Morning all! I slept ALL NIGHT LONG. That's been needed for some time.
Today we are to get Tropical Depression Cristobal. My area is marked to receive 4+ inches more if there are thunderstorms as part of it. Gale force winds too. Can I just say I am not a coastal state and I don't like deluges? Jeanne and Pepper batten down too! Stay safe. We'll have to compare tomorrow's damage.
Thomas: I'm sorry about the meter. Are you using the same finger to test? Sometimes that can affect your outcome. On a different test my hubs donates blood and when they do an iron check his left hand is always close to low/can't donate and his right hand is always fine. Weird right? So he's gotten to say to them just check the right side. Maybe see if your other hand does better? Unless you have one of those you wear on your body (no clue on that) but I will say endocrine is a weird science. I have my own endo issues and the phrase I like to use is yes there is a standard for numbers but what is normal for your own body may not be what isTHE normal. My endo agrees after I've been her patient for so long what's normal for a chart may not be normal for myself. With my issue it's keeping me low and .5 either way+/- I feel like crap. That's how tight my fight is to be normal. So I hope you can get yours figured out. Do you just need a new meter? Or have you been lax in good storage for your strips? And sad to say, but has your strip manufacture made any changes either domestic or foreign? For me if I go on the generic it wreaks havoc for me horribly but again a different underlying issue. Just a thought to noodle. If you were fine all along and just of late had issue that could be part of your problem. Final thought, check and see if there is a recall on your strips or meter. That can happen too and clinics don't ever let you know or are. Always abreast of these issues.
My coworker uses food grade diatomaceous earth for slugs/snails all pests she doesn't want. Read up on it. It scores their under bellies and they die. It's crushed oyster shells I believe or something similar. I got mine at fleetfarm but haven't used it yet. I think she said she also uses it in her Outside animals water. Not sure on that one though.
Lesson on black walnuts: they produce juglone. Juglone is a poison to a lot of plants, bushes and shrubs. Read up:
https://www.extension.iastate....
It wreaked havoc on my garden and threatened some of my bushes. I felt bad taking out a tree but I wanted things to grow here. And it doesn't help that the darn squirrels are always planting me new future trees to keep me on my toes.
In my area there are a ton of black locusts, poplars and black walnuts. Yeah for a tiny river that spreads wide when it floods. Yeah for crazy squirrels who find the need to be gardeners or arborists as well!
Amanda: are you getting the deluge right at present? How are the winds? Stay safe!
Jeanne: keep me posted as the rains come. I've got to go to the big river city today for clinic And then hurry home and take the kid to ortho in a different location but all while going through high areas known for flooding or the mudslides that are now becoming more common.
Thanks for the iris info to you and Amanda. That's all super helpful.
What do you plan to make with your rhubarb?
AM: I need to get ready for the day and then bring in my flag, take down the umbrella, pull down the hanging pots and one deck rail planter. The rest will have to do ok on their own. I never did get the bean trellis up and I'm not going to worry on it in case there is a horrid mess to cleanup tomorrow. Just saying I better not loose power! I have about 200 lbs of meat yet in my freezer. Grrrr.
And maybe the storm will peter out. Who am I kidding?!
Happy day all, I'm off to go build our ark.
