not be wasteful. I don't have a cabbage that I just love yet. Last spring, I started (can't think of the name of it) a variety that had smaller heads but they were dense. Rick brought over a few plants of another variety (I think)...or maybe he brought the heads over from his plants in Okmulgee. I'm sketchy on the details. His had larger heads, but were looser. So, the basically made about the same amount of product. If that makes sense. I would like to be successful with red cabbage but have failed. Speaking of cabbage, I need to order a pounder tonight. I'm ready to try out my crock...and I want all the "right" tools. I almost made the kraut last night but am going to wait on the tool. Lynn, I'm glad your allergies are better. What are you growing this year? Reminds me.... Not sure if y'all remember me saying that none of my cilantro had reseeded this fall. I found some in the burn pile. So weird. And parsley and garlic. Moni, I am SO glad you are feeling better. It almost sounds like you had the flu! Hopefully your cough will let up soon. The cough is always the last to go and it's so exhausting. I'm surrounded by Covid. Almost half of our little class have a close relative with Covid currently and one child developed a fever today. I've been around them all. I'm wearing my mask constantly. Tom's work is about the same. Either co-workers are out with it or have close relatives (in their home) with it. They are required to wear masks at his work, so he has been wearing his constantly too. So many others too. Honestly, I know of a lot of people who have it and are going to work. They're masking up and going. One facility, everyone is out with it, but they had one woman come in and sit in a backroom to do the work while the one well person is dealing with the people who come in. A co-worker's husband checked in on clients and they sort of looked at each other and said, "hey we need to let you know that we both tested positive for C". A lot of people are going to the doctor thinking they have a stomach bug or strep throat and are coming out with a Covid diagnosis. This is all very different than a year ago. People who were die-hard--"you're gonna kill grandma if you don't quarantine", are risking it now. At least--so far--the people I know who have been diagnosed aren't in dire situations--none of them this time. Most of them have a sore throat or digestive issues. I'm not sure what the change in attitude is. I don't know anyone currently who is in critical shape from the virus. I hope it stays that way. I did see little kids are getting croup as a result of it. All of y'all who have children, know how awful croup is. We probably need a weeklong snow "day". Keep people at home for awhile. But, let's all keep our power please--no ice storms. It will be a miracle if I don't get it. Although, I'm pretty sure I had mild cases during the summer of 2020 and 2021. What to do? I don't know. Once this variant is past us, the next one will show up. The hoop house was at 55 today around 4:30. I was worried because I left it all buttoned up before work...but it didn't get too hot, and the plants look good.