FoxPhile

I still have some kale in my garden from last year. It got blasted in the ice storm in January, but it recovered.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Wow!

I've never been able to enjoy kale. I know it's so good for you though!

FoxPhile

I chop raw kale up in a food processor and add it to meatloaf or pesto sauce. You can't even tell it's there. I also like raw kale leaves - with the tough ribs removed - as a salad.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Mmmmm I do enjoy Pesto.

FoxPhile

Last week I had my twice-yearly A/C and furnace inspection. Both units are 21 years old and I've known ever since I moved into this house that I would have to replace them. Well, that time has come. The tech told me the A/C might last one more season - but it might not. He warned that if I wait for it to break, it might be in the middle of summer and I'd be without A/C for at least 3 weeks.

So it's getting replaced on Monday. I'm getting a heat pump which will replace both the A/C unit and the furnace, and hopefully cost less to run in both seasons. But the cost of putting in the heat pump is almost as much as a small car.

WeBuiltThePyramids

I found out yesterday that I have to put another $1200 into my car PLUS tires, so I feel you.

FoxPhile

I've been coughing and sniffling lately, so I decided to use one of my home COVID tests, just to be sure. It was negative, thank goodness. So I think this is just spring allergies or a mild cold. It's been years since I've had a cold or the flu. I think I may have forgotten what it feels like.

WeBuiltThePyramids

This is right when my allergies start - so that was a mindfrick in 2020.

FoxPhile

Mine kick off pretty much as soon as tree pollen gets started. Which means I probably should not have bought a house that is surrounded by over 30 white pine trees, a huge pin oak and a couple of red maples. But I do love my trees.

WeBuiltThePyramids

I can't imagine living somewhere without trees!

FoxPhile

I was lucky in the apartment I had in DC. It was on the bottom floor in the back in a complex that was 50 years old. I had a big patio with a green lawn area just beyond the patio and there were two big old trees that shaded my patio and made it about as close to like living in the country that you could get in a big apartment complex.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Oh that sounds lovely.

FoxPhile

I had a lot of semi-tame squirrels. One would come inside my living room if I left the door open long enough.

WeBuiltThePyramids

The squirrels at my alma mater were about one generation away from evolving into people, I think.

FoxPhile

Once the complex started allowing dogs, the squirrels got more shy.