(geek, garden, health, critter watch)

[elainegrey]

Monday: having a very hard time getting going. I suspect it's due to my sore throat (canker sore, i think), nausea before breakfast (dunno why, ginger helped), the temporary issue at Airtable, the ongoing sort issue at airtable, and the grinding shrieking noise of the bush-hogging being done by the department of transportation on their road easement.

The bush-hogging — i keep telling myself i don't care, but i do. I'd tried this past winter to cut back undesired plants but leave plants like hollies and cedars. (Cedar apple rust is a given. I could cut down every cedar we have and it would still be an issue, so i keep them.) I suspect the cutting went back further than i did, so my "rescues" are gone. (And i could have not spent the time by the edge of the road cutting down shrubbery.) The brilliant orange butterfly weed are probably untouched, thanks to Christine's marking them off with red reflectors and making eye contact with the operator. I'm hoping the pretty holly near the property boundary was off the DoT easement. Just like with the churning, brutal easement care by the power company, i'm trying to see the benefit: all the autumn olive and weedy sweetgums are gone. It will be easier to care for now with the thick brushy stuff. I just know that i will find brutally amputated branches ripped and torn from nice trees. I appreciate the safety of not having the woods creep up to the road, and there's more room for deer to be visible before crossing.

The goal is for the property boundary to be clearly maintained by the time they come through again.

Tuesday: Yesterday didn't get better, pretty sure the inflammation in the back of my throat is playing havoc with mood. Still, the trimming left the pretty holly and the butterfly weed.

Happy things yesterday: deer to the east of the orchard and at the salt lick, visible from the bedroom. A raccoon caught in the camera trap. Thinking of Sunday's dinner with the lovely sauteed shrimp Christine had prepared, some on leftover cornbread, some in the left over fennel and berry salad. And the box-mix lemon poundcake with careful blueberry garnish.

Upgraded my personal laptop from "High Sierra" version 10.13 to "Big Sur" version 11.4 (20F71). A little bit of a shock as i am on "Catalina" 10.15 at work, and didn't realize this was a major digit upgrade.

Comments

[amaebi]

That all sounds so wearing. :( May you find refreshment in great plenty. May you be laved in it.

And I'm so feeling you about the hacking clearance. :( I hope they didn't also poison the area?

[elainegrey]

No poison -- and yes, so much better than the swathes of dying plants where they spray.

(Thank you, particularly for the wish for refreshment)

[tamena]

dinner sounds amazing - I love blue berries and lemon and would probably have eaten the cake for my meal LOL

I had issues in NJ with DOT demolishing plants/hedgerow that was a privacy barrier for our home. they went WAY up onto our property (easement was 15' on one side and 10' on the other, they went up 30' and 25' respectively)
I had to get the local politicians involved to get them to replant and correct the issues they caused, it was a 2 year fight but they replanted/regraded the areas they destroyed. I completely understand your frustration

[elainegrey]

I was impressed at how precisely NC DOT went to the easement line -- the metal survey pipe is just at the edge of the clearing. Maybe a few lawsuits and they get it right.

More boxed cake for the grocery list, i think.