2024 – Another Year, More Stories, And Retirement Looming

The holidays have come and gone, and now we are one week deep into the new year. Everything is still wet after yesterday’s rains, but it is supposed to warm up a little, so everything will most likely dry out. Last week’s weather was seasonable with morning temperatures below freezing, and the days warming up to between 40 and 50 degrees. Yes, we kept a fire burning while we were home. There was plenty of sunshine save for yesterday’s rain. Colleen started back to school on Wednesday, and I spent the week piddling around the house. When Roux and I did go out for an early morning walk, she was in her heavy winter coat. She didn’t seem to mind, and we even got a couple of 2-mile walks under our belts. Colleen tried to walk Roux yesterday morning, but Roux, who is not a fan of rain, only managed to walk around the house before she had enough and wanted to come back inside.

Last Sunday was New Year’s Eve, and it was a beautiful day at that. Colleen and I had no special plans, and it was just a regular Sunday up here in our little hill. We did take down our Christmas tree. That took us most of the morning, having to find the right boxes for our eclectic collection of tree ornaments. Colleen made a lovely ham dinner in the afternoon. Most of the day was spent relaxing in front of the fire though. Colleen did find time to change the bedding in the hen coop. Anticipating colder temperatures during the week she added more pine shavings than usual and even stapled a covering of an old feed sack over the nesting boxes.

Monday was New Year’s Day, but Louis had to work, so I brought him down to the store so he could open at 6 o’clock. Colleen took Roux for a walk and then I headed out for a 3.5-mile walk. There were deer in the backyard waiting to say “Hello” when I got home. Colleen stripped the meat off the ham we had on Sunday and made some pea soup and a couple of ham pot pies. I spent the better part of my day sorting through baseball cards in front of the fireplace. Colleen and I did manage to get the Christmas decorations off the high ledge in the stairwell, but I didn’t have the motivation to take down the garland and lights on the porch or the house.

Tuesday was Colleen’s last day of Christmas break. We had a beautiful sunrise, and it wasn’t long after Colleen got back from walking Roux when she was headed out the door on her way to the laundromat. Louis was at work all day. I tended the fire and sorted more baseball cards. Roux camped out on the loveseat by the fire. Spring training starts in about 6 weeks, and I want to be ready for the card feeding frenzy that will accompany the start of baseball. I did manage to get a good walk in on the day after Colleen got back home. After dinner, Colleen made her lunch and got her stuff ready for school. She has another year and a half to go before she can retire, but she is ready to retire now.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Colleen left for school at her usual time before sunrise. I got Louis to work on Wednesday and Thursday. I opened the hen coop everyday right after the first light of day and then Roux and I headed out for our walks. Friday was particularly chilly with the temperature just over 25 degrees while we were walking. A friend of mine did stop by the house on Wednesday and we spent a good two hours in front of the fireplace just talking baseball. Both of us are getting excited for the upcoming baseball season. I knew I had schoolwork to do, but I just couldn’t bring myself to look at it, so it went untouched. Thursday, Colleen stopped at the market on her way home. I didn’t touch my schoolwork again on Thursday, and I spent most of the day relaxing, knowing full well I would have to get schoolwork done on Friday and Saturday.

Friday I hit the ground running. After Colleen left for school, I would open the hen coop and then take Roux for her walk. I built a nice fire when we got back, pulled out my computer, set up shop by the fireplace, and dove into my schoolwork. By lunchtime I had all my grades for last semester finalized, but I decided I had done enough schoolwork and shut it down for the day. Steven showed up after lunch. He and Louis refilled the firewood rack on the back porch. Colleen got home at her usual time. Since there was still time before dinner and the day had warmed up a bit, I took down all the lights and garland on the front porch. The lights on the house are still up, but I think I’ll take those down today. Steven hung around until after dinner and the boys ended up putting a nice fire in the fire pit to kill some time in the evenings.

Yesterday turned out to be the epitome of a dreary day! The rain made everything seem miserable. The air had a nasty bite to it, and we had to burn a hard fire all day long to chase the cool damp air from the house. The weather forced me to stay inside and finish my schoolwork which I did. I’m all set for the kids tomorrow. I do have a few small classroom maintenance things I need to do today, but that will be quick. Steven stopped by the house again yesterday and topped off the wood rack in the afternoon after the rain had stopped. I was able to take Roux for a walk before dinner. The evening was quiet, and Colleen and I both called it an early night and had headed upstairs by 7 o’clock.

Everything is still wet this morning and while the temperature is 35 or 40 degrees, there is a definite bite in the air again. It is a pretty sunrise though. Colleen will walk Roux and then I will take a long walk. I’d like to get the Christmas lights off the house this afternoon, but I think we mostly will spend the day getting ready for tomorrow and relaxing. We do have a long weekend next weekend though, and I have a week from this Tuesday off too. Unfortunately, it does look like we are in for more wet weather in the upcoming week. We have another round of rain heading our way for Tuesday and there is rain in the forecast for next weekend too. Colleen and I will just keep taking everything one day at a time though. We’ll find our way back up here to our little hill every afternoon, we’ll look around and smile too, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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January 14, 2024: Back To School Again, A Lot Of Rain, More Cold Weather, Thank Goodnees For A Warm Fire.

The sun is just starting to burn away the dark of night on the eastern horizon. It is a chilly morning too with the temperature a good bit below freezing right now. It has been a wild week of weather for is too. It rained all day Tuesday, and it was enough rain that they sent everyone home from school at lunchtime and then started school on Wednesday with a 2-hour delay because of flooding and power outages. If that wasn’t enough rain, we got hammered again on Friday night. Fortunately, the rain was gone by yesterday morning, we had plenty of sunshine all day, but then the mercury started to drop thanks to a polar vortex that pushed into the area. We’ll be lucky if we see 50 degrees for the next few days, and the mornings could get down into the teens. There still hasn’t even been the mention of snow in our area though.

Last Sunday was a chilly, but quiet day. I had all my schoolwork ready for Monday, so I spent most of the day keeping up with the fire and piddling around the house. Colleen got stuff ready for school on Monday and made an awesome meatloaf dinner. Louis had an eventful day though. Some friends of mine stopped by the house and then took Louis to the American Legion. I guess it went better than Louis had hoped, because he sure wasn’t looking forward to the ordeal. He did come back with some much-needed information about getting all his VA benefits squared away. At the moment though, he’s not keen on going back any time soon.

Monday morning, we got our new routine going around here. Colleen left for school at her usual time, and I took Louis to work shortly after that. I didn’t get my morning coffee until I got back home. I still had a good hour to go before the morning chores and when I had to leave for school. Monday was my first day back to school after break. It was the start of a new semester too, so things were a bit chaotic at school as kids needed to get their new schedules. I guess the day went okay though, and I got home at my usual time. Colleen’s school started the round of final exams, and she had a quiet day.

The rain started early on Tuesday, but Colleen had taken the day off anyway so she could give Alex a ride to and from having some oral surgery. By mid-morning, the weather was looking really bad for the afternoon, and we got dismissed from school at noon. Alex’s appointment was early enough in the morning that he was able to drive home right around noon. Colleen picked Louis up from work at 2:30 and ran him down to the credit union, so he could set up checking and savings accounts. He had been relying on CashApp which is convenient, but not the best thing for managing finances. After that, we just hunkered down and let the storm pass. Louis actually spent the night at a friend’s house, and his friend gave him a ride to work Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning, I woke up to find my school was starting with a 2-hour delay. Colleen left for school at her usual time, and I didn’t have to give Louis a ride to work. With a two-hour delay, I had plenty of time to make necessary adjustments to my class webpages and even take Roux for a morning walk. Colleen’s school was still in the middle of final exams, so she had a quiet day. My day passed very quickly and without incident. I’m not sure how much rain we got Tuesday, but the creeks and rivers over which I drove on my way to school were all well over their banks, and the areas around them were all under water.

We spent Thursday and Friday trying to dry out for what it was worth, because we had another good rainstorm move through the area on Friday night. I picked up a couple of pizzas on my way home from school for dinner. It had been sunny for most of the day, but the skies were getting cloudy by the time I got home. The clouds built quickly too. After dinner, I thought I had enough time to take Roux for a walk. I figured we got a couple hundred yards from the house when it started to rain, so we turned right around and came back home. Fortunately, we got home before the heavy rain settled in for the night.

Colleen and I have a long weekend this weekend, so we decided to run our errands yesterday morning. Colleen walked Roux at the day’s first light and then we headed off to Walmart and Tractor Supply Company. We usually go to lunch at Hardee’s when we run around on Saturdays, but we were too early yesterday, and Hardee’s wasn’t serving lunch when we got there. When we got home, Louis was up, and Steven and Lily were here. The boys carried all the stuff we bought into the house for us. We didn’t do much else on the day, instead choosing to relax for a change. The kids eventually found their way in front of the fireplace and the TV. I got a bunch of baseball cards packed up for the mail and listed more for sale. Colleen put everything away and then sat down with her tablet and some hot coffee. I took Roux for a walk in the afternoon, and Colleen reheated some meatloaf for dinner. Steven and Lily even spent the night here at the house.

We should have plenty of sunshine today, but it will be chilly. I’ve already put a fire in the fireplace and got the coffee started. I’m not sure when the kids will get up, but Colleen will walk Roux with today’s first light. Colleen and I don’t have school tomorrow, so there isn’t any great urgency to the day. Maybe this afternoon I’ll take down the Christmas lights on the house with the help of one of the boys. Colleen wants to make some soup later today too. We’ll keep taking everything one day at a time though. We never know what will happen around here from week to week, but at the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile because we do know that all is right on the homestead.

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January 21, 2024: More Rain, A Double Shot Of Polar Vortex, And Lots Of Firewood To Keep Us Warm.

Mother Nature sure did want to remind us that we are in the middle of winter this week. Oh, we haven’t seen flake one of any snow, but the temperatures were cold. This morning the mercury is sitting right around 15 degrees. Yesterday, we never got above freezing. This is the second blast of cold air that the Polar Vortex hit us with this week. We started the week with cold temperatures too. Things will start to warm up after today and by the end of the week the needle on the thermometer will be reaching into the 70’s. Unfortunately, to go along with the warmup there will be plenty of rain too. Given all the rain we’ve had over the past two weeks, another round of prolonged rain will not do much to help things around here. The rain is supposed to start on Wednesday and last right through next weekend.

Last Sunday was a quiet day up here on our little hill. Steven and Lily had spent Saturday night with us, and Colleen and I didn’t have school on Monday. Lily wasted no time in making herself comfortable in my recliner after she got up in the morning. Colleen made a big pot of her Bolognese soup and then some Creole chicken for dinner. When the afternoon warmed up a bit, the boys helped me take down the last of the Christmas lights and garland that were around the front window after I took Roux for a walk. We did have the fire going all day though, because the temperature only managed to get into the 40’s and just barely at that.

I was up at my usual time on Monday morning to take Louis to work. Colleen took Roux for an early morning walk and was back home before the rain started. The news said there were snow flurries in the area, be we never saw any flakes falling. The rain came and was gone before noon, and after lunch, I went for a long walk. Steven, who had spent Sunday here at the house, picked Louis up from work and then he headed home. Colleen made a pot roast for dinner. After dinner, Colleen got her things ready for school on Tuesday. I didn’t have school and my schoolwork was caught up, so I just hung around and relaxed.

Tuesday morning, Colleen left for school at her usual time, I took Louis to work, took Roux for a walk with an icy fog clinging to the ground, and then when we got home, I lit a fire in the fireplace. The rain showed up right before lunch again, and the temperatures started to drop. The rain finished up before the temperature got down to freezing, but after the rain ended the temperatures just kept dropping. By 7 o’clock that evening, all the schools in the area announced they would be starting Wednesday on a 2-hour delay. Colleen got everything ready so she could head into school at her usual time so she wouldn’t have to make up her time.

It was cold Wednesday with the mercury dropping below 20 degrees. Colleen left for school at her usual time, and I drove Louis to work. With 2 extra hours to kill before I needed to be in school, I took Roux for a morning walk. There was no point in starting a fire since no one would be home, but I did clean the fireplace and bank a fire, so Colleen just had to light it when she got home. Steven picked Louis up from work again, and when I got home Colleen had the fire burning nicely in the fireplace. I took Roux for her afternoon walk and the sun had slid below the western tree tops, but the eastern lowlands were still in sunlight shen we got home. Colleen heated up some leftovers for dinner and we pretty much spent a quiet evening at home.

School started on time on Thursday. Colleen left at her usual time, and I drove Louis to work. My classes at school were short circuited a bit on the day because there were grade level meetings for the kids all day long. Colleen stopped at the market on her way home from school. Steven and Louis were already here when she got home so they carried the groceries into the house. I got home at my usual time, the fire was going, Colleen had just started getting dinner, so I took Roux for her afternoon walk before dinner. Louis was sound asleep when I got home though.

Friday morning, I woke up with what I thought was a sinus headache, but other than that I was feeling fine. THe day was partly cloudy and cold. The ice never melted off the top of the water in the pool. Colleen headed into school at her usual time, but I did not have to give Louis a ride to work. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. By lunchtime, I realized my headache was actually a head cold. I made arrangements to take Monday off, and I left school early to try and shut the cold down as quickly as possible. After walking the dog and eating dinner, I took some cold medicine and headed straight to bed. I can’t say what happened Friday evening except that I ended up sleeping for 14 hours.

By the time I got up yesterday morning, Colleen had all the morning chores done. I cleaned the fireplace out and started a new fire for the day. I still had a little bit of head congestion, but I sure was feeling a good deal better than I did when I went to bed Friday evening. Once the fire was going, I set my computer up on the worktable in front of the fire, did some stuff with my baseball cards, and started my schoolwork. Colleen was in the kitchen cooking. She made a big pot of gumbo and some gumbo cookies in time for lunch. Colleen’s gumbo for lunch was just perfect for my cold. After lunch I took a 3-hour nap. Colleen kept cooking, making some banana nut muffins, a chicken pot pie, and a shepherd’s pie. Steven and Louis stayed in front of the fireplace playing video games. When I got up, I took Roux for her afternoon walk. Steven headed home right before dinner. Louis, Colleen, and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner of shepherd’s pie. Louis even went back for seconds. Our evening was quiet, and I went to bed early again.

Roux woke me up this morning at 4 o’clock. She was rather insistent about needing to go outside, so I quickly got dressed and took her outside before there was an accident. I really couldn’t go back to sleep after that, so I made the coffee and started the day’s fire. I sat outside for a little while with some hot coffee, and I got treated to a very colorful sunrise. Colleen will take Roux for a walk here in a little bit. I have some schoolwork to get ready for tomorrow even though I will be staying home. Colleen wants to do some more cooking for the week today too. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. We’ll handle what each day brings our way, at the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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January 28, 2024: Warmer Days, A Bizarre Thursday At School, And Colleen Gets A Head Cold.

We certainly are off to a running start for 2024. This is already the last weekend of January. We still haven’t seen any snow, the morning is steely gray, but Mother Nature has been on a neurotic tear this past week. Last weekend we were waking up to 20 degrees and hustling to get a fire lit first thing in the mornings. This weekend we’re waking up 60 degrees and are opening the house for fresh air. Of course, once it started to warm up later in the week, we got deluged with rain. Fortunately, the worst of the rains came on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights. For the week in front of us, temperatures should be falling back to seasonable, and Wednesday looks like the only day we will see any rain.

I picked up a head cold before the start of last weekend, so I laid low on Sunday. I had also made plans to stay home on Monday. The only work I did on Sunday was to make sure all the online work for my kids was ready to go. I did feel well enough to take Roux for her afternoon walk. Colleen did some cooking for the week, got stuff ready for our school lunches, and made Arroz Con Pollo for dinner. Louis kept the fire burning most of the day and played video games. Mostly, things were quiet up here on our little hill. I still called it an early evening despite being mostly over my head cold, figuring the extra rest would be helpful.

Monday morning, Colleen headed to work at her usual time, I brought Louis to work, and then I spent the rest of the morning in front of a warm fire getting caught up on my schoolwork. Steven picked Louis up from work in the afternoon. Louis had a date Monday evening, so while Steven who was going to drop him off, was waiting, he refilled our porch firewood rack. We have burned some firewood this winter. We have less than half of winter-ready rack left even with everything Colleen and I stacked last summer. We still have more seasoned firewood on the ground though, and it looks like I’ll be splitting more wood before spring gets here.

Tuesday through Friday were just supposed to be run of the mill school days for Colleen and me. Thursday turned into an interesting day though. Just about the time school started for Colleen, they had a bomb scare, and everyone at the school ended up in the football stadium, in a drizzly mist, for an hour and a half. Fortunately, the days had started to warm up by Thursday. At my school, our heating system went into hyperdrive, and most classrooms were hot. I had my classroom windows open, and my room was still over 80 degrees. The heat got the best of me, and I came home right after lunch. I ended up doing my schoolwork on the front porch at home.

Colleen headed to school Friday morning with some drippy sinuses. By lunchtime, she realized she had a full-blown head cold. I suspect having to stand outside in the drizzle on Thursday played a big part of that. My school somewhat tamed their heating issues, and I lasted the whole day at school. Colleen came home Friday afternoon and headed straight to bed at my insistence. Louis and I scavenged our dinners from the available leftovers. I spent the evening doing what I could around the house, so Colleen could rest.

Yesterday started warm with a little sunshine on the eastern horizon. I took care of the morning chores so Colleen could stay in bed. Roux and I even went on a 2-mile walk. A friend of mine stopped by the house to drop off some baseball cards and visit for a while. Colleen did manage to find her way downstairs in the afternoon, and she made a pot of spicy chicken soup and a pot of red beans, rice, and sausage soup. That wore her out though, and she headed back upstairs after she finished. We had some reheated leftovers for dinner on towards the start of evening, and after that, Colleen retreated back upstairs. The rain started right at dark, and it wasn’t long after that when I called it a day and headed upstairs myself.

