#plumbing — Public Fediverse posts

#ShortBreak #shorts #DoomScrollBreak #GoodToKnow #advice #AdviceWithAnn #household #plumbing #water #drinkingwater #greywater

(On Madeira we have something similar. After the meter the city water pipe splits. One pipe directly feeds the kitchen, the other a 1000L IBC-tank outside. The returning pipe feeds the 150l water boiler and the bathroom.
The city water replaced the formerly used levada - open irrigation channel coming down from the hills - as water source.)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EzVLdxKzj5I

#ShortBreak #shorts #DoomScrollBreak #GoodToKnow #advice #AdviceWithAnn #household #plumbing #water #drinkingwater #greywater

(On Madeira we have something similar. After the meter the city water pipe splits. One pipe directly feeds the kitchen, the other a 1000L IBC-tank outside. The returning pipe feeds the 150l water boiler and the bathroom.
The city water replaced the formerly used levada - open irrigation channel coming down from the hills - as water source.)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EzVLdxKzj5I

#ShortBreak #shorts #DoomScrollBreak #GoodToKnow #advice #AdviceWithAnn #household #plumbing #water #drinkingwater #greywater

(On Madeira we have something similar. After the meter the city water pipe splits. One pipe directly feeds the kitchen, the other a 1000L IBC-tank outside. The returning pipe feeds the 150l water boiler and the bathroom.
The city water replaced the formerly used levada - open irrigation channel coming down from the hills - as water source.)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EzVLdxKzj5I

#ShortBreak #shorts #DoomScrollBreak #GoodToKnow #advice #AdviceWithAnn #household #plumbing #water #drinkingwater #greywater

(On Madeira we have something similar. After the meter the city water pipe splits. One pipe directly feeds the kitchen, the other a 1000L IBC-tank outside. The returning pipe feeds the 150l water boiler and the bathroom.
The city water replaced the formerly used levada - open irrigation channel coming down from the hills - as water source.)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EzVLdxKzj5I

#ShortBreak #shorts #DoomScrollBreak #GoodToKnow #advice #AdviceWithAnn #household #plumbing #water #drinkingwater #greywater

(On Madeira we have something similar. After the meter the city water pipe splits. One pipe directly feeds the kitchen, the other a 1000L IBC-tank outside. The returning pipe feeds the 150l water boiler and the bathroom.
The city water replaced the formerly used levada - open irrigation channel coming down from the hills - as water source.)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EzVLdxKzj5I

Great now my #Kitchen #faucet needs to be replaced, my kitchen sink faucet has had a slow leak for longer than I can remember, but I was always able to find a way to shut it off, the last week not so lucky, have to keep a dish rag wrapped around it, its just enough to make the rag damp in a day, it has been slowly developing an internal leak, and it is now progressively worse, there goes another $125 I don't actually have, and since I don't have a tub, and I drink tap water all day long I really to to fix this, not to mention I have no idea how I will actually replace it, and before anyone asks, yes it is my responsibility to either replace and repair it myself or pay to have it done, that is no happening paying to replace it myself is more than I can afford, no way to pay someone, not looking forward to it but it has to be done, I have a new one ordered sometime this week it will be here, im not looking forward to changing it, the space I have to work in is could barely hold a dell inspiron 530, actually I don't think it would fit at all, I have to take off the garbage disposal first, and then unhook the water lines and then play find the nut that holds the faucet to the sink, all one handed and without any visual ability to see, I cook and clean using it, I need it, still have no clue what I will actually do for #food this month, O yea the hell keeps getting deeper for this #disabled man existing in #poverty;

You can encourage my continued useless #poetry, creativity and expression of self, #commentary, random thoughts, #philosophy and ideas, and by doing so your helping to feed, house and clothe a #disabled man living in #poverty, $5-10-15 It All Helps, via #cashapp at $woctxphotog or via #paypal at paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=…
#plumbing, #DYI, #homerepairs,

Alert! Alarm!

My beloved bride had a cool idea today. We have a Sonos audio system in our living room. It’s how we get surround sound and movie theater audio goodness. She wanted to upgrade the system. Good idea, right? She ordered a new beam and we went to Best Buy to pick it up.

After, while we were still in the parking lot, she had another great idea. Wanna go for a mini road trip somewhere? Sure! How about the ocean? Sure! Off we went. 

When we got home a couple hours later, Jen heard a noise. Oh wait! You don’t know the back story. Hold on a second while I fill you in.

Back story: Our house used to have a garage. Years ago we had it remodeled into a primary bedroom suite with an attached bathroom. The outflow pipe from the bathroom was far away from the outflow for the rest of the house and we had to have a pump installed. The pump is under the floor with a little trap door to get to it. That trap door had not been opened in the 500 years since we finished the remodel. It is located in a closet and we had put a big closet organizer into the closet and part of it was sitting on the trap door.

Okay, back to the main story. When we got home from the ocean a couple of hours later, Jen heard a noise. She was standing next to the bathroom and I was on the other side of the room. I thought the noise was a bird being loud and obnoxious outside. She said no, it wasn’t a bird. I then thought it was the mini-split system’s door being squeaky. She said no, it was not the mini-split. I stood next to her so that I could hear what she was hearing and I heard it too. 

There were two sounds. One as an alarm beeping like crazy. The other was the pump running more or less continuously. I went into the closet with the trap door and sure enough, the beeping was coming from there. Well, shit.

We both had a job to do from that point. Mine was to clear almost everything out of the closet (there was a lot of stuff in there) and open the trap door. Jen’s was to find a plumber. Oh yeah, it’s Independence Day. A national holiday. Almost everyone in the country had the day off (except for the poor staff at Best Buy). 

I was able to get to the pump. I had to move almost an entire wardrobe and partially disassemble the organizer but I did it. Jen was able to eventually get a plumber on the phone who could not come help tonight but did offer to help talk us through shutting down the pump until they could come… on Monday. While she was giving the plummer the details I found that the alarm beep was tied to a flashing red light with a label that said to open the unit to see what was causing the alarm. Well, I wasn’t doing that. There was also a button that said push to silence alarm. I pushed it. Oh what a relief.

So the alarm was still going off but it was silent now and at the plumber’s suggestion we killed the power to the pump from the circuit box. The situation has been remedied for now. On Monday the plumber will come and tell us that we need to replace the unit which should cost $10000000000000. Would that be preferable to finding out there is a clog in the sewage pipe? I don’t know. Would it be preferable to finding out there is a leak in the sewage pipe? Probably. I mean, our house doesn’t smell like donald trump so I don’t think our en suite bathroom is shitting itself. We’ll find out on Monday though.

Eventually we were able to relax and that lead to us putting up the new Sonos system. It got a little annoying trying to link everything together in their app, but eventually it all worked and now we are watching Project Hail Mary (again) and enjoying the kick ass audio.

Tomorrow I think I am going to go into Boston really early in the morning and wander around Beacon Hill and the riverwalk along the Charles with my cameras. I’m also officially into the 50 Songs in 90 Days Challenge, so there will be music to make too.

One thing is for sure… we are not going to use the primary bedroom suite’s bathroom for a couple of days.

Alert! Alarm!

My beloved bride had a cool idea today. We have a Sonos audio system in our living room. It’s how we get surround sound and movie theater audio goodness. She wanted to upgrade the system. Good idea, right? She ordered a new beam and we went to Best Buy to pick it up.

After, while we were still in the parking lot, she had another great idea. Wanna go for a mini road trip somewhere? Sure! How about the ocean? Sure! Off we went. 

When we got home a couple hours later, Jen heard a noise. Oh wait! You don’t know the back story. Hold on a second while I fill you in.

Back story: Our house used to have a garage. Years ago we had it remodeled into a primary bedroom suite with an attached bathroom. The outflow pipe from the bathroom was far away from the outflow for the rest of the house and we had to have a pump installed. The pump is under the floor with a little trap door to get to it. That trap door had not been opened in the 500 years since we finished the remodel. It is located in a closet and we had put a big closet organizer into the closet and part of it was sitting on the trap door.

Okay, back to the main story. When we got home from the ocean a couple of hours later, Jen heard a noise. She was standing next to the bathroom and I was on the other side of the room. I thought the noise was a bird being loud and obnoxious outside. She said no, it wasn’t a bird. I then thought it was the mini-split system’s door being squeaky. She said no, it was not the mini-split. I stood next to her so that I could hear what she was hearing and I heard it too. 

There were two sounds. One as an alarm beeping like crazy. The other was the pump running more or less continuously. I went into the closet with the trap door and sure enough, the beeping was coming from there. Well, shit.

We both had a job to do from that point. Mine was to clear almost everything out of the closet (there was a lot of stuff in there) and open the trap door. Jen’s was to find a plumber. Oh yeah, it’s Independence Day. A national holiday. Almost everyone in the country had the day off (except for the poor staff at Best Buy). 

I was able to get to the pump. I had to move almost an entire wardrobe and partially disassemble the organizer but I did it. Jen was able to eventually get a plumber on the phone who could not come help tonight but did offer to help talk us through shutting down the pump until they could come… on Monday. While she was giving the plummer the details I found that the alarm beep was tied to a flashing red light with a label that said to open the unit to see what was causing the alarm. Well, I wasn’t doing that. There was also a button that said push to silence alarm. I pushed it. Oh what a relief.

So the alarm was still going off but it was silent now and at the plumber’s suggestion we killed the power to the pump from the circuit box. The situation has been remedied for now. On Monday the plumber will come and tell us that we need to replace the unit which should cost $10000000000000. Would that be preferable to finding out there is a clog in the sewage pipe? I don’t know. Would it be preferable to finding out there is a leak in the sewage pipe? Probably. I mean, our house doesn’t smell like donald trump so I don’t think our en suite bathroom is shitting itself. We’ll find out on Monday though.

Eventually we were able to relax and that lead to us putting up the new Sonos system. It got a little annoying trying to link everything together in their app, but eventually it all worked and now we are watching Project Hail Mary (again) and enjoying the kick ass audio.

Tomorrow I think I am going to go into Boston really early in the morning and wander around Beacon Hill and the riverwalk along the Charles with my cameras. I’m also officially into the 50 Songs in 90 Days Challenge, so there will be music to make too.

