Sunday again and the garden is a right mess of a jungle. I was going to spend some time in it this morning but got distracted by the Olympics women’s road race. We don’t have a television at my house and the one station with US broadcast rights does not let anyone watch online without a cable password. We tried to subcribe to an online TV service and then found out in the process that the subscription does not include Olympics coverage. Humph. Thanks to the marvels of technology, we found out about a service called Tunnel Bear that perfectly legally routed our internet connection so it looks like we are in Canada. I therefore got the pleasure of watching the road race on CBC which is streaming the Olympics for free. Woo!
And it was a great race too. My heart stopped and tears sprang to my eyes though near the end of the race on a steep and technical descent to watch as Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten hit a wet spot on the road and went over her handlbars and into the kerb head first. Reports are she is in stable condition, conscious and able to communicate. I very much hope she will be ok.
Speaking of cycling accidents, no I have not had a new one, I went to the dentist Friday for a check on my teeth. It has been eight weeks since I landed on my face and in all that time I have not been able to bite anything with my front teeth. The two top front teeth are still a bit sensitive but continue to improve, just not as quickly as I had hoped. Nonetheless, I thought the dentist might at least say I could bite soft things like a banana. Nope. Until the sensitivity is completely gone I am not allowed to bite anything. And once I can bite again I am to begin with soft things only and work my way up. It looks like I will not be eating corn-on-the-cob this summer. I will have to cut the corn off like I remember my grandpa doing. Oh well. Something to look forward to next summer.
I made an interesting observation over these eight weeks. Friends, acquaintences and the dentist have all asked me whether I have ridden my bike since the accident. Of course I have! I would say and then think to myself, why wouldn’t I? And sometimes the person asking the question would continue, looking surprised, and say s/he would be terrified to get back on the bike after that. And all I could say was, oh, and be a bit baffled about why they would be afraid. In case you are in the camp of my questioners and wonder why or how, I posted an extended answer at Vocalis last week. (I hope to have an essay by Bookman up in the next few days!)
I haven’t been able to get out for any long rides for the last two weekends — though I have done some hard interval training indoors — Bookman’s birthday and then yesterday I had lunch with a couple friends I have not seen in several months. I have my course mapped out for next weekend already, a ride north on the Mississippi River Trail to Elk River — another river confluence! — that will come out somewhere around 95 miles/ 153 km. Pancake sandwich ahead!
Closer to home and in the garden, it’s beans, beans, beans! The rattlesnake pole beans have turned out to be great. They never did all that well before because I admit, I neglected them for the corn and pumpkins they were planted with. But this year they are planted against some trellis netting along the back of a bed and in the front is bush beans. Happiness is fresh beans from the garden.
Happiness is also cherries. I picked the rest of the bush cherries and wow, there is a lot. We will have enough for a pie and leftovers to dry and put in cereal. I just have to finish pitting all of them. It is not hard work with a handy cherry pitting tool, but it is kind of tedious standing at the sink, pitting one cherry at a time. The results are worth it though.
Last weekend we weeded the green roof and, in order to keep more weeds from growing we seeded some annual ground cover, winter rye. All week we have had a super abundance of birds in the garden, many of them clustering around the green roof. It finally dawned on us the other day that they are all eating the rye seed! Yup. So much for the ground cover strategy.
I also seeded a veg bed with a winter lettuce mix, some bush peas (I have never tried these before), fava beans (never had these before either), carrots, radish, and a green called mache (also new to me). Instead of carefully planting in rows I went for the scatter method since that seems to be the most successful sprouting method this year. I spied a pea sprout today, a good sign!
Ok, here’s the good stuff today. Bookman was able to catch Marianne on camera jumping on my back. It took a while to get there and Bookman’s camerawork is at times questionable, so if you just want to skip ahead, go to the 4:20 mark or there abouts. Be warned however, the video verges on PG-13 as there is excrement invovled. And just a reminder, Marianne, she’s the one with the white head (and I am sort of worried she might be a Colonel Brandon), Mrs. Dashwood is black with the white speckles (can you see her comb and wattle?), Margaret is the all black one and Elinor is the red-brown one. If you turn up the sound, you will also hear they now longer make sweet peeping noises.
She’s definitely king of the castle! I’ve also been stuck at the sink picking through raspberries prior to making jam, very tedious but the jam is great. I’ve been watching the cycling too, there have been a lot of crashes. I hope your teeth are back to normal soon.
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piningforthewest, yes she is and so proud of it too! Raspberries are definitely worth the effort. And thanks! My teeth could have been so much worse I am thankful it is only an annoyance at this point.
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Look at Marianne! She looks so proud of herself up there! Thank you SO MUCH for capturing this on film. It’s everything I wanted it to be. 😀
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Jenny, so glad we finally got it on film. Bookman’s presence had always been a distraction but this time around she didn’t seem to care he was there. Glad you enjoyed it!
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It is funny to see a chicken standing on your back! I used to have a cat that liked to do that.
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Jeanne, Marianne is the only who does it and she clearly enjoys it which cracks me up. My mom had a cat who liked to sit on her shoulder. Makes me wonder what animals who like to do that are thinking and what they find so appealing about it 🙂
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That is so cute! I’m glad you finally caught her on camera. Now they’re making those soft, soothing chicken noises I love.