I slept in a bit this morning, but I am still up and moving before everyone. The day is gray again, the coffee is going, and it looks like I’ll be walking Roux this morning. If I know my darling wife, she will be in the kitchen later today despite how she may feel. I have a little schoolwork that needs doing, and I really need to get the paperwork down for my retirement. If Colleen is up to it, she will pay our end of month bills later today. I have 20 weeks until my retirement, which I am quite looking forward. Of course, I have developed a good case of senioritis which is making going to school in the mornings a challenge, but I am taking this coming Wednesday off. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. We’ll find our way back up here to our little hill every day, look around, and smile because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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February 11, 2024: Out Of Commission For A Couple Of Weeks Thanks To A Nasty Fall!

Wow! What a couple of weeks we’ve had up here on our little hill. Unfortunately, I was in no condition to write a blog last Sunday, so I guess I need to get things caught up today. It’s gray and rainy this morning, but apart from seeing a little sunshine through the windows during the last two weeks and having the doors open yesterday because it was so warm, I lost track of the weather. It looks like the weather for the coming week will settle back into seasonable conditions, but the most I’ll be able to do is slide out to the porch occasionally. Even then, I won’t stay out there very long.

This whole chaotic saga started on Monday night, January 29th. I had gone out to the back porch, put Roux on her rope lead, and let her go down into the backyard for her last call of the day. Well, something got her attention, and she bolted towards the woods. I didn’t let go of her rope, got pulled off balance, crashed through the porch railing, and fell 10 feet to the ground. I don’t remember much after that. Colleen says when I regained consciousness, I crawled back to the porch stairs, walked up the stairs, and back into the house. The next thing I knew, the ambulance crews were taking me to the emergency room.

I spent Monday night and the better part of Tuesday in the ER. I ended up with two fractured ribs, three fractured vertebrae, a fractured sternum, and a mild concussion. Colleen was with me the whole time thank goodness. I guess it was right before noon on Tuesday when they fitted me with a back brace and sent me home. In all the confusion of the night before, valet parking had misplaced the key to the Trail Blazer, and it took them another hour to track the key down when we got ready to leave. When I got home, Steven, Louis, and Alex were waiting at the house. They helped me out of the Trail Blazer and made sure I made it to my recliner.

James showed up later in the afternoon thankfully. While Colleen and the other boys had work and such during the week, James had the time to babysit me for the rest of the week. James set up a bed roll in front of the fireplace and made sure the fire stayed burning while I was stuck in my recliner. If I needed a helping hand, James was right there. The other boys came over during the week to help with chores and check on things, but it was James that stayed right there with me. Thursday, I started coughing up blood. By Friday midday, Colleen decided it was time for me to head back to the emergency room, so she came home early from school and I was back in the ER by 1 o’clock.

I spent the next 24 hours in the ER, and it was pure torture. I was poked and prodded, scanned and rescanned. There were x-rays, EKG’s, and ultra sounds. Colleen went home at 1 o’clock in the morning to get some sleep, but she was back by 7 o’clock Saturday morning. Fortunately, the blood clots are only in my lungs, a predictable result from my fall and from the ensuing inactivity. The doctors put me on blood thinners and believe the situation should clear up in 90 days. Colleen and I finally got home in the middle of Saturday afternoon, and I was sore and worn out.

Sunday turned out to be a little bit better, but I was still struggling to get comfortable and get some much-needed rest. Al and Alysia came by the house to check on me. Alysia had spent all day Saturday cooking and brought over three large pan casseroles so Colleen wouldn’t have to cook for the week. Alysia made a stuffed pepper casserole, a shepherd’s pie, and lasagna. She made some cookies too as a treat for me. Al and Alysia stayed for a while to visit, but they needed to get back home as the afternoon wore on. Colleen and I were beat by the time Sunday night rolled around so we called it an early evening. With no one to keep the fire burning all night, I turned to an electric blanket to stay warm, and it couldn’t have worked any better. I don’t think I ever turned the setting higher than low. Fortunately, it hasn’t been getting too cold at night and Roux sticks around sleeping on the loveseat just to make sure everything is all right.

Colleen and Louis headed out to work Monday morning, and every morning thereafter, leaving me to my own devices during the days. I figured out how to get in and out of my recliner without pain, by myself, so at least I could get up and move around the house some. I managed to make it out to porch a couple of times too. My biggest accomplishment all week was making sure my kids at school had adequate notes and work to do in class. Fortunately, all my stuff is online, and I was able to do the work in the comfort of my recliner. Of course, when rains, it pours around here, and the Dodge Caliber we had been letting Steven use needed to go into the shop and then Steven’s truck broke down so vehicles are in short supply around here at the moment.

Slowly, but surely, my days are getting better. I’m moving around the house more and even spend more time out on the front porch. I keep looking at our gardens and wondering if I will be healed in time for spring planting. Yesterday, for the first time in two weeks, I made it to the 2nd floor. I still don’t think I’m ready to get in bed, so it will be a few more nights of sleeping in the recliner. Things are slowly getting back to a routine around here, but I am still greatly limited to what I can do. Spring training is getting ready to start for MLB, so I am trying to get everything set up to sell more baseball cards once the baseball season is in the forefront of everyone’s mind. At least I have plenty of time at home right now.

It sure has been one heck of a couple of weeks around here and I have been mostly confined to my recliner and a limited view out the front window. I will not be going to school next week and the doctor wants me to take some more time off after that. I’m still making sure all my schoolwork is available online for my kids, and they routinely check in with me to see how I’m doing. I’m not sure how long it will be before I can get back in the classroom, but I’m hoping it’s not more than two weeks. I’m not rushing anything though. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. Even with everything that has happened, every evening we look around and smile thankfully, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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February 18, 2024: Another Week In The Recliner, My Back Is On The Mend, And Things Are Still Crazy Around Here.

Well, another week has passed, and I’m still on the mend, albeit slowly. Being stuck in a recliner all week sort of makes the weather a non-issue, but the heavy rains that were supposed to start last week, didn’t turn out to be that much rain. Mostly, the bulk of the storms stayed south of us and when the tailend of the weather finally did get here, it broke up rather than turning into a steady rain. We had a good bit of sunshine for the rest of the week, and the temperatures even warmed up a bit. A cold front pushed through the area yesterday, and this morning, we once again started our day with temperatures below freezing. Apart from a few cold snaps, this has been an incredibly mild winter, and it looks like we are in for an early spring. I’m just hoping my back heals enough for me to get out into the gardens in early March.

Last Sunday was gray and rainy. We did get plenty of breaks in the rain, and Colleen was able to take Roux for her morning walk. Colleen spent a good part of the rest of her day in the kitchen making a chicken pot pie and a flounder and crab meat casserole. I took care of what schoolwork needed to be done, but my big challenge of the day was to get upstairs and into the shower. After my two trips to ER and more than a week of being confined to a recliner, that shower really felt great. Even still, it was difficult to move around, and the shower took a great deal more effort than I had anticipated. It was all worth it to feel like a human being again though.

Things finally started settling into a routine last week. Colleen would leave for school, and Louis would leave for work in the morning. I got to spend a few mornings on the porch with my coffee. I even started being able to move around enough to clean the fireplace and start a fire each day, but it took all the energy I had to do that. Roux appreciated my efforts. Our week was far from mundane though. Monday after school, Colleen took Louis down to the shop to get the Caliber. It needed a lot of work, but it still couldn’t pass inspection because of some sensor that needed to cycle and reset.

Tuesday, we let Louis drive the Caliber back and forth to work, and then he took it back to shop. The sensor still hadn’t reset. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. Wednesday was Valentine’s Day, and Louis had big date after work, so we let him drive the Caliber. Unfortunately, while the date went very well, both Louis and his girlfriend got food poisoning. Thankfully, Louis did not have to work on Thursday. Louis got home Friday in time to go to work, still looking green around the gills, but he went to work. After work he took the car to the shop and the sensor had reset. The Caliber is now inspected and street legal.

Colleen stopped at the market on her way home from school on Thursday. I spent Thursday and Friday trying to get paperwork from my doctor, so I could spend the coming week at home. As much as I would love to get back to my classroom, my spine is still saying no way! It was later Friday afternoon when the paperwork finally came through, so I’m good to go and am anticipating going back to school on Monday the 26th. I suspect I may be a step or two slower than usual, but I will be glad to get moving around for real again. I am not a big fan of sitting around and doing nothing unless it’s first thing in the mormning, so I can enjoy the sunrise and welcome the new day. I certainly do not expect my retirement to be like this. Unfortunately, these old bones don’t heal quite as quickly as they used to heal.

Yesterday, things were buzzing around here. After Colleen took Roux for her morning walk, she filled up the porch firewood rack with what was left on our winter-ready racks. Alex showed up late-morning, and he and Louis cut up and split a good bit of an old, dead tree. There’s a nice pile of seasoned firewood down by the fire pit now. It still needs to be brought up the hill, but no urgency for it yet. Colleen ended up making a double-double batch of muffins and then a Ruben casserole during the afternoon. Louis ended up liking it so much he ate three times what Colleen and I had for dinner.

It’s kind of overcast and chilly today. Our day started well below freezing this morning, and we won’t see the mercury climb much over 40 degrees later today. The deer didn’t seem to mind as they made thier way through the front yard again. Colleen has tomorrow off from school, so she’s got a bee in her bonnet to get a few odds and ends done around the house today. I have some schoolwork work to get done and Louis and I will run the Caliber back to the shop so they can check out a leak it still has. February has been a rough month for us between the medical and vehicle repair expenses, but we’ll make it. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. We know that everything will happen in its good and everything will work out. At each day’s end, we can still look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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February 25, 2024: My Last Week Of Recuperating At Home, I’m Sleeping In A Bed Again, And February Is Coming To An End.

It’s a fine Sunday morning. There is a bit of a nip in the air, but it is bright and sunny. The weather wasn’t too bad last week. We still had a bit of a chill in the air, but it is still February. I spent the week at home in front of the fire again. We had lots of sunshine all week, except for yesterday. We did have some sunshine yesterday, but we got a good bit of on again, off again rain throughout the day. The rain and clouds are gone this morning though. It looks like the temperatures will warm up as we head into March this coming week. There is some rain in the forecast too, for later in the week. I guess the big news for next week though, is that I will be heading back into school for the first time since I fell at the end of January.

Last Sunday things almost started getting back to a normal routine around here. Colleen and I were up at dawn. After Colleen took Roux for her morning walk, she headed into the kitchen to make some potato pies and some quesadilla pies for our meals during the week. I noticed that the Caliber was leaking something again, so later in the afternoon Louis and I took it to the shop. The rest of my day was spent getting my online class work ready for my kids at school. Even though I hadn’t been to school since I fell, I have had notes and class work posted every single day for my kids. When I head into school tomorrow, I will spend the day reviewing.

Last week everything just sort of moved along without too much trouble. The weather was nice. Colleen would leave for school, and then I would take Louis to work. Bringing Louis to work only lasted until Thursday morning. The shop had the Caliber ready Wednesday afternoon, but we couldn’t pick it up until Thursday. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on Wednesday and at the market on Thursday. The politicians are saying our economy is getting better, but we sure don’t see it happening with the price of our groceries. Of course, with all the medical and vehicle repair expenses this month, money is very tight around here too.

I originally had hoped to get back to school last Monday, but my back said no, so I spent another week at home. Things really took an upturn on Thursday though when I tried to sleep in bed at night instead of in the recliner. Alysia had gotten me a wedge pillow that really makes a difference in bed too. I wasn’t uncomfortable, but I didn’t sleep all that well because I had spent almost four weeks sleeping in the recliner. Friday night I slept well though, and last night I slept very well. It’s only another small step but sleeping in my bed is a huge improvement from sleeping in the recliner. I’ve also noticed over the last few days, that after sleeping in a bed, my back doesn’t get as tired as the day wanes into early evening.

Friday was a quiet day around here. Louis didn’t have to be into work until 10 o’clock, but he drove himself. I walked around outside a little bit, checked on the chickens, and looked at some of Colleen’s spring flowers. Steven showed up in the middle of the afternoon in his truck which he fixed and has running again. Steven didn’t stick around long though, he had to pick Lily up for the weekend. Colleen and I treated ourselves to Chinese takeout for dinner on Friday too. Even that is getting a little pricey, but you always get enough with Chinese takeout for a second meal which we enjoyed yesterday evening. When we headed to bed Friday night, I took my back brace off which made sleeping much easier.

Yesterday was a quiet day up here on our little hill. I had done all my class work for Monday on Friday, so the only schoolwork I had was to update my grade books. I spent some time online helping one of my kids with their math. Colleen did some housework but spent a good bit of the day relaxing. Since spring training games have started now, I even got to watch a baseball game. I’ll watch one today too. Colleen and I called it an early evening yesterday. My back brace came off again before I crawled into bed, and I got a great night’s sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep happened just in time too with me starting school tomorrow.

It doesn’t look like today will be too crazy around here. Colleen walked Roux at day’s first light. She will be in the kitchen today though. She wants to make a pot of soup and make a meatloaf for Sunday dinner. I will rest and get ready for tomorrow. Fortunately, my schoolwork is done so I can watch a baseball game and list some cards for sale online. Later today, I will make sure my backpack is ready for school too. It’s been a long four weeks of recuperating, especially not being able to do anything other than just sit here. It all worked out well though, so I am glad. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. We’ll find our way home after school, settle in for the evenings, look around, and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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March 03, 2024: Back To School, Retirement Paperwork Is Coming Along, Spring Is Coming!

Another week of our non-winter has passed, and spring is just over two weeks away now. Mother Nature has been playing around with the weather again this week. There wasn’t any snow, no surprise there, but we did see some rain, and our temperatures ranged anywhere from a low right at freezing to a possible high of 70 degrees today. I guess we got the most of our rain Friday night when the storms started right at sunset and lasted until sunup on Saturday. Everything was good and soaked on Saturday morning and even the fire pit was full of water. Overall, I guess the weather wasn’t too bad last week though. This coming week the temperatures are supposed to start warming up, but we are expecting rain again in the middle of the week.

After a month of sitting in a recliner and giving my back a chance to heal some, Colleen and I spent last Sunday getting ready to go to school on Monday. I was still a little stiff and sore, but I had been moving around well. Colleen made a big pot of vegetable and beef soup for the week and then spent a good part of her day turning the spare bedroom back into her workroom. I managed to get outside and check on the gardens. The gardens look rough, but the herb garden is showing signs of life with green leaves on the oregano, sage, thyme, and rosemary. I’m looking forward to spending time out there once I am on my spring break.

Colleen and I were up at our usual time for school on Monday morning. Louis left for work right after Colleen left for school. Since the Caliber is street legal and running again, I don’t have to give Louis a ride to work. I sat out on the porch with some hot coffee to greet the new day, and then headed into school at my usual time. My day started out in a flurry with everyone stopping by my room to check on me. The day didn’t go badly, but by the time I finished my classes, my back was starting to protest some, so the administration let me go home early.

The rest of the week was a little calmer than Monday. Tuesday, I left school early because I had an appointment to get my Medicare and Social Security squared away for my retirement in June. That went well, so I’m all set to go there. I just have a little more paperwork to do to get my pensions squared away, and I should be good to go for June. I stayed at school the whole day Wednesday and Thursday, and even covered bus duty on Thursday afternoon. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on Wednesday and then at the market on Thursday. I sure don’t know how the politicians can say the economy is getting better, because the price of groceries still seems to be going up.

Friday wasn’t a bad day, but I guess going to school all week was wearing on me, because my back was achy by the time I finished my classes on Friday, so I came home early. Louis had gone to work early on Friday and was already home when I got home. He didn’t stick around long though. He headed off to see his girlfriend for the weekend. By the time Colleen got home, my back was feeling better. Roux wasn’t feeling too motivated on the day either. We had a quiet dinner of leftovers, spent the evening relaxing, and headed to bed not long after dark. I guess I was pretty tired because I slept right through the night.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling very good, so I decided to try going through the day without my back brace. I wasn’t planning on moving around a lot, so I figured I would be okay. Colleen took Roux for a walk right as the rain was ending yesterday morning. They did get a little wet. After that, Colleen spent her morning in the kitchen making minestrone soup and pierogis and cabbage for us to have during the week. I listed about 60 baseball cards for sale on eBay and got my grade books up to date for the week. Of course, I did cast the baseball game from my phone to the TV while I worked on the computer.

The day was mostly gray, but we did see some sunshine late in the afternoon. Colleen decided in the middle of the afternoon that we would get Mexican takeout for dinner yesterday evening. We hadn’t had Mexican in while and since we got paid last week, we splurged. After dinner, my back started to get tired, so I spent part of the evening in my recliner. But by the time we headed upstairs for the night, my back was feeling fine again. I slept well, and this morning, I decided to go a second day without my back brace. I will wear the brace to school tomorrow though.

The sun is shining right now, but who knows how long that will last. Spring is just about two weeks away now, and I’m gearing up for my 3-week spring break. Colleen has a week of spring break somewhere in there too. I hope my back is well enough for me to work in our gardens. Colleen does have Tuesday off from school this week, and I am taking Friday off. Colleen has walked Roux already this morning and she is getting ready to do some house cleaning and cooking. I need to get my class work ready for school tomorrow, but other than that, it should be a quiet day. Louis should be home later today too. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. No matter what comes our way, we’ll find our way home every afternoon, and in the evening we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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March 10, 2024: Everything Is Starting To Bloom, More Time Out Of My Brace, A Wet Weekend, Again!

