Forsythia Hill Finds

Alternative Medicine, can it help pain, vertigo, and other ailments such as allergy, dry eyes, Alpha Gal, anemia

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 23:28:13 +0000

Five years ago I went to my doctor for dizziness. He told me he had seen hundreds of people with the same issue and diagnosed them all with Seasonal Allergy. His formula was to recommend Flonase and Claritin or Zyrtec. As the years have passed my dizziness has led to full on vertigo. This year I developed the "cotton in ears feeling" which has degraded my hearing. Last year I managed my vertigo with just Flonase. This year my combo drugs somewhat manage the vertigo but not the cotton ears.

Around that same time, I also developed Alpha Gal allergy to mammalian meat, fortunately I do not react to dairy but some people with Alpha Gal also react to things like Ice Cream and Cheese. SAAT acupuncture is a treatment option, it's a gamble, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

This year I was diagnosed with Anemia of Chronic Disease (ACD) having low white and red blood cell counts that will most likely not improve. Long term chronic anemia "can" cause hearing loss.

For the last several months I've been trying to determine if my hearing loss is from the anemia or allergy (not being able to get a ENT appointment until July). My rheumatologist does not believe the anemia is causing the hearing loss. I've been trying simple eustachian tube exercises that give a tiny bit of relief and then the clogged ears come back. The antihistamines keep a lid on things but it's bubbling over.

My 25 year long ailments are auto immune - Rheumatoid Arthritis and Sjogrens. I've been on biologic Enbrel for many years and it allows me to continue to MOVE. Unfortunately my long term diseases seem to have given me permanent anemia.

Jessica Acupuncturist

I've tried many supplements to help with my RA but I have never been able to pinpoint one thing that is the magic bullet. Over the last year due to my anemia diagnosis I have radically altered my diet to avoid packaged food and sugar. Always on my radar is organic, organic, organic - better for you, the planet, and pollinators.

Over the years I've discovered a few things that help me. My Tens device nearly always knocks out spot pains that come and go. I highly recommend massage for sciatica but find a practitioner that is trained in this process. I battle sciatica pain with one yoga move that works every time, the Pigeon pose. I've used preservative free single use Tears Naturale for many years. They are only made in France and Canada and I from overseas suppliers. This video is a good exercise session you can try to relieve dry itchy eyes.

SAAT acupuncture

My Sjogrens has given me throat issues and this Cricothyroid maneuver has given my throat more volume and clarity. I also discovered this short lymphatic massage session that I started doing to help clear out my seasonal allergy clogged ears. Nothing has permanently fixed this issue but it does help get systems flowing.

If you have any arthritic ailment, MOVING is your friend. It should be done without pushing you into more pain and started slowly. This short video gets you out of your chair and the music is motivating. Do what you physically can, shortcuts are fine. I also SWIM and really do feel better during the summer months.

Amy Massage Therapist

I have personally dealt with reputable caring people that I can recommend. In Charlottesville Virginia my 90+ mother and father-in-law both use Touch for the Wise massage therapy, Amy specializes in elder massage. I am currently trying SAAT acupuncture for seasonal allergy and Jessica is a wonderful specialist at Old Growth Acupuncture. My oldest friend Shannon Carson Wellness is an emotional and spiritual healer who not only can help you but an ailing pet from anywhere in the world.

When the traditional medical community can do no more, it's time to try something different to improve your situation! Don't give up on feeling better. Rarely is it one and done.

~Rebecca

2025 a Year in Review, Selling a House and a home without Cats is a sad house indeed

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 18:04:00 +0000

This year was not nearly as stressful as last year but it began with me still managing the property of my father-in-laws home in TN. Luckily it sold in March but the work was just beginning. Bob wanted to go to the home place one more time so we hauled a 93 year old six hours in our little Honda along with a recliner for him to sit in. With the help of our realtor, I had sold his old recliner and many of his items remotely while his house was on the market. Anthony and awesome movers were zooming around his house loading up the U-Haul, cramming in his remaining handmade furniture and belongings and lastly a riding mower. Bob had a workshop in the yard that was full of boards and wood from his 25 years of woodworking. I called it’s Bob’s little Home Depot store – we had to also load this in the U-Haul. They got everything in for the exception of a couch. Anthony drove the U-Haul and I drove Bob back to Charlottesville to get another crew to help unload.

Most of the year has been spent managing Bob but he is very cooperative and easy going. The caregivers at JABA daycare love him. We finally threw in the towel with home health care, we were managing them. Constant changes of people that we had to re-train and many of them would sit and look at their phones which was truly annoying. Bob is declining but his doctor found a miraculous pain patch that has completely gotten rid of his back pain. He has good days and bad days as far as his comprehension. One night at 3 pm I could not find him. He can not walk up and down stairs without assistance but I thought I heard some noise downstairs – he had managed to walk down our split level stairs and was admiring his handmade furniture in the basement (he had never even been down there). How he did not fall is an absolute mystery. One day you think he can not take another step and the next day he’s solo traversing two flights of stairs. He told us to lock him up at night! The other day we tried to get him to put in his hearing aids and he claimed they were in – we thought he was having a senior moment and Anthony got a flashlight and found a plastic wall anchor in his ear (he had to use tweezers to remove it). We had been letting Bob sort through piles of screws, nails, and anchors to entertain himself as these are things he has spent a lifetime using.

My mother who lives in our own space downstairs turned 90 which is really hard to believe. She is still independent and driving carefully in an area of town that is very familiar to her. Her vision is better than mine so we feel secure with her driving still.

I did take two trips this year. One with a friend for Historic Garden Week in Williamsburg which was lovely. The other was a trip to a glorious part of Virginia in Bath / Highland County. We stayed in an extremely remote cabin in the woods on a river. I saw a river otter and we walked miles and miles in the mountains and through caves! What a beautiful part of the world.

Several mechanical problems, caused a great deal of stress. Our pool pump died as temperatures increased and of course right when temperatures dropped my office mini split died and so did my office computer. Anthony replaced or repaired all three, we did have to hire a heat and air guy to finish the mini split but things are up and running.

One of the few jobs that Anthony could not do was paint our house. Unfortunately this was not a stress free job, I had to babysit the painters and they did several things wrong. After years of hopelessly trying to become inspired by colors such as Gray Green and Blue (it was currently yellow) I went bold and chose Lavender. I decided it was a color that would offset my gardens. I love it but now that the leaves have fallen it is a little more bold. Some days it has a gray tone others purple. My neighbors probably think I’m having a mid-life crisis, which I am -- I will be on Medicare next year – I can’t believe it.

Anthony and I became inspired to build a pantry in our kitchen this Fall with Bob's encouragement. He was very excited about a construction project as this was what he spent his life doing. It turned out to be exactly what our kitchen needed. He also replaced our kitchen window which we could not even open. Thank goodness for Anthony and his skills.

The saddest news of the year is that all three of our 18 year old cats passed away within months of each other. We adopted each of them when I was the Director of the Humane Society. Spoiled and treasured they all had beautiful happy lives. On a slow and steady decline last year, each with different ailments. It’s was a quiet Christmas without a cat in a bag. It’s truly odd not having animals. It’s a hard pill to swallow.

Another year has passed with me trying to close my deceased friend's estate. Most of the work was handed over last year to my new accountant so early 2026 it will finally end.

I’m hoping that most of the old mechanical equipment and home updates are finished and we can have a somewhat low key 2026. I’m hoping our relatively new roof, water heater, and house paint will out live us.

I'm ending the year with some bad bloodwork results due to my 25 year autoimmune disease. I will be going to a Hematology appointment in January. Fortunately I feel better than I have in years so let's hope it's something simple.

~Rebecca

Keeping the Mind of Seniors Busy, Dementia Alzheimer's Job Ideas for Men

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:52:00 +0000

How does one go about entertaining seniors to keep their minds busy? It's not easy. "No" is often a favorite term especially from the Alzheimer mind. Maybe it's the last decision one can make - having a choice. Seniors often use the TV to entertain themselves but I've observed it can be mind noise without a reaction. No laughter or understanding of the plot. It could be a hearing deficiency or a lack of comprehension.

I highly recommend you seek out a senior day care in your area. JABA has kept Bob active and moving with plenty of hugs from caregivers. We prefer it to home health care services.

My father passed away 5 years ago from ALZ and it was a painful experience, worse than painful, the worst. He fell victim to selecting a repeated unstoppable task. In his final only month of non-home care in a facility, he wanted to die and to state it bluntly, thankfully did.

My 94 year old father-in-law Bob lives with us and he has dementia but not ALZ and is very agreeable. He can still get up and walk with a walker short distances. He worked his entire life in construction, managing large projects and building homes. His mind has been programmed to have a job! I've noticed that he has little comprehension of what is around him and you need to suggest tasks to him. I hand him the stretch band to exercise each day and his hearing aids each morning. I give him a little cup of medicine for him to take and ask him if he has gotten up recently and roll his walker to him. I offer him a puzzle or book. He will not typically initiate but is happy to do things if you make him aware of them. If you have a loved one just sitting and watching TV all day you might discover that direction and activity creation on your part is crucial.

It's not easy thinking of projects to keep a mind busy, especially a man's. Women tend to gravitate toward crafts and making things, men want to work or do sports.

We decided one of the best ways to entertain Bob was to build something in the house. It provided him great joy and pride to see his son building as he once did. I previously had a pantry in our old house and we decided to start building. We involved Bob asking him all sorts of construction questions and gave him plans to analyze. It got him out of his chair to come and watch Anthony build or stroll by out of curiosity (sneaky way to get him to exercise).

During the project my husband found a huge bucket of screws, nails, washers, bolts, etc. We asked Bob if he would like to sort these items as part of the project. He was completely engrossed. He did have one delirious episode we believe caused by a new pain medicine. We asked him to put in his hearing aids and he claimed they were already in. Anthony looked in his ear and he had put a wall anchor in it (tweezers were needed to remove it). We also had to be extra diligent to sweep around his chair for falling parts so it was not the safest of projects but we made it out without injury and he loved doing this for months. Bob wanted to participate. Look for ways to include seniors in projects, you might be surprised what they want to do.

In Bob's younger years, they always had a puzzle out on the table so this was familiar to him. We learned to give him 50 - 100 piece puzzles as that is reasonable for his mind to manage and fits on the board that swings over his recliner. He does go to day care 3 days a week and they have more complicated larger puzzles and better lighting which he can work.

My father sold eyeglasses for many years and played golf. He also sold eyeglasses leash cords so I would mix a bunch of colors up and ask him to sort them. It kept him busy for a short while. ALZ is a much more difficult nut to crack! My mother had a little putting area set up but he grew tired of it. He loved to eat and go to restaurants so mom made this his main activity and it worked for many years. It was the way she got him to shower and she would take him out nearly every day!

Another hobby of my father-in-law's was coin collecting. We swapped out the screw mix for coins (it was safer) and he was happy analyzing them with a magnifying glass and sorting them by denomination into medicine bottles. He also helped roll them if I counted them out first. I would re-mix them and the process would begin again.

We also have a lot of photo albums and get carpentry books from the library for him to read. He can spend hours pouring over them. My father was totally disinterested in such things. My cat Gus was fun for him to pet but he could be nippy and sadly passed early this year :(

Bob is slowing down now but from time to time we ask him if he needs a nail, coin or puzzle fix to keep him busy. It's a challenge to hit the mark with dementia seniors but try to think of their past and introduce something simple and see if you can get their minds occupied. I don't think anyone wants to be stuck in front of a TV but it could simply be that no other options are offered.

