A New Room & Plants

My blog is behind the times because I am slow to post, but I am going to tell you about my "new" room anyway. A few weeks ago, I finally got my own room! I have had two roommates in the other room. The first was Dani, and we got along really, really well. She left at the end of December (her internship was only for 3 months). Then I roomed with Amy (from Middlebury!). We got along well too, but it was hard to transition. It was starting to feel like the dorms in college - I couldn't escape for "me" time because there was nowhere to go.

I probably could have changed rooms much earlier, but the room that was available was in the basement, so I let Stephan have it without putting up a fight. Even though it will be cooler in the summer, I don't think I can handle not having much light. So I waited for this room. It's on the third floor (like my last room), so I can still use the upstairs kitchen and bathroom which are the nicest ones. It's light green and has bamboo-like window shades. The two windows face south and west. Even though I had more windows before, there was a tree in front of them and they faced north. My plants are happier in the new room, and it stays pretty light in the evening because of the west facing one.

I have my own closet with a shelf above, two dressers, a desk, a short bookcase, and a little table thingee. Right now the desk and the bookcase are next to the windows so that they can support my seedlings. Oh, I also have a big comfy chair with a tall lamp by it for a reading/knitting corner. I put up my paintings from the DR and a rainbow flag by my bed. It's a great room!

Now about these plants that I've been mentioning... I am using the house backyard as my playground (garden). In years past, people who lived here have dug up the whole yard (maybe 8' x 25'??), but people haven't always gardened, so it was pretty overgrown when I got here. So far I've dug up about 2/3 of it, and yesterday and today I planted my seedlings! Now because my garden at the food bank got cancelled (did I mention that?), I really am going at this blind. I was hoping to get taught everything at the food bank garden and then get a second try at my house garden. Now I'm looking things up in books and learning from my mistakes. That's good, I guess, but I'd rather learn from a person who's already learned from her mistakes if that makes any sense...

So my garden attempt is kind of comical. I started what I thought was a lot of seedlings, but because some died and because a lot got tangled and broke, and mainly because I underestimated, it's going to be pretty sparse. But our garden's pretty small, so I'm finding that this may work out. I'm putting 3 transplants where I hope 1 will survive, and I'm not even sure I should bank on that happening. If it does, I'll have like 4 cauliflowers, 4 cabbages, 12 beets, 8 broccoli, and 6 collards. Funny, right? I have higher hopes for the things that produce for the whole season, like tomatoes, peppers, swiss chard, and basil. Oh, and I think there will be a lot of garlic, but I only get to harvest that once at the end of the season.

The main impact of this gardening experience is an increase in my urge to intern with someone who knows what they're doing. (And that I will HAVE to get a camera if any of these plants turn out.)

Health Update

As promised, I wanted to let everyone know what happened after I went to the doctor. This time the doctor knew why I was there, and she had pre-ordered the h-pylori test, so they did it right away and... I don't have h-pylori. In a way that's good - I don't have to take two kinds of antibiotics - and in a way that's bad - I don't know what caused my acid reflux. At the time that I saw her, I had been feeling pretty good, but she still referred me to a gastroenterologist to follow up. I'm glad because as soon as I left, the acid reflux came back en force. This time I tried unfiltered apple cider vinegar in water (not too pleasant). It didn't seem to work right away, but since then I haven't had any problems!

Strangely, my triglycerides are down (actually below average now), and I'm thinking there was something else that came out better too. The doctor is calling it a fluke. They can't tell about the iron right away because red blood cells have a life of 29 days, so they're going to check again in 3 months. In the meanwhile, I'm really trying to eat an iron-rich diet. In the morning I swallow a spoonful of molasses every day (ick!).

I don't feel back to normal, but I can function with relative normality. It's really nice! Thanks so much for all the support - I thought I'd better get an update posted soon before everyone thought I was dying. :) If anything else interesting happens with my health, I'm sure I'll let you know.