It’s Monday, so you will hear one of my favorite tunes when I was growing up.
We were up at 5:30 am this fine morning as we needed to be at the surgeon’s office at 8:00 am to get a little cancer removed from my neck. We wanted it done so it would have time to heal before the trip. We made it just about on time. Mary watched as the doctor took the scalpel to my neck.
I wondered why she kept shaking the pepper near the doctor.
That knife looked terribly sharp! I heard something hit the floor and someone else saying, “three-second rule.” I need to ask Mary what that means!
Did You Know? A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small, extremely sharp-bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry, and various handicrafts. A lancet is a double-edged scalpel.
Scalpel blades are usually made of hardened and tempered steel, stainless steel, or high carbon steel; titanium, ceramic, diamond, and even obsidian knives are not uncommon. For example, when performing surgery under MRI guidance, steel blades are unusable (the blades would be drawn to the magnets and would also cause image artifacts). Historically, the preferred material for surgical scalpels was silver. Some manufacturers also offer scalpel blades with a zirconium nitride–coated edge to improve sharpness and edge retention. Others manufacture blades that are polymer-coated to enhance lubricity during a cut.
Scalpels may be single-use, disposable, or reusable. Reusable scalpels can have permanently attached blades that can be sharpened or, more commonly, removable single-use blades. Disposable scalpels usually have a plastic handle with an extensible blade (like a utility knife) and are used once; the entire instrument is discarded. Scalpel blades are usually individually packed in sterile pouches but are also offered non-sterile.
After the procedure, we visited H&H Nursery in Lakewood, which has exciting plants. Mary found a purple jalapeno, a rootbeer plant, and several other interesting plants, including borage.
It is a huge facility going from Lakewood to Clark!
Rootbeer Plant is a perennial herbaceous plant with heart-shaped velvety leaves that can reach up to 30 centimeters (12 in) or more in size. Its complex flavor is not easily described; it has been compared to eucalyptus, licorice, sassafras, anise, nutmeg, mint, tarragon, and black pepper. The flavor is more robust in the young stems and veins.
We selected a trunk full of goodies!
After walking around, we were hungry, so we stopped on Katella at the Gourmet Pie & Bakery Company. I took Mary here years ago, and they still have amazing food. We arrived at about 10:30 am without lines.
Breakfast in Los Alamitos.
It was omlete time, and we had an Irish Coffee since we are in training for our upcoming trip to Ireland!
When I read the menu, it said “breakfast at any time,” so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance.
Breakfast is a morning’s worth of mood insurance.
Here’s mud in your eye!
After breakfast, we went to Mary’s seamstress to pick up her mother’s dress, which was being altered. I suggested to Mary that the dress would not require a hem if she grew another two inches taller.
We stopped by home to take our treasures out of the trunk, and as I moved the two-wheeled wheelbarrow down the side of the house, I felt I was being stared at! Sure enough, our trained security lizard had spotted me and was about to call the cops. I had to remind him that I lived there, but he was unsure. He does have an IQ deficit.
Our security lizard caught us!
One last stop: Home Depot. We needed sand for the carrots, Daikon radishes, and a new tower watering system adaptor.
Finally, we are home! Time to get down and dirty, with emphasis on dirty!
Purple jalapeños are smaller than traditional green/red jalapenos and have a pointed, cone-like shape. The plants are also more compact and less productive than most jalapeños. However, the plants are beautiful, often showcasing all three colors simultaneously during the growing season.
This should be interesting.
We needed to remove the celery from the box, but when we attempted to dig it up, it was a “no-go.” I flipped the box onto the grass, and one large clump of rootbound dirt hit the ground. We replaced the dirt in the box and then used a steam shovel to move the block into the trashcan!
Wet dirt is HEAVY!!
It was beautiful this morning, and then the clouds began to gather. When we started in the garden, they were to the south of us, and then they made a great circle around us and ended up north of us. It was weird!
We could hear the thunder and crackling of lightning continuously!
Out came the “Lightning Tracker” app; sure enough, there was a load of lightning to the north of us at 3:10 pm!
We could hear it all around us.
We ignored the weather because it was still in the high 60s, and we were working. Mary planted the towers while I planted six additional squash plants and fixed the watering system. The mulch, which came from several bales of straw aging along the back wall, was spread out evenly.
These tiny plants will be high in another 0 days and provide patty pan squash for the entire neighborhood.
BOOM! CRASH! Our video camera captures the moment.
It began to rain, and huge raindrops were splattering us. We rushed to get everything put away before the downpour.
It’s raining.
The tools are now safe in their homes, and we are safe inside the house. The thunderstorm came right over the house and watered our freshly planted veggies. I ventured out and used plastic bags to cover the new hose timers.
The weather could not make up its mind!
There was more lightning and thunder, and Scout began to bark at the weather. He was pretty convincing, and within thirty minutes, the storm was gone forever.
The sun came out, and we decided to go in the hot tub. After a salad from the garden, we began watching Resident Alien. We had five episodes to go, so finally, at 11:00 pm, we crashed. We completed season two and now have to find season three.
The sunshine came out and began to dry things out!
The salad was perfect for dinner, and we found some dessert in the frig and polished it off. We drank tea and some remaining juice while the alien created havoc on the TV.
It was a wonderful day working alongside my partner in crime. Tomorrow, we face the tax man, but we can disappear into Mexico together and never be seen again!