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I thought she was going to peck you ! That was a huge crash in that bike race and I’m glad the rider is OK. No Olympic paywall over here- more wall to wall TV coverage! Some of the BBC commentaries have been far too jingoistic for my taste.
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Ian, hehe, sometimes she will peck the clip in my hair or pull my hair but most of the time she just hangs out looking around and talking up a storm. Hmm, we could route our connection through the UK and watch BBC but the Canadian announcers were pretty good, at least for the bike race. We’ll see how they do with other sports soon!
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Yes, free Olympics here too – abut three free TV channels and a free app on the iPad on which I believe you can pretty much watch any sport. Jingoism is a problem but there are a few sports I like to watch so put up with it as best I can!
Video playing up for me – so far I’ve only managed 40 secs and then if stops (three times now) – maybe I’ve hit YOUR paywall Stefanie!
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whisperinggums, maybe I should try streaming via Australia 🙂
Blame YouTube! I hope you got it to work and I hope it was worth the time!
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It refused for half an hour or more but if I moved the bar I could fnd spots, like Marianne on your back, and it would play a few seconds then clag again. I did manage to see the pooping! But then it stopped again!
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I’m glad it finally worked a little and that you got to see the “best” part 😀
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Joan, I am glad too! She cracks me up. Sometimes those soft sounds are rather loud and insistent. They really have an interesting vocal range and like to talk to you if you address them directly.
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Ha, too funny! Is she (or maybe he…) the only one who will take the leap? They are so big now! Your garden is coming along nicely (yum for the cherries!). Well, it is hard to keep all the animals from thinking you are doing all the seeding and growing for them, isn’t it!
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Danielle, yup, Marianne is the only one who jumps on my back, none of the others are remotely interested though they will look at her sometimes like what are you doing up there? You know, it didn’t enter my mind that the birds might like rye seeds, when we seeded the roof we had predictions of heavy rains the next day and all I was concerned about was the seed washing away. Oh those critters!
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Sorry to hear that you are taking a while to heal fro your accident. I am glad to hear that you are healing.
It is great that you have continued to ride your bike since the accident.
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Brian Joseph, thanks! It could have been worse so I am grateful it wasn’t. I know someone who was in a similar accident and broke her elbow!
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Oh I’m sorry to hear about your accident and your teeth!! Glad they’ll get better even if it’s taking a while. Heh I’ve done horse riding for most of my life, so getting back on is the most important thing!😃 Glad I got back in time to see Marianne’s trick! She’s a funny and bold one!
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Thanks Bina! It will all be better eventually. Agreed, as with horses, getting back on is very important 🙂 Glad you enjoyed Marianne’s trick. She is a character!
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So adorable — I love your chickens and the cute sounds they make! Our cats (Sunny & Sherry, they’re brothers) both jump on our backs, too (my husband and I) — apparently they think bending over to pick up something off the floor is an invitation for a horsey ride.
Sorry to hear that your teeth haven’t gotten better enough to chew yet, I hope they’ll be better soon.
And good for you for not having a television set — so much more time for your bike rides and reading and tending the garden!
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Lynda, thanks! They are a lot of fun and their sounds can be really expressive. Your cats sound like a hoot! Teeth are getting better, just taking longer than I had hoped. I haven’t had a TV in years which amusingly confuses people when they find out 🙂
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I thoroughly enjoyed this video! (Sorry about the poop, though.) What interesting sounds chickens make! I’m a city gal, no exposure to chickens IRL.
I hope you can soon bite into all sorts of produce with your front teeth!
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Laila, glad you enjoyed the video! And poo happens 🙂 I’ve not been around chickens before and so am both surprised and delighted by their sounds and how expressive they can be. I am very impatient but hopefully it won’t be too much longer before I can begin biting again!
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I thought I was the only one in the world without Television and trying to discover ways to watch Olympics via the Internet! ROFL! I am sorry to hear there is still sensitivity in your teeth, but like you said, there will be something to look forward to next summer. Great video!
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cirtnecce, heh, since i found a really helpful article on the internet about how to watch the Olympics streaming online, I suspect there are a good many people like us 🙂 I think I am most surprised that it isn’t easier to do in this streaming day and age. Doctors can only guess how long it will take to heal but it is getting better even if it is slower than I would like. Glad you enjoyed the video!
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I do hope you are able to bite into harder food soon. That is such a bummer but yay, you for getting back on the bike. My husband has had a couple of accidents – he collided with a car once and flew over the car’s hood. He got banged up but even rode to his bike to work that day! I would probably be one of those fearful people but accidents can happen anywhere that’s for sure. That poor Dutch cyclist. I felt so bad for her but it sounds like she’s doing well. Now, off to watch that Marianne do her trick!
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Iliana, thanks! My teeth continue to get better but just not as fast I want them to! I know someone who had an accident similar to mine and she broke her elbow so I consider myself lucky! Oh ouch, your husband! Glad he was ok after that!
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Oh and re teeth. At least winter is soup time! That should work, eh? And nice soft apple crumbles/crisps?
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hopefully my teeth will be better before winter! They continue to improve so I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed!
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