One thing is for sure… we are not going to use the primary bedroom suite’s bathroom for a couple of days.

The shower stuff-up is tricky. The hot water pipe to the shower goes up through the floor. I had to modify it. I have tiny bit of pipe protruding under the house and the joists are too close together for me to get the joint crimping tool in. I'm considering doing a modification to the tool so I can remove the troublesome handles and use a bolt to screw it closed instead. If I can't figure something under the house the only other option is to get access in behind the shower mixer. That's either removing the shower liner or knocking a hole in my outside wall. Neither are appealing.
#plumbing #challenge

The shower stuff-up is tricky. The hot water pipe to the shower goes up through the floor. I had to modify it. I have tiny bit of pipe protruding under the house and the joists are too close together for me to get the joint crimping tool in. I'm considering doing a modification to the tool so I can remove the troublesome handles and use a bolt to screw it closed instead. If I can't figure something under the house the only other option is to get access in behind the shower mixer. That's either removing the shower liner or knocking a hole in my outside wall. Neither are appealing.
#plumbing #challenge

Should definitely replace the outlet on the wall there with a GFCI as well 😮‍💨

#homeowner #plumbing #electrical

Should definitely replace the outlet on the wall there with a GFCI as well 😮‍💨

#homeowner #plumbing #electrical

Popular Mechanics How To Fix Anything

Published 2018

via the #InternetArchive

"For any #HomeRepair, big or small, homeowners can turn to this practical and portable reference.

"Got a squeaky floor or a rattling door? Is your grout a color you don’t recognize anymore? From quick fixes like linking broken chains and patching drywall to more involved projects like replacing a fuel line and bleeding your brakes,Popular Mechanics How to Fix Anything is the handy and reliable go-to guide for the most common household problems offering a primer on #plumbing, unexpected hacks like using a golf tee to fill a stripped screw hole, instructions for tuning up the garage door, and so much more. Throughout the book Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics’ senior home editor, answers questions about the trickiest fix-its, including how to deal with a recurring ceiling cracks or get rid of that stench from the kitchen sink.. And because it’s organized room by room, from basement to bathroom to bedroom, it’s simple to find the solution you need—so you won’t have to hire someone else to do the job."

https://archive.org/details/popular-mechanics-how-to-fix-anything

IA is here on #Mastodon!
@internetarchive

#SolarPunkSunday #DIY #PopularMechanics #FixIt #HomeRepairs #OnlineBooks #OnlineLibraries

Popular Mechanics How To Fix Anything

Published 2018

via the #InternetArchive

"For any #HomeRepair, big or small, homeowners can turn to this practical and portable reference.

"Got a squeaky floor or a rattling door? Is your grout a color you don’t recognize anymore? From quick fixes like linking broken chains and patching drywall to more involved projects like replacing a fuel line and bleeding your brakes,Popular Mechanics How to Fix Anything is the handy and reliable go-to guide for the most common household problems offering a primer on #plumbing, unexpected hacks like using a golf tee to fill a stripped screw hole, instructions for tuning up the garage door, and so much more. Throughout the book Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics’ senior home editor, answers questions about the trickiest fix-its, including how to deal with a recurring ceiling cracks or get rid of that stench from the kitchen sink.. And because it’s organized room by room, from basement to bathroom to bedroom, it’s simple to find the solution you need—so you won’t have to hire someone else to do the job."

https://archive.org/details/popular-mechanics-how-to-fix-anything

IA is here on #Mastodon!
@internetarchive

#SolarPunkSunday #DIY #PopularMechanics #FixIt #HomeRepairs #OnlineBooks #OnlineLibraries

Not having a great morning here. Had no hot water last night, and this morning when I checked, the water heater is leaking all over the laundry room floor. Also, the water shutoff valve is frozen open, and the fastest plumber appointment we have found yet is Friday. Small-town living is sometimes a pain. Also home ownership.

#homerepairs #plumbing #homeownership #emergency

Not having a great morning here. Had no hot water last night, and this morning when I checked, the water heater is leaking all over the laundry room floor. Also, the water shutoff valve is frozen open, and the fastest plumber appointment we have found yet is Friday. Small-town living is sometimes a pain. Also home ownership.

#homerepairs #plumbing #homeownership #emergency

Cutaway of the conduit house at St Augustine's Abbey, England, 12th century AD (Peter Urmston)

https://piefed.social/c/historyart/p/2119769/cutaway-of-the-conduit-house-at-st-augustine-s-abbey-england-12th-century-ad-peter-urms

Cutaway of the conduit house at St Augustine's Abbey, England, 12th century AD (Peter Urmston)

https://piefed.social/c/historyart/p/2119769/cutaway-of-the-conduit-house-at-st-augustine-s-abbey-england-12th-century-ad-peter-urms

Cutaway of the conduit house at St Augustine's Abbey, England, 12th century AD (Peter Urmston)

Cutaway of the conduit house at St Augustine's Abbey, England, 12th century AD (Peter Urmston)

Cutaway of the conduit house at St Augustine's Abbey, England, 12th century AD (Peter Urmston)

https://piefed.social/c/historyart/p/2119769/cutaway-of-the-conduit-house-at-st-augustine-s-abbey-england-12th-century-ad-peter-urms

A #plumber just told me that SharkBite fittings are considered temporary and that any serious plumber would use #ProPress instead.

#plumbing

Today's North-Korean-style AI nightmare is promoted and distributed by a U.S. Government department run by a professional wrestling executive. (For "run by", read "being ruined by")
#DPRK #DOE #education #plumbing

Today's North-Korean-style AI nightmare is promoted and distributed by a U.S. Government department run by a professional wrestling executive. (For "run by", read "being ruined by")
#DPRK #DOE #education #plumbing

Can anyone ID this 13 year old kitchen faucet? Can't get the cartridge out.
#plumbing #plumber

Can anyone ID this 13 year old kitchen faucet? Can't get the cartridge out.
#plumbing #plumber

Poland Community School closed for third day after water damage https://www.byteseu.com/1924996/ #administrator #AffectedCeiling #AlternativeLearning #Building #ClassroomMaterial #closed #ClosedWednesday #crew #EDUCATION #ExtensiveDamage #flooring #leak #learning #Maine #plumbing #Poland #PolandCommunitySchool #problem #SchoolClosed #SchoolOfficial #STAFF #ThirdDay #TuesdayNight #Water #WaterDamage #WMTW

High-rise buildings are long-term investments designed to last a century or more. #Stainless #steel #pipes and #tubes offer superior corrosion resistance, ensuring that the critical #plumbing, #HVAC, and fire suppression systems do not degrade over time. https://medium.com/@ssdevendra2026/how-steel-engineering-powers-high-rise-innovation-5540fa6b2d19

#BurgeonLab #WeekNotes 017 is out!
2026: Week 09/52 (Feb 23 – Mar 1)

https://burgeonlab.com/weeknotes/2026/w09/

This is post 14 of #100DaysToOffload
Progress: https://burgeonlab.com/tags/100daystooffload/

#blogging #blogs #smallweb #indieweb #weeknote #personalBlog #weeklynote #nordicwalking #walkathon #plumbing #diy

#BurgeonLab #WeekNotes 017 is out!
2026: Week 09/52 (Feb 23 – Mar 1)

https://burgeonlab.com/weeknotes/2026/w09/

This is post 14 of #100DaysToOffload
Progress: https://burgeonlab.com/tags/100daystooffload/

#blogging #blogs #smallweb #indieweb #weeknote #personalBlog #weeklynote #nordicwalking #walkathon #plumbing #diy

Installing washing machines-- Can anyone on here explain why all the advice I can find on the maximum length of a water inlet hose for a washing machine is about 1.5 metres? Surely it's just an extension of the tens of meters of pipework to get the water to where it's attached?

#plumber #plumbing #install

Can anyone on here explain why all the advice I can find on the maximum length of a water inlet hose is about 1.5 metres? Surely it's just an extension of the tens of meters of pipework to get the water to where it's attached?

#plumber #plumbing #install

Drywall Installation Snellville, GA

Jamaica Works LLC is here to handle all of your drywall installation services and repair from your big renovation project to drywall repair and finishing.

https://jamaicaworksllc.com/drywall-installation/

#plumbing #services #plumber #installation #snellville

Longer longpost rocket explanation:
RT https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2025249086908125630
This time, instead of hydrogen leaking, it was helium refusing to flow. #NASA #space #cryo #plumbing #ArtemisII

Longer longpost rocket explanation:
RT https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2025249086908125630
This time, instead of hydrogen leaking, it was helium refusing to flow. #NASA #space #cryo #plumbing #ArtemisII

Rambling "How I Spent My ${DURATION}" braindump.

Last week I was carrying bags of water softener #salt into my furnace room and noticed a small #limescale deposit on the floor in the middle of the room that hadn't been there a few days before. Directly above it are a bunch of water #pipes going off in different directions. Found one 90 degree elbow that had more than the usual accumulation of green stuff on it, like a tiny #stalactite. Okay, water #leak found.

I was going to wait for the weekend to fix it, but it seemed to be speeding up, so I did it Wednesday. I had to cut a chunk of #convoluted pipe out of the system that was way more complex than it should have been. It had to go around other #pipes and join another #pipe and around some joists, but the #plumber who put this in 40 years ago had a #fetish or something. No word of a lie, it reminded me more of the Windows NT "pipes" #screensaver than anything else.

In a volume about the size of a 2L bottle of pop, there were 4 #elbows, 3 #unions, and five little pieces of pipe if I remember correctly. I soldered together a matching jumble of parts ... and then couldn't solder one side of it in, because it's at a local low point, and I couldn't get the last dribbles of #water to stop. Any water wicks the heat away and the #solder doesn't stick.

Ended up using a #flex line with #sharkbite connectors to replace the whole thing. What a shame, I was proud of my replacement.

#DIY #plumbing #HomeRepair

Rambling "How I Spent My ${DURATION}" braindump.

Last week I was carrying bags of water softener #salt into my furnace room and noticed a small #limescale deposit on the floor in the middle of the room that hadn't been there a few days before. Directly above it are a bunch of water #pipes going off in different directions. Found one 90 degree elbow that had more than the usual accumulation of green stuff on it, like a tiny #stalactite. Okay, water #leak found.

