Slowly but Surely

The garden is growing, slowly and with a few setbacks, but surely.  The birds have eaten most of the snap peas, lettuce, and Swiss chard.  I had to put up chicken wire to keep them out so we'll see if that works.  I worry constantly about the chickens eating the potato leaves.  I dreamt (nightmares?) about it all night two nights ago.  I think I may have 3 bean plants out of the 30 seeds that I planted, probably from the birds snacking.  Most of the mint has wilted.  BUT...we do have some healthy plants too!  I put the tomatoes in this week from the IFA, didn't add any egg shells and roughed up the roots a bit (oops), staked them with stolen sticks from the neighbors rummage pile, added wood ash around the stems to detract bugs, and said a little prayer.  I'm pretty excited about them.  The pepper plants remain the same, alive but squatty.  I may need to add some calcium.  The kale is awesome! I probably need to thin it out, but not sure where they will go.  I planted some summer and winter squash and am not convinced but hopeful.  The dill, cilantro, basil, and leeks are beautiful too.  A stalk or two of the mint is green in both places and supposedly propagates fast and furiously so I'm hopeful for some Moroccan tea some day.  And my indoor humidified oregano is looking lovely and hopefully setting roots. 
I would love to try some of the techniques that the late self-sufficient expert John Seymour used such as planting tomatoes on top of gravel (ring culture), grow bags, and deep beds (I think we are doing this with our raised beds). 

Kale, chard, lettuce  aka bird food :(

Fluffernutter

Potatoes

 

Staked Tomatoes

Module 3

The ability to search medical and nursing databases is an essential skill for advanced practice nurses.  We must constantly be educating ourselves on current global research that when interpreted can influence practice.  This is called evidence based practice.  We do not need to reinvent the wheel each time we see a patient.  Instead, we can use the research that other professionals have determined to be most beneficial.  One way to glean that information is through online databases that that make available current publications. By having the skills to utilize the databases, practitioners can quickly access needed information for best practice patient outcomes.  I will be using these databases frequently when  preparing for and evaluating clinicals assignments as well as almost every class where prevention, diagnosing, treatment, and behavior are part of the assignment.

Another useful skill is utilizing a reference management software package.  This software is helpful when writing a research article to cite and reference other professional's work.  In order for one's publication to be truly credible, the sources must be traceable and with the reference management software, this task can be efficiently completed.  I will be using EndNote throughout my graduate coursework to quickly and accurately cite my sources and create bibliographies in most papers and definitely in the capstone project.

Freakin out....just a little

One of my New Year's aspirations was to run in two challenging trail races this year, the first of which is this Saturday morning.  It's a 17 miler with 9,000 feet of elevation change over the course of the race.  That's enough to freak out about right there.  But no, there's more.  It starts at 6 o'clock...bright and ugly.  Now there's a good reason to freak.  Add to the list, I ran only one long run this year so far and that was a whole month ago and without much elevation, the rest have been in the 4-7 mile range, nothing close to 17 miles. This is going to be great.  Continuing the list, there is snow at Black Mountain, the crags, and Smuggler's gap.  Am I supposed to wear crampons on my shoes, shorts and a tee shirt, pants, jacket, ski hat, mittens?  I have no idea.  And, the race description advertises a part of the race called "the crags" where volunteers catch the unfortunate runners who happen to fall off the edge of the ridge.  Wonderful.  And snakes.  Not your friendly garden snakes, but rattlesnakes.  Love it.
I just received an email from Butch, the race director.  My stomach clenched with anxiety just seeing the email in my inbox.  With an ounce of courage, I opened it and saw that the course has been changed due to all the snow up at the top.  I think I'm glad.  I realize that just because the course is changed does not make it easier.  Some masochistic part of me was looking forward to finishing the original daunting course which would automatically be a first place win in my book.  Finishing also magically turns all this freaking out into "fun".  But until I cross that line, I'll be here...freaking out.

Hickman Bridge

Cairns leading us along the way

One of my "cross-training" activities was a camping/hiking trip with my guy.  We went down to Capital Reef National Park, Escalante National Monument, and Dixie National Forest.  It was beautiful, of course.  We did the traditional Hickman Bridge and Cohob Canyon trails.  Then headed to the southern part of the park and did the 13.5 mile Upper Muley Twist and saw about 15 arches.  After stuffing our faces with s'mores, we ventured onto the popular 6 mile Calf Creek trail to the breathtaking waterfalls.  Not for one second were we bored with the majesty of God's handiwork.  In fact, when I'm in beautiful places, I like to imagine Jesus walking the earth and enjoying his creation before man populated it, but I was a bit baffled at how Jesus would have seen the rock formations and canyons.  Were they sand dunes blowing in the wind or ice burgs and massive rivers?  I'll have to ask Wade.