The skies are blue, and the sun is shining this morning, which is a far cry from yesterday. Yesterday was gray and dreary with rain falling off and on all day long. It was really the only rain we got all last week. Spring is definitely getting ready to settle in around here. Last week, our days were mostly sunny with high temperatures anywhere between 60 and 70 degrees. We did have some fog in the mornings, but that was the worst of it. The week in front of us is forecast to be about the same as last week. The needle on the thermometer might make it to the freezing mark tomorrow morning, but that will be the worst of it. By later in the week, temperatures could eclipse 75 degrees, but once again there is rain in the forecast for next weekend.

Last Sunday was a quiet day for Colleen and me. Colleen’s gardens had more spring bulbs blooming. Colleen took Roux for a morning walk while I enjoyed some hot coffee on the front porch. Last Sunday was my second day without my back brace so I was moving slowly to be on the safe side. Colleen spent the morning in the kitchen and then spent the afternoon upstairs turning the spare bedroom back into her workroom. I did my schoolwork and watched a baseball game. Louis, who had spent the weekend with his girlfriend, headed down to the base at which he had been stationed to take care of some final paperwork to get his VA benefits squared away. He was running late, stayed one more night with his girlfriend, but got up early and made it to work on time Monday morning.

Monday showed up and with it a screwy week at school, more so for me than Colleen. Colleen didn’t have to go to school on Tuesday, instead getting to work from home. I walked into a week of messed up scheduling. Monday and Tuesday the 11th graders were taking ACT’s, so I ended up in a classroom other than mine, which made any teaching difficult at best. Wednesday and Friday, the school was on short class schedules because of afternoon activities. I had already made plans to take Friday off, which I am very glad I did. Thursday was our only day when we ran a regular schedule. The real highlight of the week though was getting to see the trees in front of my school starting to bloom. I’m not sure how long the flowers will last, but they are nice to see while they are there.

The first thing I did Thursday evening when I got home after school was to take off my back brace. My plan was to spend my 3-day weekend without wearing it. Friday morning was very colorful, and not long after sunup, I took a short walk which really felt good. Once I got home though, I sat down on the front porch in front of my computer to list baseball cards online for sale. I over did that a little, and by midafternoon, my back was complaining loudly. I learned a lesson there. When you are nursing a back injury, it’s not wise to sit in one place for too long without getting up and moving around. Louis had a short day at work and got home a little after lunchtime. He didn’t stick around the house too long though. He headed down to the VA to drop off his paperwork and then he headed to his girlfriend’s place for the weekend. Colleen got home at her usual time, we had a quiet dinner, and then we called it an early evening.

Colleen and I were up at our usual time yesterday morning. My back was once again feeling just fine. Colleen tried to take Roux for a walk, but Roux balked, not wanting to go out in even a very light rain. Colleen spent the morning baking applesauce muffins, and I started updating my grade books. Steven, Ariel, and the kids showed up right after lunchtime. Alex stopped by the house then too. We had a little bit of a birthday party for the kids while they were here. Lily and Jaxon both turned 5. They sure do grow up quickly. After everyone left, I finished my grade books while Colleen did some housework. Colleen and I enjoyed a quiet dinner, and with the time change looming, we called it an early night.

Today will be a quiet day up here on our little hill. Of course, we did move our clocks ahead this morning. I love Daylight Savings Time, but Colleen, not so much. Colleen will be in the kitchen for a bit today. She wants to make an eggplant lasagna for the week and a pot roast for today’s dinner. I have some more schoolwork to finish for tomorrow’s classes. Louis will be coming home later today, but who knows when. I am looking forward to my spring break starting at the end of this week, and I expect plenty of crazy chaos at school this week again. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. We will find our way back home up here on our little hill every day, look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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March 17, 2024: A Quiet St. Patrick’s Day, Some Nice Weather, Time For Gardens Now!

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and a fine Sunday it is too. Last week’s weather couldn’t have been any better for the last week of winter. Spring starts this coming Tuesday. We did get a little rain, but not much and it certainly wasn’t at any inconvenient times. I think I drove home from school on Thursday in a light sprinkle. The temperatures started out cool last week, but by the end of the week the thermometer was well into the 70’s by midafternoon. It looks like this coming Monday and Tuesday will be cooler around here, but with the start of spring the temperatures are headed back over 60 degrees. As of right now, there is no rain in the immediate forecast, but it does look like there is a good chance that next weekend could be wet. We shall have to wait and see though.

Last Sunday was a bit out of the ordinary for us, mostly because we were adjusting to the change to Daylight Savings Time. Colleen had the coffee made and Roux walked before I ever made it down the stairs. I got my coffee and settled on the front porch to do my usual Sunday writing. Colleen decided she wanted to make an eggplant lasagna for the week, and she spent most of the morning putting that together. I did manage to go for a short walk after lunch, maybe a half mile. I really want to start walking regularly to build up the muscles in my back again. Like usual, I spent the afternoon getting my schoolwork ready for Monday. Colleen made an awesome pot roast for dinner. We both decided to call it an early evening though to get some extra rest before we headed into school in the morning.

Last week was my last week of school before my 3-week intersession, spring break. Colleen’s spring break doesn’t start until a week from tomorrow. Anyway, I knew it wouldn’t be a difficult week with things wrapping up for the quarter. What I didn’t count on was all the schedule changes for various activities the administration had planned. By the time I got done teaching every day, I could feel it in my back protesting. I guess it was just all the moving around. Thursday was the worst day because the weather was changing. I’ll be a son of a gun if my back doesn’t go haywire now when we have a front moving through the area. The storm ended up moving out of the area right after dinner though, we had a lovely sunset, and my back returned to feeling normal. I sure hope this isn’t a permanent thing. Colleen had a relatively routine week, stopping one afternoon at the laundromat and another afternoon at the market.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. Colleen was up well before me, had the coffee made, and had taken Roux for a walk before I got downstairs. That was where her motivation for the day ended, and she ended up spending the day relaxing, which I highly encouraged. I spent the latter half of the morning and early afternoon working in the gardens. I got the herb garden cleaned up and then planted some green bunching onions, and I cleaned out a second raised bed garden and transplanted a couple of strawberry plants too. I still need to cover the strawberry plants with a screen to keep the birds and critters away from the berries. The real highlight of my day though, was spending nearly three hours in a fantasy baseball draft yesterday evening.

Colleen was up again before me this morning and had walked Roux before I ever came downstairs. I suspect it will be a quiet day for us today. Colleen will do some cooking like always. I have some baseball cards to package up for tomorrow’s mail. I don’t know if I will get back out to the gardens today, but whatever I do, I do not have to do schoolwork! I would like to try and take a little bit longer walk than usual today. I’m tired of being limited to what I can do. I don’t intend on pushing myself until my back hurts, but I do want to rebuild my strength. I am feeling much better and getting better every day. Colleen and I will just keep taking things one day at a time though. At the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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March 24, 2024: A Sunny Week, Time In The Gardens, A Fire Today To Chase The Morning Chill.

My first week of spring break has passed, I still have two more to go, and Colleen started her spring break Friday afternoon. The weather was fantastic last week, except for Friday night and yesterday morning. We had lots of sunshine and the daytime high temperatures got over 70 degrees. That all changed right around dinner time on Friday. The skies turned gray and right before sunset the rain started. The rain woke me up during the night too, and it lasted right into yesterday morning. Behind the rain was a cold front and even though the skies cleared up by yesterday afternoon, the temperature started to drop. This morning the thermometer needle was sitting on the freezing mark. I lit a fire in the fireplace before I got my coffee this morning.

Last Sunday started out slow with Colleen and I sleeping a bit later than usual. Even after Colleen got up, I still stayed in bed for a while. By the time I got downstairs, Colleen had taken Roux for her walk and was already in the kitchen. I had my coffee and then headed out for my walk. The day warmed up nicely, and by midafternoon we had the doors open in the house to let in the fresh air. It was the first full day of my spring break, so I didn’t do a whole lot on the day. Colleen ended up making a couple of casseroles for the weekend, and then she made Arroz Con Pollo for dinner. The evening was quiet, Colleen found her way upstairs to relax in bed, and after I finished my cigar in the front porch, I let Roux out for her last call of the day, closed the house up, and headed upstairs myself.

Monday through Friday quickly fell into a new routine. Colleen would leave for school, Louis would leave for work, and I would take my darn, old, sweet time getting out of bed. After a cup of coffee, I would go for a walk, just about a mile. I’m planning on stretching it out a little further this coming week. I’m still not covering anywhere the distance I was covering before my fall, but the walking feels good, and my back is doing well. I did have a productive week though. Monday, I took care of the needed paperwork to get my retirement in June rolling. Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent crime in our gardens cleaning out four raised beds. I planted some bunching onions, radishes, and more snap peas to augment the peas that had overwintered and were flowering. I even transplanted a couple of strawberry plants.

Friday started out to be a lovely day and in the evening, Colleen and I treated ourselves to takeout pizza for dinner. I was glad to see the rain on Friday evening though, because the gardens needed watering after the dry weather we had all week. James swung by the house Friday evening and brought some fresh eggs which Colleen especially appreciated, and then he and Louis took off to run the roads. I’m not sure when they got back because Colleen and I were already in bed, but James ended up spending the night sleeping on the sofa in the family room.

Yesterday, I woke up to a dank and dreary morning. James was enjoying a cup of coffee when I came downstairs. Colleen stayed in bed, because with the rain still falling, she wasn’t going to take Roux for a morning walk. A buddy of James’s picked him up around 7:30 and we didn’t see him again until later in the day. When Colleen got up, she enjoyed not one, but two cups of coffee, because she was on her spring break. Neither of us did much the rest of the morning. Colleen eventually made her way into the kitchen to make some banana muffins, but that was all she did. I was glad she took the day off and relaxed though. The skies cleared up nicely by midafternoon and I went for a walk again. I suppose it won’t be too much longer before I start taking Roux for an afternoon walk again.

The temperature really dropped last night, and this morning I lit a fire in the fireplace to chase the chill from the house. I may light one again tomorrow, but after that, I suspect the hearth will stay cold until next fall. The skies are blue this morning, so Colleen will take Roux for a walk. She wants to make a corned beef and cabbage dinner for today, because we didn’t have our traditional dinner on St. Patrick’s Day. It should be a quiet day up here on our little hill. Colleen and I are both home on spring break this coming week so nothing urgent is pressing. We’ll just keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we look around and smile contently knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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March 31, 2024: Spring Break, Rain, Sunshine, And Work In The Gardens.

Good morning and Happy Easter. We have a beautiful Sunday morning after somewhat of a tumultuous week of weather. Wednesday and Thursday were a mess. We had gray skies and plenty of rain. Fortunately, our gardens needed the rain, but it also meant Colleen and I couldn’t do much outside in the yard. The temperatures were cool enough for us to light a fire to start the week, but they started to warm up once the clouds and rain moved out of the area. Yesterday, we almost got up to 80 degrees, and today, we most certainly will eclipse that mark. Things will stay warm until Wednesday it seems, then we’ll get a little bit of a cool down as we head into next weekend.

Things started out cool enough last Sunday, so I put a fire in the fireplace to chase the chill out of the house. Since Colleen and I would both be home on spring break from school, there really wasn’t much that absolutely needed to be done on the day. I did my usual Sunday writing. I even took a nap in the recliner in the afternoon. Colleen made corned beef and cabbage because we didn’t have the traditional meal on St. Patrick’s Day. Neither of us did much else on the day. The evening was quiet and relaxing. My biggest accomplishment was to get some baseball cards packaged up for Monday’s mail.

Monday morning brought Colleen and me a little more motivation. It was still cool enough for a low fire again. I spent most of my day working with my baseball cards. I did a bunch of market research, sorted and organized a good many cards, and listed a bunch more for sale online. Colleen decided it was a sewing day. About mid-morning, she headed up to her workroom. I had a couple of pairs of overalls that desperately needed some patches. After lunch, Colleen whipped up a new sauce for pasta. It turned out to be a great first run, and now, Colleen is considering adding some chunks of fresh vegetables to the sauce when she makes it again.

With rain expected on Wednesday, so Colleen headed outside to clean up a few of her gardens first thing Tuesday morning. I went out to help where I could. I ended up raking for about 20 minutes, but that was all I could do before my back started to object. Colleen ended up getting most of the top tier of our terraced front yard cleaned up and even clipped last year’s dead flowers off the hydrangea bush at the end of the driveway. Colleen was worn out after lunch, so she spent the rest of the day relaxing, but she did make a delicious fish casserole for dinner.

The rain was here Wednesday morning. Colleen and I decided it would be a good day for a run to Walmart. We thought we only had a short list, but we ended up filling two buggies. Colleen ended up getting a flat of begonias, a flat of some sort of ground cover, four bags of red mulch, three bags of garden soil, and another half dozen solar powered garden lights. I got baseball cards and some Brussel sprout starts for the garden. Of course, we did have to restock our supply of dog treats for Roux too. On the way home, we treated ourselves to burgers at Hardee’s. Between loading everything into the Trail Blazer at Walmart and then unloading everything when we got home, the better part of Wednesday afternoon was spent trying to get dry. The rain did turn everything a bright green though.

The rain stopped fairly early Thursday morning, so Colleen and I decided to get outside. I planted the Brussel sprouts and quickly realized my back was not going to like me doing a lot of bending on the day. Colleen seeded the open area of the top front yard tier with clover and then covered everything with some new garden soil. After that, she cleaned out the garden by the tree stump, planted the ground cover and started spreading the mulch she had gotten at Walmart. Colleen wasn’t quite done yet though. She headed down back to change the bedding in the hen coop, and she got a couple of eggs for her trouble. I decided my day would be better spent taking care of my grade books for school, so I ended up sitting in front of the computer. By the time dinner rolled around, all my grade books were up to date and ready for the new quarter at school.

Colleen was worn out still on Friday. She did manage to get our monthly bills paid in the morning, but after lunch she laid down for a 2-hour long nap. Colleen doesn’t usually take naps. I spent my time organizing and then listing more baseball cards for sale online. Colleen really didn’t look like she wanted to make dinner when she got up from her nap, so I suggested we get Firehouse Subs for dinner. That worked out perfectly, and even Roux got to enjoy the short ride when we went to get the subs. I sat out on the porch after dinner and spent an hour on the phone catching up with an old friend.

Colleen was back out in her gardens yesterday morning. The begonias got planted and the rest of the red mulch got spread out. She managed to get her new garden lights put out too. Needless to say, Colleen has decided we need more flowers and mulch for the other gardens. I went for a walk in the morning. My back is handling my walks just fine, and I’m covering almost 2 miles now. I spent most of my day with my computer on the front porch though, cleaning up class websites and getting them ready for next quarter. Fortunately, I still have another week of spring break. Dinner was just some leftovers, and after dinner, I hung out on the front porch waiting for Colleen’s garden lights to come to life.

It should be a quiet day today up here on our little hill. The deer are wandering through the backyard. Colleen wants to cook a ham for Easter dinner, but the kids won’t be showing up. We should have plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week. For the rest of the day, Colleen will be getting ready for school tomorrow. It’s going to be warm today, so I will spend my time on the front porch, most likely working on my computer. Whatever happens today, Colleen and I will handle everything as it comes down the road. We’re very good at taking things one day at a time. At the end of the day, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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April 07, 2024: An End To Spring Break, More Time In The Gardens, And Wild Temperature Swings.

And so another week has passed, and with it comes a close to my spring break. Tomorrow, I will head back into my classroom. Once again last week though, Mother Nature had the thermometer swinging all over the place. For the first part of the week, it was warm and almost early summer-like. Wednesday, we woke up to thunderstorms. Once the rain moved out of the area, the mercury started to drop, and yesterday morning and this morning, that old thermometer needle started the day below 40 degrees. It looks like things will start warming up tomorrow, but there is a good bit of rain forecast for the back half of the coming week. Of course, there is a solar eclipse tomorrow. My school decided that we should run on a short class schedule, so the whole school could have a field trip outside to see the eclipse. I just hope none of the kids look at the eclipse and burn out their eyes.

Last Sunday was a quiet day up here on the hill. Colleen took Roux for her usual morning walk, and when they got home, Colleen treated herself to breakfast with fresh eggs. At least one of our hens has started laying again for the spring. I took my usual morning walk and am happy to say I’ve added more distance to my route. I am now covering just under two miles. Since it was Easter Sunday, it seemed appropriate that Colleen baked ham for dinner. She also made twice-baked potatoes to go with the meal. Unfortunately, last Sunday was also Colleen’s last day of her spring break.

Colleen left for school at her usual time Monday morning. Roux and I laid in bed for another hour after that. I had my morning coffee and then went for my walk. It didn’t take me long to figure out the weather was changing because my back started to feel uncomfortable. After lunch, I headed down to Lowe’s garden center. I got more flowers for Colleen to plant, and I got strawberries, peppers, and basil to plant in our vegetable gardens. Colleen had her typical day at school. Once she got home, we ate some dinner and enjoyed a quiet evening.

Tuesday morning, I got out to the front porch in time to see an incredible sunrise. Colleen headed into school at her usual time. I spent a good part of the morning and early part of the afternoon in the gardens. All the garden plants I bought Monday got planted, but the lion’s share of my time got spent building PVC frame for the netting I wanted to put over the strawberries. Without the netting, we won’t see any strawberries between the squirrels and the birds. Needless to say, my back hadn’t been asked to do that much work in a good couple of months and I spent the afternoon relaxing.

Wednesday morning after I went for my walk because there was a break in the rain, I started the taxes. I got through all of Alex’s by lunch and decided I had done enough taxes for the day. We didn’t get as much rain as had been forecast during the day, but there was more than enough rain to water the gardens. The deer even made their way through the backyard despite the rain. Between the rain and warmer temperatures, our bunching onions finally sprouted, and the clover that Colleen had seeded on the upper tier of our front yard really came to life. The “Oil Change Required” light came in the dashboard of the Caliber, so when Louis got home from work, we ran the car down to the shop and left it there overnight.

