changes
Daycare tuition was due today and as I looked through the last few months of my calendar I realized:
1. Of the 27 days of daycare we had paid for, we had used only 17. Snow, sick, and holi- days give us about a .63 batting average. ouch.
2. Of the 28 days of February, Z was well for about 4. Of the 31 days of January he was well for 15. I realize it is cold and flu season, but give me a break, please!
3. Since Z has been home all of those days that I should have been working, I'm not earning enough to pay for daycare.
Therefore, this is Z's last month of daycare. Hopefully, I will be able to finish up my Master Gardener class (and graduate on 27 March) then we'll spring into April with a new schedule - time for mommy to get creative and social. I do think it has been an excellent experience for him. He's sleeping better, walking stronger, and babbling more - so I'll have to find some regular playmates.
His latest fight is with a virus. Luckily, Z is a fairly mellow kid so he doesn't get too upset, but it has been more work and worry. He has a rash on his legs, arms, and cheeks and not much appetite. The doctor says he should be fine in a couple days...probably just in time to catch the next strain.
Spring is around the corner!! Hyacinth, narcissus, tulips, and iris are 1-4 inches tall. I have more weeds to pull and need to remove the willow. Last week's class about plant pathology and diagnosis plus previous classes on pests, pruning, and basic botany made me realize that I've stressed out the willow so badly that it can't survive - or that it would take a lot of effort and a few years to get it back.
Here's its trail of tears: the first year we were here I pruned it thinking I could shape it (ha). The aphids probably started this year but weren't too bad. With more pruning that fall, they had plenty of places to overwinter plus the bacteria that causes gall found refuge. Last summer, the aphids were *so* bad that the willow became the fast food joint for every yellow jacket in the 'hood and most of the new growth branches have galls. Ouch. Goodbye willow.
While I feel bad that its worst pest is homo sapiens, I am looking forward to the room it will give me in the yard. I've decided to create two dog lookout spots and one area for them to sun themselves. Reba keeps digging up plants where she wants to lay down, so I figure "she wins - it's her yard" and I'll design it around her. I'll also create a raised bed around the maple and rhodi - to avoid soil compaction from dog traffic.
I feel so much more informed about what I'm doing out there...much less guess work. It's very empowering.
1. Of the 27 days of daycare we had paid for, we had used only 17. Snow, sick, and holi- days give us about a .63 batting average. ouch.
2. Of the 28 days of February, Z was well for about 4. Of the 31 days of January he was well for 15. I realize it is cold and flu season, but give me a break, please!
3. Since Z has been home all of those days that I should have been working, I'm not earning enough to pay for daycare.
Therefore, this is Z's last month of daycare. Hopefully, I will be able to finish up my Master Gardener class (and graduate on 27 March) then we'll spring into April with a new schedule - time for mommy to get creative and social. I do think it has been an excellent experience for him. He's sleeping better, walking stronger, and babbling more - so I'll have to find some regular playmates.
His latest fight is with a virus. Luckily, Z is a fairly mellow kid so he doesn't get too upset, but it has been more work and worry. He has a rash on his legs, arms, and cheeks and not much appetite. The doctor says he should be fine in a couple days...probably just in time to catch the next strain.
Spring is around the corner!! Hyacinth, narcissus, tulips, and iris are 1-4 inches tall. I have more weeds to pull and need to remove the willow. Last week's class about plant pathology and diagnosis plus previous classes on pests, pruning, and basic botany made me realize that I've stressed out the willow so badly that it can't survive - or that it would take a lot of effort and a few years to get it back.
Here's its trail of tears: the first year we were here I pruned it thinking I could shape it (ha). The aphids probably started this year but weren't too bad. With more pruning that fall, they had plenty of places to overwinter plus the bacteria that causes gall found refuge. Last summer, the aphids were *so* bad that the willow became the fast food joint for every yellow jacket in the 'hood and most of the new growth branches have galls. Ouch. Goodbye willow.
While I feel bad that its worst pest is homo sapiens, I am looking forward to the room it will give me in the yard. I've decided to create two dog lookout spots and one area for them to sun themselves. Reba keeps digging up plants where she wants to lay down, so I figure "she wins - it's her yard" and I'll design it around her. I'll also create a raised bed around the maple and rhodi - to avoid soil compaction from dog traffic.
I feel so much more informed about what I'm doing out there...much less guess work. It's very empowering.
posted by sp1ral at 3:55 PM
2 Comments:
Does Z have rosaria by chance? That's what Gretta's son has. Maybe they caught it at the same time? She was describing him having a spotty rash at the tail end of it....
Roseola was ruled out by the doctor because he had the rash before a fever, the rash is mostly on his legs and is not on his trunk, and that his fever hasn't been warmer than 100.5 degrees.
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