When I got home yesterday afternoon, I walked the garden. It needs a little tending… some weeding here and there, and some pruning. I was excited to see that my dragon lily plant is blooming. The plant got really big this year because it was warm early, then cooled again. Usually, spring gets hot quickly and the dragon lily withers. Since the plant is so big, I have multiple flowers. Woo hoo! And apparently, they’ve already been open a couple of days, because they didn’t smell like rotting meat. Woo hoo! Maybe if they’re still blooming tomorrow, I’ll try cutting one of the flowers and putting it in a vase for Bible study night.
I went to the doctor a couple weeks ago because I was so tired all the time. He had a hard time coming up with ideas for what it might be about, so he sent me for a bunch of tests. The blood tests were about ten days ago. I expect the write-up to arrive in the mail any day now. The doctor also ordered a stress test for my heart, and a breathing test. I did the breathing test yesterday.
I wish I could have taken a picture of the machine, but I was never alone in the room with it, and I wasn’t brave enough to ask the technician if I could take a quick picture. The test consisted of me breathing into a tube. I would breath slow, then fast. Shallow, then deep. Then hold my breath. Then empty out all the air I could possibly squeeze from my lungs, then quickly inhale. The machine measured, resisted, pumped gasses into my lungs, and sucked them out. It was most certainly less relaxing than an ultrasound or MRI.
But the results were pleasing: The woman said: “You move air wonderfully, no matter how it’s measured. Are you a runner? Do you swim?” I told her that I sing. Who knew singing could be so good for your lungs? I have healthy lungs! Yay! But I still don’t know if there is a physical reason I’m so tired. Maybe the blood results will show something. Or maybe it’s just stress.
Every day on my way to school, I pass a brick building with blocked up windows and metal doors. It’s weird, because it’s just right in the middle of a residential area. The signs say something about an electrical substation. But just what is an electrical substation anyway? And I don’t see any big electrical poles or wires around the building. I can’t help but wonder if something else is going on. Is this the secret entrance to a shadow government agency?
I took a walk yesterday and had an opportunity to get a little closer:
I cleaned my pond yesterday. The warm spring has let the algae get ahead of the other pond plants. But it’s weakening. The other pond plants are actively growing now, and are sucking the nutrients out of the water. That leaves nothing for the algae, and it starves to death.
On Thursday when I came home, my new Panama Pacific waterlily had been dislodged from its pot. I think it was just the two-year-old girl from two houses down. She likes to dip the leaf-skimming net into the water. It was an honest mistake.
But then yesterday morning when I went out to clean the pond, there was a fish-catching net lying near the pond. Did someone kidnap some of my fish? Yes. Yes, they did. My biggest fish is gone. It was a bright orange one. I think others are gone as well. I didn’t do a count, but the fish I see all seem too small. Someone took all my big goldfish.
Not all my fish are gone, though, so at least there’s that.
When I cleaned this time, I pulled out a lot of the anacharis plants that were growing in the main pool. The clump was becoming monstrous.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
My lawn is made up of many things besides grass. One of the big ingredients right now is clover, and it’s in full bloom. I think it’s beautiful!
As I was standing there admiring it, I noticed a lot of movement. The clover was covered with honey bees. So now I have to leave it. I decided to take a picture of a bee to share here, and when I got closer to the ground I could smell the clover. It was sweet and delicious. How could anyone not like clover? Maybe I shouldn’t try to get rid of the clover in my lawn. Maybe I should try to get rid of the grass!
