Hindsight is 20/20

The expression 'Hindsight is 20/20' comes from the way people describe good vision (20/20 being perfect) and "hindsight" - meaning thinking about things after they've happened.  So it alludes to the idea that it's easy to know the right thing to do after something has happened, but it's hard to predict it ahead of time.  This pandemic is a perfect example.





Too bad we didn't know in November, or even earlier, what we know now.   And many are wishing we could see into the future, and if necessary, alter it's course at this point in time.

But the best we can do really, is learn from the past, and using good scientific research, try to predict the outcome.  The big problem is, anticipating what humans will do.  Not everyone behaves as we do, as we think they should, or as we think they will.  Sometimes people have to learn the hard way.  There are so many questions about Covid-19 (prevention, treatment, detection, etc.) and arguments about use of masks, social distancing, the economy, conspiracies, and getting our country back to 'normal.'  If only we could see with 20/20 hindsight now!


Saturday 5/16 - Patty had brought me the light pink peonies the night before, and I went out and cut one of the yellow peonies' flowers and a dark pink rhododendron flower to make a little bouquet.




 Joe, Greg, and I enjoyed breakfast out on the screened porch.






By 7:30, the two crazy guys went to try and kayak on Daddy's Creek.  I was to remain on stand-by, in case they needed rescuing.  Joe sent this photo of Greg, so I knew they at least had gotten down to the water.

 
Later I got more photos and more details of their adventure. 
 
To get their kayaks to Daddy's creek, they had to go through dense woods and down a big hill.  

 


 












The kayaking was good, peaceful at times, other times they had to get out to help their kayak over rocks, and they both got 'dumped' a few times.


I had a relaxing morning with tea, computer, and cats.

When the guys got home, we had a quick lunch and then they rushed off to golf and I worked out in the yard for about four hours.








After golf they worked on Joe's scooter (in their nice golf clothes of course).














We picked up dinner (hamburgers and fries) to go and joined several saddle sisters out at the barn for libations and conversation.

While watering grass seed once home, this deer came to eat, not waiting for me to be done and gone.

Joe, Greg, and I watched some TV, but the boys were tired and didn't stay up to finish the show.

Sunday 5/17 - We were all up early, enjoying breakfast on the porch again.  The guys soon finished loading up camping supplies, including firewood, and off they went (by 7:30) on their next adventure.









I didn't computerize long until Britney, Patty and I had a small group chat for a little bit.  We wanted to hear all about Britney's defense of her dissertation (thesis paper).


I, along with so many other people, are so proud of Britney.

It was too late to really work on my blog so I went out and watered grass, did a few odd jobs, and then met Jan at the barn.

Jan drove us out to Stradford Circle and we walked down the Holly Trail to the creek crossing.


We were trying to find a better way up the steepest part of the hill, right after crossing the creek when coming from the barn.  There is now a big drop off after a huge tree root, right in the steep path.  It didn't use to be so bad there, but has kind of been washing out I guess.








We couldn't find any other alternative route, other than this new route made last fall, where Amiga has slipped, going down on all four knees.  So we worked at clearing and widening it, I with my rake and Jan with her saws-all.














We worked for 90 minutes, until too exhausted to do any more.  I had no energy left to go for a ride.  It actually wasn’t that much work, I’m just so out of shape.  Also, I had gotten de-hydrated and knew I needed food, since I had only snacked for lunch.


I had a big, early dinner (3:00) when I got home, and sat and read for a bit.
Getting a second wind, I watered the grass seed and then took Maggie for a long walk driving over to Patty’s house and parking there.  We walked along Lake St. George for part of it.  The wild blackberry are in bloom everywhere.  Or this could be the multiflora rose, an invasive species, which is also blooming right now.




Joe sent photos of their hiking, camping experience. 














Their dinner looked great and they seemed to be having a good time, except for the occasional sprinkle. 




While Dad’s away the cats can play, with their four new mouse toys, one for each cat.





Monday 5/18 - I got a report, the boys were up early and looked to be enjoying a good breakfast.  I enjoyed my peace and quiet, alone time, and got caught up on this blog.






Of course the cats and wildlife are always a distraction. 











Originally I thought Monita was bird watching as she lay on her back, making her chirping noise, and looking up at the feeders.  Then I saw why the great interest.