~Rebecca

Giving Tuesday and Writing your Will, Charity Gifts to Honor your Life

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 17:47:00 +0000

Today is giving Tuesday, a global giving day. I give to charities that have special meaning to me. But giving doesn't have to be just a one time deal. Next year I sign up for Medicare! Yikes! Hitting this milestone is hard for me to imagine but along with it are thoughts of getting my affairs in order.

I'm going to digress a little, but do you have a Will? Did you know that in Virginia you do not need a lawyer to draft a Will. State by state online Wills can be downloaded for free and edited (every State has it's own rules). You can even write your Will by hand or later add a handwritten note to your Will if you have details to change or add, but you won't be around to make sure it stays attached, so having a printed complete Will is best. My library provides a free notary by appointment, just bring several witnesses to come along to sign your Will. No longer do banks offer this service and no business provides "staff" to be witnesses like they did in the old days.

I've known of several people that have no family to speak of and could easily divide their estate among non-profits by designation in a Will. Don't let the State government inherit your property because you do not have a Will! Gift it instead to agencies that truly need the money.

A few of my favorite charities are animal focused. My list includes charities that I have followed for years or personally know the individuals that are in charge. Before giving, do your homework or ask friends or family for recommendations. Giving to big national charities generally is a bad idea, keeping your donation locally is a great idea. There are a few charities that I donate to that are not in my area but are very small shoestring operations that greatly need help. Many charities now accept Venmo.

If you take the IRS standard deduction on your taxes, you can not write off charitable donations in 2025, you can only benefit if you itemize. It looks like this changes for 2026 but there are limitations and it is complicated. Regardless of a tax donation, giving should come from the heart and this year has been extra tough for many charities given the rise in inflation and job layoffs.

A few of my recommended hard working charities are as follows:

HOWS, Houses of Wood and Straw is a 501c3 animal rescue charity that has been operating for 17 years and serves several counties in my area. They just found a property where they can permanently reside. This year a donor has stepped up that will match all donations up to $15,000. It's a great time to give! They initially began building sturdy dog houses for chained dogs and have expanded to erecting fencing to unchain dogs. Because of my animal rescue background, I've been a supporter for years. I understand very well the difficulty in Virginia to remove animals from a bad situation. Laws permit people to keep outside dogs and often the situation is dire. HOWS provides EYES into the community and at least makes a bad situation the best it can be, providing medical care, guidance, and property improvements. Sometimes even getting lucky by counseling pet owners to allow them to find a warm and cozy inside home for their pets.

Sweet Peeps Microsanctuary is a 501c3 chicken rescue in Alabama that houses factory farm chickens, chickens that were slated to be killed in religious ceremonies, and chickens impacted by recent actions of ICE. Operated by the daughter of one of my good friends, I know the funds are used appropriately. Getting to know chickens on a personal level by having several flocks of chickens of my own it has opened my eyes to their varied personalities and antics. Chicken rescues are rare and the need is great.

Local wildlife rescues are often loaded with animals receiving very specialized care. Two of my favorites located in different areas of Virginia are Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary and Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke.

A small group of individuals saw a need in the Harrisonburg area to help those that are in dire situations such as the power is going to be cut off, cars being repossessed, and eviction. Heart breaking stories of being one month away from homelessness. Helping who they can with the funds they cobble together, this is an agency that serves from the heart and needs your help. Mountain Valley Mutual Aid can be followed on Facebook or Instagram.

We've all read about the disastrous impacts of SNAP benefit removals. Seek out your local food pantry and help! Loaves and Fishes has been helping citizens in need in Charlottesville for many years. 27% of Cville families live at or below the poverty level.

As I approach retirement, I see that my mental faculty and funds are realigning. Giving doesn't have to wait until your death, it can be gifted today! Let's all participate in Giving Tuesday.

~Rebecca

Piedmont Environmental Council Public Meeting Part II, To Review or Not to Review, that IS the Question

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 15:15:00 +0000

CRITICAL UPDATE - Albemarle County staff is going to recommend to the Board of Supervisors (BOS) to "pause" the data center ordinance proposal and keep it as is until at least end end of the year. This doesn't mean that the BOS has to accept this recommendation but historically it is given great weight in their decision making. Please continue to express your thoughts with the current BOS and attend meetings. Several crucial changes will be taking place this January: 1) two new BOS members begin their term 2) a new state Governor.

Continuing on... Part II of a summary provided by Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) at their recent public meeting at The Center in Charlottesville to discuss Virginia data centers. PEC operates in central Virginia supporting the following communities; Albemarle / Cville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock. Their mission is to protect and restore the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont, while building stronger, more sustainable communities. Some of the jurisdictions they support are the fastest growing in the nation where data center expansion is becoming a central issue.

To Review or Not to Review, that IS the Question! Below is a summary of the PEC presentation given by Land Use and Policy staff members Julie Bolthouse and Rob McGinnis with some "eye-popping" announcements of future planned land developments for Albemarle County.

How did Virginia become the data center capital of the world? The main buildout is in Northern Virginia (NOVA) with 250 data centers utilizing 30 million square feet, with an additional 6 million under construction. The current administration has publicly announced the US-China AI race by removing regulations and encouraging buildouts. NOVA is near to our federal government and defense with extensive infrastructure available but our state also provides many incentives and cheap energy pricing exclusively for data centers.

Currently the biggest corporations of the world are not paying for infrastructure buildout to service their data centers, WE ARE. On your electric bill there is a transmission fee that pays for this infrastructure (which can easily increase with each planned data center). Data Centers are a quarter of the Dominion Energy client base and are given incentives to build in Virginia through better utility rates and the largest sales tax exemption in the state, not to mention no comprehensive oversight.

There is no comprehensive law or plans at the state level managing our data centers which are beginning to rapidly trickle down from NOVA to the rest of the state. Until state level laws are instituted to review data center projects, the only point in the process that a locality has to accept or decline a data center project is by requiring a Special Use Permit that requires it be reviewed by the public, Planning Commission, and BOS.

In 2023, there was no mention of data centers in the Albemarle County code but after the PEC questioned this omission, a stop gap measure was soon approved that required a Special Use Permit for data centers over 40,000 square feet, the BOS is considering to allow "by right" up to 500,000 square feet. That would rubber stamp a data center the size of the 5th Street Station retail complex that houses Wegmans and other retail businesses and a data center that size could consume 50 - 100 megawatts of power, the equivalent of 10,000 - 20,000 homes.

Currently the county has small accessory data centers (an equipment room inside a hospital or at UVA, or inside a business). The county is reviewing their existing ordinance to add performance standards and size overlay Tiers for "by right" builds at 150,000 and 500,000 square feet.

PEC explains that a data center above 200,000 square feet would be classified as hyperscale and is worrisome due to the need for more resources to operate (read Part I of my summary, What does a Data Center Need to Operate).

Louisa, the county next door to Albemarle has approved two hyperscale data center projects that are millions of square feet each. When a third was proposed the community spoke our loudly about another data center and soon their ordinance was changed. Louisa and Loudon Counties, after rubber stamping data center projects, have both put on the brakes by changing their hyperscale sized data center ordinance from "by right" to Special Use Permit.

One might fear that Albemarle is falling behind but two recent mega scale economic development projects are in the works that would sandwich the City of Charlottesville in the middle.

Rivanna Futures is a state supported and funded project near the existing NGIC Defense campus on 29N. This 8 mile area (from Greene to Albemarle) could realize a level of potential similar to Silicon Valley (data centers could be built here). Included in this area is a state effort to establish a Defense Corridor to run from Fauquier County to Charlottesville. This conglomerate of projects was described as beyond aspirational by PEC staff.

There is also a plan to create Virginia's Research Triangle Park connecting the biotech industry from VT in Blacksburg to UVA in Charlottesville. AstraZeneca has announced it is opening a facility in Charlottesville and El Lilly nearby in Goochland.

It's obvious that citizens below the NOVA line do not want intense buildouts to start popping up in their communities and it's especially rotten if there is no transparency. The only entities that are privy to actual electric and water usage numbers are the data center, the State Corporate Commission (SCC) and Dominion Energy, while decision makers and the public at the local level are all left to ponder.

The next meeting concerning data centers in Albemarle County is the Planning Commission, October 14, 6pm.

~Rebecca

Piedmont Environmental Council Public Meeting Part I, What a Data Center needs to be Operational

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 14:35:00 +0000

Approximately 150 people attended the recent Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) public meeting at The Center in Charlottesville to discuss Virginia data centers. PEC operates in central Virginia supporting the following communities; Albemarle / Cville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock. Their mission is to protect and restore the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont, while building stronger, more sustainable communities. Some of the jurisdictions they support are the fastest growing in the nation where data center expansion is becoming a central issue.

What does a data center need to be operational? Below is a summary of the PEC presentation given by Land Use and Policy staff members Julie Bolthouse and Rob McGinnis.

Every data center is different and has different requirements, none are alike. Currently the PEC is the only agency that tracks the buildout of data centers and today they have identified that our state is the data center capital of the world and has 3 times more data centers than the next largest on their list, Beijing, China.

There are some common requirements for each data center: The need for exorbitant amounts of energy and water plus backup generators to keep equipment running 24/7. Infrastructure build out including electric power substations and rows of super sized transmission lines that are a blight to the landscape and could traverse through neighborhoods. Other structures onsite are water and gas holding tanks, rooftop cooling equipment, waste water pipelines and pump stations, and security fencing.

Electronics naturally produce heat in order to operate. Larger systems require cooling equipment to remove heat to protect computers. Each of us has experienced cell phones, tablets, and computers generating heat. We've even heard a fan running on our desk top computer to remove the heat buildup. When electric systems fail or peak demand puts pressure on the system, back up generators must kick on to protect equipment and keep the data flowing night and day. 9,000 gas diesel data center generators are currently permitted in Virginia and the allowed run time is regulated by the EPA. Most of us have heard a neighbors small generator running during a power outage but a data center can have 20 - 40 train car sized diesel generators running 6 - 12 hours a day. The greater the concentration of data centers, the worse the air pollution and the greater the health impact. Computer systems, gas plants, and nuclear facilities are water cooled. Water usage that is not recycled and reused is consumptive which means it is lost as it evaporates into the air along with pollutants. When a closed loop system is used they too will experience water loss and diverting treated / recycled water can still impact local stream health.

Just one data center can consume a city worth of power. Racks and racks and rows and rows of computers need electricity to run. One Gigawatt (GW) of power requires one nuclear reactor to produce it. In Virginia it is estimated that 28 GW of power must be built out by 2039 to meet growing data center demand and to pay for it the average customer bill will increase by 125%. That level of power is equivalent to nearly 7,000,000 homes or 2,000 Walmart Supercenters. Dominion Energy, who operates in 20 states, has 47 GW under contract in Virginia alone to meet the explosive demand load. The electricity is dependent upon the delivery from out of state transmission lines; Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia and also gas pipeline routes that continually are being expanded deeper into the South and farther into the North. A gas plant in one community can be firing up a data center in another community. There is no other industry that demands this much energy other than possibly a steel mill. Dominion energy is applying for approval to use non-renewable sources (natural gas, coal, and reactors) to power this infrastructure. The current administration encourages dirty power which is often not compatible with meeting local renewal energy targets.

Next week I will blog about the impact of a recent ordinance proposal change in Albemarle County as presented by PEC.