I was going to wait for the weekend to fix it, but it seemed to be speeding up, so I did it Wednesday. I had to cut a chunk of #convoluted pipe out of the system that was way more complex than it should have been. It had to go around other #pipes and join another #pipe and around some joists, but the #plumber who put this in 40 years ago had a #fetish or something. No word of a lie, it reminded me more of the Windows NT "pipes" #screensaver than anything else.

In a volume about the size of a 2L bottle of pop, there were 4 #elbows, 3 #unions, and five little pieces of pipe if I remember correctly. I soldered together a matching jumble of parts ... and then couldn't solder one side of it in, because it's at a local low point, and I couldn't get the last dribbles of #water to stop. Any water wicks the heat away and the #solder doesn't stick.

Ended up using a #flex line with #sharkbite connectors to replace the whole thing. What a shame, I was proud of my replacement.

#DIY #plumbing #HomeRepair

Rambling "How I Spent My ${DURATION}" braindump.

Last week I was carrying bags of water softener #salt into my furnace room and noticed a small #limescale deposit on the floor in the middle of the room that hadn't been there a few days before. Directly above it are a bunch of water #pipes going off in different directions. Found one 90 degree elbow that had more than the usual accumulation of green stuff on it, like a tiny #stalactite. Okay, water #leak found.

I was going to wait for the weekend to fix it, but it seemed to be speeding up, so I did it Wednesday. I had to cut a chunk of #convoluted pipe out of the system that was way more complex than it should have been. It had to go around other #pipes and join another #pipe and around some joists, but the #plumber who put this in 40 years ago had a #fetish or something. No word of a lie, it reminded me more of the Windows NT "pipes" #screensaver than anything else.

In a volume about the size of a 2L bottle of pop, there were 4 #elbows, 3 #unions, and five little pieces of pipe if I remember correctly. I soldered together a matching jumble of parts ... and then couldn't solder one side of it in, because it's at a local low point, and I couldn't get the last dribbles of #water to stop. Any water wicks the heat away and the #solder doesn't stick.

Ended up using a #flex line with #sharkbite connectors to replace the whole thing. What a shame, I was proud of my replacement.

#DIY #plumbing #HomeRepair

Rambling "How I Spent My ${DURATION}" braindump.

Last week I was carrying bags of water softener #salt into my furnace room and noticed a small #limescale deposit on the floor in the middle of the room that hadn't been there a few days before. Directly above it are a bunch of water #pipes going off in different directions. Found one 90 degree elbow that had more than the usual accumulation of green stuff on it, like a tiny #stalactite. Okay, water #leak found.

I was going to wait for the weekend to fix it, but it seemed to be speeding up, so I did it Wednesday. I had to cut a chunk of #convoluted pipe out of the system that was way more complex than it should have been. It had to go around other #pipes and join another #pipe and around some joists, but the #plumber who put this in 40 years ago had a #fetish or something. No word of a lie, it reminded me more of the Windows NT "pipes" #screensaver than anything else.

In a volume about the size of a 2L bottle of pop, there were 4 #elbows, 3 #unions, and five little pieces of pipe if I remember correctly. I soldered together a matching jumble of parts ... and then couldn't solder one side of it in, because it's at a local low point, and I couldn't get the last dribbles of #water to stop. Any water wicks the heat away and the #solder doesn't stick.

Ended up using a #flex line with #sharkbite connectors to replace the whole thing. What a shame, I was proud of my replacement.

#DIY #plumbing #HomeRepair

Residential plumbing is not just about pipes; it's about engineering reliability.
In modern buildings like Janila Country or Yasno Yanino, standard developer systems often fail. I implement industrial-grade solutions in Yanino-1 and Yanino-2:
Using PEX-a (Rehau/Stout) with axial compression.
Mandatory 10-bar pressure testing (опрессовка).
Professional leak protection integration.

https://santehnikyanino.ru/uslugi-santehnika-yanino/
#Plumbing #Engineering #Yanino #Construction #Rehau #Stout #Янино #Сантехник

NPR:Major plumbing headache haunts $13 billion U.S. carrier off the coast of Venezuela

"....New documents show the crew on board the United States' newest aircraft carrier are growing increasingly frustrated by design flaws that lead to regular failures in the ship's toilet system...."

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/17/nx-s1-5680167/major-plumbing-headache-haunts-13-billion-u-s-carrier-off-the-coast-of-venezuela

#plumbing #poo #toilets #war #politics #venezuela #military

Fixed the valve on the waterline so I could turn off the water so I could fix the toilet that wouldn't stop running. The toilet is now working correctly again and I didn't flood the bathroom or the basement (might have to make sure the valve isn't dripping later). It wasn't a difficult fix (replace the filler) but there were multiple secondary issues making it harder than it should have been. At least it's done now.

#HomeOwner #Plumbing #DIY

Welcome 2026

After last weekend’s main drain backup it turned out the plumbing wasn’t finished with us yet. Thursday afternoon the shower in the basement bathroom we’ve been using for the past month while our main bathroom remodel takes its sweet time, decided to leak. And it wasn’t one of those slow drip, drip leaks. But we can fix leaky faucets!

It turned out the plumbing was original to our 1952-built house and there are no longer tools and parts to fix it. So we had to call a plumber. He had to replace the shower/tub fixtures, but in order to do that, he had to cut a door-sized hole in the wall of the adjacent bedroom to access the pipes. He then had to replace the steel pipes with copper ones. And now we have new basic shower/tub fixtures and a large hole in the wall. But no more leak!

James and I do not have the tools or know-how to do drywall, so eventually we will need to hire a handyperson to come and do it for us. Since this is a guest bedroom and it is winter and people do not come visit Minnesota in the winter, especially our southern California and New Mexico family members, we can wait until spring or summer to have the wall repaired.

Meanwhile, my main bathroom remodel is not yet done. It is getting close though and I expect it will be completed this week. The tile is done and looks oh so pretty. The grab bars and folding shower chair are mounted. Now we just need a shower door, shower fixtures, a toilet and sink. And of course, with all the new and shiny, I’m looking at the medicine cabinet and wrinkling my nose because it is showing its 25-year-old age. And of course, new paint on the walls is going to need to happen too. When we contracted for the project we both naively thought the rest of the bathroom would not need changing. At least these things we really can do ourselves.

We had vegan black-eyed peas and pumpkin quesadillas on New Year’s Day. They can also be made with sweet potato or another winter squash. Last year we used butternut. Such a tasty meal! I got the recipe a couple years ago from the Washington Post and sadly it is trapped behind a paywall. However, if it is a recipe you are interested in, let me know and I can email it to you, I just can’t post it online.

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring good luck. It’s a tradition from the southern part of the United States. My mom is from Oklahoma and grew up having to eat them on New Year’s, but scoffed at the tradition, along with a lot of other southern cultural things, as an adult. Her mom, my Granny, always had to have them, however. Due to a stroke that left her paralyzed on the left side of her body, she lived the last ten years of her life in a nursing home. My mom always had to go to the grocery store and buy a can of black-eyed peas to take to her otherwise she would never hear the end of it. Since Granny couldn’t cook, I assume my mom opened the can and Granny just ate them. I was generally still in my pajamas after sleeping in on New Year’s Day, and was never present for the eating of the black-eyed peas. I just remember my mom grumbling about silly superstitions.

Because of this, I never ate any until I started growing them in the garden several years ago. We tried them out in hoppin’ John and a few other dishes, but not until I came across the quesadilla recipe did we settle on our own “traditional” way to eat them on New Year’s Day. Do I believe that they bring me good luck? No, especially since after we ate them the basement bathroom leak happened. Is it a fun way to honor traditions and ancestors and have a tasty meal in the process? Absolutely!

We ended up with some extra cooked black-eyed peas and James was trying to figure out what meal he might add them to. He’s going to be making split pea soup and thought he could add them to the soup. What did I think about that? I shrugged, seemed like it would be fine.

He continued kitchening in silence, and then suddenly asked, “Do you think it will kill the green peaness?”

“What?!” I exclaimed, and scowled a little.

If you are wondering about my response, say “kill the green peaness” out loud.

James looked at me a bit confused. Then I re-ran what he said in my head and saw the jar of green split peas on the counter. Then I started laughing. Then he realized what I thought he said and started laughing too. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. We are still laughing about it. And now, of course, kill the green peaness has become a thing.

There’s snow on the ground and will be for several months yet, but I ordered my garden seeds! I posted my list last week, and now you can all roll your eyes or giggle because yes, it changed. But I have a good reason!

I was planning on ordering from four different places and remembered Sand Hill Preservation Center in Iowa. They are an heirloom seed place I bought sweet potato slips from a few years ago. I did not get a good sweet potato harvest but that is no fault of theirs. Their product was good, my growing was not because I refused to put down black plastic around the plants to keep the soil at the really warm temperature they like. Surely a sunny spot and some straw will be just fine? Well, since the sweet potatoes weren’t much larger than ping pong balls, the answer was no.

But I recalled that they have lots of really interesting garden seeds I had never seen anywhere else. So I browsed their website to see if I might be able to consolidate my seed order. Why yes, yes I could.

I still had to order from three places, but Sand Hill prices are so good, I was able to shift around some of what I was ordering from the other two places and overall spend much less on seeds and shipping. Of course I had to throw in two additional seeds packets! I added caraway to the order so I will have a supply for sourdough pumpernickel bread making. And I added an interesting herb I had never heard of before called beetberry.

Beetberry, Bitum capitatum, is a member of the amaranth family. The leaves can be eaten raw as a salad green or cooked, and are highly nutritious. The tiny red berries that follow the interesting looking flowers are high in anti-oxidants and can be used to make jams or desserts. The plant also has anti-inflammatory medicinal properties. Even better, it is an annual native to most of North America.

Only two additions, but good ones you have to agree! One of the delightful things about Sand Hill other than their variety and great prices, is that they have no online ordering. I had to download an order form, fill it out, print it off, and send it through the mail with a check. This is likely one of the reasons why their prices are so good. I don’t mind at all that the whole process takes a bit longer because none of the seeds I am getting from them will need to be started indoors until March.

Seeds all done. Next I need to write out my planting calendar.

