Friday, May 15, 2020

KYLady is a material girl?


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. 

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. 

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. 

Miss Molly loves watching birds and squirrels out my window too
        

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