~ Rebecca

Albemarle County Data Center Work Session, Summary of each Board of Supervisor Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 20:52:00 +0000

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors attended a work session on August 6, 2025 to discuss a proposed data center ordinance drafted by the Community Development Department. The lengthy discussion can be viewed online, section 1:42:00 - 3:50:40 in the video. In summary, this meeting generated a request by the board for staff to craft more options and alternatives to what was presented.

There will be a free community meeting hosted by The Piedmont Environmental Council at The Center on Tuesday, September 16 from 6-8, sign up in advance. On October 14, 6 pm the Planning Commission of Albemarle County will hold a public meeting to present the Data Center Ordinance. You may attend the meeting at Lane stadium or watch it on Zoom online. Public comments may be submitted by email, you may ask questions in person, via zoom, or by phone.

Staff began the work session with an overview of the new Tier 1 and Tier 2 zoning overlays which by definition are "by right" pre-approved without community discourse. Tier 1 is up to 125,000 square feet and Tier 2 would be up to 500,000 square feet. Current zoning allows up to 40,000 square feet in the industrial or commercial district with special use permit required if over that size. Building size comparison examples were presented: 40K - Whole Foods, 125K - Walmart / Costco, 500K - State Farm complex / Seminole Place plaza (largest complexes in county). Four specific Tier locations were identified on maps within existing Planned Development Areas (PDAs currently encompass 5% of the entire county). No ground water use or evaporative cooling systems would be permitted. Tax revenue would be generated from real estate (land / buildings) and tangible personal property (equipment / racks). It costs less to collect tax dollars from data centers than residential or commercial. Revenue dollars from data centers diversify the tax base. Staff has seen significant public interest in this proposal.

The following summarizes board members (BOS) comments and Q&A with staff:

BOS Mike Pruitt, Scottsville is deeply skeptical and uneasy with "by right" (rubber stamp / pre-approval) for data centers. Historically he has been supportive of lower "by right" building sizes believing existing code of 40,000 square feet is too permissive and would like lower square foot designations for the proposed Tiers. Energy grid costs are being paid for by rate payers (his constituents - citizens and businesses). Suggested that future quantum computing technology developments will shrink the size of equipment and if centers are phased out, the rural centers away from NOVA would go first. Agrees that data centers can be a real revenue boon but are a destructive land use. The regulations proposed by staff are acceptable as but is concerned about 2 Tier locations as they are incompatible uses. The North Fork Tier designation is problematic because of the recent approval of housing in that area and the Pantops State Farm complex because it is near natural habitat trails and residential. Not supportive at all of any of the "by right" Tiers due to project scale. Staff confirmed no need for Tier overlays if "by right" text is removed.

BOS Ned Gallaway, Rio questioned water usage. Staff reported that those managing water say data centers consume equal to or less compared to typical like zoned buildings and that air/hybrid cooled can use even less. Staff discussed depreciating tangible tax dollars bring in more revenue in the first years of equipment purchase. He compared Tier 1 to the new Home Depot in size. Doesn't see that a data center is any different in equipment taxing than other businesses (referring to Martha Jefferson Hospital and Home Depot). More expensive for a project to apply for Special Use Permit vs defining "by right" Tiers. Believes data centers a way to generate taxes through diversification. Viability of data centers should not be a land use policy factor. Speaks of a limit to the size and does not see a 1,000,000 square feet facility fitting in our county. He sees the North Fork Tier designation as being divided into a southern section for residential development and a northern section industrial, appropriate for a data center which would not be any different than an office building project. He doesn't believe a data center replacing the vacant State Farm 400,000 square feet complex would be a detriment to natural areas. If thousands of employees were working there, the same impact would be felt from a 500,000 square feet data center and actually it would reduce the people impact as data centers don't require as many employees and would be a viable business not adding to the transportation woes. Would not have to raise the tax rate if we had data centers. Data Centers are within bounds of what we already allow for economic activity. Supports Tiers and where they have been identified to be located in the county.

BOS Bea Kirtley, Rivanna questioned what is the average utility bill increase from data centers in communities that have them and staff responded there is no data because the state does not publish it. Staff confirmed there is no direct county investment, just the normal site plan process such as storm water and utility improvements. Citizens are very unhappy with recent tax increase but they would be happy that the proposal does not permit the use of ground water that could impact the water table. Staff explained current industrial zoning adjacent to rural (includes residential) has a 50 feet setback and the Tier definitions require 200 feet. She would like it changed to 500 feet. Staff clarified that natural gas or tier 4 generator (diesel) is permitted. She questioned the proposed State Farm complex Tier as it is too close to residential. Staff has surveyed 19 data center properties outside of Albemarle and have distilled best practices incorporating lessons learned. She is requesting 3 Tiers be proposed, 125,000 / 250,000 / 500,000 square feet.

BOS Ann Mallek, White Hall precautionary approach because new to our county and we need to be very detailed oriented when writing the ordinance as little regulation exists. Loudon County is warning that a "by right" approach should never be undertaken. Our county has hilly topography and sound traveling is already an existing issue and this causes uncertainty. Expressed concerns over Dominion Energy power availability to data centers impacting customers. She suggested a mandatory 5 year equipment reassessment in order to guarantee projected tangible tax revenue. She requested water estimates and staff responded there will not be any water estimates and none are available, it is an unknown and a data center might have to consider onsite water storage in order to not cause a surge to the system. Pre-treatment of waste is already being done by other industrial sites. Given the revenue and land cost she believed we should not worry about a special use permit costing the developer more. The larger setbacks will be helpful to protect residential and supports 500 feet. Supports all data centers require a special use permit (no Tiers).

BOS Jim Andrews, Samuel Miller questions the height. Staff reported they tend to be 1-story but taller than normal, multi-story is usually for centers less than 40,000 square feet in size. Staff did not consider any height limitations and is following existing building code which is up to 65'. Taxes are collected on footprint, not gross building total square foot. Staff estimated water use to be substantially less than apartments and hotels. Current noise regulations A weighted but staff is looking into C weighting but it is more difficult to enforce. He is concerned about our hilly community and measuring noise at boundary might not be ideal as could be louder away from site. Staff projects the State Farm 400,000 square foot complex would likely not be reused for a data center but demolished. Staff will look into data center decommissioning similar to the solar requirements. He is hearing pushback from the public about data centers energy use as they far exceed the norm. Not confident the EPA will regulate in the future so electricity would not be cleaner as the county has previously promised. Staff provided that the proposed Tier districts know where power can be obtained and in some cases the infrastructure is already onsite. The State of Virginia has no electricity data as to how much is required to power any of these data centers. He likes the fact that staff has identified areas where the data centers are appropriate but does not like the fact that the public will not have any input "by right". Wants more public vetting to clarify the Tiers and for transparency. Dark sky regulating is something they are looking into for all properties in the county. The I64 / 29 site is very hilly so likely a data center being broken up into multiple buildings. Concerned about residential impact.

BOS Diantha McKeel, Jack Jouett believes a lot of misinformation is in the community. Loudon county has changed their ordinance to special use permit but they had a 50 - 70 data center backlog. Our county has the highest number of land conservation in the state, agriculture and land conservation property does not generate revenue. 49.4 million square feet of data centers in Loudon County (22.9% of tax base), industrial in Albemarle county is 11% but partly this is because residential real estate prices have gone up lowering that number. Staff remarked they are presenting strong performance standards for "by right" and the board asked for a tax strategy and here it is. Requiring a special use permit would lead to an 8 month review and possible conditions put on that permit in the end. Performance standards by defining Tiers bring certainty and a business can better know in advance if they can operate here or not. UVA has 4 data centers and the new proposed site in Fontaine is a 40,000 square feet center (MY NOTE: published data indicates it to actually be 10,000 square feet). The reality is they are already in our community. Supports ordinance and Tier proposals with understanding it is still evolving through staff research. Albemarle county is being proactive and that will prevent some of the worst fears.

Questions and comments may be sent to the entire BOS@albemarle.org or to your individual representative.

~Rebecca

It's peak Butterfly time in Central Virginia, I've never seen so many in my garden!

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 23:50:00 +0000

For the last 5 years, we've been delaying the start of Spring mowing. My neighbor hires a mowing company and they mowed 10 times before we mowed once. Since we moved into our house 15 years ago, we have not mulched, burned, or removed the fallen leaves. I even rake over leaves from our neighbor who would normally pay for removal.

Leaves are natures fertilizer and hold treasures. This year we have experienced record numbers of butterflies in our garden, especially Skippers. It could be due to many different factors. Weather; rain or dryness or heat or cold. It could be there were butterfly eggs deposited in the grass that we did not destroy from mowing less often. It could be that the adult butterflies that wrap themselves in leaves inside a warm cocoon for Winter hibernation were left where they fell.

August has proven to be the best month for butterfly observing in my area. The vast majority come in the hot Summer and Fall months. I've heard it said over and over in July, "there are no butterflies!" We even had a count in July and it was depressing as there were so few to count! Patience, patience...

This weekend has proved to be a butterfly bonanza! We have at least 100 Skippers hopping around patches of flowers in the garden. They especially like Mountain Mint, Apple Mint, Althea, Butterfly Bush, Cup Plant, Anemone, and Marigolds. My yard has been part of the annual butterfly count for several years and typically we might find 25 Skippers.

Surprisingly I have seen three Zebra butterflies. I'm lucky to see one if any in a year! I planted a little trio of Pawpaw trees several years ago to draw in the Zebra. Each butterfly species seeks out the unique plant required to feed their caterpillar on which to lay their eggs and this is the plant the Zebra is looking for. I often see butterflies frantically popping around the garden from plant to plant, maybe they are searching for their host plant.

My second favorite butterfly to spot is the Common Buckeye. It's shocking when you find one for the first time. It's a charming orange and brown butterfly with all sizes of eyespots. I've never understood using the word common as part of its name as it is truly magical!

The American Snout has the perfect name. A long snout brown curious insect. I've seen it land on humans more than any other butterfly, most likely relishing the salt we produce. There has never been a Summer without a little nosey Snouter greeting me as I get in my swimming pool slurping up any splashed water or lighting on my arm.

I don't see many of the most talked about butterfly, the Monarch, in my garden but I'm still developing my milkweed stations. I hope that's the reason and in future years I'll see more.

Right NOW is the time in Central Virginia to get out and see butterflies. You will find them in full sun among blooming flowers or some smaller species will hop out in an open field as you walk. Do not cross a butterfly with your shadow and always walk very slowly toward them. They can feel the shade and air current which will make them fly away.

Butterflies are selective, looking for nectar (they are not looking for pollen as they do not have a family to raise). The more native plants you have, the greater chance you have of attracting them not only for nectar but to have the correct caterpillar food for them to hang around. They do visit several non-native plants that I do not recommend you plant (I inherited Apple Mint, Butterfly bush and Althea which they really like). Seek out native plants instead as this is what they really need to survive and grow in your own garden.

Get out and enjoy these beautiful insects.

~Rebecca

Putting the Brakes on Data Centers in Virginia, A review of Albemarle County new ordinance proposals

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 21:07:00 +0000

As I stated in my previous blog post, the State of Virginia houses more data centers than any other market in the world. The biggest concentration being in Northern Virginia. More and more citizens are speaking out and restrictions are being added or tightened by some counties but energy consumption and the type of center are regulated at the state level.