Thursday morning, I got up with Colleen so I could give Louis a ride to work. No big deal there because the store is only a mile down the road. After I went for my morning walk, I tackled Louis’s taxes and had them done by lunchtime. When Louis got home after lunch, we headed down to the shop to get the Caliber. The only thing wrong was a sensor needed to be reset because I had the oil changed about a month ago. Colleen stopped at the market on her way home, and once again the prices of groceries had me muttering under my breath. The idiots running this country obviously don’t understand the daily expenses that are chewing up people’s paychecks.

Friday morning was chilly, but the sunrise was gorgeous. I took my usual morning walk, but by the time I got home, clouds had swallowed the sunshine, and the morning stayed chilly. Colleen had her usual day at school. Louis had a quick day at the store. When he got home, he cleaned out the Caliber and then cleaned up his bedroom. It wasn’t long after that when he headed out to spend the weekend with his girlfriend. I worked on my computer out on the front porch for most of the day. Colleen got home at her usual time, and we decided it would be a good evening to get takeout pizza for dinner. Our evening was quiet and peaceful thankfully.

Colleen had Roux walked and the coffee made before I ever came downstairs yesterday morning. Colleen was running low on motivation and energy yesterday and after making some ham salad for lunches this week, she spent a good bit of the day relaxing. After my morning walk, I set up shop on the front porch and knocked out all the class work I’ll need for my kids tomorrow. Alex showed up right before lunch and cleaned up the backyard for us. He cut and piled up all the firewood on the ground and then even mowed the backyard. I finished my schoolwork about mid-afternoon and was feeling so good that I took Roux for an afternoon walk before dinner. It was the first afternoon walk for Roux and me since I fell at the end of January. When we got back to the house, Colleen was making burgers and air-fried okra for dinner. The kitchen got cleaned after dinner, but not much else got done.

Colleen was up before me again this morning. She has a bit of a busy day in front of her making up for what she didn’t do yesterday. I have some odds and ends to sew up for school tomorrow, and I’d like to get started on our taxes. Taxes are due a week from tomorrow. I hate tax time every year! Fortunately, what I don’t finish on the taxes today, I can finish on Wednesday because neither Colleen nor I have school. Whatever comes our way this week, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at time. At each day’s end, we’ll find our way home, look around, and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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April 14, 2024: Today Is My Birthday, School Was Crazy Last Week, And We’ve Got Some Beautiful Weather!

Last week was a little bit crazy with Colleen and I both back to school, and both of us having last Wednesday off. We had some pretty typical spring weather around here too. The mornings would start with the thermometer sitting between 45 and 50 and the daytime high temperatures would end up anywhere between 65 and 80 degrees. We were supposed to get one heck of a rainstorm Wednesday night into Thursday, but the storm split and went east and west of us. We got some rain and a whole lot of wind. Fortunately, the gardens needed the rain we did get. Today, we have a bright and sunny morning, the mercury should climb into the 80’s, and by the middle of the coming week, we could see 90 degrees on the thermometer.

Last Sunday was a beautiful, quiet spring day up here on our little hill. Since I had been off for three weeks and my school was getting ready to start a new quarter, there wasn’t any schoolwork I needed to do. Colleen did spend some time in the kitchen, but not very much. I took my usual walk in the morning, and with my back feeling better every day, I took Roux for a walk in the afternoon. Colleen tried a new recipe for dinner, breaded fish on pasta with a form of Alfredo sauce. It turned out quite well. She also whipped up a tropical pound cake with bananas, pineapple, and coconut. That cake was gone before this weekend.

Colleen’s week at school went reasonably well. My week was a nut house and my room was upside down after a three week break! Monday my school decided to run on a short class schedule on Monday so they could have an eclipse party the last two hours of our day. I call it a party because we were nowhere near the 100 percent zone. Our administration billed the thing as an educational experience. Tuesday was a quiet day, actually, and on Wednesday, Colleen and I stayed home. Thursday was back to crazy at school. Some seniors had a field trip and the rest had CPR training that teachers didn’t find out about until the last minute. Friday, we had to evacuate the school because it smelled like natural gas in one of the halls. Nothing came of it fortunately. The administration scheduled grade level meetings for the kids that day too, and I had to work my quizzes and tests around those. It looks like there will be chaos again this coming week. On the bright side, I did turn in my letter of resignation affective on June 28th when I retire.

Colleen stopped and did laundry Monday on her way home from school and stopped at the market on Thursday afternoon. Even with our senior discount, inflation is definitely eating up way more of our monthly budget when it comes to groceries. Friday evening, Colleen and I were wiped out and decided on takeout for dinner. We did takeout again yesterday evening too. Wednesday, however, turned out to be a very productive day at home despite the wacky week. The boys’ taxes got done and sent into the government, and I finally got around to doing our taxes although I didn’t send ours out right away.

Yesterday almost didn’t seem like a real Saturday. Colleen took Roux for a walk at first light and then headed into the kitchen to make some Cuban bread. I went for my walk, packaged up some baseball cards for the mail when I got back, and after that listed a bunch more for sale. When Colleen finished baking the bread, she made a batch of muffins for this weekend. I finalized our taxes and put the state taxes in the mail. I refuse to pay $20 for the privilege of e-filing. I will e-file the federal taxes today. Colleen and I had everything done by lunchtime, and we did very little all afternoon. We got Chinese takeout for dinner on a whim, and after dinner, Colleen made a couple of pulled pork quesadilla pies for the week.

Colleen was up and walking Roux with the first light again this morning. I will go for a walk later. There is a little bit of schoolwork I need to do for tomorrow, and I need to file our federal taxes. I hate tax time, and we always seem to have to write the government a big check. Since today is my 65th birthday, Colleen is making Cuban sandwiches for dinner later. The best part of today though is knowing I only have eight weeks until I retire. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. We’ll make our way home up here on our little hill every day, we’ll look around and smile too, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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April 21, 2024: A Warm Week, A Wet Sunday, Only Seven More Weeks Until My Retirement!

After a very nice week of weather, this morning is dreary and dank with a bite to the air. For most of the week, we had ample sunshine and warm temperatures. The thermometer even reached 85 degrees a couple of times. Today, we’ll be lucky if that needle on the thermometer reaches 55 degrees. On the bright side, the gardens certainly aren’t going to complain about the rain, and the temperatures won’t get cold enough to hurt any plants. Everything will start to warm up tomorrow, and we may very likely see 85 degrees by next weekend. Needless to say, my still recovering back is letting me know it doesn’t like the cold and damp weather. I sure hope this built in weather gauge that I now have doesn’t decide to become permanent.

Last Sunday was my 65th birthday. How I’ve made it this far, I’m not quite sure. Colleen let me sleep late, and I didn’t do lot a whole on the day. I went for a long walk after I finished my morning coffee, and later in the afternoon, I sipped on some 14-year-old scotch and enjoyed a cigar I had been saving for a special occasion. All the kids checked in with me throughout the day and I got literally hundreds of texts and Facebook notes which blew me away. Colleen did a little cooking during the day, and for dinner she made one of my favorites, Cuban sandwiches. Fortunately, I had finished all my schoolwork on Saturday, so I wasn’t scampering Sunday evening to get things ready for Monday.

While the weather was wonderful last week, the same cannot be said for school. Colleen had a typical week, but my week was chaotic. Monday wasn’t too bad. The principal signed off on the resignation form for my retirement in June, so everything is in the county’s hands now. We were supposed to start mandated county benchmark testing on Wednesday, but it was club day, we were running on a short class schedule so the testing got moved to Thursday. My back started bothering me on Wednesday, so I stayed home Thursday. I was back at school on Friday and we were still in the middle of testing. Of course, there were all kinds of meetings during the week for seniors who didn’t have to test, and the kids were in and out of my class all week.

I took it easy on my back on Thursday and spent a good bit of time on the porch with Roux. I watered the gardens and took Roux for a short walk in the morning. I took advantage of the peace and quiet of the front porch to get all my schoolwork done for Friday. I even found the time to spend with my baseball cards, packaging up sold cards for the mail and listing more cards for sale online. Colleen stopped at the market on her way home, and I helped her get all the groceries into the house when she home. Colleen also picked up a pre-made meal of street tacos for dinner which was a treat for us. With not much to do Thursday evening, both Colleen and I got to spend some time relaxing.

Colleen started her day early yesterday and had the coffee made and Roux walked before I ever got downstairs. By the time I got out to the front porch with my coffee, she was working in her gardens. I went for a walk after I finished my coffee. Colleen headed upstairs right after I got back to start making new window screens. Most of our windows are not double hung, but rather large 5-foot by 2-foot frames that open like doors, so we had to improvise for screens. I spent the afternoon in the vegetable gardens. The were more peas to be picked, I planted cucumbers, did the prerequisite and I was pleasantly surprised to find berries on our strawberry plants. I had finished all my schoolwork for Monday on Friday, so it was a real treat for me not to have that hanging over my head.

The rain didn’t start quite first thing this morning so Colleen got to take Roux for a walk. She wasn’t home long though before the rain started falling. Colleen does want to do something cooking today to get ready for the upcoming week. I, on the other hand, don’t have anything that absolutely needs to get done. If this weekend is anything like being retired, I am going to love it! My last day of school is June 7th and my official retirement date is June 28th. Neither day can get here soon enough. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, we’ll find our way home, look around, and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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April 28, 2024: Chaos With The School Year Winding Down, Six Weeks To Go, Finally Some Beautiful Spring Weather.

Well, it’s a bright and warm Sunday morning with the sun just coming through the trees now. The day has started with the thermometer at 60 degrees, and we’re headed to 80 degrees later today. Last Sunday, we had gray skies, cool temperatures, and rain or drizzle most all day. The weather did improve considerably as the week wore on though. The temperatures gradually warmed up to where they are today, and the only rain we had during the week was Wednesday around noon. Although the rain wasn’t expected, it was a good soaking rain and did our gardens well. It looks like the weather for the week in front of us will be mostly warm and sunny. There are thunderstorms in the forecast for Wednesday, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

Colleen was able to walk Roux before the rain started last Sunday morning, and then she headed into the kitchen to get some meals ready for the week. I had all my schoolwork done, so I took it easy all day. I guess I was practicing being retired. Louis and Maya showed up later in the afternoon coming back from visiting Maya’s mom in Virginia. It was the first time we met Maya. Colleen fixed them a mini-Mexican buffet for dinner since they got here after we had had dinner. After they ate, they visited for a bit and then headed on their way. Colleen and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Monday morning Colleen was up and out of the house at her usual time. I struggled to get out of bed. My back reminded me that it was still damp and chilly outside, and I knew I was walking into a week of chaos at school. Tuesday and Wednesday were set aside for benchmark testing and Friday was designated as a wellness day on which students could not be assigned work. Fortunately, I had already arranged to take Friday off, so I didn’t get stuck babysitting. Just to make things interesting, Friday was also an early release day for the kids, and the teachers had meetings after the kids left.

Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school on Monday and the market on Thursday. I was busy the whole day Friday at home. I took Roux for a walk first thing in the morning and then spent an hour online helping one of my kids with their math. After lunch, I worked in the gardens for a while and then got caught up on my grading and started my grade books for the week. I took a look around the place too, and it’s a good thing I am retiring in June because there is some work to be done around here. I could have started putting my class work together for Monday, but I was waiting for our weekly email to see how screwed up this coming week was going to be. I know we have benchmark testing on Monday again, so I really didn’t need to put together any class work, and I was just waiting to see what was going to happen during the rest of the week.

Yesterday turned out to be an awesome day. Colleen took Roux for her walk, and then I went for my walk. Colleen headed into the kitchen to bake when she got back. When I got back from my walk, she was well on her way to making a double batch of muffins. I spent the rest of the morning finishing up my grade books. After lunch Colleen sat down to pay our end of the month bills, and I headed outside to cut some grass. I had no trouble firing up the lawnmower, and I cut the side yard and part of the backyard. I primarily cut where Roux goes because tall grass tends to attract fleas and ticks. I didn’t push myself though and was pleasantly surprised that my back felt just fine when I finished. The weedeating and edging will have to wait for another day. The email about school showed up late in the afternoon, and it looks like more chaos and confusion for the week ahead.

The sun was up by the time I got downstairs this morning, and Colleen had already taken Roux for a walk. Everything is green, especially Colleen’s field of clover. My schoolwork is done for tomorrow, so I will take a walk and spend the afternoon, most likely, listing baseball cards for sale online. Colleen has some cooking she wants to do today and then get things ready for our lunches this coming week. As for the coming week in school, I’m just going to keep my head low, and I’ll keep marking off the days until I retire. Until then, Colleen and I will just keep taking everything one day at a time. As our day is winding down, we look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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May 05, 2024: Five Weeks Until Retirement, Warm Weather And Rain, Summer Break Is On The Horizon.

After a very pleasant, warm, dry week, we are getting plenty of rain today. The rain started early yesterday morning, and while our gardens have gotten a good watering, the whole weekend has been a washout for doing anything outside. Summer is about six weeks away now, and it seems that Mother Nature has finally given up the last vestiges of winter. Colleen and I are waking up to 55 or 60-degree mornings, and our afternoon temperatures are quickly approaching 90 degrees. Even this morning with the rain falling, it was 65 degrees, and we should easily see 75 degrees by mid-afternoon. The forecast says the rain could last until Tuesday, it’s supposed to get hot after that, and then we have more rain for next weekend it seems.

Last Sunday was quiet up here on our little hill. Colleen did some cooking for the weekend, got things ready for lunches during the week, and generally tried to put some order to our house. Since my school was getting ready to start another round of mandated county testing, I didn’t have much in the way of schoolwork that needed to be done, but I did manage to work a nap into my afternoon. Colleen stole the idea of patty melts from Friendly’s, an old New England based restaurant we frequented growing up, for our dinner. It really was quite a nostalgic treat. After dinner, we both relaxed in anticipation of our early start on our early Monday morning.

The school week proved to be low key for the most part. I had to administer a county test on Monday, and I was stuck in an uncomfortable chair. By the time the test was over and lunchtime had rolled around, my back was screaming, so I came home. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on Tuesday. Wednesday my school ran on a short class schedule to facilitate club day in the afternoon. Thursday was a big day. Colleen stopped at the market on her way home from school, and I took the day off for an eye doctor’s appointment. I hadn’t seen an eye doctor in a good many years and with retirement looming, I figured it was time.

I really didn’t know what to expect from the eye doctor, so I had Louis give me a ride to the office. I knew I would not be able to drive after the appointment if they dilated my eyes. As it worked out, technology has come a long way in the past years. Instead of dilating my eyes, they used a retinal scanner to get images of my eye. When all was said and done, the worst that can be said about my eyes is that they are old. There were no signs of glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration. I do, however, desperately need glasses. The glasses will be ready in a week or so. Anyway, that’s one more box checked on the list to retirement.

Friday came and went uneventfully. It really was a beautiful day too. The biggest decision Colleen and I had to make was what to get for dinner. It took us most of the day, but we finally decided on pizza which I could pickup on the way home from school. We had bounced around a few other ideas, but neither of us seemed to have the motivation to leave home once we got there Friday after school. I had given quizzes to all my classes at school and used that quiet time to get my schoolwork done for tomorrow, so Friday evening was mine to enjoy on the front porch. Colleen didn’t have much to do after dinner either and got to spend the evening relaxing too.

Yesterday was bleak and dreary, but the tress are filled with leaves and everything is green. There was a long enough break in the rain for Colleen to walk Roux in the morning, but that was all either of us did outside. I spent the morning on the front porch packaging up sold baseball cards and listing a bunch more for sale. Colleen spent the morning making potato pies for this coming week. After lunch, I took a nap and Colleen sewed another custom screen to fit our weird shaped windows in the house. Colleen made hamburger steak for dinner and after dinner we sure didn’t do much.

The rain is steady this morning, but when it does let up, the cicadas start droning. Our front yard is pock-marked with holes from where the little beasties emerged. I don’t think Roux will be going for a walk today. Colleen will do some cooking this morning and get our lunch things ready for the week. I have a little schoolwork to do, but not much. With my retirement just five weeks away now, my energy level to do schoolwork is ebbing quickly. Still, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. We’ll find our way home in the afternoons, have dinner and relax, look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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May 12, 2024: Four Weeks Until Retirement, A 90-Degree Day, And Thunderstorms

I’m a little late writing this today, but it is a lovely day and it is Mother’s Day. Colleen and I were greeted by a bright and sunny, 50-degree morning today. A nice breeze accompanied the sun as did the now usual droning of the cicadas. We are only expecting a high temperature of 75 degrees today which is just a tad cooler than it has been all week. Most of the week we got into the mid-80’s and even touched 90 degrees one day. The week started out wet too. Fortunately, most of the rain fell in the evenings or at night. We even had a couple of thunderstorms in the middle of the week as the weather front moved through the area. The rain didn’t hamper any of the week’s activities, but it did water the gardens for us. Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice day, but we have more unsettled weather headed our way in the middle of the week. The temperatures should start climbing higher as we work our way through the upcoming week.

Last Sunday started out gray, and rainy. Colleen couldn’t take Roux for a walk because of the rain, so she headed right to the kitchen after she had her coffee. She had a new veggie torte recipe she wanted to try. It really turned out great! I set my computer up on the front porch and spent most of my day doing schoolwork. I got everything done well before dinner too. The rain did give us a break in the middle of the afternoon, so I took Roux out for a walk. Poor Roux, there sure weren’t many new sniffs to be had after all the rain. Colleen’s other big doing in the day was putting together a Yankee Pot roast which we had for dinner.

Monday morning it was back to school for Colleen and me. There really wasn’t anything special about the week although it was teacher appreciation week. My school was running on a short class schedule to accommodate the end of the day test prep sessions for kids taking a state mandated End of Course or End of Grade test. Kids that weren’t taking either of those tests got parceled out to babysitting rooms. Our administration tried to sell the idea that they were “enrichment” classes. I’m not so politically correct and call things the way I see them. I really hope the administration appreciated all the extra work by the teachers, because most of them looked worn out by Wednesday. Thursday everyone was treated to a box lunch at school. Friday was an early release day, but I took it off to get some things done at home.

