Squirrelscaping

Last week I saw a strange shape in my garden. When I went out to investigate, I found this:

Something or someone had dug up one of my onions.

Even though several different types of animals can get into the garden, I knew exactly which something/someone was responsible.

The squirrels are the critters that have their own ideas about where plants should be and where holes should be. And where nothing but shredded remains should be. I call their activity “squirrelscaping.”

This next photo shows the hill where I planted four pumpkin seeds.

Now there are three pumpkin seedlings and a big crater. Hmmmm. I wonder where the fourth seed went? This is especially maddening because I’ve offered the little rascals pumpkin seeds and they always reject them.

A few days after finding my unplanted onion, I found one of my tomato plants tipped over with a big hole in the pot next to it. GRRRRR!

Then I found something that really pissed me off.

For weeks, I’d been waiting for my Carolina Reaper seeds to germinate. Finally, from a second planting, one did. I was so excited! I took it to show my son, Daniel, who is the hot pepper enthusiast of the family. And, stupidly, carelessly, I forgot to put the pot back in our little temporary greenhouse. The next day, I found this:

The empty pot and the tag. No sign of the soil or pepper plant. WTH?

I was furious…but mostly with myself for leaving the doomed pepper out. I mean, how could I be mad at this:

They’re so cute!

But it’s not just my stuff they’re messing with. Don came back in from the garden last night and said, “I officially hate your squirrels!” One of them had gnawed off a branch of one of the new blueberry bushes he just planted. GRRRR! Why, little rats, why?!?!  Their destruction is so random. At least we know what to expect from our other garden “helpers.” Gary could, and probably will, step, roll or pee on any plant growing directly in the ground.

And there’s no telling where Gemma’s next cooling hole might be.

We bought a greenhouse kit but haven’t got it set up yet. I’m worried we won’t have any plants left by the time it’s done!

 

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There’s Something About Gary

This dog. I don’t even know where to start describing him. He’s so very…Gary.

Everything he does, he’s all in, whether it’s trying to chase a squirrel or rabbit while dragging us along on the leash, barking in our faces to bully us into taking him for a walk, begging for food, being a big clown or loving.

He’s so full of love. He stares at us with absolute, pure love in his eyes. He loves to be cuddled and petted and kissed and talked to. It makes it impossible to be mad at him, even after a rough walk like this morning’s. There were rabbits and squirrels everywhere and he tried to chase them all before dragging me along to try to get to the next one as quickly as possible. He’s a handful. But then we got home and he looked at me with a look that said, “I love you SO much and this is the best day EVER!” and my irritation with him just evaporated.

Ever since he finished his breakfast he’s been following me around with a look that says, “what’s next?” He has high expectations for the day, for some reason. It’s going to be a very Gary day. But that’s okay because there’s just something about Gary that makes every little thing more fun.

 

Jinxed. Thanks, Mom

Sixteen days ago, my mom asked me how my migraines had been. I answered that they had been much better the past few months but, silently, I groaned. Why did she have to ask me that? I was enjoying only have a few migraines per month but I really didn’t want to talk about it because as soon as I say, or even think about, how I haven’t had something painful for awhile, that something returns.

And, sure enough, the next day I woke up with a migraine. And I woke up with a migraine every day for the next thirteen days after that. The past two days have been kind of iffy as well. I can feel a migraine lurking. All it will take is a trigger to set it off. Unfortunately, pretty much all it takes to trigger a migraine for me is leaving my house. People’s smelly perfumes and laundry detergents, headlights from cars, fluorescent lights in stores and offices and all the movement and reflections from cars on the road is all it takes to trigger my migraines when the potential for one is there.

And even more disappointing than having frequent migraines return, is the kind of migraine they’ve been with the weird visual symptoms and what I call “migraine brain.” I’d rather have just a regular old painful as hell migraine than wacky vision and migraine brain. Seriously, the neurological symptoms are more debilitating than the pain. For awhile I had migraines that hurt all over my body and I was actually relieved to feel that way instead of crazy and completely wacked-out.

When I have migraine brain, I don’t want to talk to anybody or be around anybody because I can’t talk right. I can’t remember anything to tell anyone and I can’t find the right word for things. I’ll say or think three or four different words that start with f-r before coming up with the word freezer, even with that freezer standing right in front of me. I can’t count, I can’t write, I can’t find anything I’m looking for because I can’t remember what I’m looking for while I’m looking for it.

I spent much of the last two years feeling this way.

In 2018, I had 152 days with migraine symptoms. It seemed like even more because I never knew when the migraines were going to hit. I was afraid to drive or sometimes even go anywhere if someone else was driving.

The migraines started to decrease in frequency last August after I started using progesterone cream. Then they decreased more when I started using maca powder.  Since February, when I started a plant-based diet, I had only had very few mild migraines. I thought I’d found the answer.

Nope. Apparently not.

Dammit.

I’m not going to accept that this is my new normal again though. My allergies are really bad right now, so sinus pressure could be triggering the migraines. Also, my neck has felt really messed up for the past couple of weeks, so that could be a cause as well.

I’m working on creating a good tracker for migraine symptoms and I’ll track them and see how I do for the next few weeks. If they continue, it’s back to the doctor to find another horrible medication with awful side effects to try.

I found this … ah, hell, I can’t think of what it’s called but it seems to have a good list of symptoms because I have most of these. Increased need to urinate – who would’ve thought that was a sign of impending migraine? But it explains that night I was up twice during the night to pee. And food cravings – it explains that week I couldn’t think about anything except food!

If I’m doomed to experience frequent migraines again, I can at least make it interesting by studying and tracking it. 🙂