20% of Dominion Energy electricity is used to run Virginia's 586 data centers. By 2040 researchers believe 40% of our electricity will go toward data centers. Energy resources have to be continually developed to meet the ever growing demand. Dominion estimates that in 15 years power demand will increase by 85%. Someone has to pay for the infrastructure build out long before data centers are up and running. In Pennsylvania residents are seeing increases in their power bills with no end in site fueled by energy hungry data centers.

Louisa County recently approved construction of two Amazon data centers. Even more recently, a third Amazon data center was proposed. This county has two operating Lake Anna nuclear reactors that are owned by Dominion Energy. Water to run the data centers will be extracted from the local reservoir that is an active fishing and recreation area that also serves residences and businesses in that area. Citizens voiced their concerns over a third center and Amazon put on the brakes. It is unlikely that this project will disappear, will it be refiled or moved to a nearby county?

Nearby Albemarle County where I live is currently revising their data center ordinances. Previously falling under the industrial zoning regulations of a minimum of 40,000 square feet footprint "by right" (Special Use Permit can be submitted for larger footprint), with a height limit up to 65'. In addition to the existing industrial zoning, the county is proposing two new zoning district overlay tiers.

Both tiers are defined as "by right" (a rubber stamp streamlined approval process as no impact study or public input is required if they meet general conditions). Tier 1 for centers up to 125,000 square feet footprint "by right" and Tier 2 for centers up to 500,000 footprint "by right" but the sky is the limit on footprint size in either tier by Special Use Permit (subject to review by the Board of Supervisors and a legislative review by federal and state agencies). Typically there are no set rules for Special Use Permit at the local level because it is subject to legislative review. It is unclear if an impact study or public input is even mandated as part of the Special Use Permit. Our Governor just stopped a state level non-partisan reform bill by Veto that was to somewhat regulate data centers, addressing growing citizen complaints. He is leaving it up to each county to define their own rules but electricity parameters are solely controlled at the state level. The President is rolling back environmental regulations for AI / data centers, lessening or eliminating restrictions.

In reviewing the proposed ordinance I posed a few questions to county staff for clarity. A by right Tier 2 data center could be 500,000 square feet x 6 stories high = 3,000,000 square feet. Crypto currency data centers (which uses even more resources to operate) can not be excluded from being allowed as the county does not have regulatory authority. Water is allowed from public sources only and fortunately must be a closed loop or recycled system. Screening, noise and setbacks are similar to other county ordinances but there are plenty of complaints from citizens in other communities that live next door to a data center. There can be no mention of electricity restrictions because there is a State regulatory agency that manages this. "The County may only enact regulations consistent with the authority granted to it by the General Assembly. The County does not have the authority to regulate data centers based on energy consumption, employment, customers served, technology used, or the origin of equipment used to operate the data center." In Georgia (another high buildout data center state) the public service authority has stated that data centers must pay for the upgrades needed, not the general public. There is no mention of clean up if a county is left holding an abandoned building or if the county is responsible for the waste removal.

Why have data centers become problematic. Mainly because they convert massive expanses of land and use vast amounts of resources that are shared with residents (electricity and water) and are not good neighbors (noise, light and air pollution, and create hazardous ewaste). How close is too close to living beside a data center and what does it do to property values? Stafford is still buffering data centers as the planning commission recommends to move them farther away from residents. Chesapeake residents say NO to more data centers! Louisa County just had a data center client back out due to public outcry. Loudon County (the world capital of data centers) and Henrico County just revised their data center ordinance to not have any future "by-right" approvals, all must be reviewed and by Special Use Permit. Fauquier County limits projects to only areas zoned as business parks. Fairfax County recently tightened restrictions on the size, location and design and requires companies to submit a noise study.

Northern Virginia residents are fed up with large Data center development so they are flowing downward into less populated, more scenic and rural areas of the state. Did you know that Smith Mountain Lake "the Lake Tahoe of the East" is owned by a public water utility (AEP) that operates a hydroelectric dam and it is ripe for the picking. AEP in Ohio is trying to get data centers to pre-pay for their share of electricity use because of the massive electricity upgrades that are required before a data center is even built. Someone has to pay for the upgrades to the system, are residents footing the bill?

Are ready? Are we protected? Can we co-exist? The next public meeting for Albemarle County concerning data centers is the planning commission public meeting on October 14, 6 pm. There is a Board of Supervisors work session on August 6. Citizens can still Ask a questions on the online message board and/or you can leave a comment. You must create an account for your message to display publicly.

~Rebecca

The data on Virginia Data Centers, Coming your way soon

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:30:00 +0000

The State of Virginia houses more data centers than any other market (including whole countries) in the world. 586 centers are currently operational but plans for what seems to be an unlimited number with little restrictions are in the works. The new AI push is to build data centers everywhere and anywhere resources can be found to be gobbled up to support them. Our own governor put corporate needs before citizen concerns by stopping a state level non-partisan reform bill that was to FINALLY regulate data centers. Leaving it up to each county to define their own playing rules, if any.

Data centers have become the modern day gold rush as counties reap revenue that seems to be too good to be true. Hosting companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Digital Realty, and Iron Mountain. Loudoun County is the leader in the state with 300 data centers with 49,000,000 square feet under roof. Loudoun County is just now getting around to restrictions, referring to centers as the Goose that lays the Golden Egg.

It was interesting to me that on a chat group, someone suggested to turn a vacant mall into a data center. That's a fine idea but the modern day data center is frequently massive, dwarfing most malls. The Loudoun county "eco-center" (as our governor refers to Virginia data centers), encompasses an area of 8 pentagons (referred to as a digital city hiding in plain site).

One example is what is becoming a blossoming eco-complex that started with 2 Amazon data centers in Louisa county. Just last week, before the data centers have even been built, Amazon announced the desire to add another data center. In Louisa there are currently 4 proposed data center campuses encompassing 2,600 acres. To look at this another way, this is 1,970 football fields in size.

Data centers run 24/7 and require massive amounts of electricity and water to cool equipment. Using Louisa as an example, as it happens to be located in the next county over from where I live, Dominion Energy owns the 2 Lake Anna nuclear reactors and will be upgrading that facility to handle electricity for the proposed data center campuses. Water will be routed from the local reservoir that is an active fishing and recreation area that currently is the primary water sources for that county.

A recent study found the data center industry both helps and hurts Virginia. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for data center development in our state which puts a lot of pressure on natural resources and electricity generation. Serious ramping up of all forms of energy production will have to happen to support the growing demand.

This year Dominion Energy is asking for a rate hike that would increase your monthly bill by an average of $21 by 2027. In 2022, the utility delivered 36% of all power to customers by natural gas, 29% by nuclear, 22% by third party purchase, 5% by coal, and 5% from renewables. Their long-term plan to meet the demand is to get energy from every basket available but natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants are main sources of energy. In Albemarle County, Dominion Energy is building a solar farm on our capped Ivy landfill which is a great way to utilize land that can't be used for much of anything else but it is a drop in the bucket.

Why have data centers become problematic. Mainly because they convert massive expanses of land and use vast amounts of resources (electricity and water) and are not good neighbors (noise, light and air pollution, and create hazardous ewaste). Community planners have created electric and water resources based on consumption by residential customers and much smaller business footprints. How close is too close to living beside a data center and what does it do to property values? 1/3 of all data centers in Virginia are near to residential areas. What is the lasting impact to quality of life? I would imagine the answer to the last 2 questions is obvious - NOT GOOD. Given data centers are spreading in our state faster than they can be regulated or even mapped, this should cause serious concern to each and every citizen. Albemarle county where I live is currently revising their data center ordinances.

Putting greed over community sensibilities and regulations can end up being destructive. Without guardrails and community discourse the goose may leave unsuspecting citizens holding a rotten egg.

~Rebecca

A few of my favorite new gardening gadgets that help ease Arthritis Pain

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 19:09:00 +0000

It has been years since I've even thought about buying MORE garden tools. We have quite the stash but most are bulky, heavy, and over the years new gadgets have come on the market. It has been 15 years since I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Sjogrens. I also have pretty severe Osteoarthritis in my thumbs and wrists. Many of my old standby's are just too hard to manage and leave me in pain after using. It was making gardening depressing. I had to do something to extend my garden life for years to come.

My first favorite find were Workpro USB plug in pruning shears. They are amazing and easily cut shrub branches, blackberry canes, and vines with one hit. There is a safety on this style of clippers where you have to hold down 2 buttons at once to cut, which is not great for arthritic hands. I do not have pain while using them or lingering pain once I stop like I do with my manual Felco pruning shears. All brands of this type of pruner are not lightweight but this was the lightest I could find. Most have the square battery pack stuck on the end of the handle which was a deal breaker for me because it added too much bulk and weight. If the Workpro shears were even lighter they would be even better. They should be used by experienced gardeners. I also stash them in a pouch on my waist when not in use as holding for any period fatigues my wrists. A carry holster or at minimum a carry clip would elevate this tool to the next level.

My second favorite find is our new rechargeable pole pruning saw. This is a tool that is too heavy for me on any level but my husband is also aging and manual sawing of limbs is getting tiring. The Skil pruner gets him out in the yard more (men love gadgets at any age) and saves a ton of time. He wanted a reputable brand and I looked for something with the most reach and power that was not so so heavy. I can hardly hold it but it's great for him. You also want self oiling and one that is easy to tighten the chain because with use it just naturally gets loose.

I've not yet tried the Workpro cordless mini hedge trimmer but they look interesting. The weight is around 1 lbs and that's lighter than many as most other brands have the heavy battery packs on the end. Looking at the demos I'm not convinced that it will cut big enough branches for my needs. Seems that they mainly just top the ends. If you have a softer wood smaller shrub or vine, this would be a nice addition. I'm still searching for manual or cordless hedge trimmers that fit my needs.

I ordered industrial Corona brand limb cutters that I had to return but they were glorious and incredibly built but the listing said they were a lighter weight than in reality. They were 3 lbs and I can only manage 1.5 lbs tops, they were even heavy for my husband! Currently I have my aging Fiskars that I bought 15 years ago because at the time they were the lightest I could find.

I'm also on the hunt for a weeding tool to easily dig out seriously deep rooted plants like pokeweed or other invasives like English Ivy or Oriental Bittersweet. I've not found anything revolutionary that would ease digging for me.

It's a challenge when doing much leaves you on the sidelines. If you have a favorite tool that has changed your gardening for the better, I would love to know about it! Leave a comment.

~Rebecca

Historic Garden Week in Virginia begins April 26th, 2025

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 19:14:00 +0000

The 2025 Historic Garden Week in Virginia is April 26 - May 3. Local Garden Clubs throughout Virginia host the annual week long home and garden tours. A nice guidebook is available at select outlets or you can view it online.

I always seek out locations that are more nature centric. Some tours focus more on home interiors but regardless, one is sure to immerse oneself in the lovely Spring gardens along tour routes. This year seems to be loaded with many choices that appeal to me!

Based on my preference to stroll in as many gardens as possible, my top contenders for tour spots this year are: Northern Neck, Chatham Hills / Richmond, Norfolk, Williamsburg, and Middleburg.

Northern Neck, near to the Chesapeake Bay, is my top pick but it's close to a 3 hour drive for me from Charlottesville so it's a little far but oh so tempting. Situated on the Rappahannock River homes date from 1855 to the 1990's. One property attracts many birds and features a pond. Terms such as lush, expansive, wooded, and natural beauty are used to describe this tour.

