LallyLuckFarm

[Image description: an Australian shepherd sits in the pathway through the snow I dug for him. The snow is up to his shoulder on one side and far higher on the other.]

We got almost a foot of snow overnight, adding to the 5 or so inches that had already fallen this past week. Poor Sudo couldn't get anywhere without hopping like a gazelle so potties were next to impossible

This past Tuesday I took our daughter to help organize the seed library, and she was floored by the opportunity to pull apart the seeds from a giant sunflower (she's 4.5 months old). We swapped and categorized a bunch of plants, from annual flowers to veggies and native perennials. I took home some loofah seeds and won't lie - I'm pretty excited to grow them this year.

We're getting snow today so I've been continuing to split and store seeds for our own purposes, with an extra envelope of each to bring to the library. There's a grow tent in the garage that's probably going to be the overflow space for some of our hardier indoor plants so I can devote the grow closet in our hallway to seedlings and starts in the next week.

What's growing on with you all?

Are you planning big changes, or minor tweaks to a working system? Are there new-to-you plants you're excited to try your hand at? Let's share our dreams and goals and inspire each other!

This is possibly my favorite collection of christmas renditions, and is the first set of christmas songs our three month old heard (tonight we'll be listening to Dick Leibert at Radio City circa 1973)

Total runtime is 19m05s

One of the country's largest health insurers has reversed its decision to no longer pay for anesthesia care in certain states if the surgery or procedure goes beyond a particular time limit. The original move by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, which would have started next year, alarmed doctors and policymakers.

Anthem had said that starting in February it would use metrics — known as Physician Work Time values — from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to "target the number of minutes reported for anesthesia services." "Claims submitted with reported time above the established number of minutes will only pay up to the CMS established amount," it said in a note to New York providers earlier this week.

That would have left patients to shoulder the out-of-pocket costs, which could range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

[Image description: our fifteen year old Russian Blue cat, Maeko, lays on a matching couch with her head on a sunflower pillow]

This is Maeko, our old gray lady in the house. She's fifteen this year, which I know is a huge accomplishment. She's a little curmudgeon who's never liked anyone but my wife and I, and we joked that she would be around as long as Palpatine (the hate keeps her strong). But she's really starting to show some of those signs, and someone keeps cutting onions around here.

She probably wouldn't like any of you, but send some scritches her way if you would.

Hey folks, just sharing a video I made (<4 minutes long) during my time transplanting blueberries yesterday. If you decide to watch, thanks!

[Image description: a photo of an Australian shepherd and his human making eye contact, taken in between some vicious kisses]

Things have been a little tough for Sudo since Juniper arrived, since he's used to taking up all of my attention. Playtimes are now in between her naps, and her janky motions have kinda freaked him out over the past few days. We still have cuddle time after she goes to bed for the night, and I managed to snap this shot of the two of us this evening.

We're having some trees removed soon (they're dying and leaning towards our house) so today I spent some time carefully relocating some volunteer lowbush blueberry plants from where the heavy machinery will be working.

What's growing on with you all?

[Image description: image of text which reads "I like when men explain basic things to me because in my mind it's not mansplaining, it's more like when a toddler is really excited to tell you about dinosaurs and you're like that's right cutie! You're so smart!! Only one of us is being condescending and it's me", to which Shawn replies "if you have to announce when you're condescending, you're doing it wrong."

OP replies "that's a great observation, Shawn! Great job!" with a heart emoji]

Obligatory pedantry:

We would also accept "soil", since we're talking about the life in the mineral earth