Tag Archives: feeling empowered

April 30, 2022 · 2:14 pm

Feeling Empowered

Michelle Gibbings

It may seem a small thing, but I’m feeling empowered.

The timer to the irrigation system for our veggie garden ‘went wonky’ the other day, probably after a storm. At any rate, it wasn’t working. My husband, who has, for years and years, been the technical expert and fix-it person around here, said, “Maybe we can find the old one.”

I stopped at the timer several times over the last week or so, trying to reprogram it on the fly. To say I was unsuccessful is an understatement.

I finally made it a priority to find the paperwork and see if I had directions on how to program the thing. A backup would be writing down the NAME of the timer and looking it up on the net to see if there was an online set of directions.

Luckily, I found the paperwork and it did include directions!

I read over them carefully, took them with me out to the outside standing faucet. I followed the directions as carefully as I could and it seemed to show I had done it.

I set the timer in the house for the time it was supposed to start watering, then went out to see if it did, in fact, start. It DID! It watered for 10 minutes as I had programmed and then shut off. HOORAAAAAY!!!!!

I – almost the least technical person I know – or have ever met – programmed the irrigation system.

Alamy.com

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March 6, 2018 · 12:19 pm

Mel’s Mix – Day Two

This is a much grander version of what I’m going to be doing this afternoon, but it gives you the idea.

We were able to get the components of Mel’s Mix (a ground soil alternative made from 2 parts peat moss, 2 parts vermiculite, 1 part each as many different kinds of compost as you can find – I use mushroom, cotton burr, and barnyard, plus our own homemade, when we have it.)  Recently we tried the very used cement mixer we bought to mix the components together before putting them in our raised bed garden boxes. The mixer is GREAT. I’m using a small bucket, but I can mix TWO batches of Mel’s Mix in the mixer at one time, then dump some out into a plastic yard basket for transport to the garden and into a box.  Now that I know how to move the mixer up and down and what to expect, I can do this any time I would like. I love feeling empowered!

We added a bunch of Mel’s Mix to three of the six 4’x4’x8″ raised wooden boxes that make up our vegetable garden. I may need to add more, but I’ll decide that later. Today I’m concentrating on the rest of the boxes. Once I get the Mel’s Mix into the boxes, I’ll stretch string between nails on the edges of the boxes in both directions to create ‘squares’ for planting. (In square foot gardening, you plant different numbers of plants in the squares depending on the plant. (For broccoli and cauliflower, for example, you plant one plant in a square. For lettuce, you can plant 4 plants in a square. For radishes, you can plant 16…) You spread out the planting so that you’re not planting the same thing in two squares right next to each other. This cuts way down on any insects or disease.

I’m not going to even think about getting plants until the boxes are filled and the squares are marked and the irrigation system is set up. The first thing I’ll plant is onion sets. I may bring home other plants to put in my new greenhouse, even though it’s not organized yet.

I’m excited to start another year of raised bed square foot gardening. I learn a TON every year – mostly things NOT to do next time, so far :0) – and I have SUCH a good time watching things grow. I’ll post pics from time to time to share how things are going.

Have a wonderful day!

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August 21, 2017 · 12:33 pm

“Maniacal Weed Killer!”

Ever since we got a sprayer much like this one, my personality has changed. Instead of a reasonably sweet old lady, I have become a maniac. Armed with my sprayer and KillsAll weed killer, all I need is a day without rain and my killer instincts kick in.

I’ve mixed a total of 4 gallons of the stuff this morning (and this afternoon) and have sprayed the weed trees in the back where our good person-of-all-things, Foy Brown, was unable to get with his tractor and brush hog, and then around the outer perimeter of my raised bed square foot garden and under the planter boxes in there, plus under the shop propane tank. If we get another good day tomorrow, I’ll mix more and see what damage I can do.

I’m really happy with the KillsAll spray. (Thank you, Cathy)  I can TELL where the spray has been effective the last time I sprayed. I can TELL I’m making progress and not wasting my time. Hooray!

I plan  to keep at this until all is under reasonable control. I am the “Maniacal Weed Killer.” Hear me roar!

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May 7, 2017 · 1:52 pm

Did IT!

 

This is our new-to-us riding mower. My husband put a different, more serious muffler on it, but it’s still really loud.

Since he is recovering from 1st-eye cataract surgery, we decided that “I” should handle the mowing and the weed whacking until further notice. (Or about the middle of June, I think).

We keep the mower in the shop. I asked my husband to show me again how to check that there is enough gas, the oil level,  plus which levers did what again, since this is not my strong suit. I was then able to put it into reverse, get it out of the shop, turn it around and start riding toward the yard. I got the blades going after determining grass cut height.

It took me a good hour, since I put the speed on the lowest available for quite awhile until I felt more comfortable. I also told my husband I would weed whack the outer edges of the ‘civilized’ area along our back yard because the mower really leaned and I wasn’t comfortable with that at all.

I got the front, side, and back area mowed, plus the area between the driveway and our trio of brick planters, plus the area between the driveway pad and the shop, drove it back into the shop and turned it of.. HOORAY!

I didn’t run into anything. I didn’t dump myself off with the mower on top of me. I started to feel more comfortable this time.

I’m drinking water and taking a break, but feeling empowered. After I cool down, I’ll get out the leaf blower and clean things up.

AllGraphics123/com

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January 5, 2017 · 1:51 pm

Feeling Empowered

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I know absolutely nothing about programming or how computers work. A couple of weeks ago, the program I use to be able to make changes on my website, Creative Artworks, wouldn’t come up. Trying not to panic, I tried everything I knew how to do, including rebooting the computer, and nothing worked.

My son is in Thailand, but we can chat through a program. I told him what my problem was. He led me through getting a terminal session on my computer, then finding the program he needed, then running a program, then checking to see if my program came up. It did!  He told me to keep the terminal session open. I did, but one night, when I couldn’t sleep, I came into the office and decided that I would copy the whole terminal session into a Mac program called NOTES. I copied and pasted it, and then went through to get the commands he had me type into the session and I put those at the top of the notes. I did this because sometimes my Mac reboots after adding updates. If it did, or I had to reboot because the computer went wonky, I would lose the terminal session.

Today my computer simply froze. I had to reboot. As I thought, I lost the terminal session. :0(  I checked, and my program wouldn’t come up – the same as last time. :0(

Instead of panicking, I went to the NOTES program. I brought up a terminal session, and carefully typed in the commands at the top. Then I went back to my access program and hit, “retry.” IT CAME UP AND IS WORKING!!!!

HOOOOOOOORAAAAAAY!

I’m so grateful that I have a smart son who came help me, using a chat program, patiently walking me through the problem. I’m thankful that my sleeplessness resulted in my copying what we did to fix the situation into my NOTES program. I’m thankful that it worked!

I don’t have to bother my busy son, who is across the world (12 hour time difference.).

I LOVE it when I can FIX the problem myself!!!!!!

clipartkid

clipartkid

 

 

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