Joe arrived home by 8am.  He was sore and tired, but not too wet.  Only the tent needed drying out, but with rain in the forecast all day, he just spread it out on the porch.

It was a good day to work on house plants.  I bought this big pot and two new plants a few weeks ago.






I wanted to get rid of this fence in the front foyer because it detracts from the look of the plants and entryway, but is necessary to keep the cats from chewing on my house plants.



The sun did come out part of the time I was working.  I re-potted the arrowhead plant and put the new 'Mother In-laws Tongue' in another pot I had taken an unhealthy plant out of.  Of course, I used new potting soil.


Then I got to work on this overgrown mess.



First I removed all the Pothos plant, taking several cuttings and saving three with good roots to replant. 


I removed these two plants, one was dead and then figured out how to get this pot to fit inside the new taller pot.


A nine inch old pot with two rocks in it gave the right height.



I inserted the 9" pot upside down and then added rock around it to help anchor it and give weight to the bottom of the tall pot so it wouldn't be top heavy. 





I then put the empty pot I would be putting plants in, into the tall pot, and it was a perfect fit. 

I had planned to put the new Yucca Cane I bought in with the old palm like plant, but they both would not fit in this pot.


Not wanting to just throw this palm out, I stuck it in the ground here in the front.  It doesn't matter to me if it survives or not.  I really don't want another big pot and plant inside.



This is the end 'product' of the tall pot with the new Yucca Cane and the Pothos plants.  It is tall enough that the cats can't get to it, and I put ornamental garden fence around it and the two other plants, with hopes that will keep the cats out.

I was debating watering grass seed because it had gotten fairly dry and hot.  But rain was in the forecast, so I just hoped it would come soon.


Here is a before and after view of the foyer with the new pot and plants, and no fence.

Tuesday 5/19 - Rain did come overnight, quite heavy at times.  I was hoping it hadn't washed my grass seed down the hill, but glad I did not need to go out to water it.

Stevie enjoying some grass.  I cut this from some I have in a pot.  If I give them the whole pot, they eat too much, and destroy it all.



I had sent this photo to Gail, who gave me this house plant a few years ago.  It has really thrived.  The philodendron I planted at the base of the pot, is getting out of control.  I move this potted plant from the sun room to the front porch from April - September and add a pot of flowers beside it.






It was a do-nothing day; cold, gloomy, and rainy out.  Although, Joe decided to try and clean gutters with the power washer, my idea.  So I felt I needed to help/supervise. 





I did hold the second ladder when he got up on it on the porch roof to clean the highest up gutter. 



Joe was fairly successful, so that task felt worthwhile.

Earlier this week I started taking photos of the Mountain Laurel blooming, getting a shot each day of the progression.  The cluster (in the photo to the left) appears to be a pinker variety than the two other groups (one shown in the right photo).

Although, I did notice that the buds look pinker than the flowers.  When the petals open up, the flowers look white.

Here is a four day progression:






































This photo was taken Wednesday morning.  You can see that the larger cluster looks pinker than the smaller group to the right in the same photo.











The only other accomplishment for the day was unpacking the last box of wall hangings, and getting a few hung on the wall.  I put these three up in the dinning room.

During my usual evening chore of cleaning the three litter boxes, while up on the balcony to tend one, I found two 'piles' of cat throw up.  I should have known better than let Stevie eat so much grass.



Wednesday 5/20 - The heavy rains, off and on the last two nights, proved the new gutters could catch all the water, and nothing was overflowing and coming down the sun room windows or porch screens. 




Monita, the most needy of my four cats, was getting into trouble.  She kept knocking over the trash can I keep under my desk.  But when I moved it, she started biting the light cord.  She acts obnoxious when she is trying to get my attention and I am busy at my computer.

I took my time here at the computer because it was to be a rainy day and I figured I had all day to hang pictures.

This is my view from where I sit.  If you look closely, there is a Great Blue heron in the pond.  I actually took this photo in the afternoon.







I sorted through some pictures, thinking about what to hang where, and my 'crew' was ready and willing to help.

By lunch time, the skies had cleared and rain was removed from the forecast until evening.






Joe went out to mow and because I needed to use the grass clippings right away, I went out to plant grass seed.

While working by the concrete rock drainage ditch, I noticed the Great Blue heron in the pond.  I tried to get a (video) of him but he was moving quickly to get out of my sight.  He has always been very shy and hard to photograph.