Richmond is the closest spot on my list and usually there are 2 separate tours on different days. Especially interesting to me is the neighborhood of Chatham Hills which when originally designed had the landscape services of Charles F. Gillette. The guidebook starts with... "an oasis of manicured gardens, 5.5 acre estate, and describes another property as 1.5 acres of lush landscape". That should do it! A range of different styles of homes in a beautiful part of Richmond. A brick colonial, farmhouse, Greek Revival and Dutch Colonial.

The Norfolk tour is on a waterfront peninsula and included in the tour, if you have not exhausted your senses, is The Norfolk Botanical Gardens which is a real bonus! Renovated mid century dated homes are featured, which is quite appealing to me. One property contains one of the oldest Maple trees in Norfolk. I always enjoy "garden only" tours and on the list is a sedum roof solar home with gardens boasting more than 1,500 native plants.

I'm a bit partial to Williamsburg because when I was googling a Salt Spa popped up in my feed which gave me the great idea to make it an overnight trip doubling up gardens with some additional relaxation. This tour features 13 sites! Quite incredible for a one day tour. I'll need a massage after all that walking. One farm house built in 1775 was relocated to Williamsburg in 1928! Two "garden only" tours are included which is right up my alley. Included in the tour is a colonial Williamsburg guided walking tour featuring 3 homes and 4 garden sites.

Garden guidebook photos make Middleburg look quite lush. One property was included in the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens, cataloging more than 140 species of birds! Several water features are mentioned, one being 2 ponds located in a natural area. This tour is a walking tour which is always nice because you park once and don't have to fool with maneuvering to each property.

In my own neck of the woods, I hope to finally see the gardens of Morven in Charlottesville and I just noticed that at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library on the UVA Campus currently is running an Anne Spencer exhibit. I've been to Anne's home and gardens in Lynchburg several times. On 4/28 Monday from 11 - 3 the UVA President's home gardens (Carr's Hill) will be open which is always pretty in the Spring!

Get out this Spring!

~Rebecca

80,000 veterans administration jobs to be cut. Why are we punishing our vets!

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 22:30:00 +0000

Today our caring and stellar geriatric doctor made a house call to give a shingles vaccine and review the health of my 93 year old veteran father-in-law, Bob. We have gotten to know him over the last 6 months since Bob moved into our home. Previously Bob was not in great shape. He lived alone in TN and had various doctors that he visited from time to time even though he had macular degeneration and was developing dementia. His general doctor told us he would not live out the year and basically to just throw in the towel and not bother treating his growing list of ailments (that was in 2023).

Up until about 85 years of age, Bob was a go getter, with a career in construction work. Always on the move! Handmaking woodcrafts and growing vegetables to share with his neighbors. He was quite generous, even nearly losing everything from paying home health care workers to help him with his wife who was bed bound for 6 years. He never used the Veterans Administration as he really was a pretty healthy guy. He served in the Korean War loading bombs in planes and training others on the shooting range. His hearing has been bad for many many years. Possibly because there was no ear protection back in those days.

He had asked for nothing personally from the VA. After his funds were nearly wiped out, I stumbled upon the Veterans Administration in Tennessee and because he was adamant about staying independent, we started him in their home health care program which contracts through an agency up to 20 hours a week assistance with dressing, cleaning, bathing, and meal preparation. Eventually we had to bring him to Virginia to live with us. We transferred all medical to the VA clinic in Charlottesville which is run out of the Richmond office.

We have been so impressed with his care and just mentioned a few days ago how he has done a complete turn around. Previously hardly unable to get out of a chair and living a solitary existence basically just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Now he has a wonderful geriatric doctor that comes to our house and treats all his ailments. He even has gotten him in a local day care program! You might think home health care is frivolous but it makes sense! It takes another person with a body belt to assist walking Bob up and down the stairs and then we have to put him in a wheelchair. Because of his many ailments, it required nearly weekly office visits to the different specialists. He now primarily sees his geriatric doctor and it saves so much hassle. His doctor is amazing and an asset to our elderly service members.

My father also served in the Korean War and he never received VA assistance. He died in a nursing home from Alzheimer's. If he had been enrolled with the VA it might have not been such a difficult ending and it absolutely would have helped my mother who cared for him day in and day out. I've experienced both private care (which was a total nightmare) and public VA care and I'll take the VA care any day! My experience has been quite positive and has improved his quality of life significantly.

I just read of the pending indiscriminate elimination of 80,000 employees from the Veterans Administration (30% of which are veterans themselves). Why is the richest country in the world targeting the VA? Why are we punishing our veterans and their families? How can we ask individuals to join the military and not promise them benefits or pull the plug on them? Why are we asking wonderful doctors to take a hike?

There are many elderly veterans that are going to be seriously disoriented by losing their health care services and/or provider. When we have no compassion and give no thought to harming those who we have asked to sacrifice their life to PROTECT OUR COUNTRY then we've lost our soul. To pull the rug out from veterans that have relied on the VA is gut wrenching and to see great doctors get kicked to the curb without any thought as to the service they provide is disturbing. There is no logical reason for doing this other than selfishness and shortsightedness with the intent to gleefully cause chaos.

My father-in-law has our family to keep him safe but sadly some veterans are terminally or mentally ill and can't fend for themselves. Willy-nilly axing VA medical doctors and staff just because you think there is government waste is a total copout as to what your real plan is, to privatize our government and shrink it down so the wealthiest can benefit while leaving the less fortunate to figure it out. Please call TODAY your representatives and ask them to explain what they will do to protect the elderly, veterans, and our valued doctors from this planned extermination at the Veterans Administration.

~Rebecca

Abraham Lincoln In his Times by David S Reynolds book review. Honest Abe was truly an amazing man.

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 17:31:00 +0000

Several weeks ago I found some time to search for garden history books at our local library, specifically about Monet and Vita Sackville-West, neither of which were fruitful checkouts as both were missing. I had no intention of reading about Abe, especially a 1,000 page book. Coincidently, on my checkout list was a different David Reynolds book with stellar reviews, so this book about Lincoln caught my eye.

I will start by saying this is not really a review as I'm not going to be critical one way or the other but it is more of a description of my enlightenment. This book is very detailed and begins with the birth of Abe and ends with his death. It does not cover much about the ins and outs of the horrors of the Civil War but it highlights significant battles and Abe's involvement. The life of Abe has been thoroughly recorded in history and after reading the book I understand why. Our President Lincoln was indeed a significant historic personality who somehow managed to survive through the long war years.

After reading this book, my general impression of Abe was that he was honest and didn't waver on his commitments or beliefs having strict moral character and fortitude. Our government before Abe sounded disheveled, mismanaged, and full of rowdy behavior. It was said that only Honest Abe could have pulled off uniting the States while freeing the slaves. He was not an uppity man, he was the salt of the earth. Self educated and eventually becoming a good lawyer and ultimately a wise statesman. He is a good example of what is called the American Dream. His life experiences were varied and he had direct contact with a wide range of social classes. The people could relate to his speeches as they were mesmerizing, well thought out, and to the point. Photos of Abe in his later years of life show his increasingly worn appearance throughout the continuation of the Civil War (estimates of 520,000 soldiers died but records were not accurate especially concerning confederate soldiers and slave deaths. Some calculations put it closer to over 1 million and included death from diseases).

Being a life long Virginian, I have been to the Lincoln Memorial several times and the experience is like no other. Climbing the stairs one feels as if on hallowed ground, Lincoln bigger than life, his importance illustrated by his size. It indeed is a fitting structure in honor of this truly amazing man.

During the 4 years of Lincoln's presidency, 1961 - 1965 many other societal projects were occurring. We mainly think of Lincoln as bearing the weight of the war but the country was also experiencing rapid expansion. He believed strongly in infrastructure so he was promoting the railroad while directing distribution of tracts of land through the Homestead Act to hopeful poorer families (sadly greedy prospectors took advantage of the program). Shockingly, when he took office, there was no uniform banking system, money was being produced in different designs by the states. He signed a National Banking Act to have one currency. There was no oversight in agriculture and he created the USDA. A large group of mid-west and west coast states were still territories which gradually were being converted into States (adding more drama concerning States rights to own slaves or not). Of course his biggest accomplishments were ending the war, freeing the slaves while preserving the Union, and adding the 13th Amendment to the constitution.

My family, Tobacco pouch from Virginia factory after war

Also of interest in the book were his relationships with this wife, friends, business associates, and government officials. I gathered that he was at ease with meeting the unknown head on, eager for new experiences and a master at working through difficulties. It is striking to realize he was able to absorb himself in the greatest of responsibility during this chaotic time in history and not have a stroke or be assassinated. He never seemed to heed warnings of his likely demise from his many enemies, putting duty before all else. Self-sacrificing even though so many died on his watch.

Even Lincoln was not perfect. The Indian crisis out West was not a priority and their lands continued to be distributed to white settlers. He replaced his generals frequently because they either didn't follow instructions or for losing battles which caused the war to drag on. Progressives and civil rights leaders were critical of his slowness to end slavery. Ultimately, he saved the union while freeing the slaves from the lawful designation of them being human prisoners for life as mere property.

My family, Confederate Vet and family after war

It took me about 4 weeks to finish the book and it inspired me to watch Abraham Lincoln 3 part series produced some time ago by the History channel and research my Virginia family history a bit more.

~Rebecca

2024 Year in Review - Crazy year - Seniors - Cats - Estates - Hard Work

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 16:53:00 +0000

Who knew getting old was this much work! Now I know why people retire at 65, because one must take care of their aging parents and pets, file for social security, find new insurance, sell real estate and basically set up one's future so you can ease into it! I've yet to see the easing but the summation of this past year has been "one thing after another" but there is always a silver lining as so many people have come to my rescue this year!

The first few months of 2024 started pretty calmly and then snowballed into a complete nightmare. My husband was living in Tennessee caring for his 93 year old father and everything that could break at our house in Virginia did. We're big DYIers and rarely hire anyone because often it does not turn out like it should. In early Spring the power went out and I was hauling in wood for the stove. Things calmed down and were going along pretty well until the grass started growing. The belt on the lawn mower broke. I had someone tell me they were coming several times to replace it and never did so the grass kept growing - a lot! I had to find someone to mow the lawn which was a bit of a disaster. A kind gentleman showed up with a push mower for 2 acres. After 6 hours, 3 stop and start rains and the sun beginning to set, I let him go and there was still 1 acre left to mow! Retrospectively it seems like such an easy thing to work out but everyone already has mowing commitments and it was impossible to find someone urgently over Memorial Day weekend.

During that time the water heater began to leak and the compressor on the Heat and Air broke. Next up was opening the pool which was totally not doable by myself. I don't even remember what else happened but I was bailing in a boat, sinking in a swamp -- totally losing it. Finally we decided enough was enough and it was time to either get divorced or move my father-in-law in with us. Of course he did not want to leave his home and that was another hurdle. We ended up proposing a 2 week vacation which at least got him willingly out of his house. It was frightening driving him 6 hours but we did make several stops (one being ice cream) and it went smoothly. After being at our house for 3 days, he told us he wanted to live with us and to sell his house. We all cried!

