Sunday, April 11, 2021

Life is getting interesting around here

Things can change in a hurry.

Mrs ERJ's sister and her husband had some recent health issues. For the sake of privacy and simplicity, both have vertigo and need somebody to assist them, do the laundry and shopping and such.

So, as soon as Mrs ERJ is cleared from Kubota's Covid-induced isolation, she will be winging off to an un-named state for a month.

Covid

Kubota was sure he was cured. He got nose-swabbed again Friday and ...... NOPE. Still has it.

I get my second Moderna shot Tuesday and don't expect to be worth much on Wednesday.

Grafting schedule is light this year. I am doing some small, fussy things but nothing in the twenty-to-five-hundred range like other years. One apple seedling got topped with Kerr to give me a back-up tree in case my main tree croaks. Kerr is a niche player but it fills that niche very, very well.

M-26 fruit

I topped out another super-coldhardy variety called Trailman. Kerr always produced five times as much fruit as Trailman. Just for giggles I grafted in a couple of twigs of a rootstock called M-26. According to the USDA-GRIN site, M-26 almost has edible fruit with 14% sugar and reasonable size.

M-26 is horribly susceptible to fireblight and collar rot but is resistant to winter cold and as a late-bloomer should be able to avoid some spring frosts. Trailman tips the scale at 17% sugar and is considered moderately resistant to fireblight and I have no information about collar rot. Trailman is a very early bloomer and survived actual, measured -50 F.

They might not ever "get together" due to the differences in bloom time but the possibility entertains me.

5 comments:

  1. this will sound odd. My mother in law had what could be described as vertigo and was sent to P.T. They claimed this was problems with the "crystals" in her inner ear. This sounded like so much B.S. to me however after a few treatments to realign the crystals her problems seemed to be much improved. This should not be thought of as medical advice for obvious reasons

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for piping up.

      My mom had the same or similar. A couple of weeks of the PT made her right-as-rain.

      Sis-in-law is dealing with neuro-muscular issues. The last face-plant broke a collar bone or a wrist, so it now includes skeletal as well.

      It sucks to get older.

      Delete
  2. And yet as the saying goes"beats the alternative" You live and(hopefully) learn. As an example I do all the cooking around here. On occasion I have been hit by grease spit. It hits an arm or front of torso and no big deal as it will heal . A few weeks ago one of those hot spits hit an eyelid. I had seen dirt cheap close out "safety" glasses for less than a buck at a store near me and hauled my behind there and got a couple pair. I doubt these are good enough to be doing real work, but am pretty sure they'll stop a spit of cooking oil. I never thought of cooking as hazardous but I'd rather look like a goof than screw up an eye.

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    Replies
    1. Are they Z87+ rated?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_eyewear#Performance_standards

      If they are, then you are good-to-go

      Delete
  3. Lmao, they come with triangles on each temple that say think safety from a bin that said, in a hand lettered sign, safety glasses. The closest these come to a rating is China stamped on the one earpiece.(ballistic rated for a spitball from a 2nd grader)

    ReplyDelete

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