Saturday, May 1, 2010

Spring Fever....

...may have struck me in more ways than one. I have been pretty sick with what I thought was just allergies but now figure more likely to have been a probable sinus infection. Along with the sinus thing I had muscle and joint aches and pains and a fever the past few days. Started mildly with aches on Tuesday, had me feeling terrible on Wednesday and Thursday but I kept going. That was until yesterday when I took off from work because on Thursday night I had a recorded fever up to 101.5 and I figure it probably hit around at least 103 based on how hard I was shivering when I awoke in the middle of the night. My teeth were chattering so hard I figured it best not to try to use the mercury filled glass thermometer between them.

I am feeling much better today though still somewhat under the weather. I am sort of , my sinuses still ache as do my joints and muscles but I was well enough to head out to Home Depot where that other type of spring fever hit me. Once there I headed straight to the garden department. Much to my dismay, by this time of the spring, they no longer sell flats of started tomato plants and I had to settle for individually potted plants. That went for almost every plant I bought. Usually I buy my tomatoes and most other plants by earl to mid April and have them planted by then. No such luck this year since I only got home from Phoenix on the 17th (which was a Saturday and meant that weekend was virtually shot for stuff like this). Last weekend I just did not get it done. Today - Home Depot was mobbed.

Despite the crowd, I was able to maneuver pretty deftly and pick up what I needed with ease. I facilitated my shopping by planting my cart out of the way and leaving it there, then walking back and forth to it with items I got off the shelves; that was after I had put 6 bags of manure and one huge bag of potting soil onto it. In all I spent $103. I picked up two 18 pot flats of Petunias, 1 flat of Marigolds, 1 potted African Daisy, a pot of started Straight neck Squash (they did not have our favorite - Butternut Squash), a few tomato plants, a pepper plant or two and some parsley and sweet basil. There selection was somewhat lacking but during other years I shop for the garden starting in April and go through part of May instead of trying to get it all in one day so some things they probably had in April are no longer available and other may still be yet to come. After Home Depot I stopped at a local garden center and bought another tomato plant and two Portuguese hot pepper plants.

Once home I unloaded the car with my daughter's help. The whole deal, driving - shopping - unloading, took me 2 hours and 15 minutes and I am now pooped. I guess I am still really run down from whatever it was that ailed me. So for now, I am taking it easy. I'll kill and hour or two and then it will be out in the garden for me. Bushes need trimming, the lawn needs cleaning up and mowing, the vegetable gardens needs to be turned, have the composted manure added, and then have the plants planted, pots need refilling and petunias need to be potted and on and on.

All the best,
Glenn B