Bob is very little trouble and still gets around but can't be left alone. The biggest responsibility is that I have been managing his home located out of state. We discovered there was no insurance on the house! The first trip to check on this house was intense. I had a long list of tasks to accomplish to list his house with a realtor. The heat and air was not working when I arrived. A lot of time was wasted hiring a disreputable company that ripped me off straight away (my worst google review of 2024) but I did find a great company to fix it and also found a wonderful tree cutter who did an excellent job. My Aunt who lives nearby helped me and supplied FOOD so I ended up enjoying my time with her and the wonderful realtor that brought me coffee to seal the deal. Brittney Riddell has helped me in so many ways, letting people into the house to buy items and picking me up after selling Bob's car at Carmax. During the horrible rain that nearly wiped out Asheville several bridges were washed away near Bob's house. When the realtor finally could even get to the house she had to bail out the crawl space. A neighbor of Bob's has also helped me greatly, coming to my rescue many times! I am so thankful these angels dropped into my life.

To add more drama, when Bob found out that I was at his house he got angry that I did not take him with me and went on a hunger strike. After a week of preparing his house to sell; hiring an assortment of companies while cleaning, painting, selling items online, gardening, stuffing my car full and general craziness I was told Bob was at the ER. I was driving home and my husband called saying his Dad passed out from not eating. Luckily the home health care worker caught him. So I drove 6 hours to Virginia straight into the ER. Talk about exhausted. He remained in the hospital for observation for 3 days.

After moving Bob to Virginia we had to transfer his Veterans healthcare which amounted to wiping the slate and starting all over. Setting up medical care, prescriptions, and home health care. The VA has some great benefits but the systems takes time and persistence to set up through the Richmond office. They have a wonderful VA Clinic in Charlottesville and after a few months we were assigned a geriatric doctor that comes straight to the house! He also hooked Bob up to a local day care program at JABA which he really enjoys. They have qualified caregivers, live music, meals, and programs to keep him active. He was even dancing the other day which we never thought we would see given the doctors said he would not make it through the year! Also through the VA we have home health care come several days a week to assist him.

The icing on the cake was my year end deadline to finalize my friend's estate that I've been working on since 2023. I really thought I could complete this process alone, but the complexity of her brokerage account financial statements got me in the end. No unsurmountable issues until the accounting struck. In the end I wanted to blow my brains out. I consulted with an accountant, watched tons of videos, and even attended an online Q and A session. I did everything imaginable but still could not balance the financials. How hard could it be? It's just MATH! I like math. It drove me to near insanity and finally with a week left in 2024 (after searching for a week), I found a CPA and handed my completed accounting over and ran screaming into the night. It was like giving up a child. I had invested so much time and energy into this. Apparently this last step is a beast and very few accountants will fool with it. I'm ending the year sweating as I've not heard that she has been successful. I hope she can find the error!

Another side project that I've been working on since the Summer is getting free solar panels installed. It is a pilot program through our local energy company and LEAP that ended in 2024 so the clock was ticking! They were turned on 12/23. It's a basic system and we'll only see 1/4 - 1/2 of our usage covered but I've been committed to solar for a very long time. It's a pretty exciting moment for me and a positive way to end a year of chaos and trauma. This is my annual environmental commitment that will last for 30 years! We'll be in our 90's when they pull the plug if we make it that long.

My mother has been living with us for 4 years now. She is still very independent and has her regular weekly drive route that she navigates safely. We volunteer for Friends of the Library and she mainly watches the chaos from afar. We upgraded her tablet at Christmas so she is amazingly tech savvy at 89. She also helps me package items for my online selling sites and it's a mystery how I continued to sell through thick and thin and had the best year ever.

In the Spring I discovered my long time vet had retired and had not been happy with the vet staff for some time so I switched my 3 aging cats to a new clinic. A frightening process but the staff is kind and the vet is excellent. Our cats have arthritis, 2 are on blood pressure meds, one has IBS, another is hyper-thyroid. $$$$. We have reminder alarms for pill management going off morning, noon, and night for people and cats!

Anthony ran into a technicality at the first of the year with his job working out of state and eventually had to retire a year earlier than planned. He finalized his Medicare and social security and will collect his first check January 2025. Because I'm not retirement age I had to search for private health and dental insurance. Adding another duty to the roster. We also have an insurance angel that helps our entire household. Thank goodness for Mr. Trout.

Being "the year of Bob", we ended it with getting him a Virginia license that allowed him to vote and get a fishing license. He really wants to get out this Spring by a Lake!

Without the help of several key people, I don't believe I would be sitting here typing this. here were some kind souls that really bailed me out!

The happiest new year to all and keep the faith. Day by day, hour by hour, keep plugging. This too will pass, and it did, 2024 is toast!

~Rebecca

Annual Historic Garden Week in Virginia begins April 20th, 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 22:43:00 +0000

In 2 weeks, Historic Garden Week in Virginia begins. April is a lovely time of the year to check out area homes and gardens. Local Garden Clubs throughout Virginia host the annual week long tours. A really nice guidebook is available at select outlets or you can view it online.

I always seek out locations that are more nature centric. Some tours focus more on home interiors but regardless, one is sure to get a blast of what is blooming in Virginia as you stroll through neighborhoods.

After reading the tour book, I've decided this year I'll be traveling to Orange and Madison Counties on 4/20. A short drive from Charlottesville to explore five historic properties that feature natural landscapes, all under land conservation easement. The properties foster habitat for bird, animals, and insects with wildflower meadows and native plantings. I also have a potential family connection to one of the homes. Genealogy can be tricky but my family immigrated to Madison and there might be some history to discover given one historic home originally belonged to an individual with our family name.

Another interesting option is a neighborhood walking tour in Norfolk on 4/25. Four homes and three gardens will be featured. There are two other nearby public gardens you can add for separate fees but it sounds like a full day as is. Keep an eye out for the amazing arrangements garden club members create!

Richmond offers several tours on different days. The one that sounds most interesting to me is the walking tour through the River Hill subdivision of the Westover Hills neighborhood on 4/24. Six homes will be open, overlooking the James River in a really pretty part of Richmond. Also do not miss Maymont if you have extra time. Historic Tuckahoe is also very interesting.

Get out and about and enjoy the beautiful Spring weather in Virginia!

~Rebecca

Cleaning out the Greenhouse in Preparation for Seed Starting

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 16:34:00 +0000

My greenhouse has been up and running for 2 years so it allows me to grow more plants from seed. When the gardening bug bit me 25 years ago, I would order hundreds of seed each year! I will never be able to physically manage the constant gardening that I enjoyed long ago so many more controls are in place to stop me from completely going overboard with seed buying My main interest in seed buying has turned toward vegetable growing.

We always battle critters in our garden because I have a no kill policy when it comes to critter control as I do believe nature is smarter than me and will generally work out a balance (for the exception of imported Stink bugs and Japanese beetles). We had been losing sunlight in our garden space each year as trees matured so Anthony moved a part of the garden more into the sun which gave us some successes last year in growing crops. I'm a fan of cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers but my neighbor gave me some fun hot peppers that I enjoyed viewing but not eating. Thai peppers are quite ornamental and I will be growing them again this year from collected seed.

It has been fun researching online as to the current best varieties to order based on disease resistance, performance, and taste. I lean toward open pollinated seed (true to seed = allows you to collect the seed annually and replant). Hybridized seed will not come true to seed and you have to purchase seed each year to produce the same crop.

Long ago I gave up growing beans as they are a critter favorite. I'm focusing on veggies that I eat the most often so Squash is top of the list. We attempted several varieties last year. A patio zucchini in the greenhouse which never flowered so I moved it outside and it flowered but we only harvested one and then it became diseased. We tried a baseball sized zucchini and it was a total failure. All fruit rotting before forming. I believe it was too covered up by the volunteer Butternut squash which went nuts and we harvested 25 squash from several plants. I'm going to try Lemon squash and several zucchini again. I had some luck with Thousandhead Kale that wasn't as huge as described but it was bigger than most so I'll toss that out again this year. I will again try mini watermelon and melon in the sun this year as they were also in the shady section of the garden and did not do well.

I had to put toilet paper collars around all my plants last year when I set them out because something was hacking the stems off! Could have been cutworms or rabbits. Hoping to beat the heat, disease, and the critters!

The variety of cucumber I picked for the greenhouse last year was terrible. It rarely developed any female flowers, which means you don't get any fruit! I was so disappointed because my first year of growing cucumbers in the greenhouse was great success (Burpee Garden Sweet). I'm trying 2 open pollinated varieties; one that self pollinates (Beit Alpha) and one that produces mountains of cucumbers (Suyo Long) in hopes to keep them going from May - December.

Part of growing plants from seed is that you can pick the recommended winners and really see if they are all they claim to be! It's fun experimenting and growing varieties that you have never tried.

I just finished Spring cleaning out the greenhouse. This Winter I moved most of my plants indoors to save on heating expense (it cost me an extra $200 to run heat in the greenhouse last year). As a precaution I will apply 3 treatments of BTI to my greenhouse planter box (another exception to the critter control rules). It is a selective bacteria that attacks mainly mosquito, black fly, and gnat larva. Working indoors in a greenhouse is very different than outside as far as insect management.

Cheers to kicking off the Spring growing season!

~Rebecca

Ending 2023, my year in review. A tough year and glad it's GONE.

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 17:13:00 +0000

I probably should not wish a year to end as the coming year could always be worse, but it's hard to imagine. It was a year full of anguish and hard work. Once I got a breath, more bad news arrived but conversely some really depressing moments ended up positively.

Judy loved her cats!

Early in the year a dear friend passed away and I was named Executor of her estate. Prior to her death I was her Power of Attorney during her long illness. I had never been either so it was a learn as you go experience, emotional but educational and interesting. When I signed the original agreement we lived in the same town but as the years traveled along we had moved 3 hours away, making assisting more difficult. Fortunately I worked closely with her dearest friend to inventory her belongings and gained a new friend in the process.

My Mother-in-law loved Schnauzer's

As soon as I managed to get her estate in order, my mother-in-law passed away after a long illness. My husband ended up practically living with his mother and father for months (they live 6 hours away). I was glad he had the opportunity to do this for his parents. After her passing, we switched gears to figure out his father's situation, researching health care workers for him because he didn't want to leave his home. I discovered a veterans program where they pay for home health care for a certain number of hours a week. It has been a life saver.

A few of our amazing chickens from the past

Oddly, with each human death one of our chickens would follow. We now have no chickens after 10 years of managing and watching out for their safety from hawks and foxes. There is nothing sadder than looking out to an empty chicken yard, but we're planning for our retirement by not adopting more animals as we're determined to flee the coop and travel... ONE DAY. We still have our three cats which amazingly are hanging in there with various senior issues.

In between the ups and downs, I've somewhat neglected my online vintage business but I found time to kick it in gear for the holiday season. Surprisingly I've have a good sales year. I presume it's because I've been selling for 13 years now which gives me an online presence and I also have keyed in on what and where to sell.

My mother still lives with us and is very independent. Shopping for herself and pitching in with packing up goods to ship for my shop. We finally got her to visit our new Senior Center in the Fall to pick up a bridge game or two and the next week we all got COVID so that new venture has been put on hold until Spring. I also developed a sinus infection which was worse than Covid! Shutting me down for a month.

I captured this Bee sleeping in a Crocus

Unfortunately for our pocketbook we had to get a new roof but we're hopeful we will be dead and buried before needing another one! Happy to at least get that behind us because we suspect the roof might have been 43 years old! It was a positive experience and the contractor was awesome so that helped swallow the bitter price pill.