Colleen had her typical week at school. She stopped at the laundromat on her way home Tuesday and at the market on Thursday. I brought the box lunch and a huge sub one of my kids got me home Thursday, and Colleen and I had those for dinner. Both the sandwich in the box lunch and the sub tasted awesome and made dinner very easy for Colleen. The real excitement for the week belonged to Louis though. Wednesday evening, just after sunset, he was greeted by a large copperhead at the top of our porch stairs. Now, I would have tried to safely move the snake out of the way and let it go on its way. Louis on the other hand thought it was a little too close to the house and presented an immediate danger, so he dispatched the snake. When I looked at the snake on Thursday, I realized it was a big copperhead.

Friday morning, Colleen left for school at her usual time, and I rolled out of bed, got some coffee, and headed to the front porch before I started my day. I took Roux for a walk when I finished my coffee, did some work in the gardens, and then started working with my baseball cards, packaging up those that needed to be shipped and then listing more for sale. I did take a nap after lunch, but I got back to my baseball cards when I got up. When Colleen got home we headed down to Costco to restock our freezer for the summer. We picked up a pre-made meal of street tacos for dinner since Colleen had been going all week and cooking on a Friday evening was not a good way to end the week.

Yesterday was busy, but not overwhelming. Colleen walked Roux and then cleaned the house when she got home. I started back into my baseball cards. I got a text that one pair of my new glasses were ready, so I headed out to pick them up. My eyeglasses now have progressive lens, so I don’t have to keep taking them off or putting them on to see close or at a distance. They will take some getting used to wearing. Colleen cleaned out the hen coop and changed the bedding and then spent the rest of the afternoon breaking down the Costco sized packages into meal useable portion size packaging. I spent the afternoon finishing up all my schoolwork for Monday. Colleen even managed to find the energy to bake muffins after dinner.

Today is Mother’s Day. Steven and Louis came by the house yesterday so we may or may not see them today. I suspect the other kids will be checking in with Colleen at some point though. Apart from the kids checking in for the day, today will be pretty typical. Colleen will spend some time in the kitchen getting ready for the week in front of us. I will do whatever needs to be done or whatever Colleen asks me to do. I only have four more weeks until I retire, and Colleen has five weeks until her summer break starts. After that we will start tackling a very long “To-Do” list. All the same, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At day’s end, we’ll relax as we can, look around, and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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May 19, 2024: Rain, Rain Go Away! Summer Break Is Almost Here, And It’s Time For Us To Play.

It is a cool, gray Sunday morning. Everything is still wet from last night’s rain, but with any luck we should see a little sunshine later this afternoon. The week, as a whole, has been very wet. I think the only days we didn’t get any rain were Wednesday and Thursday. The rain we did get ran the gamut from a light mist to thunderstorms and heavy downpours. Tuesday was the heavy of the rains. The rain gauge in Colleen’s garden filled right up to the four-inch line. Needless to say, our gardens are well watered right now. Most of the rain we got came in the late afternoons or through the evenings and nights. Luckily, there wasn’t much rain in the mornings, and Colleen didn’t have to drive to school in the rain during the week. My coming home in the late afternoon was a different story.

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day, but there were things to be done. All the kids checked in with Colleen either on Saturday or Sunday. Alex even made it a point to stop by the house on Sunday. Colleen did some cooking and she even used the fresh herbs from our gardens for the first time this year. I didn’t have much to do in the way of schoolwork on the day, and Alex and I got to hang out on the front porch for a bit and get caught up too. Alex brought Koda with him so Koda and Roux got to hang out on the porch with us too.

Colleen and I both had a full week of school last week. The rain didn’t cause too many problems. Unfortunately, my school’s scheduling of the days is so messed up for the next three weeks, I had to give my kids their final exams last week. Just to make things more challenging, my school has been running on a short class schedule so they can spend the last two hours of each day prepping kids for state mandated tests. I would spend the last two hours of the school day babysitting. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on Wednesday and the market on Thursday. Friday when we got home, Colleen and I were both so tired that we just had leftovers for dinner.

We did have a visitor late Monday afternoon. Steven’s ex brought Lily over for a short visit. Lily had made a Mother’s Day card for Colleen and a belated birthday card for me. Lily is growing like a weed and is definitely her father’s daughter, lean and lanky. It’s hard to believe our little granddaughter will be starting kindergarten on the fall too. The rest of our Monday evening was quiet after Lily left, but it started raining around sunset and that lasted through the night.

Colleen and I woke up to more rain yesterday morning. The rain did give us a break around mid-morning, so I took Roux for a walk. Later in the morning, I cleaned out the fireplace for the summer, cleaned the living room, and then vacuumed the living room. Colleen cleaned the family room and then headed upstairs to make the last of our summer window screens. Yesterday afternoon I plowed through the next phase of my paperwork for retirement. I need to get some things notarized this week before I can officially submit everything. Getting through all this retirement paper has been as stressful as doing our taxes. Fortunately, this is a one and done deal and not a reoccurring annual headache like taxes.

Yesterday’s rain stopped sometime in the wee hours of this morning, so Colleen was able to walk Roux this morning. The clouds are still here though, but everything sure is green. . I’ll take a walk after I finish my coffee. I don’t have any schoolwork today, so I should have an easy day. Colleen wants to do a little cooking for the upcoming week, and I promised I would fire up the grill, so she didn’t have to make dinner later today. Right now, we are both very much looking forward to the end of the school year. All the same, we’ll keep taking everything one day at a time. We’ll find our way back home up here on our little hill every day after school, relax as we can, look around, and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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May 26, 2024: School Is Winding Down, We Got Wet Last Week, And Hurricane Season Is Getting Ready To Start.

Spring is passing quickly, and here we are at Memorial Day weekend. We ended up with a good bit of rain last week. One thunderstorm that popped up, dropped roughly two inches of rain in about an hour. Fortunately, most of the rain last week fell during the nighttime hours though, which left us with some muggy days as the temperatures would get up to and over 80 degrees. This weekend’s forecast originally called for more rain, but apart from a rogue shower yesterday, the days have been mostly sunny. There is still rain in the forecast for tomorrow, but after that, the rest of the week promises to be warm and sunny. Next weekend brings the start of the summer hurricane season though, and the powers that be are predicting a hurricane season about twice as active as the average. We might be in for a very wet summer this year.

School is starting to wind down, so our weekends aren’t quite as crazy. Last Sunday there was a long enough break in the rain for Colleen to walk Roux in the morning. I had some online training to do, so I can give the state mandated end of the year tests at school. The training was the exact same training that every teacher must go through every year. Thankfully, this year will be my last go around with it because I am retiring. Colleen did a little cooking for the week and got things ready for our school lunches. The highlight of the day was me grilling dinner. Colleen and I had a small rib eye steak, shrimp, and grill-roasted vegetables.

Colleen and I both headed into school Monday morning. By the afternoon, we had blue skies again. Fortunately, my school was done with its short class schedule followed by two hours of test prep for the kids. The preceding two weeks had been the district’s and the school administration’s panicked response to end of the year low test scores in the past. It is my opinion that if teachers had been allowed to teach rather than constantly being interrupted with various county and school activities, the kids would be ready. I guess only time will tell now.

Colleen went to school Tuesday morning, but I took the day off to wade through all my retirement paperwork that included phone calls and a trip to the bank to get some things notarized. I had most of it done shortly after lunch, and since it turned out to be a beautiful day, I headed outside to do some yard work. I raked a section of our yard above the driveway and then burnt all the leaves which proved to be tricky because a good many leaves were still damp. Once Colleen got home from school things slowed down. After dinner there wasn’t much going on save for Colleen cleaning the kitchen and getting lunches ready for Wednesday.

Not much happened for the rest of the week at school for either Colleen or me. My school collected all the kids’ computers thus relegating teachers to the role of babysitters. Of course, a good many kids didn’t even show up for school. The school did manage to get the computers back to the kids taking the first round of state tests on Fridays. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on Wednesday and the market on Thursday. Friday, we were both just glad to get home after school. I stopped on the way home to get Firehouse Subs for dinner. Steven and Louis had a side job Friday afternoon and swung by the house for a bit after Colleen and I had finished eating.

Yesterday was the start of our 3-day weekend. With not much going on at school next week, we didn’t have to do much this weekend, so yesterday Colleen and I headed out in the morning to run errands. After a quick stop at TSC for chicken feed we headed to Walmart. Somehow we managed to fill up two carts without groceries. James was here at the house when we got home. He was trying to get ahold of Steven. I’m not sure if he did or not. Colleen and I ate an early dinner. After dinner, Colleen did some sewing and I mowed part of the backyard. I suppose I can finish mowing the backyard today or tomorrow.

I slept late this morning and by the time I made it downstairs Colleen had already walked Roux. Fortunately, we have tomorrow off, so we can tackle things on our “To-Do” list today. We want to run down to Lowe’s garden center later, so I guess we will spend time in the gardens this afternoon. I also promised Colleen I would grill dinner this evening too. My retirement is so close I can almost taste it now. There is still a little bit of paperwork to do, but I’m hoping everything is ready for July 1st. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. We’ll find our way home every day, settle down for the evening, look around, smile because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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June 02, 2024: I’m Done In 10 Days, 18 Days Until Summer, And Hurricane Season Has Started Quietly.

Summer break and summer proper are closing in quickly, and the weather last week was just fantastic. There was lots of sunshine, the temperatures never got too hot, and there wasn’t any rain of which to speak. We don’t have much in the way of sunshine today, but the temperature is comfortable and we shouldn’t see any rain until after dark. I suspect the sun will burn off the clouds this afternoon. Even with the clouds, the chances of rain aren’t great. We’ll probably get wet this coming week though. There are thunderstorms forecast for the middle of the week, but they will have moved out of the area by the time next weekend gets here. The last day of school for kids at my school is this Friday, then I have a couple of workdays to start the following week, but I’ll be all but officially retired after that. The official date is July 1^st. Colleen starts her summer break a week from this coming Friday and doesn’t go back to school until late August.

Last Sunday, we were right in the middle of our long Memorial Day weekend. Colleen and I started our day with a trip to Lowe’s garden center. Colleen got a couple of trays of flowers for her gardens, and I got some vegetables for our raised beds. Colleen planted some of the flowers she got while I sat on the front porch writing. I waited until later in the afternoon before I planted some of the vegetables that I had gotten. I grilled a rib eye steak and a couple of lobster tails for dinner, and we each had a glass of wine to go with dinner. Without any schoolwork needing to be done, the evening proved to be both peaceful and relaxing.

Monday was quiet with the threat of rain that never materialized and the sun even came out in the late afternoon. Louis had to work, and it was a tough day for him. It was Memorial Day, and a couple of his buddies from the Army never made it home from their deployment. Colleen did some cooking for the week in front of us, but it wasn’t nearly as crazy as if it had been a regular week at school. My school was in the middle of its mandated testing cycle and Colleen’s school was getting ready to start their testing cycle. I did have some time to list a bunch of baseball cards for sale online though. With my retirement looming, I figured I better get back in the game and start ramping things up. Once I retire, baseball cards will pretty much be a daily thing.

Tuesday through Friday, we had some beautiful weather, but they were some of the longest, most dragged out school days of the year. Colleen and I spent the better part of each day watching the clock on the wall and trying to stay awake. I’m not sure who came up with the testing schedule for my school, but it is a mess. Colleen did stop at the market on Thursday and at the laundromat on Friday though. I picked up a pizza on my way home for dinner on Friday. Louis headed out early on Friday to Maya’s place, so it was just Colleen and me for the evening. Apart from administering a state test or two, I’m done with schoolwork. All my grading is finished and my grade books have been finalized for the year. Everything is a waiting game now.

Colleen and I stayed home yesterday. After she walked Roux, Colleen did some house cleaning. I finished my morning coffee and headed outside to do some yard work. Between the long grass and the hill, it took me the better part of the morning to mow the backyard. I didn’t want to push the issue because my back is still on the mend, so it took me about twice as long as usual. When the mowing was done, the weed eater came out and I did what I could before my back started to complain. Again, I didn’t want to push the issue. When Colleen finished cleaning she headed into the kitchen. After I ate a quick late lunch, I ended up taking a nap, waking up just before dinner was ready.

After dinner, Colleen cleaned the kitchen and I headed back outside. I put the lawn mower and weed eater away. Watering our gardens is always a bit of a chore because we live in the
side of a hill, so two weeks ago I bought a $5 sprinkler as an experiment. Last night I set it up and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to water four of our raised bed gardens. I will try a different placement later today to see if I can get all the gardens. If it works, I will get a splitter and a couple of shorter hoses, and I think that will do the trick for us. I guess that was the first thing I have officially tackled on our summer “To-Do” list. Colleen and I are getting ready to change gears and focus on doing things around the house rather than for school. Still, we’ll keep taking things one day at a time. We may be tired at the end of each day, but we will happily look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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June 09, 2024: My Summer Break Has Started, July 1st I Will Be Officially Retired, Time To Tackle A VERY LONG To-Do List.

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning. The temperature is 80 degrees, and the forest floor behind the house is sun dappled. The weather all week has been very good. There was a lot of sunshine, and the temperatures got into the 80’s every day. We did have some unsettled weather in the middle of the week, especially around evening time. We had lots of dark clouds overhead on Wednesday and Thursday evening, and we could hear the rumble of thunder all around us, but we really only got any rain overnight on Thursday. By the time the sun came up on Friday morning the skies were clear again. Yesterday turned out to be a perfect day for working outside in the morning and late afternoon. Today should be another great day to be outside. I think even Colleen will get out of the house.

Last Sunday was low key around here. I was looking at my last week of school before retiring and Colleen’s school was in the middle of the final exams. I got to spend some time in the gardens during the afternoon and after that listed more baseball cards for sale online. Colleen spent some time in the kitchen and made some beer batter deep fried cod for dinner. She made some roasted potatoes and squash fries to go with the fish too. The biggest excitement of the day was when we realized that Colleen’s balloon flowers had started to bloom. Just the purple ones had bloomed, but we both knew the white ones wouldn’t be far behind.

The school week was not without a little adventure. I knew I was walking into administering state mandated tests on Monday and Tuesday, but Colleen’s school tabbed her to administer teacher made exams since she isn’t trained to administer the state tests. Monday, the main road Colleen uses to get to school was blocked, so she had to get off her normal route which is always an adventure. She fared well though and ended up getting around the closed road, ending up at her favorite donut shop. She took that as an omen, stopping to buy a dozen donuts before she headed on to school. As it turned out, the road was still partially blocked in the afternoon and it took her an extra 30 minutes to get home.

Tuesday morning, I took Louis to work because we had put his car in the shop Monday afternoon. We got the car back Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night, horrific screaming from the chickens woke Colleen up. When I checked on the girls Wednesday morning, one hen looked roughed up, but the girls were moving around in the pen. When Colleen got home Wednesday afternoon, she checked on the girls and found the Barred Rock had been hurt. It was missing feathers and a chunk of flesh in the lower part of its back. Colleen played chicken vet and nursed the wound as best she could. We started locking the girls in their coop again at night.

Thursday and Friday passed without incident, but Friday was my last day of school with the kids. I am unofficially retired right now. Technically, I am on summer break save for a teacher workday tomorrow with my official retirement date being July 1st. James spent Thursday night here at the house because he and Louis had something to do after Louis got off work on Friday. Neither of the boys was here when Colleen and I got home Friday. Colleen and I celebrated my last day of school by getting Chinese takeout for dinner. Friday evening, we got a little worried with the way our wounded hen looked, but she was still moving around just fine.

Colleen was up before me yesterday and was back from her walk with Roux before I got my morning coffee. When Colleen opened up the hen coop, both hens came strutting down the ladder into the pen. I went for a walk after my coffee. When I got home, I took a short break and then headed outside to clean up some of the front yard. Colleen puttered around inside, cleaning this and that. After lunch, I took a quick nap before I headed back outside and cleaned up the area around our winter-ready firewood racks. I had expected to find snakes in the debris, but there were none. I did find a bunch of worms that ended up in a can of dirt for when I go fishing. Our evening was quiet and uneventful.

Colleen was up before me and back from walking Roux by the time I came downstairs this morning. I will take a walk in a little while and this afternoon I’d like to get into the gardens. Colleen will spend some time in the kitchen, but she doesn’t have to make lunches for me, just her. Colleen will have to be at school all week, but she will be off for two months after that. I have a teacher’s workday tomorrow, but I don’t plan on being at school very long, just long enough to return my school computer and my keys. My big goals for the upcoming week are to spend time in our gardens and to reprogram my brain so it is in retirement mode. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. Our evenings will be spent quietly as we look around and smile knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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June 16, 2024: Unofficially, Officially Retired, Every Day Has Become A Saturday, “What Shall I Do Today?”, Is The First Question Of The Morning .

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning, just perfect for Father’s Day. The sun is shining, the skies are blue with white fluffy clouds, there’s a light breeze, and the temperature is right around 75 degrees. In fact, the weather for the whole week has been awesome. The mornings started between 65 and 70 degrees, most days got between 85 and 90 degrees in the afternoon, although we did have a couple of days where the mercury pushed through 90 degrees, and we didn’t see a lick of rain all week. Without any rain, I made sure the gardens got watered every evening. The week in front of us doesn’t look like we’ll see much rain if any.

Colleen and I mostly relaxed last Sunday. My last day of teaching kids was Friday, and Monday was a teacher workday for me. Essentially, I was unofficially retired. Colleen walked Roux in the morning like usual and when they got back, I headed out for my long walk. Colleen wanted to eat an early dinner so I guess it was two o’clock when I fired up the grill. We had a wonderful feast too. I grilled baked a potato, grill roasted a couple of ears of corn and then grilled lamb chops and lobster tails. We even had a little wine to go with our meal. After we ate, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing because neither of us had any schoolwork to do for Monday.