My two week’s vacation is drawing to a close and it is back to wage work tomorrow. In spite of the topsy-turvy bathroom remodel and plumbing problems, it has been a wonderful and relaxing break. I managed to read 84 books in 2025, more than I ever have before. If you are interested in poking around, check out my LibraryThing list. It says 90 but that’s because it also includes several books I chose to not finish. And there are charts and graphs too if that sort of thing floats your boat, though I’m not certain of their accuracy.

I had some fun on my vacation sorting books on my bookshelves. And I made progress on my attic project too. All the carpet is up. Now I’m filling in the seams on the plywood floor which will then get sanded and painted with primer and then painted with floor paint. Little by little!

I hope your 2026 is off to a good start. Please send good thoughts that I will not have any additional plumbing issues for a very, very long time!

#atticCarpetProject #bathroomRemodel #beetberry #blackEyedPeas #Granny #holeInTheWall #NewYear #plumbing #SandHillPreservationCenter #seedCatalogs #splitPeaSoup

Welcome 2026

After last weekend’s main drain backup it turned out the plumbing wasn’t finished with us yet. Thursday afternoon the shower in the basement bathroom we’ve been using for the past month while our main bathroom remodel takes its sweet time, decided to leak. And it wasn’t one of those slow drip, drip leaks. But we can fix leaky faucets!

It turned out the plumbing was original to our 1952-built house and there are no longer tools and parts to fix it. So we had to call a plumber. He had to replace the shower/tub fixtures, but in order to do that, he had to cut a door-sized hole in the wall of the adjacent bedroom to access the pipes. He then had to replace the steel pipes with copper ones. And now we have new basic shower/tub fixtures and a large hole in the wall. But no more leak!

James and I do not have the tools or know-how to do drywall, so eventually we will need to hire a handyperson to come and do it for us. Since this is a guest bedroom and it is winter and people do not come visit Minnesota in the winter, especially our southern California and New Mexico family members, we can wait until spring or summer to have the wall repaired.

Meanwhile, my main bathroom remodel is not yet done. It is getting close though and I expect it will be completed this week. The tile is done and looks oh so pretty. The grab bars and folding shower chair are mounted. Now we just need a shower door, shower fixtures, a toilet and sink. And of course, with all the new and shiny, I’m looking at the medicine cabinet and wrinkling my nose because it is showing its 25-year-old age. And of course, new paint on the walls is going to need to happen too. When we contracted for the project we both naively thought the rest of the bathroom would not need changing. At least these things we really can do ourselves.

We had vegan black-eyed peas and pumpkin quesadillas on New Year’s Day. They can also be made with sweet potato or another winter squash. Last year we used butternut. Such a tasty meal! I got the recipe a couple years ago from the Washington Post and sadly it is trapped behind a paywall. However, if it is a recipe you are interested in, let me know and I can email it to you, I just can’t post it online.

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring good luck. It’s a tradition from the southern part of the United States. My mom is from Oklahoma and grew up having to eat them on New Year’s, but scoffed at the tradition, along with a lot of other southern cultural things, as an adult. Her mom, my Granny, always had to have them, however. Due to a stroke that left her paralyzed on the left side of her body, she lived the last ten years of her life in a nursing home. My mom always had to go to the grocery store and buy a can of black-eyed peas to take to her otherwise she would never hear the end of it. Since Granny couldn’t cook, I assume my mom opened the can and Granny just ate them. I was generally still in my pajamas after sleeping in on New Year’s Day, and was never present for the eating of the black-eyed peas. I just remember my mom grumbling about silly superstitions.

Because of this, I never ate any until I started growing them in the garden several years ago. We tried them out in hoppin’ John and a few other dishes, but not until I came across the quesadilla recipe did we settle on our own “traditional” way to eat them on New Year’s Day. Do I believe that they bring me good luck? No, especially since after we ate them the basement bathroom leak happened. Is it a fun way to honor traditions and ancestors and have a tasty meal in the process? Absolutely!

We ended up with some extra cooked black-eyed peas and James was trying to figure out what meal he might add them to. He’s going to be making split pea soup and thought he could add them to the soup. What did I think about that? I shrugged, seemed like it would be fine.

He continued kitchening in silence, and then suddenly asked, “Do you think it will kill the green peaness?”

“What?!” I exclaimed, and scowled a little.

If you are wondering about my response, say “kill the green peaness” out loud.

James looked at me a bit confused. Then I re-ran what he said in my head and saw the jar of green split peas on the counter. Then I started laughing. Then he realized what I thought he said and started laughing too. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. We are still laughing about it. And now, of course, kill the green peaness has become a thing.

There’s snow on the ground and will be for several months yet, but I ordered my garden seeds! I posted my list last week, and now you can all roll your eyes or giggle because yes, it changed. But I have a good reason!

I was planning on ordering from four different places and remembered Sand Hill Preservation Center in Iowa. They are an heirloom seed place I bought sweet potato slips from a few years ago. I did not get a good sweet potato harvest but that is no fault of theirs. Their product was good, my growing was not because I refused to put down black plastic around the plants to keep the soil at the really warm temperature they like. Surely a sunny spot and some straw will be just fine? Well, since the sweet potatoes weren’t much larger than ping pong balls, the answer was no.

But I recalled that they have lots of really interesting garden seeds I had never seen anywhere else. So I browsed their website to see if I might be able to consolidate my seed order. Why yes, yes I could.

I still had to order from three places, but Sand Hill prices are so good, I was able to shift around some of what I was ordering from the other two places and overall spend much less on seeds and shipping. Of course I had to throw in two additional seeds packets! I added caraway to the order so I will have a supply for sourdough pumpernickel bread making. And I added an interesting herb I had never heard of before called beetberry.

Beetberry, Bitum capitatum, is a member of the amaranth family. The leaves can be eaten raw as a salad green or cooked, and are highly nutritious. The tiny red berries that follow the interesting looking flowers are high in anti-oxidants and can be used to make jams or desserts. The plant also has anti-inflammatory medicinal properties. Even better, it is an annual native to most of North America.

Only two additions, but good ones you have to agree! One of the delightful things about Sand Hill other than their variety and great prices, is that they have no online ordering. I had to download an order form, fill it out, print it off, and send it through the mail with a check. This is likely one of the reasons why their prices are so good. I don’t mind at all that the whole process takes a bit longer because none of the seeds I am getting from them will need to be started indoors until March.

Seeds all done. Next I need to write out my planting calendar.

My two week’s vacation is drawing to a close and it is back to wage work tomorrow. In spite of the topsy-turvy bathroom remodel and plumbing problems, it has been a wonderful and relaxing break. I managed to read 84 books in 2025, more than I ever have before. If you are interested in poking around, check out my LibraryThing list. It says 90 but that’s because it also includes several books I chose to not finish. And there are charts and graphs too if that sort of thing floats your boat, though I’m not certain of their accuracy.

I had some fun on my vacation sorting books on my bookshelves. And I made progress on my attic project too. All the carpet is up. Now I’m filling in the seams on the plywood floor which will then get sanded and painted with primer and then painted with floor paint. Little by little!

I hope your 2026 is off to a good start. Please send good thoughts that I will not have any additional plumbing issues for a very, very long time!

#atticCarpetProject #bathroomRemodel #beetberry #blackEyedPeas #Granny #holeInTheWall #NewYear #plumbing #SandHillPreservationCenter #seedCatalogs #splitPeaSoup

Welcome 2026

After last weekend’s main drain backup it turned out the plumbing wasn’t finished with us yet. Thursday afternoon the shower in the basement bathroom we’ve been using for the past month while our main bathroom remodel takes its sweet time, decided to leak. And it wasn’t one of those slow drip, drip leaks. But we can fix leaky faucets!

It turned out the plumbing was original to our 1952-built house and there are no longer tools and parts to fix it. So we had to call a plumber. He had to replace the shower/tub fixtures, but in order to do that, he had to cut a door-sized hole in the wall of the adjacent bedroom to access the pipes. He then had to replace the steel pipes with copper ones. And now we have new basic shower/tub fixtures and a large hole in the wall. But no more leak!

James and I do not have the tools or know-how to do drywall, so eventually we will need to hire a handyperson to come and do it for us. Since this is a guest bedroom and it is winter and people do not come visit Minnesota in the winter, especially our southern California and New Mexico family members, we can wait until spring or summer to have the wall repaired.

Meanwhile, my main bathroom remodel is not yet done. It is getting close though and I expect it will be completed this week. The tile is done and looks oh so pretty. The grab bars and folding shower chair are mounted. Now we just need a shower door, shower fixtures, a toilet and sink. And of course, with all the new and shiny, I’m looking at the medicine cabinet and wrinkling my nose because it is showing its 25-year-old age. And of course, new paint on the walls is going to need to happen too. When we contracted for the project we both naively thought the rest of the bathroom would not need changing. At least these things we really can do ourselves.

We had vegan black-eyed peas and pumpkin quesadillas on New Year’s Day. They can also be made with sweet potato or another winter squash. Last year we used butternut. Such a tasty meal! I got the recipe a couple years ago from the Washington Post and sadly it is trapped behind a paywall. However, if it is a recipe you are interested in, let me know and I can email it to you, I just can’t post it online.

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring good luck. It’s a tradition from the southern part of the United States. My mom is from Oklahoma and grew up having to eat them on New Year’s, but scoffed at the tradition, along with a lot of other southern cultural things, as an adult. Her mom, my Granny, always had to have them, however. Due to a stroke that left her paralyzed on the left side of her body, she lived the last ten years of her life in a nursing home. My mom always had to go to the grocery store and buy a can of black-eyed peas to take to her otherwise she would never hear the end of it. Since Granny couldn’t cook, I assume my mom opened the can and Granny just ate them. I was generally still in my pajamas after sleeping in on New Year’s Day, and was never present for the eating of the black-eyed peas. I just remember my mom grumbling about silly superstitions.

Because of this, I never ate any until I started growing them in the garden several years ago. We tried them out in hoppin’ John and a few other dishes, but not until I came across the quesadilla recipe did we settle on our own “traditional” way to eat them on New Year’s Day. Do I believe that they bring me good luck? No, especially since after we ate them the basement bathroom leak happened. Is it a fun way to honor traditions and ancestors and have a tasty meal in the process? Absolutely!

