Accessible Gardening: Practical Matters for Physically Challanged Gardeners #7, 1 by Sansai87

Sansai87 wrote:
It has been an exhausting week! I just couldn’t deal with going thru all my Dad’s belongings right after he died. His stuff has been stored in the barn here for years. I finally went thru it all and sorted out what I wanted to keep. It was a L-O-T of stuff. Now I know where I got my packrat tendencies. :-)
PJ has started turning the “baby barn” into living space by insolating the walls and putting up wall board over the exposed beams. PJ and MK debated long and hard the last few days on whether the structure should be called a barn or a shed. Papa Jim said since it is small and no animals have ever lived there it should be called a shed. Mama Kay says the traditional barn roof- line and the barn-style double doors make it a barn. They settled on calling it the “baby barn”. lol.
There turned out to be 17 dwarf Cavendish banana trees in the little space around the satellite dish. MK got them all dug and moved. The top growth of bananas is always turned to mush by our January cold. They come back from the roots when it begins to warm. MK feels certain they will return next year their normal size. The SE corner of the original property has taken on a tropical look with their addition. That is the section I eventually plan to take on as my own. I like the look. Even if they never fruit I like the huge leaves splotched with burgundy. MKs concern is that the area is too windy and the leaves will get a tattered look from the constant buffeting. I don’t think that will be a problem when they re-assume their natural size of about 5’ or 6’. The slope of the land and some evergreen shrubs should protect them from the wind at that height.
I found a product called SleepMax that is available from Walgreens. It contains a combination of chamomile, passionflower and melatonin that helps me sleep and doesn’t leave me feeling hung over in the morning. Hopefully, that will help me get back on a normal sleep schedule. Fenny and Tater-dog are doing their part to help me. SOMEONE lets them into my rooms if I’m still not up by 9:30. They poke, paw, lick, whine and bark until I give up and get out of bed. They attack their task with such single-minded determination I suspect they get treats when they succeed. lol.
Vickie, I found an adorable little angel figurine that MK said you would probably like. I was thinking an angel motif for the new baby barn living space since MK wants pristine white as the interior paint color. (The outside is painted the same colors as the house.)
We will have to come up with a w/c user’s equivalent of “shop til you drop.” When my ankle is bad I use “shop til you can’t hop.”
MK has some B-complex. I’ll start taking that at the same time I take my iron.

Photo: Close-up of blooming lantana standard ‘Ham & Eggs’