He ended up going way up stream, where I could no longer see him.  I don't know if he went to fish or to rest.

I got all the seed sowed and covered with grass clippings.  Before, this section of hillside was ½ dirt and ½ moss, with a few tufts of grass here and there.




There was a chance of rain, but I decided to water this area anyway, because getting and keeping the seeds damp is the key to quick germination.  Hindsight would reveal whether or not I needed to water it, but I wasn't going to chance it.





I had time but not desire to hang pictures, so decided to wait till I was in the mood, hoping the following day I would be.






I took Maggie on a long walk after dinner.  This is what the Mountain Laurel behind our house looks like from the 17th green.  

Two hours of Blue Bloods, with Joe, ended my day.

Thursday 5/21 - Monita doing her usual ploy for my attention.  I got a message from Courtney that she was sick, sounded like a bad cold, and I feared it would prevent her from coming for the weekend.  So I was feeling bummed, not only because she might not come, but because she was sick.







Rain was again predicted, off and on, all day, so I lingered here at my computer longer than necessary.  Stevie came for some lovin' a time or two. 








When I finally did get off my duff, I got busy hanging more pictures.  These two went in the guest bathroom.

The before and after of our bedroom.














And then things went sour.  The picture of the three kids, to the far left in this photo, came down off the wall.  I had used duct tape to improvise a hanger on the back of it. Well let me just tell you, duct tape doesn’t fix everything.


Anyway, when the picture fell (because the duct tape didn't hold) it landed on the safari resin sculpture on the floor and chipped the frame and took a chunk out of the zebra's rear end.  So I set to work fixing what was now broken.  I couldn't get the first bottle of gorilla glue working, and decided it was dried up.  The second (new) bottle would not open up.  So I had to work at that for a while.  Eventually I did get the sculpture fixed but the photo frame was just gonna have a chip in it, and no longer look like it did. This added to my frustration and sadness.  If only 20/20 hindsight had been possible at the start of this whole ordeal.  I put up the long picture of old photos of the kids as a temporary replacement until I could get the other one (which now leans against the mirror) back up. 

Much in need of escape from interior decorating, I went out and watered grass seed.  A job I couldn't botch up.  The rains never came and it had gotten quite hot, so the seed was in need of water.

It was time to meet Jan at the barn.  Joe also drove and helped me put up some things to hang my bridle, fly mask, and training halter with rope on.  Thankfully, that went well.

While riding, my belly button started hurting.  I tried to look at it, but not easy to do while in the saddle.  I thought maybe something was wrong with my old gall bladder surgery scar.  We had a good ride, but decided to quit early because there wasn't many options as to where we could ride with everything being so wet and muddy.




We decided to look at the trail that goes across the creek to the winter field.  I hiked from the garden to the creek, through tall grass and brier, looking for a possible place to come into the woods from.  The only option right now is to go through the two pastures.  The trail through the woods was in good shape but we will have to go through three gates to get there.  I rode in the gator (video) with Jan and Emily on the way back.


I figured I'd be tick infested, so got in the shower right away when I got home.  I only found one tick.  This bugger was in my bellybutton, and well latched on so took some effort to remove.  I proceeded to have the heebie-jeebies until bedtime. 

Joe has been on a kick of watching some of his old favorite movies so I watched the 1961 film, Mysterious Island, with him.  It was quite different than how he remembered.

Friday 5/22 - I was so glad to hear that Courtney was feeling better.  She had gotten a steroid shot when she went to the walk-in clinic after work the day before.  She was still going to rest and recuperate, and was laying in bed with her kitties (seen in this photo), watching it rain.










It was shopping day.  I drove to town in a torrential downpour, a bit scary.  I spent a great deal of time at Walmart; looking for, picking out, deciding on several different items, $306.26 worth of stuff.

Quite a bit more time was spent unloading and storing away my goods.  My stash of chocolates is out of control.  I didn't realize I already had several bags stowed away.  This should last me longer than it probably will.

With Joe's help, we grabbed these wood pallets from the recycle center, for a project I had in mind.






I did do some last minute cleaning, anticipating Courtney's visit, but I don't know what happened to the time, the day, or the week.  I suspect, much time was wasted.  When we look back on something, realizing we should have 'done it differently,' or made an alternative decision, we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves, because hindsight is 20/20.