We ended up with some extra cooked black-eyed peas and James was trying to figure out what meal he might add them to. He’s going to be making split pea soup and thought he could add them to the soup. What did I think about that? I shrugged, seemed like it would be fine.

He continued kitchening in silence, and then suddenly asked, “Do you think it will kill the green peaness?”

“What?!” I exclaimed, and scowled a little.

If you are wondering about my response, say “kill the green peaness” out loud.

James looked at me a bit confused. Then I re-ran what he said in my head and saw the jar of green split peas on the counter. Then I started laughing. Then he realized what I thought he said and started laughing too. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. We are still laughing about it. And now, of course, kill the green peaness has become a thing.

There’s snow on the ground and will be for several months yet, but I ordered my garden seeds! I posted my list last week, and now you can all roll your eyes or giggle because yes, it changed. But I have a good reason!

I was planning on ordering from four different places and remembered Sand Hill Preservation Center in Iowa. They are an heirloom seed place I bought sweet potato slips from a few years ago. I did not get a good sweet potato harvest but that is no fault of theirs. Their product was good, my growing was not because I refused to put down black plastic around the plants to keep the soil at the really warm temperature they like. Surely a sunny spot and some straw will be just fine? Well, since the sweet potatoes weren’t much larger than ping pong balls, the answer was no.

But I recalled that they have lots of really interesting garden seeds I had never seen anywhere else. So I browsed their website to see if I might be able to consolidate my seed order. Why yes, yes I could.

I still had to order from three places, but Sand Hill prices are so good, I was able to shift around some of what I was ordering from the other two places and overall spend much less on seeds and shipping. Of course I had to throw in two additional seeds packets! I added caraway to the order so I will have a supply for sourdough pumpernickel bread making. And I added an interesting herb I had never heard of before called beetberry.

Beetberry, Bitum capitatum, is a member of the amaranth family. The leaves can be eaten raw as a salad green or cooked, and are highly nutritious. The tiny red berries that follow the interesting looking flowers are high in anti-oxidants and can be used to make jams or desserts. The plant also has anti-inflammatory medicinal properties. Even better, it is an annual native to most of North America.

Only two additions, but good ones you have to agree! One of the delightful things about Sand Hill other than their variety and great prices, is that they have no online ordering. I had to download an order form, fill it out, print it off, and send it through the mail with a check. This is likely one of the reasons why their prices are so good. I don’t mind at all that the whole process takes a bit longer because none of the seeds I am getting from them will need to be started indoors until March.

Seeds all done. Next I need to write out my planting calendar.

My two week’s vacation is drawing to a close and it is back to wage work tomorrow. In spite of the topsy-turvy bathroom remodel and plumbing problems, it has been a wonderful and relaxing break. I managed to read 84 books in 2025, more than I ever have before. If you are interested in poking around, check out my LibraryThing list. It says 90 but that’s because it also includes several books I chose to not finish. And there are charts and graphs too if that sort of thing floats your boat, though I’m not certain of their accuracy.

I had some fun on my vacation sorting books on my bookshelves. And I made progress on my attic project too. All the carpet is up. Now I’m filling in the seams on the plywood floor which will then get sanded and painted with primer and then painted with floor paint. Little by little!

I hope your 2026 is off to a good start. Please send good thoughts that I will not have any additional plumbing issues for a very, very long time!

#atticCarpetProject #bathroomRemodel #beetberry #blackEyedPeas #Granny #holeInTheWall #NewYear #plumbing #SandHillPreservationCenter #seedCatalogs #splitPeaSoup

Welcome 2026

After last weekend’s main drain backup it turned out the plumbing wasn’t finished with us yet. Thursday afternoon the shower in the basement bathroom we’ve been using for the past month while our main bathroom remodel takes its sweet time, decided to leak. And it wasn’t one of those slow drip, drip leaks. But we can fix leaky faucets!

It turned out the plumbing was original to our 1952-built house and there are no longer tools and parts to fix it. So we had to call a plumber. He had to replace the shower/tub fixtures, but in order to do that, he had to cut a door-sized hole in the wall of the adjacent bedroom to access the pipes. He then had to replace the steel pipes with copper ones. And now we have new basic shower/tub fixtures and a large hole in the wall. But no more leak!

James and I do not have the tools or know-how to do drywall, so eventually we will need to hire a handyperson to come and do it for us. Since this is a guest bedroom and it is winter and people do not come visit Minnesota in the winter, especially our southern California and New Mexico family members, we can wait until spring or summer to have the wall repaired.

Meanwhile, my main bathroom remodel is not yet done. It is getting close though and I expect it will be completed this week. The tile is done and looks oh so pretty. The grab bars and folding shower chair are mounted. Now we just need a shower door, shower fixtures, a toilet and sink. And of course, with all the new and shiny, I’m looking at the medicine cabinet and wrinkling my nose because it is showing its 25-year-old age. And of course, new paint on the walls is going to need to happen too. When we contracted for the project we both naively thought the rest of the bathroom would not need changing. At least these things we really can do ourselves.

We had vegan black-eyed peas and pumpkin quesadillas on New Year’s Day. They can also be made with sweet potato or another winter squash. Last year we used butternut. Such a tasty meal! I got the recipe a couple years ago from the Washington Post and sadly it is trapped behind a paywall. However, if it is a recipe you are interested in, let me know and I can email it to you, I just can’t post it online.

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring good luck. It’s a tradition from the southern part of the United States. My mom is from Oklahoma and grew up having to eat them on New Year’s, but scoffed at the tradition, along with a lot of other southern cultural things, as an adult. Her mom, my Granny, always had to have them, however. Due to a stroke that left her paralyzed on the left side of her body, she lived the last ten years of her life in a nursing home. My mom always had to go to the grocery store and buy a can of black-eyed peas to take to her otherwise she would never hear the end of it. Since Granny couldn’t cook, I assume my mom opened the can and Granny just ate them. I was generally still in my pajamas after sleeping in on New Year’s Day, and was never present for the eating of the black-eyed peas. I just remember my mom grumbling about silly superstitions.

Because of this, I never ate any until I started growing them in the garden several years ago. We tried them out in hoppin’ John and a few other dishes, but not until I came across the quesadilla recipe did we settle on our own “traditional” way to eat them on New Year’s Day. Do I believe that they bring me good luck? No, especially since after we ate them the basement bathroom leak happened. Is it a fun way to honor traditions and ancestors and have a tasty meal in the process? Absolutely!

We ended up with some extra cooked black-eyed peas and James was trying to figure out what meal he might add them to. He’s going to be making split pea soup and thought he could add them to the soup. What did I think about that? I shrugged, seemed like it would be fine.

He continued kitchening in silence, and then suddenly asked, “Do you think it will kill the green peaness?”

“What?!” I exclaimed, and scowled a little.

If you are wondering about my response, say “kill the green peaness” out loud.

James looked at me a bit confused. Then I re-ran what he said in my head and saw the jar of green split peas on the counter. Then I started laughing. Then he realized what I thought he said and started laughing too. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. We are still laughing about it. And now, of course, kill the green peaness has become a thing.

There’s snow on the ground and will be for several months yet, but I ordered my garden seeds! I posted my list last week, and now you can all roll your eyes or giggle because yes, it changed. But I have a good reason!

I was planning on ordering from four different places and remembered Sand Hill Preservation Center in Iowa. They are an heirloom seed place I bought sweet potato slips from a few years ago. I did not get a good sweet potato harvest but that is no fault of theirs. Their product was good, my growing was not because I refused to put down black plastic around the plants to keep the soil at the really warm temperature they like. Surely a sunny spot and some straw will be just fine? Well, since the sweet potatoes weren’t much larger than ping pong balls, the answer was no.

But I recalled that they have lots of really interesting garden seeds I had never seen anywhere else. So I browsed their website to see if I might be able to consolidate my seed order. Why yes, yes I could.

I still had to order from three places, but Sand Hill prices are so good, I was able to shift around some of what I was ordering from the other two places and overall spend much less on seeds and shipping. Of course I had to throw in two additional seeds packets! I added caraway to the order so I will have a supply for sourdough pumpernickel bread making. And I added an interesting herb I had never heard of before called beetberry.

Beetberry, Bitum capitatum, is a member of the amaranth family. The leaves can be eaten raw as a salad green or cooked, and are highly nutritious. The tiny red berries that follow the interesting looking flowers are high in anti-oxidants and can be used to make jams or desserts. The plant also has anti-inflammatory medicinal properties. Even better, it is an annual native to most of North America.

Only two additions, but good ones you have to agree! One of the delightful things about Sand Hill other than their variety and great prices, is that they have no online ordering. I had to download an order form, fill it out, print it off, and send it through the mail with a check. This is likely one of the reasons why their prices are so good. I don’t mind at all that the whole process takes a bit longer because none of the seeds I am getting from them will need to be started indoors until March.

Seeds all done. Next I need to write out my planting calendar.

My two week’s vacation is drawing to a close and it is back to wage work tomorrow. In spite of the topsy-turvy bathroom remodel and plumbing problems, it has been a wonderful and relaxing break. I managed to read 84 books in 2025, more than I ever have before. If you are interested in poking around, check out my LibraryThing list. It says 90 but that’s because it also includes several books I chose to not finish. And there are charts and graphs too if that sort of thing floats your boat, though I’m not certain of their accuracy.

I had some fun on my vacation sorting books on my bookshelves. And I made progress on my attic project too. All the carpet is up. Now I’m filling in the seams on the plywood floor which will then get sanded and painted with primer and then painted with floor paint. Little by little!

I hope your 2026 is off to a good start. Please send good thoughts that I will not have any additional plumbing issues for a very, very long time!

#atticCarpetProject #bathroomRemodel #beetberry #blackEyedPeas #Granny #holeInTheWall #NewYear #plumbing #SandHillPreservationCenter #seedCatalogs #splitPeaSoup

Welcome 2026

After last weekend’s main drain backup it turned out the plumbing wasn’t finished with us yet. Thursday afternoon the shower in the basement bathroom we’ve been using for the past month while our main bathroom remodel takes its sweet time, decided to leak. And it wasn’t one of those slow drip, drip leaks. But we can fix leaky faucets!