Colleen was up and out of the house at her usual time Monday morning. I sat on the front porch enjoying my morning coffee and not being in any particular hurry. It was a teacher workday for me and the only things I needed to do were to return my school computer and to turn in my classroom keys. Even though it was technically the start of my summer break, since my retirement date is before the start of the school next year, for all practical purposes, I am now retired. I got to school when I was expected to be there, walked around and said my goodbyes to my friends, signed all the necessary paperwork, took one last look at my classroom and the mural the kids painted on my back wall, and quietly left school. I spent the rest of my day relaxing at home and I even enjoyed a celebratory cigar and some scotch.

Colleen left for school at her usual time on Tuesday. She brought a couple of fans with her too, because the AC in her school wasn’t working. I took Roux for a walk and then started to tackle my project list. I pulled all the movable furniture out of the family room, vacuumed the area rug on top of the carpet, and then steam cleaned the area rug. When Louis got home from work, he followed me to the shop so I could leave the Honda. I had been nursing a bad clutch on the car for several months. I learned one thing very important on Tuesday. My back does not like the repetitive nature of vacuuming or running the steam cleaner. Colleen got home at her usual time. After dinner, I took Roux for a walk and Colleen and I spent the evening relaxing.

Wednesday, Colleen headed back into school. I had my coffee, walked Roux, and then decided to spend my morning in the gardens. I pulled all the peas that had played out a few weeks ago and all the radishes that were just leafy. I threw the radish leaves into the pen for the girls. I worked the soil over in two of the raised beds, planted bush beans in one and Swiss chard in another, and then weeded a third raised bed. Now, we keep our fingers crossed and hope everything grows. The area rug in the family room was dry, then I rolled it up and dragged it to the living room so I could clean the carpet in the family room. I only vacuumed the rug on Wednesday, remembering how my back felt on Tuesday.

Thursday morning Colleen headed into school again. I took my time and enjoyed my morning coffee before I took Roux for a walk. When we got back, I steam cleaned the carpet in the family room. Louis got off work early and ran me to the shop to get the Honda. I knew a clutch rebuild would be expensive, but it was several hundred dollars less than I anticipated. I was feeling pretty good after Louis and I got home, so I pulled out the weed eater and started clearing everything around the fire pit and firewood seasoning racks. The carpet dried out much quicker than I expected and by late afternoon, Roux found it to be quite a comfortable place for her to stretch out and snooze. Colleen was a little later than usual getting home because she stopped at the market after school.

Friday was Colleen’s last day of school before her 10-week summer break. There was one spot in the family room carpet in front of the door to the basement stairwell that I hit a second time with the steam cleaner after which I headed outside with the weed eater again. I was still working around the fire pit. I did what I could before my back started protesting again. Colleen got out of school early and stopped at the laundromat. Louis stopped by the house for a short time after work and then headed down to see Maya for the weekend. Colleen and I treated ourselves to takeout pizza for dinner.

Since Colleen was home yesterday morning, she took Roux for her morning walk. I got to take one of my long walks after they got back. With both of us home for the summer now, it was time yesterday to start working in the pool. I replaced a couple of filter hoses that had cracked in the winter and then started draining the water in the pool, so we could clean the inside. Once I had the syphon going, I knew it would be a while before the pool was drained, so I got the weed eater again and headed back out to the front yard. Colleen spent the morning cleaning her workroom which had become a collecting point for Lily’s toys. I got to take a nap in the afternoon. Colleen tried a new recipe for dinner and after dinner we cleaned up and I took Roux for an evening walk, we took it easy for the rest of the evening.

Colleen was up early this morning and had taken Roux for a walk before I made it downstairs. She watered her gardens too. Today, we will start cleaning the inside of the pool. We’ll have to use buckets to get the last inch or two of water out of the pool and then get the leaves and other debris out of the pool. Tomorrow, I will power wash the walls, and hopefully, we can start refilling the pool with water. I’d like to go for a long walk this morning too. The one thing neither of us must do today is get ready for school tomorrow. There’s lots of work still to be done around the house though. We’ll probably start moving, splitting, and stacking firewood for the winter very soon. Whatever we do, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At day’s end, as always, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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June 23, 2024: Colleen And I Are Staying Busy, The Summer Is Heating Up, The Pool Makes The Hot Afternoons Tolerable.

It looks like we are going to get a good blast of hot weather to start this summer. Yesterday, the mercury got up to 95 degrees, and the Weather Channel is saying we’ll have 90 plus degree days for at least the next two weeks. Last week the weather was pleasant enough. We had plenty of sunshine, no rain, and the temperatures stayed in the 80’s. Despite yesterday’s hot temperature, this morning the sun is shining, there is a nice breeze blowing, and the thermometer needle is sitting at 80 degrees right now. There are supposed to be some thunderstorms in our forecast for the coming week, but right now, that’s only a 50 percent chance at best.

Last Sunday morning started on the hazy side, but it was a work morning for Colleen and me. Having fixed the filter hoses and drained most of the water out of the pool on Saturday, Sunday was the day we finished getting the last inch of water and all the leaves and other debris from last fall and winter out of the pool. I went for my walk after we finished in the pool, but my back started to get cranky, and I cut my walk short. I ended up taking a 3-hour nap when I got home too. Colleen made a simple dinner of brats, potato salad, and cucumber salad. Since it was the first weekend of both Colleen’s summer break and my retirement, we didn’t do much more than relax Sunday evening.

Monday morning, we were back in the pool with a couple of cans of scrubbing bubbles, the power washer, and mops to give the pool a good cleaning. Unfortunately, we blew a circuit breaker, and it wouldn’t reset about halfway through our cleaning so we tried to finish the cleaning with just the garden hose. We were two-thirds through our work and my back started screaming at me. Colleen finished the job. Once she was done, we started filling the pool. As luck would have it, the water system in the area had problems, and once the water started flowing again, we got a bunch of that fine rust from the pipes in the pool.

Tuesday, I set aside to figure out why our circuit breaker wouldn’t reset. Colleen and I ran down to Lowe’s first thing in the morning and bought a new 15-amp breaker. I replaced the old breaker and the new breaker would not reset either. I did finally find the problem. It was the outlet on the back porch which had burnt up. I’m glad our circuit breaker worked. After I cleaned up the burnt wires and replaced the outlet, everything was fine. Louis got an SOS from Maya during the day. She was sick. After work, Louis headed down to her place to take care of her. Colleen and I let the pool finish filling and hoped the filter would clean up the silt in the water.

Wednesday morning, Colleen had an eye doctor’s appointment and I went for a walk right after she left. I ran into one of the kids I taught this year working with his dad on a home repair for one of our neighbors. Always wanting to help my kids, I asked his dad to stop by the house in the afternoon to give me a quote on repairing and rebuilding the back deck. Colleen didn’t get home until right before lunch because she stopped at the laundromat on her way home. I got to spend some time in the gardens weeding, but not much else got done as the day heated up.

Thursday morning my kid sent me the quote for the back porch. It was considerably less than I was expecting, so I told them to work us into their schedule. Colleen and I went to the market in the middle of the morning. We stocked up the best we could for the first part of summer. We’re still trying to sort out the finances for my retirement. I hadn’t slept well Wednesday night, so after we got home, got everything in the house, and had lunch, I headed upstairs to take a nap. It wasn’t a long nap and when I came back downstairs, I headed out to the front porch and spent the rest of the afternoon working on baseball cards.

Friday was cleanup day for the back porch. Louis got off work early and cleaned everything up under Colleen’s supervision. He got all the firewood and the firewood rack moved off the porch. He moved all the furniture and Colleen’s potted plants to the pool patio, and then he moved everything from under the porch, after which he headed to Maya’s place. I had a lunch get together planned with an old friend. We used to meet a couple of times a year but hadn’t gotten together since Covid. We had a wonderful time getting caught up. I did get a takeout meal to bring home to Colleen when we left too.

The hot temperatures showed up yesterday. I went for my long walk in the morning and when I got back, Colleen was working in her gardens. After a short break when I got home, I helped her clean things up around the pool patio and porch. The heat of the day finally chased us inside. We had a quick lunch and then we got into the pool. We stayed there for a good bit. The afternoon was too hot to work outside so while Colleen relaxed in front of a fan, I took a nap. After my quick nap, I was out on the front porch listing more baseball cards for sale. Even Roux thought it was too hot to move around. She kept looking for the coolest spot on which to lay down and even headed into the basement at one point. The concrete floor is very cool.

Colleen took Roux for her walk this morning before I came downstairs. When I settled onto the front porch with my coffee, she was getting ready to water her gardens. I won’t be going for my walk today. Colleen and I want to head to Costco this morning. We’re hoping to get there and back and get everything into the house before it gets too hot. I suspect we will get into the pool this afternoon and I will add more water to the pool to cool the water down a few degrees. With any luck, I will be able to work with my baseball cards this afternoon too, and I might even smoke a pork butt. We are definitely staying busy this summer, but I really love the pace of life now that I am retired. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. It doesn’t matter how busy we get or what gets done every day, because at the end of each day we can look around and smile knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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June 30, 2024: Summer Is In Full Swing, I’m Officially Retired, It’s Going To Be A Hot Summer!

It’s the last day of June, we’re just ten days into summer, and it already feels like early August. It seems like the heat index has been over 100 degrees all week and flirting with 105 degrees for the last few days. Oddly enough, there hasn’t been any rain at all, not even the sporadic summer thunderstorm that goes with this kind of heat. There have been some pretty wild images on the weather radar, but it seems like everything was to the east and south of us. We do have a 50 percent chance of rain later today and into this evening, but we’ll have to see it to believe it. Even if it doesn’t rain, it looks like we will get a break from the heat with temperatures on Monday and Tuesday only getting into the 80’s. Unfortunately, after that the temperatures are headed back up.

Last weekend was the first weekend of Colleen’s summer break. I had been off for most of the week already. We decided to head to Costco last Sunday morning to top off our stores for the summer. We certainly didn’t spend as much money as we could have, but Colleen still had a go of it trying to fit everything into our freezers. With any luck, we have enough to hold us over until we figure out exactly what my retirement income will be and when it gets here during the month. Other than the morning Costco run, we didn’t do much for the rest of the day, but the day was hot enough that we found our way into the pool in the late afternoon. If the heat keeps up this summer in the same way it has started, that pool definitely will earn its keep this year. I don’t seem to remember using the pool that much last year.

Monday morning came around right on schedule, and it was time to start gearing up for our summer activities. Colleen and Roux went for their morning walk which up until Monday had been limited to weekends. The first thing I did was fire up the smoker with apple wood to smoke a pork butt. After my coffee and a little breakfast, I headed out for my walk which is now up to three and a half miles. Colleen used Monday to start her thorough summer cleaning routine. I spent the better part of my day organizing baseball cards, listing baseball cards for sale online, and playing phone tag with various people trying to make sure all my pension stuff was in order. We had smoked pork butt, corn on the cob and potato salad for dinner, and after dinner we found our way into the pool to cool off from the day’s heat.

Tuesday morning, I was up and out of the house early, because I had my 6-month checkup with the doctor. Everything worked out great. The doctor even took me off the blood thinners they put me on after my fall in January. My fractured vertebrae are still on the mend, but they are getting better every day. Colleen spent a good part of her day repotting her white agave plant that had four pups growing in the same pot. Each pup got its own pot, and now Colleen has five potted white agave plants. After dinner we headed into the pool again. It’s always a tossup whether to get into the water right before dinner or right after dinner.

We lost power at some point well before dawn on Wednesday morning. Roux woke me up because she was hot, so Colleen and I got up to let her out. Colleen went back to bed, but Roux and I hung out on the front porch waiting for the first light of day. When Colleen got up, she took Roux for a walk and when they got home, Colleen started gutting the kitchen to clean everything. The big event of the day was the guys showing up to start rebuilding our back deck. Colleen did sneak out to do some laundry, but mostly we just did our best to stay cool, because the daytime temperature set a new record and the heat index was 105 degrees. Colleen headed into the pool later in the evening. I was too worn out from no sleep and the heat, so I just sat in front of some fans.

The guys showed up to finish the porch first thing Thursday morning. Colleen headed down to the market, by herself, for our weekly run, because I needed to stick around the house while the guys worked. The hardest part of the day was carrying the groceries in from the street where Colleen had to part because the work trucks were in our driveway. The guys finished up the deck right after lunch and it turned out great. They even hauled off all the wood from the old porch. I suppose I would have just brought it down to the fire pit, but it was so much easier for them to get rid of it. After dinner, Colleen and I headed out to the pool to cool off for the evening.

I was up early Friday morning again and made my way out to the porch to wait for some daylight. Colleen was headed out the front door to walk Roux as the eastern horizon just started to glow. She has settled into these early morning walks now, because it is the coolest part of the day. SInce my walk was early, I ran into all sorts of critters along the way. After my walk, I pulled out the lawnmower and cut about half of the backyard. After that, the weed eater came out, and I cleaned up around the pool. That was about all my back could take for the day, and after lunch I took a 2-hour nap. Colleen was back in the kitchen cleaning her stove and oven for most of the day. After I got up, I spent my time listing more baseball cards for sale. After dinner, it was time to head to the pool, again.

I didn’t want to push my back yesterday after doing yard work on Friday. I had hoped one of the boys would show up to finish the backyard for me, but, alas, they did not. Colleen was back in her kitchen pulling everything out of a few cabinets to clean inside them. I spent the day in front of my computer except when I was taking a nap. Colleen started putting her plants back on the porch while I napped. After dinner, we were in the pool, again. Right before sunset, I took Roux for a short evening walk before I called it a day. The evening walks with Roux are now part of the routine and will be from now on since I am retired. I did have one heck of a time falling asleep last night though and was awake until almost 1 o’clock. The temperature still hadn’t dropped below 80 degrees at that point.

Today is going to be a slow day. There is a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms this afternoon, and the temperature is headed into the mid-90’s with a heat index pushing 105 degrees. Colleen has already walked Roux. I will definitely need a nap later. Mostly, it looks like Colleen and I will try to stay cool all day. With the likelihood of a triple digit heat index, Colleen and I will probably end up in the pool as long as the skies aren’t rumbling. No matter what happens though, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. As the sun starts to set, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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July 07, 2024: A Quiet 4th Of July, Oppressive Heat, Thunderstorms.

Another week has come and gone and with it was the start of July and the 4th of July holiday. Mother Nature really cranked up the heat for us too. The last half of the week, including the 4th, the mercury was dancing on both sides of 100 degrees with the heat index getting over 105. Of course, to go with the dogdays of summer, the atmosphere starts having spasmodic fits, and we get thunderstorms everywhere in the area. On the bright side, the unsettled air has given us gray cloud filled skies today and with the clouds, a break from the heat for today. There is a 50 percent chance of rain today, and the temperature for the day may not reach 90 degrees. Tomorrow, we get back to 95-plus degrees. Colleen and I have been home from school for less than a month and it’s already been a hot summer for us.

With nowhere in particular that we need to be, Colleen and I are losing track of what day it is. We even developed a morning routine if we do not have errands to run. Colleen takes Roux for a morning walk right at daybreak. When they get back, I have a little breakfast, and I go for a walk. My walks are now three miles or so and take a bit more than an hour. Anyway, that was how we started last Sunday. Colleen had a bee in her bonnet and spent the better part of the day cleaning up the pool patio. I did my usual writing and even took a nap. We did get a quick 20-minute thunderstorm in the evening. Fortunately, we had more than enough time to get into the pool and cool off before the storm came through the area.

Monday morning, we made a quick Walmart run and then treated ourselves to Hardee’s for lunch. It was a light Walmart run fortunately because finances are getting tight. I did make some more progress in getting my corporate pension squared away. I do have to talk to someone this coming Friday, but that is to get the beneficiaries, tax withholding, and direct deposit squared up. Unbelievably, I started submitting all the paperwork for my retirement income back in February. The money may be tight for a month or so, but I am confident everything will work out.

Tuesday after my morning walk and a short break, I pulled out the lawnmower and finished cutting the backyard. With all the rain we have had in the last week, it would surprise me if the yard did not need cutting again next week. Colleen finally got her new glasses and then had the cleaning bee in her bonnet. She started by cleaning and reorganizing all her greenhouses on the second-floor porch. I took a nap in the afternoon as much to beat the heat as anything else. After a dinner of Cuban sandwiches and French fries, Colleen and I headed out to the pool to cool off. We tend not to get into the pool in the afternoon because the sun is directly overhead.

After our morning walks on Wednesday, Colleen put out the rest of her solar powered garden decorations. A few of them are burnt out unfortunately, so they may need to be replaced. I pulled the weed eater out of the basement and got after the weeds in and around our raised bed gardens and the weeds that have replaced any grass in our front yard. That took me until just before noon. Colleen spent the afternoon trying to get her eyes used to her new glasses. Her new glasses have progressive lenses, and Colleen has been using Walmart reading glasses, so the adjustment is a bit of a struggle for her. After dinner we headed into the pool again and then had a quiet evening.

Thursday was the 4th of July. Compared to year’s ago, it was an incredibly quiet day up here on our little hill. When the kids were younger, July 4th was the only holiday we knew all the kids would be here, so we did it up with a big BBQ, a pool party, and fireworks. This year, Colleen and I started our day by heading to the market for our weekly run so we can take advantage of the senior discount. We did not do a whole lot else on the day. When the sun got far enough in the west for the trees to shade the pool, we were in it. When we got out of the pool, I grilled dinner, rib eye steak, corn on the cob, and a grill baked potato, all with a glass of wine to go with the meal. We went to bed later in the evening to the distant sound of fireworks.

