PLEASE DON’T WEEDEAT THE LILIES

Most people nearing retirement are determined to live in their own home. However, it doesn’t always work out that way if one spouse dies, gets sick, or disabled. But let’s suppose you’re lucky enough to age in place. You have the strength to shop, cook, and clean your house. And yet, maintaining a lawn is more challenging. If you are over eighty, chances are you are paying someone to do that. Unfortunately, our lawn man passed away , and we had to hire someone new this year. Beware: Just because someone owns a lawn mower, it doesn’t mean they can tell a flower from a weed. So, if you’re starting out with a new lawn service, you might say: Please don’t weedeat the lilies.

Please don't weed eat the lillies. They won't bloom if cut down too soon. — PLEASE DON’T WEEDEAT THE LILIES. A new lawn person may not be able to tell them from weeds.

Lilies are probably one of the most beautiful spring flowers, but their blooming period is short. For years, my husband and I planted bulbs along our fence in the fall. Come spring, we had a splash of colored lilies that brightened our yard and brought joy to everyone who passed by. Lilies only bloom for a short time, but they’re definitely worth waiting for.

This spring, it looked like the mild winter and spring rains were bringing us a bonanza of lilies. They were sprouting up everywhere, doubling what had come up the year before. We watched in excitement, thinking of all the beautiful blooms we were about to see. And then, along came our new lawn man with a young helper. A girl who didn’t even look sixteen. As I glanced out the window, I saw her calmly running a weed eater along the fence row, chopping down lily after lily in a matter of seconds. I raced out the door, yelling for her to stop. She seemed confused. Turns out she was the man’s daughter.. Heartbroken, I asked, “can you tell a flower from a weed?” To which she sharply replied, ‘No Ma am.”

The father was apologetic; offered to buy new lilies. But all the money in the world couldn’t restore those nineteen dead lilies, cut down before they were able to fulfill their mission on this earth. So my advice to you is this. If you’re starting out with a new lawn service, be sure to say : Please don’t weedeat the lilies.

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020

STAY AT HOME DIARY: WEEK 6

The #stayhome isolation is giving me a case of Covid-19 related hypochondria. A pulled muscle, cough or sneeze is not something alarming, under ordinary circumstances. But when I woke up with a sore neck last week, it had me worried until I realized I’d spent too much time reading my kindle. Consequently, I looked online and found that I could order a kindle holder, but it probably wouldn’t come very soon. Anyway, I’d never use it once the lockdown is over, because I prefer hard cover. Just wonder when that day will come. Stay At Home Diary: Week 6:

The closing down of meat processing plants has me concerned. Some of us lived through meat rationing during World War II, and it was not pleasant, unless you like Spam. I guess it’s popular in Hawaii, but to me it tasted like a combo of salt, fat, and rubber. I won’t eat Spam again, no matter what. I’ll go vegetarian with beans, lentils and other grains.

One high point of the week was a teleconference with our local Mayor. When people asked if all our city improvement plans were going down the drain, during the Covid-19 crisis, he had a great response. “We haven’t stopped, ” he said. “We’ve just slowed down.” I liked that slogan….a combination of caution and optimism, striking just the right note. Who said small town mayors from Indiana were dummies? He sounded far sharper than Trump, in my opinion.

On my weekly shopping trip, I noticed that fewer people are wearing masks. I can’t imagine why they are beginning to relax. Guess they’re just tired of it. Some grocery stores are doing a better job of following CDC guidelines than others. I won’t shop anywhere that doesn’t provide their clerks with masks and a Plexiglas barrier at checkout.

Major scare late Friday night. Got a call from a tenant in a property I manage that he had a leak in his bathroom that was spilling into the downstairs apt ceiling. What horrible timing! How many plumbers are available on Friday night? What if they weren’t working at all during the pandemic? Put in a call to my plumber, and had a fairly sleepless night. But he texted me next morning and said he would be out to fix it. Feeling fortunate to have a good relationship with this company, who has been there for me many times over the years. Plumber are first responders, too!

What would we do without plumbers during the covid-19 crisis — Plumbers are first responders, too. What would we do without them?

My oldest grand daughter’s birthday was Saturday. The night she was born seems like yesterday. Never thought I would live twenty-eight more years after that. I’ve been blessed with lovely grandchildren. They will always remember the spring of 2020!

It’s been a great week for gardening. Meijers had lilies on sale for half price, and I planted them right before the rain came down. Tomorrow, I’ll try to transplant some Hosta if the rain lets up. Notice a lot of people out working in their yards. We should see some pretty landscapes this summer.

Looks like we’ll have another week of grim statistics and politics, but as our mayor said. “We’ve just slowed down; we haven’t stopped.

April 24, 2020April 24, 2020

Recycling: We called it Making Do

As children coming of age in the forties, we had never heard the word “recycling”. For most families emerging from the great depression, and going into into World War II, we called it “making do.”

For instance, Tupperware was invented in 1946, but it wasn’t until the fifties and sixties that it became popular. Before that, we reused grocery store food containers to store leftovers: Cottage cheese buckets, margarine bowls—anything that could be washed and dried. Tupperware parties were all the rage, but it was expensive. It didn’t cost a penny to re purpose sturdy containers. And most of us did.

Cloth diapers were still used, With two babies in diapers, I spent a lot of time washing and folding them. But I didn’t have to spend money on plastic diapers.

Cloth dishtowels are environmentally friendly, and save money. They’re more absorbent, and feel softer. I use paper towels only for draining fried foods–maybe one roll per year.

Yes, I’ve succumbed to paper napkins. But I have fond memories of using cloth napkins as a child. My mother painted clothes pins with each siblings names to keep them straight. And the napkins were washed every week.

Computers, wireless phones, or others electronic devices weren’t available, so there was nothing to recycle. As a result, our main source of free home entertainment was television. No one paid for Netflix, HBO, or streaming services. If we wanted more entertainment, we went to the movies , a concert or live theater performance.

Hand me down clothes were welcomed. If they didn’t fit, they could be altered. As the youngest of three girls, I seldom had a “new” outfit except maybe at Easter time, when we all dressed alike. However, even my older sisters wore hand me downs. We had 2nd cousins all over the Midwest. Every year, they sent boxes of their outgrown sweaters and dresses, and we were thrilled to receive them.

Flower seeds were cheap, and started plants from nurseries were considered a luxury. Cuttings and starts from other gardeners cost nothing. My husband lived on a farm, and his mother generously shared her wide variety of plants and flowers, Consequently, even a poor person could have a beautiful garden, if they had the time and energy.

Darning socks. Yes, people still did that , even in the fifties. There was something called a “darning needle.” My husband’s grandmother was shocked when I said I would never darn a sock. And I never did. I guess I was ahead of my time.

Brown paper sacks from grocery stores could be repurposed to wrap packages for mailing. Or storing things in the basement or attic. Because brown paper bags are recyclable, they don’t fill up landfills with plastic.

In the early 20th century, women repurposed feed sacks for dresses. We called it making do. — Recycling: we called it making do.when women made dresses from feed sacks.

Farm wives repurposed feed sacks to sew men’s shirts , women’s dresses, towels, and other household necessities. If you lived in the city, you got the sacks from your country cousins or friends. Those pretty cotton materials were soft to the touch,,and immensely comfortable.

It looks like the Coronavirus pandemic is going to throw us into a recession. Hopefully not a depression. Perhaps we should take some lessons from the past, and recycle the old fashioned way by Making Do.