It turned out the plumbing was original to our 1952-built house and there are no longer tools and parts to fix it. So we had to call a plumber. He had to replace the shower/tub fixtures, but in order to do that, he had to cut a door-sized hole in the wall of the adjacent bedroom to access the pipes. He then had to replace the steel pipes with copper ones. And now we have new basic shower/tub fixtures and a large hole in the wall. But no more leak!

James and I do not have the tools or know-how to do drywall, so eventually we will need to hire a handyperson to come and do it for us. Since this is a guest bedroom and it is winter and people do not come visit Minnesota in the winter, especially our southern California and New Mexico family members, we can wait until spring or summer to have the wall repaired.

Meanwhile, my main bathroom remodel is not yet done. It is getting close though and I expect it will be completed this week. The tile is done and looks oh so pretty. The grab bars and folding shower chair are mounted. Now we just need a shower door, shower fixtures, a toilet and sink. And of course, with all the new and shiny, I’m looking at the medicine cabinet and wrinkling my nose because it is showing its 25-year-old age. And of course, new paint on the walls is going to need to happen too. When we contracted for the project we both naively thought the rest of the bathroom would not need changing. At least these things we really can do ourselves.

We had vegan black-eyed peas and pumpkin quesadillas on New Year’s Day. They can also be made with sweet potato or another winter squash. Last year we used butternut. Such a tasty meal! I got the recipe a couple years ago from the Washington Post and sadly it is trapped behind a paywall. However, if it is a recipe you are interested in, let me know and I can email it to you, I just can’t post it online.

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring good luck. It’s a tradition from the southern part of the United States. My mom is from Oklahoma and grew up having to eat them on New Year’s, but scoffed at the tradition, along with a lot of other southern cultural things, as an adult. Her mom, my Granny, always had to have them, however. Due to a stroke that left her paralyzed on the left side of her body, she lived the last ten years of her life in a nursing home. My mom always had to go to the grocery store and buy a can of black-eyed peas to take to her otherwise she would never hear the end of it. Since Granny couldn’t cook, I assume my mom opened the can and Granny just ate them. I was generally still in my pajamas after sleeping in on New Year’s Day, and was never present for the eating of the black-eyed peas. I just remember my mom grumbling about silly superstitions.

Because of this, I never ate any until I started growing them in the garden several years ago. We tried them out in hoppin’ John and a few other dishes, but not until I came across the quesadilla recipe did we settle on our own “traditional” way to eat them on New Year’s Day. Do I believe that they bring me good luck? No, especially since after we ate them the basement bathroom leak happened. Is it a fun way to honor traditions and ancestors and have a tasty meal in the process? Absolutely!

We ended up with some extra cooked black-eyed peas and James was trying to figure out what meal he might add them to. He’s going to be making split pea soup and thought he could add them to the soup. What did I think about that? I shrugged, seemed like it would be fine.

He continued kitchening in silence, and then suddenly asked, “Do you think it will kill the green peaness?”

“What?!” I exclaimed, and scowled a little.

If you are wondering about my response, say “kill the green peaness” out loud.

James looked at me a bit confused. Then I re-ran what he said in my head and saw the jar of green split peas on the counter. Then I started laughing. Then he realized what I thought he said and started laughing too. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. We are still laughing about it. And now, of course, kill the green peaness has become a thing.

There’s snow on the ground and will be for several months yet, but I ordered my garden seeds! I posted my list last week, and now you can all roll your eyes or giggle because yes, it changed. But I have a good reason!

I was planning on ordering from four different places and remembered Sand Hill Preservation Center in Iowa. They are an heirloom seed place I bought sweet potato slips from a few years ago. I did not get a good sweet potato harvest but that is no fault of theirs. Their product was good, my growing was not because I refused to put down black plastic around the plants to keep the soil at the really warm temperature they like. Surely a sunny spot and some straw will be just fine? Well, since the sweet potatoes weren’t much larger than ping pong balls, the answer was no.

But I recalled that they have lots of really interesting garden seeds I had never seen anywhere else. So I browsed their website to see if I might be able to consolidate my seed order. Why yes, yes I could.

I still had to order from three places, but Sand Hill prices are so good, I was able to shift around some of what I was ordering from the other two places and overall spend much less on seeds and shipping. Of course I had to throw in two additional seeds packets! I added caraway to the order so I will have a supply for sourdough pumpernickel bread making. And I added an interesting herb I had never heard of before called beetberry.

Beetberry, Bitum capitatum, is a member of the amaranth family. The leaves can be eaten raw as a salad green or cooked, and are highly nutritious. The tiny red berries that follow the interesting looking flowers are high in anti-oxidants and can be used to make jams or desserts. The plant also has anti-inflammatory medicinal properties. Even better, it is an annual native to most of North America.

Only two additions, but good ones you have to agree! One of the delightful things about Sand Hill other than their variety and great prices, is that they have no online ordering. I had to download an order form, fill it out, print it off, and send it through the mail with a check. This is likely one of the reasons why their prices are so good. I don’t mind at all that the whole process takes a bit longer because none of the seeds I am getting from them will need to be started indoors until March.

Seeds all done. Next I need to write out my planting calendar.

My two week’s vacation is drawing to a close and it is back to wage work tomorrow. In spite of the topsy-turvy bathroom remodel and plumbing problems, it has been a wonderful and relaxing break. I managed to read 84 books in 2025, more than I ever have before. If you are interested in poking around, check out my LibraryThing list. It says 90 but that’s because it also includes several books I chose to not finish. And there are charts and graphs too if that sort of thing floats your boat, though I’m not certain of their accuracy.

I had some fun on my vacation sorting books on my bookshelves. And I made progress on my attic project too. All the carpet is up. Now I’m filling in the seams on the plywood floor which will then get sanded and painted with primer and then painted with floor paint. Little by little!

I hope your 2026 is off to a good start. Please send good thoughts that I will not have any additional plumbing issues for a very, very long time!

#atticCarpetProject #bathroomRemodel #beetberry #blackEyedPeas #Granny #holeInTheWall #NewYear #plumbing #SandHillPreservationCenter #seedCatalogs #splitPeaSoup

Seedy

Hello Friends! I missed posting yesterday because I was busy scrubbing the basement bathroom after our main sewer drain backed up Saturday. We couldn’t run water down the drains or use the bathroom all day until the plumber finally made it out at 8:30 that night. James had to wet vac the basement utility room floor and then I also had to scrub the hallway floor and spot clean the main floor where the plumber left dirty boot prints. And then I got to catch up on the laundry.

To add to all the fun, we had a winter storm blow through. James took the bus to work because of the near-blizzard wind conditions. We ended up with 5.8 inches/14.7 cm of snow, which is on the low end of what was forecast. Late yesterday afternoon when it was still lightly snowing and not yet arctic windchills, I ventured out to shovel the walkways, the path to the chicken coop and around the recycling and trash bins because today is trash day and they will skip your house if your bins are not cleared of snow.

This morning I was out before sunup shoveling the additional bit of snow that fell overnight and the snowdrifts the wind had blown across the sidewalks. Cleared a fresh path to the chicken coop and around the bins. Because there was a lot less snow than Sunday afternoon, this took not much time at all.

Now I’m sitting in a suddenly quiet house. The tile guys are here this morning working on my bathroom and the tile saw died. Kaput. So they are off buying a new one and will be back shortly to make more noise.

Last week they got two of the three sides of the shower walls done. I thought a tiny bathroom meant the work would go faster, but it turns out small spaces take longer because they have more angles and require more cutting. But today, after they get their new saw, they should be able to finish the shower wall and the floor. I don’t know if they will be able to do the grout today or whether they have to let the “mud” the tile is set into dry first. Guess I will find out.

Garden planning! I have a lot of seeds saved from last year’s garden. We really like all the tomato varieties we’ve been growing, most of the beans, cayenne peppers, garden peas, butternuts, marigolds, tulsi, and greens, but I always like to try new plants, and there are some plants that I’ve not been able to save seed from because they are biennial and I haven’t motivated myself to dig up carrots and onions and overwinter them in my basement to plant out in spring so they can flower and set seed. I’ve also not found a radish I like enough to save seeds and grow on. Maybe this will be the year carrots and onions and radish all come together?

I’ve got my new garden seed orders sorted out, but haven’t placed the orders yet in case I decide to change my mind or add something. My plan is to order them Thursday, but I’m beginning to think that leaving it open that long might be a mistake because I am not likely to remove anything from the plan, but highly likely to add. And I really don’t need to add anything else. So I’m going to declare it here and y’all can hold me to it and shame me if another seed packet or two somehow sneaks in!

Herbs:

• Cilantro. I decided I don’t like the variety I’ve been growing the last few years, so trying a new one.
• Sweet basil. I’ve been growing Genovese basil but the leaves are so small. This one has bigger leaves.
• Greek Oregano. Mostly perennial but last year’s polar vortex arctic blast killed it. I could buy a plant at the plant sale in May, but we like oregano so with seeds I can grow several plants.
• Broadleaf sage. Allegedly perennial but I have yet to get one through a winter. Instead of buying a single plant I’m going to sprout several and plant them all around the garden to increase the likelihood of winter survival.
• Elka poppy. Poppy seeds! I guess not technically an herb, but I thought it would be fun to have pretty pink poppies for the pollinators and seeds for me to use baking sourdough delights.

Peppers:

• Jalapeño. For some reason, none of the seeds I had been saving sprouted last year and I need some fresh ones.
• Poblano. James really wants peppers for stuffing, so I’m going to try growing these.
• Orange lunchbox. A small, sweet snacking pepper, also a James desire since we’ve had zero luck growing bell peppers and the one time we got any, a squirrel ate them all. Of course.

Roots:

• Early scarlet horn carrot. A pretty standard carrot and supposed to keep well.
• Dragon carrot. Purple on the outside, orange on the inside. Did you know that all carrots used to be purple? We have orange carrots because Europeans decided they were more interesting or something.
• Dakota tears yellow storage onion. I’ve not grown this variety before. It’s supposed to be very strongly flavored, thus the tears.
• Southport red globe storage onion. New to me variety with a slightly shorter season than other red varieties I’ve tried.
• Sora red round radish. Big radish that is supposedly tolerant of summer heat so I can succession plant all season.
• Spanish black radish. A spicy radish black on the outside and white on the inside. To plant at the end of July for fall harvest. I’ve not grown this variety before.
• Macomber rutabaga. I had some free rutabaga seeds from the library last year and the plants grew big and strong but I didn’t plant the seeds deep enough so just got long spindly above ground “roots” I couldn’t eat. Lesson learned and worth trying again.

