Madonna says that we are living in a material world. We need only to log into Amazon to see just
how material we are, but there are some things you can’t buy on Amazon (and
recently, I learned that some things are available on Amazon now that aren’t
available directly from the seller...apparently they are currently only in
stock in an Amazon warehouse).
Me and Amazon have been spending a lot of time together
lately. It’s not typical for me to go on
a spending spree. My brother told me
once that I’m as tight with money as the bark on a tree. As much as I hate his accusation (perhaps
maybe a shaggy bark hickory or sycamore), I do have a very hard time spending
money. Even when there is something
needed and the money is readily available, it’s hard for me to decide to spend.
Whether it’s $1, or $100 or $1,000, it’s
the same angst. It’s just how I am.
Anyway, my last kayak trip resulted in two
lost kayak parts: plug, and toggle handle.
The handle is a convenience, but the plug is important. I was unable to get replacements from the
manufacturer, so I scoured Amazon and found parts that hopefully will work
(they will be delivered tomorrow...so I won’t be waiting much longer). The handle will be fine; the plug is
iffy.
So, while out on Amazon, I found a flour sifter too, and a
garden hose, and a sprayer nozzle thingie...and some other stuff. Then I reordered some things because it was
such a good deal and I can use them again.
I suppose it’s no different than walking through WalMart and just
picking stuff up and adding it to the cart.
And then I bought two birdfeeders and a bag of dried meal worms. And then I bought a solar-powered fountain
for a birdbath...which is yet to be purchased.
All that stuff is on it’s way...and it makes me giddy to
think we’ll have Christmas in May. But
that’s not all. Today, I shopped for and
purchased a new laptop. Actually, I’ve
been shopping for a new laptop since at least last November. Mine is approaching six years old. The paint is worn off E, S, and D. There are things I can’t do with this laptop (mostly
when making instructional videos) because the processor speed is too slow and
the video card is too old. Not only
that, this old laptop is 5.5 pounds. The
new one will be less than 4. That’s not
much difference, but when you’re lugging a laptop around for long, it’s a huge
difference. The new machine has an SSD –
it will be lightning in comparison to my SATA sloth hard drive.
As if that were not enough thrill for one day, I went to two
greenhouses and bought four flats of plants and two pots of columbine. I can spend an entire day strolling through a
greenhouse. Someone declined to come with, thank the good Lord. He would have been bored to death. I came home with green
peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, butternut squash (something new to try), snapdragons,
impatiens, begonias, alyssum, verbena, and zinnias. I have morning glory, lettuce, and radish
seeds to plant, and also, we grow beans and corn from seeds. I will plant the morning glories this
weekend, and start setting out flowers. Someone always wants to wait
until June to plant the vegetable seeds – we have to do Myrtle Beach in July
every year. We can’t agree on things in
the big garden...so mostly it’s his garden because of that. I did finally convince him last year that
watering in the evening causes fungus to grow and ruins everything.
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| Beautiful columbine growing wild along the Michael Tygart trail, Greenbo Lake State Park |
When the governor opens the state more, Sarah and I are
going shopping for my birdbath, and a peony, and perhaps some perennials. I bought columbine today – these are
perennials. The two I set out last fall
(deep discounted because it was end of season) did not survive the winter. Alas, we will try again.
The hummingbirds are back and there seems to be many more visiting
the feeder this year. The woodpeckers
love sugar water as much as the hummers do.
This year, we are seeing lots of bluebirds in our backyard. This inspired me to order mealworms and a
feeder designed for serving up mealworms.
The birdbath with fountain is for the hummers, but other birds will
likely use it. My son-in-law gifted me with
a birdhouse for Christmas – he made it himself.
I hung it early this week which may be too late for this year, but it’s
available now for any creature who wants shelter. I have another birdhouse made out of a gourd. There might be something nesting in it, but
it’s pretty much hidden from view and I haven’t checked it this spring.
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| New birdhouse built by my son-in-law |
One of the things I love about working from home is filling
the bird feeders in the morning and watching the birds and squirrels while working. That, and spending days with Gracie and Molly makes the best possible work environment. I’m living the dream, but unfortunately, it's because of the pandemic.
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| Miss Molly loves watching birds and squirrels out my window too |
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