Friday turned out to be the hottest day of the year around here. The mercury got through 100 degrees. The local airport set a new temperature record for the day at 106, and the news said the heat index hit 118. Colleen’s cleaning drive changed to the kitchen, and she started pulling everything out of the kitchen cabinets. The mail had a letter from the state about my insurance for retirement, so I spent the afternoon getting all that lined up. I even found out how much it would cost to add Colleen to my coverage when she retires. Colleen was looking at working long enough to get 10 years of service, but the cost to add her to my insurance is minimal so she only has to work two more years. Colleen was happy about that. In the early evening, we even managed to get some time in the pool before the thunderstorms rolled into the area.

Yesterday was hot right from the start, but not as hot as Friday. After our walks, Colleen headed back into the kitchen to clean the cabinet under the kitchen sink. I started getting everything ready out by the log splitter, so we can start moving, splitting, and stacking firewood soon. I even hauled one load of firewood up from the seasoning rack in our garden wagon to see how my back would do. I was surprised how easy it was, and while it will be slow going, my back seems like it will be fine. I guess we can start that little job next week, weather permitting. The day was mostly quiet for us. Colleen finished under the sink and then made Greek stuffed peppers which will be our dinner today. The skies got very noisy after we got out of the pool in the evening, but all we got was some wind and a little rain.

Colleen and I got up to mostly cloudy skies this morning, but we both took our walks, and the sun even peeked through the clouds every now and again. Colleen has her mind set on reclaiming and cleaning her workroom today. I have baseball cards to package up for tomorrow’s mail. I might even try to haul a couple of loads of firewood up to the splitter later too. Of course, that depends on what the weather does too. I am getting used to every day feeling like Saturday now that I’m retired, and it is wonderful. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At each day’s end, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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July 14, 2024: More Hot Temperatures And Heat Advisories, A Rainy Friday, And The Midsummer Family Gathering.

Sunday has snuck up on us again. It has been a hot week except for Friday when it rained all day, and the temperature only got up to 80 degrees. We did get some rain last Sunday, but it just made things steamy. We were under heat advisories Tuesday through Thursday with mercury climbing to 95 degrees or better, and the heat index each day was pushing 105 degrees. Yesterday was beautiful. The thermometer needle only got up to 90 degrees, and we had blue skies with plenty of sunshine all day long. Today, we’re headed back up to 95 degrees under bright summer sunshine. Later this afternoon, Colleen and I will almost certainly find our way into the pool once it is covered in shade.

Everything was quiet around here last Sunday. The skies were gray, but the rain held off until lunchtime, so Colleen got to walk Roux, and I got to take my morning walk. Colleen spent the better part of her day cleaning and organizing her workroom upstairs. I hung out on the front porch. A dandy thunderstorm blew though, but fortunately the wind didn’t blow the rain onto the porch. Colleen did come up with another project for my “To-Do” list. I need to put the runners back on a small drawer for something in her workroom. Colleen didn’t feel like cooking and with the rain falling, I couldn’t grill, so we had leftovers for dinner. We spent the evening relaxing, and the rain stopped at some point during the night.

Monday morning there was a foggy mist hanging in the treetops to start the day. That didn’t last long once the sun got high enough in the sky. We brought the Trail Blazer to the shop for an oil change and checkup. The shop had the Trail Blazer ready mid-morning, and we had the Trail Blazer back home before lunch. In the afternoon, Colleen was back upstairs cleaning her workroom after that. I emptied all my school related things from a bookcase in the living room and the credenza in the family room. I will give all the useful school stuff to a friend of mine who is a middle school math teacher. After dinner, Colleen and I headed into the pool for a while, and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

After I got back from my morning walk on Tuesday, Colleen headed down to the laundromat. While she was gone, I started taking all the components out of our old entertainment center. The wires behind the entertainment center were a mess, so I made sure I labeled them all properly. When Colleen got home, she started drying the wet laundry and then cleaned up all the components from the entertainment center. I had to order a couple of cans of air duster so I can blow the dust out of everything before it goes in the new entertainment center. We probably won’t get to putting that together until this week. Colleen cleaned the old entertainment center, and we brought it up to her workroom so she could use it for storage or something. I did get to take a nap in the afternoon, and as the mercury climbed to 95 degrees during the day, in the early evening Colleen and I found our way into the pool.

Wednesday started out like most summer days around here. Colleen took Roux for a walk at sunup and on their return, I headed out for my three-and-a-half-mile walk. After a break to cool down once I got home, I thoroughly vacuumed the family room carpet. The carpet under where the entertainment center had been needed to be cleaned, but I also know that vacuuming and steam cleaning in the same day would not work for my back. Colleen spent most of her day up in her workroom again. After lunch I took a quick nap and spent my afternoon working with baseball cards. We both were in the pool again after dinner though.

Thursday was crazy busy around here. The morning started out like most days with Colleen walking Roux, but we needed to start getting ready for our planned family gathering on Saturday. I didn’t go for my usual walk, instead Colleen and I headed down to the market. When we got back, I steamed cleaned the family room carpet while Colleen put the groceries away. With that done, it was time for me to smoke three racks of ribs. Colleen baked some biscuits for Saturday and then finally finished up with the cleaning and reorganizing of her workroom. We got to try some ribs for dinner along with the biscuits and some potato salad Colleen had made earlier in the week for dinner. The ribs turned out great! After dinner it was time to relax in the pool.

The rain was already falling when Colleen and I got up Friday morning, so nobody went for a morning walk. Colleen did manage to sneak out when we had a break in the rain to open the hen coop and got back inside before the skies opened up again. Colleen spent the morning making pasta salads for our family gathering yesterday. I spent a good part of the morning on the phone trying to get my corporate pension squared away. I guess it went okay, but now, I’m waiting for more paperwork to come in the mail to finalize everything. Colleen made some carrot cake cupcakes and some cream cheese frosting in the afternoon. I took some time Friday afternoon to read. My new glasses are wonderful. We finally got a break in the rain around 6:30, and we even saw some sunshine, so I headed out for an evening walk to eve my day.

Yesterday was the day for our midsummer family gathering at Al and Alysia’s place. The morning started off foggy again, but I texted everyone in the morning to let them know what time they had to be there. Louis had to work so he couldn’t make it. We loaded up the Trail Blazer, and boy, oh boy, did Roux get excited when I put her harness on her because she knew she wasn’t going to be left behind. We were the first ones there. Colleen helped Alysia get things ready. James texted me to let me know something came up and he and Donna couldn’t make it. Ariel had to work, so Steven brought Lily and Jaxon. Alex fell asleep and got there late. Everybody there had a great time. There was plenty of food and everyone went home with leftovers. Colleen headed into the pool when we got home. I waited for the day to cool off and I went for an evening walk before calling it a day.

Colleen and I slept well last night. She was up before me and had already walked Roux when I came downstairs today. It seems we are both running low on motivation this morning though. Even Roux wasn’t very energetic this morning. I will go for my walk in a bit, but I’m not sure what I will do after that. The family room carpet is dry, so we want to put the large area rug back down today. I guess we’ll just have to see how the day goes. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When the evenings roll around, we’ll catch our breath, look around, and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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July 21, 2024: Blistering Heat, Thunderstorms And Rain, And The Firewood Is Moved Ready To Be Split.

Holy Cow! July is flying by like June did. We have not had any hurricanes headed this way yet, but last week the weather was all over the map. Mother Nature tried to melt our brains with scorching heat to start the week. Sunday through Wednesday, the heat index eclipsed 100 degrees and on Monday and Tuesday it was over 105 degrees. Wednesday evening everything turned around with rain. Starting Thursday, the high temperatures have stayed below 90 degrees, but the atmosphere is unstable, so there were thunderstorms in the afternoons and evenings. The rain was great fir the gardens. It looks like that will be how the month of July will end, and we still have a week and a half to go.

Last Sunday was one of those hot days. Colleen and I did our walking early in the morning, but still came home soaked in sweat. Colleen spent a good part of the day working on her cookbooks. I spent the better part of the day writing or napping. Being retired now, I’m getting quite adept at taking afternoon naps. Fortunately, we brought some leftover ribs home from our family get together on Saturday, so dinner was easy. After dinner, Colleen and I finally got the large area rug put back down in the family room. Colleen was worried about me lifting the sofa so we could get the edge of the rug underneath the sofa, but a small pry bar made for a convenient lever. I lifted the sofa just high enough to slide the rug underneath without any effort at all. After that we headed into the pool to relax.

Monday was hot again, but there were things to be done. After our morning walks, Colleen made an eggplant lasagna and then dove into cleaning kitchen cabinets. Her idea of cleaning is to pull everything out of the cabinet, clean everything, clean the inside of the cabinet, and then put everything back into the cabinet. Needless to say, this was not a one-day project. Knowing I needed to get out of the house , I grabbed my work gloves and headed outside. I got the garden wagon and headed down to the seasoning racks to start hauling firewood up the hill. It was slow going because of the heat outside, and I did not want to blow out my back or blow up my heart. I moved the firewood I could and then spent the better part of the afternoon relaxing.

Tuesday started off with our walks. Colleen headed down to the laundromat after I got back home. While she was gone, I cut half of the backyard. Colleen spent the rest of her day drying laundry and cleaning cabinets. After lunch and a nap, I moved some more firewood. We were expecting rain on Wednesday, so I headed out to the garden after dinner and collected all the banana peppers that were ready. I wanted to get Colleen the peppers before the rain came. Once Colleen had finished cleaning the kitchen after dinner, we headed into the pool to relax. The rain didn’t show up until sunset.

The skies were overcast Wednesday morning, but it was still warm. Once I got home from my walk, it was a race against the weather. I cut the second half of the backyard and then brought more firewood up the hill from the seasoning rack up to the log splitter. Fortunately, the rain held off until dinner time. Colleen kept cleaning her kitchen cabinets. She finished them too. After dinner we both relaxed. Right around sunset we got a break in the rain. Colleen locked up the hen coop for the night, and I let Roux out for her last call of the day.

Colleen got to walk Roux Thursday morning, but I didn’t get my walk. Instead, we headed to the market for our weekly grocery shopping. While Colleen put the groceries away, I brought the last of the firewood up from the seasoning rack. There is still a good bit of wood on the ground, but I’m going to need the boys to quarter it, so I can handle the pieces. Right now, most of the firewood on the ground is too big for me to pick up. There is still quite a bit out beyond the wood line the boys need to retrieve as well. Colleen headed upstairs in the afternoon to start cleaning and reorganizing the master bedroom. I managed to take a walk after dinner when we had a break in the rain.

Friday was gray and overcast from the start. Colleen and I both managed to get our morning walks without getting wet. Colleen headed back upstairs to clean the master bedroom. I finally decided it was time to put our new entertainment center together. It had been in its box in the entryway since before I fell off the back porch at the end of January. I had it all put together before lunch. After lunch I took a nap in the spare bedroom while Colleen kept cleaning the master bedroom. After dinner, I put the components into the entertainment center and got everything wired up correctly. I even found three remotes that work.

Yesterday, I did nothing! Colleen finished cleaning and reorganizing the master bedroom. One of the components I originally removed from the old entertainment center was a PS2. The PS5 is on the store shelves now, and the PS6 is scheduled to come out next year. I also found a video game for the PS2, and I wanted to see if the PS2 still worked. I hooked it up to the big screen in the living room, it worked, and I played the video game all afternoon and well into the evening. Colleen was actually very happy I had taken the day off and was relaxing. Colleen put the finishing touches on the bedroom, did a little bit of work in her workroom, and made chicken creole for dinner. After dinner we relaxed, me on the video game, and Colleen watching a movie upstairs.

There are more thunderstorms in today’s forecast, but this morning is cool and there is sunshine. Colleen was already back home from walking Roux when I came downstairs this morning. I will head out for my walk after a little breakfast. After that we’ll just have to see where the day takes us. I do have some baseball cards to package up for tomorrow’s mail and Colleen wants to prep some meals for the coming week. The weather doesn’t look like it will change much for the coming week either. It seems like every day has thunderstorms in the forecast for the afternoons and evenings. There isn’t much we can do about the weather though. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When each day is done, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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July 28, 2024: More Thunderstorms And Rain, A Baseball Game, Finally Splitting Firewood.

We certainly had a major change in our weather last week. After struggling with a very hot first part of July, we got some relief from the heat last week with rain and lots of it. We had either afternoon and evening thunderstorms, or it was gray and rainy all day long. We did get a brief respite from the rain on Wednesday afternoon and evening. This weekend, however, has been nothing but sunshine. I guess Mother Nature was feeling sorry for us. All the rain we had filled the pool to the point of overflowing, but at least the gardens stayed well-watered. It looks like we are in for much of the same weather pattern for the upcoming week as well.

The rain held off long enough last Sunday morning for Colleen to walk Roux and for me to take my morning walk. Mother Nature taunted us with a little sunshine to start the day, but we could hear the rumble of distant thunder after lunch. I spent the day writing or working with baseball cards. Colleen spent her day cooking in the kitchen. Interestingly enough, I found an old PlayStation 2 when I pulled apart the old entertainment center. Sunday evening, I hooked it up to the big screen TV in the living room, checked it out to see if it still worked which it did, and got to play video games for a bit. At least now, I don’t have to give it up to the kids or listen to the kids yelling at the TV when the game doesn’t work out the way they want it to work out.

Monday morning was wet. The rain rolled into the area around midnight on Sunday, but by dawn there was a long enough break for Colleen to walk Roux and for me to get my morning walk. I was home for 15 minutes and the rain started falling again. Monday turned out to be a weird day for me. That day would have been my first day going back to school with the kids if I hadn’t retired. I ended up just bumping around the house all day. Thankfully, I had the PlayStation to keep me occupied. The sun made a cameo appearance later in the afternoon, but it was steamy. Colleen did a little bit of cooking and a whole lot of cleaning on the day. My biggest frustration of the day was looking at a pile of un-split firewood by the log splitter, knowing that it needed to be split and stacked, and knowing I could not do anything about it because of the weather.

Tuesday was not much better than Monday. A dandy thunderstorm woke me up at 4 o’clock in the morning so I just stayed up. The thunderstorm moved out of the area right before sunrise, so Colleen took Roux for her morning walk. I went walking when they got back. Everything was still very wet outside, so I couldn’t do any work in the yard. Colleen was in a mood to clean, and she spent most of the day upstairs cleaning the master bedroom. I got tired of just bumping around so I started cleaning up in the dining room. My school backpack had been sitting on the floor since I came home on my last day of school. I decided it was time to empty it. I even shocked Colleen by throwing the backpack away after it was empty. It was pretty beat up.

Everything was still wet Wednesday morning, but it was not raining. Colleen walked Roux before I got up and came downstairs. When I got back from my walk, Colleen headed to the laundromat. I had plans to go to a baseball game with some friends on Wednesday evening, but I had promised one of my friends I would give him most of my neckties once I retired. I spent part of the morning going through my ties, folding them up neatly, and putting them in a box. I had enough Christmas ties alone to wear a different one every day from aftervthe Thanksgiving break until the last day of school before Christmas break, I and still would not have worn all of them. Colleen and I had a big lunch. She kept cleaning, and I got cleaned up. The rain held off until midnight, and my friends and I had a great time at the ballgame. That was only the second time I left our hill for anything other than necessary errands.

There was a break in the rain Thursday morning, so Colleen headed out for a walk with Roux. They didn’t quite make it home before the rain started again. Later in the morning, we headed down to the market. There was not much for me to do during the day, so I played video games and took a nap after lunch. Colleen put the groceries away and then went back to her cleaning. The rain broke right around dinner time. After dinner, I went out to check our gardens. I had to laugh while I was in the garden too, because between the rain and the warm temperatures, our cucumber vines had started looking like Kudzu taking over a whole corner of one of our gardens. I did get to go for a walk after that, finally.

Friday morning everything was still wet, but the sun was up despite a hazy start to the day. After my morning walk, I grabbed the weed eater and cleaned up a good portion of the front yard, around the garden fences, and around the raised bed gardens. Colleen was still cleaning. When I was done knocking the weeds down, I harvested a good many peppers and the first okra of the year. Colleen took a break from her cleaning to make a strawberry pound cake and some coleslaw. Colleen and I had not gotten a takeout pizza in a good while, and as both my Social Security check and my school pension check had made it into our bank account, we treated ourselves to takeout pizza for dinner.

Things were dry enough Saturday morning, so I had to decide to start splitting firewood or cut the grass in the backyard. I figured the grass could wait. Colleen stacked while I split the firewood. Usually, I would throw the split firewood in front of the rack, but given my back is still on the mend, I opted for loading the split wood into a wagon or wheelbarrow whichever Colleen was not unloading. It worked out quite well and there was less of a mess to clean up. We worked on the firewood until noon when the sun and the day’s heat chased us inside. After lunch, Colleen started cleaning her closet. I packaged up some baseball cards for the mail and listed a bunch more for sale on eBay. Steven said he might stop by to help with the firewood, but it was also his weekend to get Lily. I guess he got tied up because he never made it.

There is no chance of rain today, but the rain does come back tomorrow. After our walks today, Colleen and I will split and stack some more firewood. With any luck, Alex will swing by the house today to help. I need him to quarter the big pieces of wood still on the ground by the seasoning rack so I can lift and move the wood up the hill behind the splitter. Last year, we had all the winter ready racks filled and covered. We only have a little less than a rack and a half filled this year, but I have plenty of time now that I’m retired. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 04, 2024: Still More Heat, Thunderstorms, And Rain, A Doctor’s Appointment, And A Hurricane Headed Our Way.

It certainly has been a week of extreme weather. We had a few days of sweltering heat, a whole bunch of thunderstorms in the late afternoons and early evenings, plenty of rain at other times, and this morning it is sunny and a very pleasant 75 degrees. Of course, with that being said, there are more thunderstorms in the forecast for later this afternoon. Just to make things even more interesting, tropical storm Debby is spinning in the Gulf of Mexico. It looks like it will turn into a hurricane before it makes landfall. It probably will not be a hurricane by the time it reaches us, but it will bring us a good bit more rain. Needless to say, next week will be very wet.