Other:

• Red Kalibos cabbage. My green cabbage has been pathetic so I’m trying red. If red doesn’t do well, then I’m giving up on cabbage growing.
• Whirlygig zinnia. Birds ate all the zinnia seeds last year before I could save any so I need a refresh. I’ve never had birds eat zinnia seeds before. I will need to figure out how to protect some of the flowers next summer for seeds to plant on.
• Long pie pumpkin. Turns out the pie pumpkin I planted last year was a hybrid variety so I couldn’t save seeds. This one gets picked before it is ripe and ripens in storage. I am hoping to pull a fast one on the squirrel pirates.
• Hidasta shield pole bean. A pretty white bean with brown markings. Grown by the Hidasta people in North Dakota and good for soup and baking. I love growing beans and since I’m not growing disappointing succotash beans again, I have space to try something new.

New! New! New!

• Mother Mary’s pie melon. I’ve not had much luck growing melon in the past but this heirloom is from a woman in Minnesota and is reportedly a sweet melon good for making pie and jam. I have to try it!
• Purple Vienna kohlrabi. I’ve not grown kohlrabi before and the broccoli I tried to grow last year only produced a few small heads that almost immediately bloomed. Disappointing. I thought Kohlrabi might make a good substitute. We’ll see.
• Mexican sour gherkin, also known as cucamelon and mouse melon. Neither a cucumber nor a melon, this vining plant produces small green and white fruit that look like tiny watermelons. They supposedly taste a little like pickles, can be eaten raw or pickled and you either love them or hate them. I’m banking on loving them.
• Green striped cushaw. Also sometimes called sweet potato pumpkin. A large, sweet long-keeping green striped winter squash good for pies, squash butter, pudding, and roasting. I’m longing for the squash butter and the pudding.

There they all are. The garden is really going to be packed come summer. But then I say that every year and somehow end up with large patches of feral arugula because I didn’t have anything planted in that particular spot. Perhaps this will be the year I actually do pack the garden.

I had originally planned to also try growing fava beans after I discovered a recipe for
fava bean hot chocolate. I see the look on your face, hang with me for a second. Creamy vegan hot chocolate is a challenge. We could use coconut cream but then it tastes like coconut. We’ve used medjool dates but then it gets really sweet. Fava bean puree makes it creamy while not tasting beany.

Of course I had to try it before committing to growing the beans. Sadly, my food co-op doesn’t sell fava beans, either dry or in a can. I thought to try the recipe substituting white beans instead because there are many vegan recipes that use white beans to make creamy sauces , soups, and dressings since white beans are mild and other flavors cover over the beans. We tried navy beans and it worked! I’ve been enjoying a cup of creamy hot chocolate now and then of an afternoon during my vacation time. Mmmmm.

But still, I thought I might try growing fava beans untilI I found out from the Fedco seed catalog, the only one that had fava seeds, that “In susceptible humans who have inherited a specific enzyme deficiency, within a few minutes of inhaling pollen or several hours after eating fava beans, a severe allergic reaction occurs. Most individuals have this enzyme and are not affected.”

Say what? This might explain why my food co-op doesn’t sell fava beans. I have never eaten fava beans and have no idea whether I have said enzyme deficiency, but given all my seasonal allergies and my inability to eat raw cucumbers and raw onions, I decided to not push my luck. And since navy beans are a cheap and easy substitute, well sorry fava beans.

The tile guys are back. Sawing and listening to music. Currently it’s the Violent Femmes. I haven’t heard them in ages. Blast from the past!

We’ve somehow made it to the end of 2025. What a year. Enjoy safe and happy year-end celebrations! May 2026 be filled will joy, beauty, and peace, as well as the strength and resilience to meet whatever surprises and struggles arise.

#bathroomRemodel #favaBeans #plumbing #seeds #snow

Seedy

Hello Friends! I missed posting yesterday because I was busy scrubbing the basement bathroom after our main sewer drain backed up Saturday. We couldn’t run water down the drains or use the bathroom all day until the plumber finally made it out at 8:30 that night. James had to wet vac the basement utility room floor and then I also had to scrub the hallway floor and spot clean the main floor where the plumber left dirty boot prints. And then I got to catch up on the laundry.

To add to all the fun, we had a winter storm blow through. James took the bus to work because of the near-blizzard wind conditions. We ended up with 5.8 inches/14.7 cm of snow, which is on the low end of what was forecast. Late yesterday afternoon when it was still lightly snowing and not yet arctic windchills, I ventured out to shovel the walkways, the path to the chicken coop and around the recycling and trash bins because today is trash day and they will skip your house if your bins are not cleared of snow.

This morning I was out before sunup shoveling the additional bit of snow that fell overnight and the snowdrifts the wind had blown across the sidewalks. Cleared a fresh path to the chicken coop and around the bins. Because there was a lot less snow than Sunday afternoon, this took not much time at all.

Now I’m sitting in a suddenly quiet house. The tile guys are here this morning working on my bathroom and the tile saw died. Kaput. So they are off buying a new one and will be back shortly to make more noise.

Last week they got two of the three sides of the shower walls done. I thought a tiny bathroom meant the work would go faster, but it turns out small spaces take longer because they have more angles and require more cutting. But today, after they get their new saw, they should be able to finish the shower wall and the floor. I don’t know if they will be able to do the grout today or whether they have to let the “mud” the tile is set into dry first. Guess I will find out.

Garden planning! I have a lot of seeds saved from last year’s garden. We really like all the tomato varieties we’ve been growing, most of the beans, cayenne peppers, garden peas, butternuts, marigolds, tulsi, and greens, but I always like to try new plants, and there are some plants that I’ve not been able to save seed from because they are biennial and I haven’t motivated myself to dig up carrots and onions and overwinter them in my basement to plant out in spring so they can flower and set seed. I’ve also not found a radish I like enough to save seeds and grow on. Maybe this will be the year carrots and onions and radish all come together?

I’ve got my new garden seed orders sorted out, but haven’t placed the orders yet in case I decide to change my mind or add something. My plan is to order them Thursday, but I’m beginning to think that leaving it open that long might be a mistake because I am not likely to remove anything from the plan, but highly likely to add. And I really don’t need to add anything else. So I’m going to declare it here and y’all can hold me to it and shame me if another seed packet or two somehow sneaks in!

Herbs:

• Cilantro. I decided I don’t like the variety I’ve been growing the last few years, so trying a new one.
• Sweet basil. I’ve been growing Genovese basil but the leaves are so small. This one has bigger leaves.
• Greek Oregano. Mostly perennial but last year’s polar vortex arctic blast killed it. I could buy a plant at the plant sale in May, but we like oregano so with seeds I can grow several plants.
• Broadleaf sage. Allegedly perennial but I have yet to get one through a winter. Instead of buying a single plant I’m going to sprout several and plant them all around the garden to increase the likelihood of winter survival.
• Elka poppy. Poppy seeds! I guess not technically an herb, but I thought it would be fun to have pretty pink poppies for the pollinators and seeds for me to use baking sourdough delights.

Peppers:

• Jalapeño. For some reason, none of the seeds I had been saving sprouted last year and I need some fresh ones.
• Poblano. James really wants peppers for stuffing, so I’m going to try growing these.
• Orange lunchbox. A small, sweet snacking pepper, also a James desire since we’ve had zero luck growing bell peppers and the one time we got any, a squirrel ate them all. Of course.

Roots:

• Early scarlet horn carrot. A pretty standard carrot and supposed to keep well.
• Dragon carrot. Purple on the outside, orange on the inside. Did you know that all carrots used to be purple? We have orange carrots because Europeans decided they were more interesting or something.
• Dakota tears yellow storage onion. I’ve not grown this variety before. It’s supposed to be very strongly flavored, thus the tears.
• Southport red globe storage onion. New to me variety with a slightly shorter season than other red varieties I’ve tried.
• Sora red round radish. Big radish that is supposedly tolerant of summer heat so I can succession plant all season.
• Spanish black radish. A spicy radish black on the outside and white on the inside. To plant at the end of July for fall harvest. I’ve not grown this variety before.
• Macomber rutabaga. I had some free rutabaga seeds from the library last year and the plants grew big and strong but I didn’t plant the seeds deep enough so just got long spindly above ground “roots” I couldn’t eat. Lesson learned and worth trying again.

Other:

• Red Kalibos cabbage. My green cabbage has been pathetic so I’m trying red. If red doesn’t do well, then I’m giving up on cabbage growing.
• Whirlygig zinnia. Birds ate all the zinnia seeds last year before I could save any so I need a refresh. I’ve never had birds eat zinnia seeds before. I will need to figure out how to protect some of the flowers next summer for seeds to plant on.
• Long pie pumpkin. Turns out the pie pumpkin I planted last year was a hybrid variety so I couldn’t save seeds. This one gets picked before it is ripe and ripens in storage. I am hoping to pull a fast one on the squirrel pirates.
• Hidasta shield pole bean. A pretty white bean with brown markings. Grown by the Hidasta people in North Dakota and good for soup and baking. I love growing beans and since I’m not growing disappointing succotash beans again, I have space to try something new.

New! New! New!

• Mother Mary’s pie melon. I’ve not had much luck growing melon in the past but this heirloom is from a woman in Minnesota and is reportedly a sweet melon good for making pie and jam. I have to try it!
• Purple Vienna kohlrabi. I’ve not grown kohlrabi before and the broccoli I tried to grow last year only produced a few small heads that almost immediately bloomed. Disappointing. I thought Kohlrabi might make a good substitute. We’ll see.
• Mexican sour gherkin, also known as cucamelon and mouse melon. Neither a cucumber nor a melon, this vining plant produces small green and white fruit that look like tiny watermelons. They supposedly taste a little like pickles, can be eaten raw or pickled and you either love them or hate them. I’m banking on loving them.
• Green striped cushaw. Also sometimes called sweet potato pumpkin. A large, sweet long-keeping green striped winter squash good for pies, squash butter, pudding, and roasting. I’m longing for the squash butter and the pudding.

