Moving to another company

Recently I learned that Google started supporting ALEC.
So I decided to stop using the Google services. At the moment I'll browsing other blogging options and when I pick a new place for my blog I will inform you guys here.
At the moment, I stopped using Google browser, I'm fazing out Google mail (informing the people that my mail is about to change). And picking the alternative for the blog place.
There are several free options, and at the moment the one offered by WordPress seems like the best option for the blog. Anyway, by the end of this month I'll know where I'll migrate.

Journey's End

I'm not poet, nor native English speaker. Therefore I decided to post here a part of poem I found on a web.
My mother passed away this month. This poem is in her honor.

Journey's End

REST YOUR HEAD, MY WEARY TRAVELLER

THIS EARTHLY JOURNEY IS AT END

SAY GOODBYE TO THOSE WHO’LL MOURN YOU

AQUAINTANCE, FAMILY, FRIEND


STEADFAST WIFE AND NOBLE MOTHER

ALL YOUR DUTIES ARE COMPLETE

YOUR REWARD A NEW ADVENTURE

TAKE THIS GIFT AND BE AT PEACE


LEAVE BEHIND THE TEARS OF LOVED ONES

LAY YOUR HEAVY BURDEN DOWN

CAST ASIDE YOUR WORN OUT BODY

PAIN AND SUFFERING NOW BEGONE


JUST AHEAD SOMEONE IS WAITING

WHO HAS PASSED THROUGH HEAVEN’S DOOR

ANTICIPATING YOUR ARRIVAL

A CELEBRATION IS IN STORE


PREPARE TO STEP BEYOND THE CURTAIN

SEPARATING LIFE FROM DEATH

ANSWERS TO ALL OF LIFE’S MYSTERIES

THIS AND MORE YOU SHALL POSSESS


THOUGHTS OF YOU WILL BRING US COMFORT

YOU’RE IN OUR HEARTS, YOU ARE NOT GONE

AND IN OUR TIME WE’LL COME TO JOIN YOU

ONE LAST FAREWELL AND JOURNEY ON

REST YOUR HEAD, MY WEARY TRAVELER
THIS EARTHLY JOURNEY IS AT END
SAY GOODBYE TO THOSE WHO’LL MOURN YOU
ACQUAINTANCE, FAMILY, FRIEND

STEADFAST WIFE AND NOBLE MOTHER
ALL YOUR DUTIES ARE COMPLETE
YOUR REWARD A NEW ADVENTURE
TAKE THIS GIFT AND BE AT PEACE

LEAVE BEHIND THE TEARS OF LOVED ONES
LAY YOUR HEAVY BURDEN DOWN
CAST ASIDE YOUR WORN OUT BODY
PAIN AND SUFFERING NOW BEGONE

PREPARE TO STEP BEYOND THE CURTAIN
SEPARATING LIFE FROM DEATH
ANSWERS TO ALL OF LIFE’S MYSTERIES
THIS AND MORE YOU SHALL POSSESS

THOUGHTS OF YOU WILL BRING US COMFORT
YOU’RE IN OUR HEARTS, YOU ARE NOT GONE
AND IN OUR TIME WE’LL COME TO JOIN YOU

ONE LAST FAREWELL AND JOURNEY ON - See more at: http://www.write-out-loud.com/eulogy-poem-for-mother.html#sthash.dq3s3LJT.dpuf

REST YOUR HEAD, MY WEARY TRAVELLER

THIS EARTHLY JOURNEY IS AT END

SAY GOODBYE TO THOSE WHO’LL MOURN YOU

AQUAINTANCE, FAMILY, FRIEND


STEADFAST WIFE AND NOBLE MOTHER

ALL YOUR DUTIES ARE COMPLETE

YOUR REWARD A NEW ADVENTURE

TAKE THIS GIFT AND BE AT PEACE


LEAVE BEHIND THE TEARS OF LOVED ONES

LAY YOUR HEAVY BURDEN DOWN

CAST ASIDE YOUR WORN OUT BODY

PAIN AND SUFFERING NOW BEGONE


JUST AHEAD SOMEONE IS WAITING

WHO HAS PASSED THROUGH HEAVEN’S DOOR

ANTICIPATING YOUR ARRIVAL

A CELEBRATION IS IN STORE


PREPARE TO STEP BEYOND THE CURTAIN

SEPARATING LIFE FROM DEATH

ANSWERS TO ALL OF LIFE’S MYSTERIES

THIS AND MORE YOU SHALL POSSESS


THOUGHTS OF YOU WILL BRING US COMFORT

YOU’RE IN OUR HEARTS, YOU ARE NOT GONE

AND IN OUR TIME WE’LL COME TO JOIN YOU

ONE LAST FAREWELL AND JOURNEY ON


- See more at: http://www.write-out-loud.com/eulogy-poem-for-mother.html#sthash.dq3s3LJT.TDhAnKPJ.dpuf

Annoyed

Well, today I tried to reply on the comment left on my previous post.
UGH! it is like some bloody black hole developed and decided to swallow each and every of my attempts. In total I tried to reply on Fresca's comment 3 times, and leave independent comment another 3 times. Each and every one of them disappeared!
Since I'm not someone who gives up easily:
So Fresca, here is your answer.