We ended our year with my husband, my mother, and me needing a tooth crown, all in the same week. As I was waiting for the permanent crown a different tooth decided to break. So I'm ending 2023 with a temporary tooth reconstruction awaiting a crown in 2024 (which Cigna insurance pays zero for - they only pay for 1 crown in 60 months - what a racket). So technically my 2024 is not starting well, but we'll just lump that with 2023 since it happened in that year. I am very grateful to my new dentist for stepping up for my two emergency visits.

We didn't have any big health dramas other than teeth, so we can consider ourselves fortunate on that front. My husband is now officially 65 and signed up for Social Security but will not retire for a few more years - wow - seems impossible.

Finishing the year refreshing the dining room in time for Christmas dinner. The table was overtaken with Estate business and my Grandmother's Chandelier was jerry rigged with a piece of wire for the last 14 years! We managed to clear out the stuff, clean and rehang the chandelier, and hang a large painting that belonged to my deceased friend over the table.

I always try to adopt an eco-resolution and this year I'm trying to limit my plastic purchases to #1 and #2 recyclable containers (or better yet - purchase none) since any other number can't be recycled and most of #1 and #2 are landfilled anyway - ugh. I'm also testing our appliance consumption with a device and researching solar panels, an all consuming research project. Better to generate less electricity and waste to begin with!

Wishing you a positive and healthy 2024! Keep the faith that turning the page to a new year can refresh and renew.

~Rebecca

How to find a new home for your stuff without stressing out

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 19:30:00 +0000

I cleaned and sold on consignment for a friend

Storing stuff seems to be a favorite past time for many American consumers. The shiny fruit is too irresistible. Worse than voluntary acquisition is involuntary inheritance. Don't get me wrong, my family heirlooms are my most treasured items. As a vintage seller, there is nothing I like more than an antique piece of furniture or a piece of art deco jewelry with a beautiful patina. But as we age, how can we whittle our treasures down to what our heirs want in order to not burden them with a bunch of unwanted junk?

Trash or Treasures?

Recently I was the executor of a dear friends estate. She loved to buy things, and she had developed quite an online ordering addiction. As a vintage seller, it was quite interesting to go through her estate but it was unbelievably overwhelming, even for me! Mixed in with the good was the mess which is never fun to sort through. Fortunately she assigned the right people to deal with her items after she passed and we knocked it out over a series of months and were able to save the treasures and dispose of the rest. Out of respect for her, not to mention I'm personally committed to reducing the waste that goes into a landfill, we were able to divert many things into others hands.

Technology changes fast, equipment obsolete

How can one avoid leaving a disaster area for family before one passes on? Waiting to cull your stash at end of life is not the way to go about doing this right. Graduated gifting is my preferred way of getting rid of things and there are several free sites where one can gift almost anything, even what one would consider to be junk. Joining several local Facebook buy and sell groups is currently the way to move items. Even simpler is to give to a local thrift store. Please consider donating first to the SPCA, salvation army, refugee organization, or church charity.

My Grandmother, a keeper!

Additionally, identify items of historical family significance and find those heirs that are interested in such things and pass them along now so there is no confusion once you have departed. Identifying items of value can be tricky but google has become pretty helpful in such matters. Try googling a few items that you believe to be valuable and see what you can discover. No one wants to accidently donate a valuable piece. You hear about it from time to time. I wonder how much of this is due to panic selling. Overwhelmed by a family members death and just wanting to get rid of all the stuff. One person's trash can indeed be someone else's treasure. I remember as my Grandmother aged she was throwing out the baby with the bathwater. She didn't need all this stuff any more. I remember grabbing sterling silver out of the items she had set aside for a garage sale.

Country cute, not worth the energy or time

The key to selling is to gradually do it and not try to get rid of everything in a weekend out of desperation. Chip away at your stash and make progress. I would recommend that you set aside anything that you really treasure or believe is valuable and start with the "junk and excess stuff".

If you believe you have a somewhat valuable item that could bring you some revenue, by all means, try to sell it. I don't sell anything for less than $15, it's just not worth the time and energy unless your are desperate to pay the light bill! Facebook Marketplace is the easiest place to list and sell right in your own community. The speed of listing has all but taken over selling from Craigslist (which still is a viable option). You can ship through Facebook but that's another complication you don't need initially.

Mirror's perfect for FB Marketplace

Listing on Marketplace is somewhat of an art. Like anything that catches on, scammers target inexperienced listers. If your list an item that is of significant value, a scammer will hit you up seconds after you list. Before messaging anyone back, check their profile to see how old their account is. An account created yesterday with a top models photo is a dead giveaway that it's a scam. Accounts with no followers are dead giveaways as being fake. Do not ever, ever, ever, under any circumstance give out your cell number to anyone that asks! They will steal your Facebook account or sell your phone number to other scammers. If a buyer can only find your meet up spot or house by calling your cell number, then they have no business buying an item through Facebook. Ignore, report and block any account that appears to be fake as a scam and move on. Price items higher than your bottom line price because rarely does anyone pay full price on Marketplace.

Seek expert advise for tricky collections.

If you don't have time to research or sell things, look for a friend of family member that is a savvy seller that can help for a fee. Often it's a matter of trying to determine what has value and what doesn't so you can actually take the first step to dispose of items. For your sanity, it just might be worth paying someone to help you! If you have a really really valuable collection you will need a reliable second opinion. I recommend you only discuss your collection with someone that is an expert or is a close friend or family member. Sadly there are scammers waiting to take advantage.

It's not acceptable to buy more stuff to replace what you are gifting or selling. The habit of acquiring needs to come to an end in for your to make progress! Picking up free stuff that you really don't need, has to be halted. Move your life forward to be a considerate consumer, purchasing only what you NEED to live on, helping to save the environment from industrial pollution created from the manufacture of new goods.

I hope this helps to get you started. Set a goal to identify three items a day to get rid of in an environmentally conscience manner.

~Rebecca

Annual National Butterfly Count in Albemarle County Charlottesville Crozet Virginia

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 19:10:00 +0000

Monarch on Milkweed

One of my favorite things to do is participate in the annual butterfly count. Around the same time each year, several teams scour Albemarle county in search of butterflies. Tallies are sent into the North American Butterfly Association that keeps track of sightings nationwide. Counts occur at different times nationally depending upon when sightings are most likely.

Sulphur Butterfly in a flower field

This year it's been reported that numbers are down and we did find this to be true. Some believe it is because of the multiple torrential Spring rains that we experienced. Others feel it might be from the late cold snap, the same one that wiped out my Peach and Plum blossoms leaving me fruitless this year.

Big eyed Robber Fly grabbed a Bee

Insects are a wonderful indicator species that can give us a heads up if something is off-kilter. Approximately 30 different butterfly species can be found in our area. It would be nearly impossible for all 30 to be accounted for during the annual count. We also track the number of individual butterflies in each species. The big numbers usually come in for Tiger Swallowtails but not this year. Other more rare species were even harder to find. Sadly no Zebra Swallowtails in my yard this year.

National numbers have been collected for 30 years. I'm glad someone is watching and I certainly have found it fascinating and educational. I've learned so much about nature from the counts. I always encounter some strange plant, tree, or insect leaving me inspired to continue searching for new critters while preserving native plantings in my own backyard.

Tiger Swallowtail in Echinacea

~ Rebecca

Spring Beach Trip to Duck North Carolina, Beach Birds and Restaurants

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 15:17:00 +0000

Early April I slipped away to enjoy a week at the Beach with a dear friend. It was a perfect time of year before the Summer rush. I left my new greenhouse behind at a crucial time. I had my seedlings coming up in the greenhouse but it was pretty calm in the garden so it ended up a good decision.

The weather was generally warm enough in Duck, North Carolina to get outside every day. We booked a house ocean view with a hot tub. We even sat on the beach a few days but most of our time was spent hiking or reclining on the decks. I even found some time to rotate between two books and we attempted to read aloud one of my favorite books, The Devil in the White City, but it ended up being so very time consuming. We turned on the TV only once, the very last evening, because we were packing and trying to down leftovers.

The sunrises were glorious and our hikes were peaceful. We checked out a nearby trail, the Pine Island Audubon Nature Trail and made it up to Corolla several times to walk the supposed "wild horse areas". A lot of poo views but no ponies in sight. We headed out one day over to Manteo to visit The Elizabethan Gardens.

As always, there were plenty of things to see and do. We had the best food ever and my fav coffee shop with enormous biscuits, Treehouse Cafe, had just opened for the season. A word to the wise, wait until April 1 to go to Duck as many restaurants do not fire up until then! Missing out on all that good food would be so sad. Our favorite found restaurant was NC Coast Bar and Grill. We discovered their wonderful beignets so had to hit it twice, once for a dinner sunset. An interesting phenomenon is that the sun rises only over the beach and the sun sets only over the sound side (the outer banks is a barrier island strip having 2 open sides). If your beach house is situated on the ocean side you have to go over to the sound side to see a sun set so restaurants on that side are busy during that period of the day.

Curiously we didn't see any Ducks in Duck but enjoyed many Cormorants and my favorite seabird the Pelican. We had numerous flyovers of Pelicans and even saw a few Dolphins. There were not many bird sightings in the forests we hiked but my Merlin bird sound identification app on my phone picked up many different calls. I was surprised to see quite a few butterflies during this time of year.

It's never long enough but my greenhouse and messy gardens were calling me home.

Plan a trip somewhere this year, have some fun!

~Rebecca

Ringing in 2023, my year in review

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 16:00:00 +0000

For some reason my year end blog was not posted, so here it goes a month late!

Another page has turned in the big volume of life. 2023 will be the year when my husband signs up for Medicare part B. We're beginning to talk about easing out of pets and into our winter escape plans to the tropics.

It won't happen any time soon but the thought of slipping down south for the cold months has its appeal. The low of 6 degrees in Charlottesville, Virginia last week has gotten us thinking of where to go.

I've ended the year with monitoring the heat set up in my new greenhouse. As long as the power stays on it's working great. 6 degrees outside and 49 inside - YES. Success. The first winter for the greenhouse is soon going to be over. Last year my husband spent most of spring building a lean-to so there was no time to use it during the peak growing season. We did have a bumper crop of greenhouse cucumbers in the fall from 6 plants, harvesting close to 100 cucumbers. We were distributing to all the neighbors while making pickles and Tzatziki. I hope we can get some cherry tomatoes and cucumbers going this Spring. In August I decided to lop off the tops of several cherry tomato plants, root, and transplant into the greenhouse planter box to get a head start on Spring tomatoes. All trial and error.

Mom is still happy to be in her lower level apartment in our house. It's working out well and it's nice to not have to drive 2 hours for holidays. We share the cooking duties, Mom creates some of her classic favorites and I bring in the fake turkey. She is independent at 87, having a regular driving route to the hair dresser and grocery stores. I feel like a big part of her independence at this age is her life long commitment to eating healthy, low sugar, and no alcohol. It's never to late to change your diet to minimize the age related ailments that can unfortunately arise.

We're down to only 3 chickens now, our little 14+ years old chicken is still with us. A miracle bird, approaching a world record age! Our cats all have issues, Sylvie with irritable bowel, Gus with arthritis, and Cesar with various ailments popping up. A friend came to visit for the weekend and Cesar decided to lick his arm nearly bald from stress. He is a freaky cat, it was a long recovery but we finally got him to stop after months of trying various tricks of the trade. Inventing the final solution.

