days_unfolding

Hmm. Hibiscus is safe for pets. I’d love a container or two of them. But I’d have to winter it over indoors. I wonder if I could suspend a grow light from the basement ceiling? I’d like bougainvillea also. Hmm, it's mildly toxic to dogs. (I do have to worry because Bella eats plants.) On Lowe's site, I found a long grow light with a fixture to hang it from and a timer. That would work.

Now I’m thinking of a retractable awning for my patio-to-be so that I can grow plants on the patio. But I want it to be rainproof. Hmm.

I think that I cracked the dog code. Bella was refusing to come in the kitchen. I couldn’t figure it out, but then it occurred to me that it might be that the ceiling fan was on? I turned it off, and then she came in.

Got up at 7 AM with my alarm. Took an ice-cold shower, which sucked. I need to clear some stuff off of the basement stairs, and then I'll call Ameren to fix the hot-water heater. Lily, Oliver, and Bella attended my shower. Lily is a climber; she was at the top of the shelves in the laundry area of the bathroom.

It’s another gray and rainy day. I’m looking forward to my lunchtime nap.

I got a little money from my check. Placed a grocery order, including cat food and cat litter, and a Costco order for dog food.

Another thing to do in retirement: make printables in Canva and sell them on etsy.

I attended a webinar about the non-financial aspects of retirement, and the speaker gave a list of thought-provoking questions. It was very interesting. I took tons of notes. He said that people spend a lot of time thinking about money and where to live, but not the other aspects. I requested What Color Is Your Parachute in Retirement? from the library. I was able to get Purposeful Retirement for free with Kindle Unlimited, so I'll read it now.

Holy cow! I received a ton of plants for my garden. One set was the coral bells for my shade garden, but I think that the rest is tickseed? Maybe bee balm?

Tried to nap but couldn’t sleep. I think that the excitement about my garden kept me awake. I need to expand a garden bed, so I need to charge the tiller.

Got my food. Yay. I no longer have to eat Ramen and canned food. (That reminds me that I should replenish my stash though.) And the cats have food and litter. I need to get more litter when I get more money though. (All the boxes need to be changed out, and I have three jugs of litter.)

The Ameren guy came by and turned the pilot light on the water heater back on and told me how to light it myself in case it goes out again. The furnace is working.

Geesh. The rain is coming down in buckets. I don't think that I'll be able to plant my new plants today.

Hmm. There were a series of attempted vehicle thefts on campus that sound a lot like what happened to my car. They are targeting Kia and Hyundai cars.

Took Bella out, but it was pouring, so she noped out onto the porch.

Someone working on the slides for the presentation at work tomorrow told me of a change that I needed to make. I had to wait until he unlocked the file though, so I left work early with the plan that I would log on tonight. Meant to sleep for two hours but slept four.

The dog and cats were hungry and in my face. Fed us all. (I eat last so that they’re more likely to let me be.)

Found a new social group to try: the Illinois Club.

Oh crud. I forgot to buy napkins.

Okay, tweaked my slides and practiced the presentation. Wow, I'm going to be talking a lot!

I think that I'll post, take Bella out one more time, and go back to sleep.