There they all are. The garden is really going to be packed come summer. But then I say that every year and somehow end up with large patches of feral arugula because I didn’t have anything planted in that particular spot. Perhaps this will be the year I actually do pack the garden.

I had originally planned to also try growing fava beans after I discovered a recipe for
fava bean hot chocolate. I see the look on your face, hang with me for a second. Creamy vegan hot chocolate is a challenge. We could use coconut cream but then it tastes like coconut. We’ve used medjool dates but then it gets really sweet. Fava bean puree makes it creamy while not tasting beany.

Of course I had to try it before committing to growing the beans. Sadly, my food co-op doesn’t sell fava beans, either dry or in a can. I thought to try the recipe substituting white beans instead because there are many vegan recipes that use white beans to make creamy sauces , soups, and dressings since white beans are mild and other flavors cover over the beans. We tried navy beans and it worked! I’ve been enjoying a cup of creamy hot chocolate now and then of an afternoon during my vacation time. Mmmmm.

But still, I thought I might try growing fava beans untilI I found out from the Fedco seed catalog, the only one that had fava seeds, that “In susceptible humans who have inherited a specific enzyme deficiency, within a few minutes of inhaling pollen or several hours after eating fava beans, a severe allergic reaction occurs. Most individuals have this enzyme and are not affected.”

Say what? This might explain why my food co-op doesn’t sell fava beans. I have never eaten fava beans and have no idea whether I have said enzyme deficiency, but given all my seasonal allergies and my inability to eat raw cucumbers and raw onions, I decided to not push my luck. And since navy beans are a cheap and easy substitute, well sorry fava beans.

The tile guys are back. Sawing and listening to music. Currently it’s the Violent Femmes. I haven’t heard them in ages. Blast from the past!

We’ve somehow made it to the end of 2025. What a year. Enjoy safe and happy year-end celebrations! May 2026 be filled will joy, beauty, and peace, as well as the strength and resilience to meet whatever surprises and struggles arise.

#bathroomRemodel #favaBeans #plumbing #seeds #snow

Seedy

Hello Friends! I missed posting yesterday because I was busy scrubbing the basement bathroom after our main sewer drain backed up Saturday. We couldn’t run water down the drains or use the bathroom all day until the plumber finally made it out at 8:30 that night. James had to wet vac the basement utility room floor and then I also had to scrub the hallway floor and spot clean the main floor where the plumber left dirty boot prints. And then I got to catch up on the laundry.

To add to all the fun, we had a winter storm blow through. James took the bus to work because of the near-blizzard wind conditions. We ended up with 5.8 inches/14.7 cm of snow, which is on the low end of what was forecast. Late yesterday afternoon when it was still lightly snowing and not yet arctic windchills, I ventured out to shovel the walkways, the path to the chicken coop and around the recycling and trash bins because today is trash day and they will skip your house if your bins are not cleared of snow.

This morning I was out before sunup shoveling the additional bit of snow that fell overnight and the snowdrifts the wind had blown across the sidewalks. Cleared a fresh path to the chicken coop and around the bins. Because there was a lot less snow than Sunday afternoon, this took not much time at all.

Now I’m sitting in a suddenly quiet house. The tile guys are here this morning working on my bathroom and the tile saw died. Kaput. So they are off buying a new one and will be back shortly to make more noise.

Last week they got two of the three sides of the shower walls done. I thought a tiny bathroom meant the work would go faster, but it turns out small spaces take longer because they have more angles and require more cutting. But today, after they get their new saw, they should be able to finish the shower wall and the floor. I don’t know if they will be able to do the grout today or whether they have to let the “mud” the tile is set into dry first. Guess I will find out.

Garden planning! I have a lot of seeds saved from last year’s garden. We really like all the tomato varieties we’ve been growing, most of the beans, cayenne peppers, garden peas, butternuts, marigolds, tulsi, and greens, but I always like to try new plants, and there are some plants that I’ve not been able to save seed from because they are biennial and I haven’t motivated myself to dig up carrots and onions and overwinter them in my basement to plant out in spring so they can flower and set seed. I’ve also not found a radish I like enough to save seeds and grow on. Maybe this will be the year carrots and onions and radish all come together?

I’ve got my new garden seed orders sorted out, but haven’t placed the orders yet in case I decide to change my mind or add something. My plan is to order them Thursday, but I’m beginning to think that leaving it open that long might be a mistake because I am not likely to remove anything from the plan, but highly likely to add. And I really don’t need to add anything else. So I’m going to declare it here and y’all can hold me to it and shame me if another seed packet or two somehow sneaks in!

Herbs:

• Cilantro. I decided I don’t like the variety I’ve been growing the last few years, so trying a new one.
• Sweet basil. I’ve been growing Genovese basil but the leaves are so small. This one has bigger leaves.
• Greek Oregano. Mostly perennial but last year’s polar vortex arctic blast killed it. I could buy a plant at the plant sale in May, but we like oregano so with seeds I can grow several plants.
• Broadleaf sage. Allegedly perennial but I have yet to get one through a winter. Instead of buying a single plant I’m going to sprout several and plant them all around the garden to increase the likelihood of winter survival.
• Elka poppy. Poppy seeds! I guess not technically an herb, but I thought it would be fun to have pretty pink poppies for the pollinators and seeds for me to use baking sourdough delights.

Peppers:

• Jalapeño. For some reason, none of the seeds I had been saving sprouted last year and I need some fresh ones.
• Poblano. James really wants peppers for stuffing, so I’m going to try growing these.
• Orange lunchbox. A small, sweet snacking pepper, also a James desire since we’ve had zero luck growing bell peppers and the one time we got any, a squirrel ate them all. Of course.

Roots:

• Early scarlet horn carrot. A pretty standard carrot and supposed to keep well.
• Dragon carrot. Purple on the outside, orange on the inside. Did you know that all carrots used to be purple? We have orange carrots because Europeans decided they were more interesting or something.
• Dakota tears yellow storage onion. I’ve not grown this variety before. It’s supposed to be very strongly flavored, thus the tears.
• Southport red globe storage onion. New to me variety with a slightly shorter season than other red varieties I’ve tried.
• Sora red round radish. Big radish that is supposedly tolerant of summer heat so I can succession plant all season.
• Spanish black radish. A spicy radish black on the outside and white on the inside. To plant at the end of July for fall harvest. I’ve not grown this variety before.
• Macomber rutabaga. I had some free rutabaga seeds from the library last year and the plants grew big and strong but I didn’t plant the seeds deep enough so just got long spindly above ground “roots” I couldn’t eat. Lesson learned and worth trying again.

Other:

• Red Kalibos cabbage. My green cabbage has been pathetic so I’m trying red. If red doesn’t do well, then I’m giving up on cabbage growing.
• Whirlygig zinnia. Birds ate all the zinnia seeds last year before I could save any so I need a refresh. I’ve never had birds eat zinnia seeds before. I will need to figure out how to protect some of the flowers next summer for seeds to plant on.
• Long pie pumpkin. Turns out the pie pumpkin I planted last year was a hybrid variety so I couldn’t save seeds. This one gets picked before it is ripe and ripens in storage. I am hoping to pull a fast one on the squirrel pirates.
• Hidasta shield pole bean. A pretty white bean with brown markings. Grown by the Hidasta people in North Dakota and good for soup and baking. I love growing beans and since I’m not growing disappointing succotash beans again, I have space to try something new.

New! New! New!

• Mother Mary’s pie melon. I’ve not had much luck growing melon in the past but this heirloom is from a woman in Minnesota and is reportedly a sweet melon good for making pie and jam. I have to try it!
• Purple Vienna kohlrabi. I’ve not grown kohlrabi before and the broccoli I tried to grow last year only produced a few small heads that almost immediately bloomed. Disappointing. I thought Kohlrabi might make a good substitute. We’ll see.
• Mexican sour gherkin, also known as cucamelon and mouse melon. Neither a cucumber nor a melon, this vining plant produces small green and white fruit that look like tiny watermelons. They supposedly taste a little like pickles, can be eaten raw or pickled and you either love them or hate them. I’m banking on loving them.
• Green striped cushaw. Also sometimes called sweet potato pumpkin. A large, sweet long-keeping green striped winter squash good for pies, squash butter, pudding, and roasting. I’m longing for the squash butter and the pudding.

There they all are. The garden is really going to be packed come summer. But then I say that every year and somehow end up with large patches of feral arugula because I didn’t have anything planted in that particular spot. Perhaps this will be the year I actually do pack the garden.

I had originally planned to also try growing fava beans after I discovered a recipe for
fava bean hot chocolate. I see the look on your face, hang with me for a second. Creamy vegan hot chocolate is a challenge. We could use coconut cream but then it tastes like coconut. We’ve used medjool dates but then it gets really sweet. Fava bean puree makes it creamy while not tasting beany.

Of course I had to try it before committing to growing the beans. Sadly, my food co-op doesn’t sell fava beans, either dry or in a can. I thought to try the recipe substituting white beans instead because there are many vegan recipes that use white beans to make creamy sauces , soups, and dressings since white beans are mild and other flavors cover over the beans. We tried navy beans and it worked! I’ve been enjoying a cup of creamy hot chocolate now and then of an afternoon during my vacation time. Mmmmm.

But still, I thought I might try growing fava beans untilI I found out from the Fedco seed catalog, the only one that had fava seeds, that “In susceptible humans who have inherited a specific enzyme deficiency, within a few minutes of inhaling pollen or several hours after eating fava beans, a severe allergic reaction occurs. Most individuals have this enzyme and are not affected.”

Say what? This might explain why my food co-op doesn’t sell fava beans. I have never eaten fava beans and have no idea whether I have said enzyme deficiency, but given all my seasonal allergies and my inability to eat raw cucumbers and raw onions, I decided to not push my luck. And since navy beans are a cheap and easy substitute, well sorry fava beans.

The tile guys are back. Sawing and listening to music. Currently it’s the Violent Femmes. I haven’t heard them in ages. Blast from the past!

We’ve somehow made it to the end of 2025. What a year. Enjoy safe and happy year-end celebrations! May 2026 be filled will joy, beauty, and peace, as well as the strength and resilience to meet whatever surprises and struggles arise.

#bathroomRemodel #favaBeans #plumbing #seeds #snow