Wednesday 10 November 2021

Seasonal Routines

 


I cut the brown autumn leaves off my strawberry plants (last week) - and found "spring" waiting underneath... Seeing that, somehow I could not quite bring myself to put them into winter storage just yet! The soil is also very wet from all the rain lately. So for now, I've just moved them from the rail to on top of the bench against the wall (a bit more protected from the rain). Before it turns really cold I intend to wrap them up in  newspapers and put them down under the bench - as I do every year. (The bench in turn is covered with a tarpaulin over winter so they're pretty well protected under there, and usually survive.)

It's been raining a lot this past week. Yesterday was another day when it just kept pouring down and I didn't set foot outdoors all day. (Got my exercise doing the laundry this time...) This morning when I woke up, it was still raining. But I was in luck - it stopped around noon, before I needed to go out and take a bus across town to get my vaccination for the seasonal flu. This year, they are coordinating that at the same arena as the corona vaccinations. This time too it was all amazingly efficient. Almost no queue, and having booked time online I was in and out again in less then 10 minutes (with this vaccine not having to stay and meditate for 15 minutes after the jab...) Still not raining, and not too cold, so rather than wait 20 minutes for the next bus, I decided to walk back home, which took me about 45 minutes (which it would have done anyway, if I had waited + taken the bus).

Pretty much all the leaves have fallen to the ground now, so no photo stops on my way home, I just kept walking...

In about three weeks, I expect a repetition of the procedure, as then it will be time for my 3rd covid jab. (Just heard today that for my age group, 65+, they've just shortened the time between 2nd and 3rd jab from 6 to 5 months. So hopefully I'll be able to get it done well before Christmas.)

9 comments:

  1. Looks like everything is really well organized there! Your strawberry flowers are so cute! They look like a child's drawing of a flower.

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    1. Ginny, I feel a bit sorry for the optimistic strawberry flowers as I know that even if there is no frost yet, there won't be enough sun for the berries to ripen, this time of year...

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  2. What a sweet surprise to find strawberry flowers underneath the brown leaves! I couldn't have emptied the box, either. Maybe you remember my mini garden, a birthday gift from my sister. It's been several weeks now since I emptied that; the plants were really well past their best and looking rather sorry. I have not put anything new in, although I think a bit of heather would have looked nice.

    When the Covid booster jab will be available for my age group, I shall have one, too. I guess it will be next year, but since I have had my 2nd jab only at the end of August, the six months are over in February anyway.

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    1. Meike, I remember your mini garden. Maybe you can create a "Christmas garden" of some sort for winter?

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  3. What a lovely surprise to find those strawberry flowers - you must have had a mild autumn for them to last so well and start flowering again. I'm starting to think about what I'm going to plant to brighten up the garden, although the seasons don't change much all year. I might plant some spring bulbs, but last time I did, although they were a great success, before I could lift them we had a prolonged spell of wet weather and most of them rotted in the ground.
    I'm going for my third Covid vaccination this afternoon at 5 p.m., six months after the first. We can't email for an appointment, the local health centre rings us with a day and time. If they can't speak to you after three phone calls, that's it, and I suppose you then have to chase them up. For the first vaccination I was told to be there in 10 minutes, not possible as I live more than 10 minutes from the centre, but when I arrived the building was locked up. I had to bang on the window to attract the security guard's attention, and when he shook his head, I had to point to my arm! I was literally the only person in the building, apart from the nurse waiting with a syringe, and the guard. Weird waiting the fifteen minutes afterwards in a silent building, normally going like a fair! I just hope tonight isn't as busy as the second time I went - that was absolute chaos!

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    1. CG, yes, it's been a mild autumn so far - hardly any frost at all yet, here in the south. Hope your 3rd Covid vaccination goes well and with less problems than the first. Here, it seems they have managed to get the routines at the big vaccination centre to run smoothly; the only thing is that getting there can be a problem for us who don't live nearby and don't have a car. (For my two covid jabs back in spring and summer, a friend was kind enough to drive me, as I was then hesitant about taking the bus.)

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    2. Yes, it went much as expected, although I had to stand in a long queue - everyone presumably being given the same appointment time. A case of turn up and wait. I was also offered a 'flu jab, something I've never had before. So I came away having been vaccinated in both arms, fortunately no side effects of discomfort at all this morning.

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  4. your porch garden always amazes me that it survives the cold each year. We had our flu shot 2 weeks ago but have not scheduled the 3rd one yet, to much going on to take a chance at one of us getting sick from it. we are off to dicuss the other knee surgery and I am not happy

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    1. Sandra, I understand it's all too much for you at the moment. Perhaps also best to discuss when to get the 3rd covid shot with staff planning the knee surgery? I hope it all goes as well as it can on all fronts!

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