Aye, the cat toy probably does influence their hunting instinct. What was amazing for me is that is actually the first cat toy that really does what they advertized. In the shops you can find all bunch of toys that claim the same, and they work sometimes, but not better than that silly little wire you can find when you unpack something tied into bag. That wee wire is an ultimate cat toy. They entertain themselves with it for hours. Way more than with 'official' toys.

Cat delight

We have now two cats. And they fight. So we started watching 'Cat whisperer' to learn what the heck to do.
Advices did not help in stopping fights, but bloke was using some cat toy that seems simply magical. It is called 'Da bird' and absolutely works.
You just need to wave it a bit around cat and cat will start playing. I do not know why, but works every time!

Tor

This holiday season I received enormous amount of the catalogs. Almost half of them was from the companies from which I never got anything.
I mean, I know that my internet use is tracked, collected and sold, but having these obvious and annoying proves that my internet use is sold to any fracking buyer is bit too much.
So I decided to give a try to that Tor software package. I'll even blog now in this blog from the Tor browser.
Part of me is a bit worried. I've grown up in dictatorship where privacy was no option. You had to have artificial image of yourself that fits expectations or you're automatically bad person. That lesson was what was stopping me in using encrypting software of any kind. Usage of such software makes me target. Then I read that NSA can penetrate Tor. Fine. Problem solved. I do not have to fret of being declared suspicion person and at the same time I can stop giving my internet usage data to various companies to earn money.
If they wish to have those they should pay me!

So now, I'm giving this TorBrowser the try. It really works. At the moment Blogger thinks I'm somewhere in Scandinavia.
I'll try to use other services through TorBrowser too, because I'm really annoyed by this onslaught of the bloody adds and catalogs. 

Consequence of being bored

I'm still recovering from the accident related injuries, but I started working remotely. You know,  I reached the stage where I'm good enough to be bored, but not fully recovered to continue as normal.
So, first, pets love the fact that now there is someone all the time with them.  Here you can see Schroedy seeking extra attention by jumping on the chair where I set up my 'home office'.





I also got a crazy tomato plant to take care off. Our neighbor who is heavily into gardening  decided to show me how plants can be grown from cuts. So she gave me a cut from tomato plant. I did what she advised me to do, and wee cut developed roots, so I put it in a pot. And lo and behold, it started to grow fruit!
I still cannot believe. In a way I really do not know what to do, for tomato to properly grow fruit one needs to make sure that temperatures do not go below freezing, and here it freezes already. I'll try to keep it inside, but then, what about wee fruit?
Actually this photo is wee bit older, in it, wee tomatoes are size of raisins, while today they are more size of Maltezers, or for non-UK people,  larger grapes. Now I really wonder what will happen with  wee tomato-fruits.

The third photo is my attempt on making a decorative wreath from burlap. It is something that did not task my health, and it ended up looking rather nice. I'm proud of myself. :-)
Although the design is actually a 'remix' of something I've seen at Joann website that costs whole 40-50 dollars. Mine cost me around  $10 and one hour of work. :-)

Strawberries

 

So, strawberries arrived, and planting needed to commence. This is a location where we choose to plant them. It is quite shady place, partly shaded by the bush from east and a tree from west. We picked shady location because strawberries love loads of moisture, and we hoped that  in shady location the strawberries will be a wee bit happier.







The first step in preparation of the bed is to take out layer of the dirt so that chicken wire can be put in. Unfortunately that is necessary because we're plagued by ground squirrels, and putting the chicken wire inside the dirt is the best long term solution. It is important not to bury it deeper than 10 cm, less is preferable. If you bury it deeper the buggers will just dig tunnels above the wire. We removed approximately 5 cm of the dirt, because we planed to enrich the soil.




 So here it is dirt back on top of the wire, enriched with the 'top soil' we got from one of the chain hardware stores (it was cheep, around $3 per bag). You can see darker colour of the dirt. That indicates a soil with the loads of goodies in it for plants.
I also learned that woodchips that I had on top of the bed are bad for soil because if you dig them in they tend to rob a ground of the nitrogen.





So, to combact the fact that there is a lot of wood-chips inside the ground I put alpha-alpha as a mulch. This plant is a nitrogen gatherer, so by spring, when this hay is decomposed, my strawberries will get enough nitrogen.
The reason for mulching is to help ground retain moisture and prevent weeds from poping up.
Here the average moisture during the summer is around 20 to 30%  in the best case scenarios, which means, that naked ground gets dry withing the hour. Mulch is necessary to prevent that.



 However, although the alpha-alpha was great choice for mulch, it is a great attractant for rabbits we have in neighborhood. So, my husband insisted that some kind of barrier is put on top of the strawberries bed. At the moment, it is improvised, because my hubby is rather busy and has to deal with the other stuff, so as an additional deterrent I used the recipe I found on the net, water in which I soaked jalapeno and garlic. I put that deterrent just in case little buggers manage to get inside.
We plan later to put the wired fence around this bed, but that has to wait a bit, either for me to heal, or for my hubby to finish his pressing project.