One of my joys is to participate in the annual butterfly count for our county. I've totally changed the way I garden from 10 years ago. I used to cut back all the dead plant material from my flowerbeds and compost it. For the last 5 years I have been leaving all the flower seed heads for the birds to dine on over winter. Also leaves are kept in place so when Spring arrives, insect eggs hatch where they fall and the cycle continues. It does seem that we have more and more birds, butterflies and insects. We also plant more natives and I'm no longer interested in what I call hybridized fancy plants. We had a moment of plant fever and Anthony was up for planting many shrubs last year, 3 blueberry bushes, and an apple tree. Our paw paw trees bore fruit this year!

We continue to plan our final home construction project, connecting the house to the garage. It's all pretty simple for the exception of the roof. I do not want Anthony to even attempt it, always scares me. It's also a bit of an architectural challenge and the price of lumber is still elevated. For the time being Anthony has instead decided to insulate his shed, making it more functional. There is always some construction project happening here!

My arthritis is under control. I have a new rheumatologist locally, for 15 years I drove to North Carolina. I'm not thrilled about a new doctor, my old rheumy was the best. I will forever be grateful to him for bringing me out of my RA dark hole. An insufferable disease unless managed. I've been on Enbrel for many years and I'm taking a few supplements, D and Curcumin / Tart Cherry. It just might be helping my bad wrists which are more useable now than in years past. I do have to be very careful to not overdo or push them if I feel any pain. It will require lifelong management.

I have a beach trip scheduled with my oldest friend. If all goes as planned, we'll feel some early warmth come April.

Happy 2023, here it comes!

~Rebecca

Designing and Building a Greenhouse maximizing Heating and Cooling

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 20:11:00 +0000

This past Spring my husband built me a greenhouse from recycled windows and wood. So far it's been amazing. I'm very happy that we kept it small as it is easier to heat in the Winter. Not to mention to maintain and clean. It's a 8' x 8' x 8' lean to, which in itself has provided many benefits.

When designing a greenhouse, heating and cooling of the space and providing good ventilation are crucial. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best and cheapest way to heat a greenhouse.

We positioned it south / east and the house blocks the hot Summer west sun at the end of the day, helping it not overheat.

Several design decisions have helped with saving heating costs. Our house exterior wall is brick so there is no worry of rotting siding or other damage to the house. It also retains a little heat as the sun shines on it during the day and it's one less exposed wall that looses heat during winter. Inside the greenhouse is a window that connects to the laundry room. In Summer we can raise it and insert a window fan when the greenhouse gets too hot and in Winter open it during the day to let the heat into the house. A stagnant locked up space will cause your plants to burn up or mildew in the Summer and Fall high humidity.

On the greenhouse itself, we installed 2 windows and a door that can be opened for air flow. During the hottest of Summer months, we have an electric computer fan mounted up near the roof that I plug in when the temperature starts climbing. It moves just enough air to not burn up my plants on 100 degree days. I also have a table fan that I turn on for a few hours each day year round.

To heat the space, initially I tried a 1200 watt heater fan that we had on hand and it did little to keep the temperature up during the coldest part of the night. I immediately gave up on using it at all. Several other small greenhouse owners recommended a smaller heater that used only 200 watts. It put out just as much heat using a lot less energy to run compared to my 1200 watt heater. It is my initial "cheap" blast of heat as the sun sets in Winter months. It provides enough heat in the Fall until very late in the morning. At that time another stronger heat source needs to run in tandem to keep the heat up around 50 degrees.

My secondary and main heat source is a portable electric oil heater that I had on hand. It has 2 settings, so far I've only needed the 600W setting but I can add another 900W if temps drop below 20 degrees. Last night was the coldest night yet, getting down to 23 degrees and I kept my greenhouse a cozy 47 inside. My set up keeps it typically 20 degrees higher than the outdoor temperature. Because it was going to be so cold, I did hang an old wool blanket over part of the front windows and a temporary strip of bubble wrap over 1/2 of the side windows where my sensitive plants are located.

A must have is an automatic temperature driven dual outlet plug. I have both heaters plugged into this device so during the night when the temperature drops the units operate separately and come on at different temperature levels. It's a way to save $ and not just manually turn on units as night approaches and run all night. They turn off and on at temperatures that I have set. It also displays the current greenhouse temperature. It has worked magically.

When you build your greenhouse, keep in mind that any sort of crack or draft is going to be really hard to keep heated unless you don't care how much money you toss at it. A lot of people suggest insulating with greenhouse grade bubble wrap. I have used stiff removable packing bubble wrap sparingly so far because my cucumbers are still coming on (I do not want to block the light during the day). I might eventually need to lower the roof area closer to plants with bubble wrap as January nears when I expect the cucs will stop producing. It would help save heating costs and keep plants cozier.

~Rebecca

Fall is a great time to buy a Lemon Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 18:01:00 +0000

Fall is it the prime time that Lemon Trees produce fruit for the picking, at least in Virginia! A friend told me about a local farm that sells Lemon Trees! Bill has propagated 100's of Meyer Lemon shrubs. Conveniently located near the Ivy Landfill (we go there every few months to dispose of household trash and recyclables) I picked up a gallon sized shrub.

My shrub in my heated Greenhouse all cozy

Bill helped us select the perfect specimen having 7 lemons developing along with fragrant blooms. I did not realize that it takes 9 months from bloom to fruit harvest. Wowza. So right now is a great time to snag a lemon tree and enjoy some fruit over the Winter months.

They can be successfully enjoyed indoors in your brightest sunny window. To aid in pollination, you can take a paintbrush and lightly transfer pollen from bloom to bloom to encourage a robust crop. It's best to move them outdoors in the Spring once all signs of frost have abated.

Quarters Farm also sells fresh eggs and has a 175 year old home for daily rent that would be a great remote Winter hideaway.

The greenhouse does not have standard hours but Bill is very flexible as to when you can snag a Lemon tree or pick up some eggs. Just send him an email (listed on their website) to set up a time when you are over that way.

~ Rebecca

Making Homemade Wildflower Jelly Canning Tips and Guide to Success

noreply@blogger.com (Forsythia Hill) — Fri, 27 May 2022 16:39:00 +0000

I've been experimenting with making and canning Jelly using wildflowers. Each year I watch our abundance of edible Spring flowers grow and fade in the yard not using any of the plant. Prior to any lawn mowing, typically in April in Virginia, the Violets and Dandelions first appear. Later in May after a few mows our Rosa Rugosa, climbing Roses, and Elderberry begin to bloom. Every Fall I harvest Rosehips from my Rosa Rugosa so I had a jar of dried hips in the refrigerator that I also infused and incorporated.

In past years I've attempted to can food from the garden and it was a very frustrating experience. All the equipment and boiling and preparation made me crazy. It's was a lot easier to just freeze fruit and veggies. At that time I decided to get rid of most of my canning jars for the exception of cute little jelly jars. It's taken me 15 years to unearthed the equipment and experiment with jelly making.

I find jelly or jam making with fruit much more intensive and frustrating. You have to boil down the fruit, decide to either strain or not strain and then hope and pray it sets. Splattering goo all over the kitchen. I've had a terrible time in the past making this work. After experimenting with petal Jelly making, I have found it easier and more likely to set. Jams are made with all fruit, Jellies with liquid extracts from petals or fruit.

Fortunately now you can purchase low to no sugar pectin so I used the pink box of Sure Gel. I halved the normal amount of sugar (which always seemed really gross to me) and supplemented with 3 teeny scoops of Trader Joes Stevia. The sweetness of the final product was spot on and possibly even a little bit too sugar infused for me. I will experiment next Spring with 1/2 a cup less sugar. Tweaking the sugar in the regular Sure Gel product is a big no no as it does not set up.

I engrossed myself in watching jelly canning videos and read numerous jelly making books to ensure success. All of this preparation still did not result in complete success. Jelly making is a true art to master and one simple mistake can ruin your batch, which is very infuriating and caused me to swear off canning 15 years ago!

My Violet Dandelion Jelly was fortunately not a complete let down. The flavor was fascinatingly delicious, light and beautiful. Sadly the set was my typical problem. Edible but somewhat runny. My disastrous attempt at making my beloved Black Raspberry Jelly 15 years ago runny like water (probably because I didn't add all the sugar required in a normal box of Sure Gel).

Online instructions advised to cover petals with too hot and too much water, diluting it more than necessary. Petals are delicate so boiling water should sit for 10 minutes before being poured over the petals. Next year when the Violets appear I will also pick a cup more than I originally used to also boost the flavor.

My second attempt, after a month of getting over the first stressful attempt, I forced myself to get back on the horse and make Rose Rosehip Elderberry Jelly. Running out of Rose Jelly from Lidl, I was motivated to find a replacement. I noticed the delicate white Elderberry flowers were in bloom and needed to supplement my Rose petals (I didn't have near enough) so I also added them to the mix. I mainly had white petals which didn't add enough pink color to the finished product so I infused rosehips for 15 minutes in boiling water then strained, to bump up the flavor and color.

I took meticulous notes when making my first batch of Jelly so went back online to research it all again to perfect the second batch. I used a Jelly thermometer as instructions stated the liquid needed to hit 220 degrees for 1 minute on the final boil. My two different gauges never exceeded 200 degrees. So I don't know if my stove just can't get that hot or if their is an error in the temperature recommendation but 200 is all I could push out of my heat source. If you don't have a gauge or it never exceeds 200 degrees you will need to boil it strong for 2 minutes. If you have a gauge and can hit 220 degrees, a strong boil for 1 minute is what is advised online.

I also bumped up my lemon from 3 to 7 tsp, to encourage setting. Lemon is a natural source of pectin (a thickener). I also read to not stir during the final boil and during my first batch I stirred the entire time and never stopped.

The resulting product of Rose Elderberry Jelly was much improved. I had a perfect set and I believe it was more due to letting it cook during the final boil for 2 minutes and not stirring. I'm not so sure the lemon was the factor in it setting up but I'll find out next Spring when I give it another go, reducing the lemon back down as it had a little too much of a citrus flavor for my taste. The Rose flavor could have been much more pronounced so I'll boost up the petals from 1 cup to at least 2. I didn't get much of a hint of elderberry but the fragrance was lovely so worth using again. I did put boiling water on the Elderberry petals and this was way too hot for the teeny delicate flowers and seemed to burn them! NOT GOOD. So next Spring I'll let the boiling water sit for 10 minutes before infusing.

Tips in conclusion: 1) Steep petals in minimum amount of off the boil water required to cover petals. 2) Follow pectin box instructions carefully. 3) Be sure to add 4 tsp lemon. 4) After your liquid poofs up for the final boil let it boil for 2 minutes. 5) Do not stir during the final boil, stir lightly after finished only to incorporate any gel from the bottom and sides of pan. 6) Take the time to skim off all foam and eat, it's a delicacy. 7) Keep flat seal tops in boiling water until ready to use. 8) Fill all jars with liquid and then add all seals as it does start gelling. 9) Do not overtighten the rings but secure as air needs to escape from the jar outward. 10) Can in a deep deep pan for 5 minutes. 11) Put crumpled aluminum foil in the bottom of the pan to elevate jars if you don't have a rack.

Of the 2 flavor concoctions, I really liked the Violet Dandelion but there is hope for the Rose Elderberry if I bump up the number of fragrant rose petals next year.

I hope you have success your first attempt after reading my tips! It's a challenge the first time but does get easier with each try :)

On a side note, make sure your lawn has not been sprayed, fertilized or the like. You only want to consume organic flowers not chemical poisons.

~ Rebecca