Random This and That



The little cat Smog is feeling much better. Robb and I realize that we have to be vigilant about his diet, because if he gets "off his feed" it could at best cost us a lot of money, and at worst kill him. The hair on his legs is growing back, from where they shaved him to give him an I.V. Smog has a beautiful coat, but with his scrawny shaved legs, and luxuriously furry feet and ankles, he looks like he is wearing Ugg boots.

And Robb and I are still dragging around with the remnants of our tenacious colds.

I went in for an MRI last week, to see if someone could pinpoint the weirdo health problems I've been having. While my brain is just fine (thank goodness) it turns out that I have a sinus infection.

I've got a couple of thoughts about this: First, I'm betting that I've had this sinus infection for months, and that it is the reason I've been sick so much, and it may explain my general lack of energy. Maybe I'm moping around the house because of a nagging infection, and not because I'm slipping into a black depression. I'm choosing to assign almost magical properties to the antibiotics I'm starting today. I'm going to believe that when they cure my sinus infection, I'm going to have loads of pep and drive, and quit mooching around like a slacky-pants.

My second thought is that it seems like massive overkill to diagnose a sinus infection via MRI. Rather like killing a mosquito with a sledge hammer, and a wildly expensive sledge hammer at that.

Our winter vegetables are almost finished. We're still eating beet greens, and the world's least impressive leeks are being harvested a little at a time. If they're not going to get any bigger, then fine. We'll just eat them as nibbles, instead of bites. We actually ate store bought kale for the first time in who-knows-how-long. It was tough and old. Unfortunately my seedling kale all dropped dead. I need to start another batch. My seedling beets seem to be sulking, they're not growing, but they're also not dying.

I can't remember if I mentioned that my experiments in plum tree grafting have continued to flourish, and that several more of the little twiggy scions have sprouted leaves. Some of those leaves look at bit tentative, but at the moment, we've gotten viable grafts of Inca, Laroda, Elephant Heart, and Shiro. The aphids are still attacking the plum, but both Robb and I have seen ladybug larvae, hunting aphids.

Our persimmon tree is in full bloom. These flowers (pictured above) are not "pretty" like most fruit blossoms. I doubt that anyone got nostalgic or misty-eyed about persimmon blossoms. I like them. They're freaky looking, and kind of waxy or fleshy. If looks are to be believed, we're going to have a huge persimmon crop.

Or maybe not. The plum is shedding fruit, which I assume is normal. I think that the tree will hang onto only as many fruits as it can handle. I just wish I could find a use for all of these unripe plums.

Comments

Mel said…
I Understand the wish to assign mythicial proportion properties of "once this is better, I will feel better overall." Two things have happened this year that are actually kind of working for me that way: hysterectomy in November, goodbye fruit-basket sized problems in my core, and 2, my chiropractor said, "you have flat feet." He fitted me for custom orthotic insole things, and They.Are.Amazing. No more foot/ankle/shin pain constantly. My back goes out of wack less, too.

So, where I am going with this, is, YES, I hope getting the sinus thing resolved helps. It calls to my mind my college prof Barby's horror story of a colleague of her's on 'Sesame St On Ice' costume duty. The guy refused to wear a dust mask, Mr. "Oh I don't need that." And then eventually they had to somehow (ick) remove a substantial wad of blue Grover fur that had built up and gotten packed in there and was giving him constant sinus infections.

I know you are much more careful with all sorts of protective measures, and I hope the sinus infection cure works good overall miracles for you!

Also, as if this is not long enough, a link to these, which my friend Olivia Raved over: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/baked-kale-chips/Detail.aspx
Anonymous said…
I'm happy to hear that you are all getting better. and you will know for sure if it was the infection that made you feel lack of energy when it is gone:)

what a wonderful experience your plum tree grafting:) Fresh plums tastes wonderful:)
Kristen said…
I heart green flowers. Don't know why, but I find them delightful, almost like a secret between you and the plant. I uploaded a neat one from Kew Gardens on the Book of Face a few weeks ago.

Was the sinus infection giving you vertigo or migraines? Do you get to keep pictures of your brain? (I didn't get to keep my shattered wisdom teeth after their extraction, a fact which continues to annoy me.)

Also, my spinach suddenly dropped dead this week. Kersplat. I think I might have gotten some salt in their pots when I was sprinkling for slugs. (Snails, slugs, and aphids are absolutely awful this year, despite the fact that it rained once in April and we got a 30-second sprinkling yesterday.

Glad to hear Smoggy is doing better. Did the act of eating something he killed outside make him ill?
Sue KuKu said…
Two things:

1) I'm so glad Smog is doing better. Your description of him is hilarious and I'm sure I'm not the only one wanting PICTURES! (BTW, doesn't it break your heart when your cat has its legs shaved at the vet? It did mine.)

2) I always read your blogs and love them. I just had to mention that your phrase, "quit mooching around like a slacky-pants" really tickled me and made me grin!
Anonymous said…
I think I can date a lot of your health issues back to when you got Hepatitus C. (Sp?) That threw you off and will for a good long while. Unfortunately, nothing feels good about it. And we are getting older and belong to a group of people who say to ourselves "Gotta get the work done, I'll sleep when I'm dead." You work in a field that takes a large toll on you.

I have to make efforts to watch out for my own health and scale back my idea of what I can get done, and eventually I return back to health and get chugging along. Glad you got the MRI done. I have asthma now and I have to deal with it, cause NOT dealing with it will kill me. I don't understand why I have been breathing all y life and now its some "special thing" I have to pay attention to, but if I want to live I better do it. Consider taking care of your health like a new skill to learn, thats what I'm trying to do. I have always ignored my illnesses and tried to work thru them, and now I'm stuck with the result. Lots of outside work, extended camping, ignored chronic Bronchitis, ignored pneumonia, etc- results in asthma.
Now I have an inhaler and feel close to a human being again. And I love the outdoors and cant even go out- it stinks! I'm wearing a mask inside the house even, till this pollen crap clears out, and hopefully I'll get better.

good luck to you two- Annalisa
Glad to here that Smoggie has improved. Sorry about the sinus infection though...they can be persistent and especially nasty. Hopefully once it's under control though you'll feel a LOT better.
wassamatta_u said…
I know, I know... all the wonderful information about sinus infections and plums and persimmon flowers and grafting and poor little Sm-ugg, and still my favorite part about your blog is "slacky-pants". I believe I will need to use that in a conversation very soon.
Cinderellen said…
Nagging sinus infections can manifest in all kinds of odd ways. My daughter's recurring and persistent infection made the lymph nodes one one side (only) of her body swell up and made her exhausted even when the usual (and unusual) headaches were not present. It took a while to get the problem identified.

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