Last Sunday was a busy day up here on our little hill, especially in the morning. Trying to beat the heat of the day, Colleen and I started splitting and stacking firewood. James and Alex showed up at the house and started quartering the pile of round firewood on the ground down by our seasoning racks. Colleen will not let me swing a maul anymore because of the aneurysm on my aorta, and I cannot lift a whole round. With quarter rounds I can load a few into our garden wagon and pull them up the hill to the log splitter. The sun and the heat got the best of us by noon. Colleen fried up some brats, and the boys and I had lunch out on the front porch. Colleen and I played catch up for the rest of the day.

Monday started out okay. Colleen had time to walk Roux, and I had time to take my morning walk. We were expecting rain, so I decided to tackle the living room carpet. I moved as much of the furniture out of the way as I could and gave the open carpet area a good vacuuming. Colleen wanted to clean behind the entertainment center with the big screen TV, so we pulled that out of its corner. After Colleen had everything cleaned to her satisfaction, I steam cleaned the carpet on that corner. Colleen proceeded to clean the entertainment center. Colleen spent her afternoon in her workroom, and I listed more baseball cards for sale online.

Tuesday turned out to be a hot and dry day. After my morning walk, I hauled some of the firewood the boys had quartered up to the log splitter. Colleen spent the better part of her day sewing in her workroom. She was patching my overalls. After dinner, the backyard was in shade, so I cut half of it. Unfortunately, I was not paying attention, and I blew a bunch of grass clippings onto the pool patio and the pool mat. When Colleen headed out to the pool after dinner, she was none too happy about having to clean everything up. I still haven’t cut the second half of the backyard, and I’ll need to get after some parts of it with a weed eater too.

I didn’t sleep well Tuesday night and was not up to going for a walk Wednesday morning. When I finally did clear the cobwebs out of my head, Colleen and I moved the big screen TV back to its corner, and I steam cleaned the open area of the living room carpet. I finished right at lunchtime and took a nap after lunch. Colleen was in her workroom organizing things she had pulled out of her closet. I did finally go for my walk, but that was well after dinner when the day had cooled down some.

Thursday was an unusual day. Colleen had her annual visit to the doctor in the morning. The appointment went well, and all her blood work came back just fine. After she got home, we turned around and headed out to the market. Colleen’s market list was short, but we still exceeded our budget. I sure do not know what our government is looking at these days, but the economy is not getting better. Colleen headed back to her workroom in the afternoon, and I sat out on the front porch darning socks. I did manage to get out in the garden and pick a few peppers and some cucumbers. We are going to have a lot of cucumbers this year.

Friday morning Colleen headed down to the laundromat. After she got back, we headed out to the log splitter, and while I split the firewood, she stacked the sticks. We did that until noon when the shade on that side of the house disappeared. We’ve managed to almost get the second half cord rack filled. Colleen’s back started bothering her, so she took it easy for the afternoon. Even though our budget is tight, I suggested we get takeout for dinner, so Colleen did not have to work in the kitchen making dinner. Of course, we had a thunderstorm, a stout breeze, and then a steady rain Friday evening. At least, the temperatures cooled off and the gardens got watered.

The rain in yesterday’s forecast held off until the middle of the afternoon. Colleen and I both got to take our morning walks. The living room carpet was finally dry, so I pulled all the furniture onto the clean area so I could get to the rest of the carpet. I gave it a good vacuuming and will probably steam clean it today. Colleen spent most of the day sorting through a box of pictures she had pulled out of her closet. It was the last thing from her closet she needed to do. The thunderstorms showed up in the middle of the afternoon again, our electricity blipped off and then back on a couple of times, and we had small rivers of water running through the yard. Mostly though, we took it easy yesterday.

Today looks like we will be a little busy. After Colleen cleans the walls in the living room that are usually behind the furniture, I will steam clean that section of the carpet. I do have a bunch of baseball cards to package up for tomorrow’s mail after that. We are keeping an eye on Debby too, which is getting stronger and will ultimately bring us even more rain for the week ahead of us. There are thunderstorms in this afternoon’s forecast too. Colleen and I will just keep chugging along, taking everything one day at a time. Regardless of what comes our way, at day’s end we will look around and smile because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 11, 2024: Debby Has Come And Gone, Everything Is Still Wet, But The Sun Is Shining Today!

We saw our first hurricane of the year last week in these parts, and it took its sweet old time getting here and then moving out of the area. We did not get much in the way of wind, but we sure did get a lot of rain. The creeks and rivers were swollen over their banks, there was a good bit of flooding, and a few trees got uprooted. A few counties east of us got hit with tornadoes too. Colleen and I primarily just got stuck in the house. A few dead limbs fell out of the trees and that was about all that happened up here on our little hill. The last real rain we got ended about 8 o’clock Friday morning. Yesterday was sunny, hot and humid. Today should not be quite as hot as yesterday, and everything will keep drying out.

Last Sunday, Debby had just made landfall and was moving at a crawl. It was a beautiful day around here, but Colleen and I had cleaning to do. I had moved all the furniture in the living room on Saturday, so Colleen cleaned the walls before I tackled the carpet with the steam cleaner. Between our usual Sunday activities and cleaning the living room, we pretty much chewed up the whole day. After dinner, we got treated to a visit from a doe and her spotted dawn while we were relaxing on the front porch. The evening skies got a little cloudy, but we did not get a drop of rain.

The rain had not reached us by Monday morning, so after our morning walks, I got the log splitter going and split firewood while Colleen stacked the firewood in the racks. Last year, we had over three cords stacked and ready for the winter by mid-July. Tuesday, we finished filling our second half cord rack and started on the third rack. Since it did not look like any rain would reach us until later Tuesday night, I smoked a pork butt after lunch. While the pork butt was smoking, I checked our gardens. I picked some pepper, okra, and cucumbers. I also noticed something had ravaged our bush beans, because all that was left were bare plant stalks.

Tuesday morning turned out to be dry too. After our morning walks, Colleen and I put the living room back together since the carpet had dried. Once the furniture was back in place, I gave the whole room a good vacuuming. Colleen had pulled out her cast iron Dutch oven in the meantime and started simmering the pork butt so it would break down and we could use the pork for sandwiches. As the day wore on and Debby got closer, my back started to let me know the storm was near with a dull, unending ache. The first of Debby’s rain showed up in the early evening.

Wednesday morning, the outer bands of Debby had finally reached us, and everything was wet. We got a break in the rain during the morning, so Colleen and I took our walks. I took care of the last piece of my retirement insurance, getting signed up for dental and vision coverage, when I got back from my walk. Colleen spent time in the kitchen making a macaroni salad and baking some bread. My back was screaming louder as Debby got closer, and I ended up having to lay down for a bit in the afternoon. Other than that, Colleen and I just puttered around the house all day. I guess the weather got to Roux as well, because she just camped on the loveseat for a better part of the day.

Thursday, we got soaked with rain from Debby. Rain or not, Colleen and I had errands to run. Since the weather precluded any chance of a morning walk for anybody, Colleen and I headed down the road a little after 9 o’clock. Having the Trail Blazer was a definite advantage driving in the rain. After a quick stop at a local discount department store, we headed to the market. Colleen and I walked through the store, got what we needed, checked out, and headed home. We did not get very wet getting everything into the house. On our way home, we stopped at the bottom of the hill to look at “Wash Out” creek, which was way over its bank, but not yet over the road. The last major band of rain from Debby ended about 1 o’clock in the afternoon and shortly thereafter, I went for my daily walk. Colleen and I still pretty much stayed inside for the rest of the day after that.

We got a little more rain Friday morning. Colleen and Roux had to cut their morning walk short when it started to rain on them. The rain ended soon enough, and Colleen headed down to the laundromat. I spent most of the day listing baseball cards for sale online. Colleen who had spent most of her week cleaning one thing or another washed every piece of her china and anything else that was in her hutch. By mid-afternoon, she was upstairs going through a filing cabinet and decided I needed to order a paper shredder to get rid of 20-year-old financial and custody documents. It was a good thing it was Friday, because that gave us a legit excuse to get pizza for dinner.

It did not rain yesterday! In fact, despite everything still being wet, the sun came out and the day heated up to over 90 degrees. After my morning walk, I hauled all of the quarter rounds James and Alex had split two weekends ago up to the log splitter. Alex showed up right before noon and quartered all the remaining rounds that were down by the seasoning rack. That wood will stay there until I split the firewood I moved. Alex hung around for a bit when he finished. Colleen made sure he went home with a bag full of groceries when he did leave. After dinner, Colleen and I found time to go into the pool. To finish off our evening, Colleen put a movie on and sat in front of the paper shredder that Amazon had delivered. She filled up a trash bag before she called it quits for the night.

There is no rain in today’s forecast. Things have started to dry out too. Colleen and I will take our morning walks, and when I get back, we will try to split and stack all the firewood I hauled up the hill yesterday. Hopefully after that we can take it easy because Colleen’s summer break is winding down. She goes back to school in a week and a half. I figure being retired will finally sink into my head while I am bumping around the house alone. No matter what happens though, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. Every day when the sun sets, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 18, 2024: It Was A Dry Week, We Got Things Done, THe Heat Came Back, Colleen Starts School On Wednesday… UGH!

After a week where Debby gave us a good soaking, the last week was dry. Roux enjoyed definitely not being stuck in the house. The temperatures stayed below 85 degrees for the first half of the week, and the humidity was low. By Friday, though, the mercury and the humidity both started creeping up. Friday and Saturday, the thermometer needle touched 90 degrees, and it looks like we are headed there again today. I guess Mother Nature wants to make sure that we do not forget it is still summer. Things are supposed to cool down some more this coming week, and we may even see morning temperatures below 60 degrees. The coming week should be mostly dry too.

Last Sunday was the first relatively dry day we had had in a while, so Colleen and I spent all morning splitting and stacking firewood. I split the wood and Colleen stacked it. The firewood pretty much took it out of us for the day too. Colleen puttered around the house in the afternoon, and I took a nap. That evening while I was on the front porch, I caught sight of the varmint that wiped out our bush beans. Oh well, it is time to start thinking about a fall garden anyway.

Monday morning was ideal for working outside and after my morning walk, I spent the rest of the morning mowing the backyard. That had to be the first time in more than a year that I mowed the whole yard in one go. Usually, it takes me two days, but the summer heat probably had something to do with that. Colleen spent the better part of the day cleaning around the house and then shredding old documents. Some of the documents were really old too, like check stubs from the 1990’s.

Tuesday, was beautiful and after my morning walk, I finished the work in the backyard by pulling out the weed eater and knocking down all the weeds on the property lines and around the wood piles. There was no way I would have been able to do it Monday afternoon. Colleen ran to the laundromat while I was out walking. With the clothes drying in the basement, Colleen cleaned her baker’s rack and everything on it. After Colleen finished cleaning, she got back to shredding old documents. She even did some more shredding after dinner.

Wednesday morning was the first morning in quite a while that the temperature dropped below 65 degrees. I took my usual walk and when I got home, I had a text message from an assistant principal for whom I had once worked. They found out I had retired and were curious as to whether or not I would be interested in coming out of retirement. My answer was “NO!”, but they understood after the last year and a half I had. After lunch, I started hauling the quartered rounds Alex had split the last Saturday. I guess I got a little more than half the wood pulled up the hill before Colleen had dinner ready. I got into the gardens too, and picked some very nice peppers. After dinner, Colleen and I watched a movie on the big screen TV. We had not done that since last Christmas.

Thursday morning, Colleen and I headed down to the market to do our weekly grocery shopping. While Colleen was putting the groceries away once we got home, I brought the rest of the split quarter rounds up the hill to the log splitter. There is still quite a bit that the boys need to bring out of the woods and quarter for us. Colleen spent the afternoon shredding more documents in her workroom, and I took a nap. After dinner we watched another movie. I did take a walk after the movie so I would not miss a day of my cardio-exercise. I am glad we got the time to relax and enjoy the movie though, because Colleen’s summer break is quickly coming to an end. She has to go back to school this coming Wednesday.

Friday morning after my walk, Colleen and I were outside splitting and stacking firewood. I split the wood, and Colleen stacked the wood. I guess we worked for a good three hours, but we got it all done. We topped off our third half-cord rack, and we got about three quarters of a fourth rack filled. We hope to have six or seven racks filled before the weather turns cold enough that we need to put a fire in the fireplace. Last year, we were done by mid-July right before the doctors found my aorta aneurysm and limited my physical activity. Fortunately, the evening was quiet and peaceful.

Yesterday was a strange day. The 90-degree heat came back with a vengeance, and I didn’t feel like doing anything. I did go for my walk and ended up taking a nap after I got home, put on some dry clothes, and cooled off. The highlight of my day wass some visitors in the backyard. Colleen spent the morning prepping meals for the upcoming week. After lunch, I took another nap and then sat on the front porch and read until I had to fire up the grill for dinner. I grilled a baked potato, some zucchini squash, and a ribeye steak which Colleen and I split. After dinner we watched a movie. It is a good thing Colleen got something done on the day, because I certainly was not in the picture much.

Today is going to get hot again with the chance of thunderstorms later this afternoon. I will take my morning walk in a little while. Colleen mentioned something about canning dill pickles with the extra cucumbers from our gardens this morning. Unfortunately, though, this is Colleen’s last free weekend before she goes back to school. If the boys show up, they will split more wood for me to haul up to the log splitter, because there is nothing I can move now. Once Colleen goes back to school, I will try to do what I can around the house, so she has less to do on weekends. Still, like always, we will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the day’s end when the sun sets, we can look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 25, 2024: It Was An Awesome Week! We Had Cool Tempertures, Lots Of Sunshine, And No Rain. Colleen’s Summer Break Is Over Though, And She Is Back In School.

Mother Nature put together one fine week of weather for us last week. We had a few days in the middle of the week that were more like late September rather than late August. Our mornings would start with the mercury in the thermometer between 50 and 55 degrees and the days’ high temperatures would stay below 80 degrees. The temperatures did start to heat up yesterday, and by the middle of next week, that old thermometer needle could be flirting with 100 degrees again. To go along with the cooler temperatures last week, we had plenty of sunshine and not a drop of rain. It does not look like rain will work its way back into the forecast until next weekend either. We even had a bright full moon to start the week. Needless to say, without any rain, I got back into the routine of watering our gardens.

Last Sunday was a quiet day. Colleen walked Roux first thing in the morning, and I took my morning walk not long after they got back. It was Colleen’s last weekend of her summer break so there was not a lot of motivation running around the house. Colleen made and canned a couple of batches of dill pickles with extra cucumbers from our garden. We were expecting the boys to show up and quarter some firewood for us, but they got tied up and never made it to the house. The evening was just as quiet and uneventful as the day had been. I was thankful, because it seemed like Colleen had been going nonstop for her entire summer break.

Colleen had walked Roux and was back home before I ever made it downstairs on Monday. While I was out walking, Colleen headed down to the laundromat. After my walk, I pulled the power washer out of the basement, and Colleen and I washed the Trail Blazer. That took us most of the morning. After lunch I headed into the garden and brought a bag full of peppers, okra, and cucumbers back into the house. That was pretty much all we did on the day, opting to spend more time relaxing. It really was a beautiful afternoon. After dinner we even watched a movie on the big screen TV.

Tuesday morning Colleen decided she had to do something with all the produce I collected from our gardens on Monday. She opted to pickle everything and ended up with four quarts of a medley of pickled garden veggies. She calls it “Sweep The Kitchen”. After lunch, Colleen got everything ready for her first day of school on Wednesday. I spent the afternoon sorting baseball cards and making my Wednesday “To-Do” list. After dinner, everything was quiet and low key. Colleen was not looking forward to heading into school in the morning, and I wanted to make sure I could do as many chores around the house as I could, so Colleen had that much less about which to worry.

Colleen headed to school at her usual time Wednesday morning, even though it was just a teacher workday. I got up when she left. With first light, I opened the hen coop and then took Roux for her morning walk. Once I got home, I got going on my day. The driveway was a mess with sticks, twigs, and chewed hickory nuts, so I cleaned it off, then I cleaned off the front porch. After lunch, I put all the dry dishes from Tuesday evening away and then washed all the dirty dishes in the sink. The afternoon was mine, and Colleen was tickled pink when she got home.

Colleen left for school dark and early Thursday morning and when the sun came up, I opened the hen coop and walked Roux which I quickly figured out was the new early morning routine around here. I cleaned up after walking Roux and then headed to the market for my first solo market run. I did have to text Colleen about a few things, but nothing major. When I got home, I got everything into the house and even put most of the groceries away. After lunch, I did the dishes again and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and enjoying a beautiful day.

When Friday morning got here, Colleen left early like usual, and I ran through my morning routine with the chickens and Roux. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning at that too. I cleaned and vacuumed the family and living rooms in the morning and did the dishes after lunch. Colleen had a tough day at school on Friday between meetings and having to set the software up on her new school computer. She was very happy to come home to a clean house, and we got takeout pizza for dinner. We surely did not do much Friday evening.

Yesterday was a busy day up here on our little hill. Colleen opened up the hen coop and walked Roux. I took my morning walk and then got the weed eater. I had to restring the weed eater before I fired it up. I knocked down all the weeds around the fire pit and back by the firewood seasoning racks. I was expecting the boys to show up and quarter more rounds yesterday. Alex was the only one that showed up, he came equipped with some very long ropes and pulleys. He rigged the rope and pulleys up so he could drag whole logs out from beyond the wood line. He ended up pulling four 12 to 15-foot logs up to the seasoning racks. Colleen made a macaroni salad in the morning and a large batch of Greek stuffed peppers in the afternoon.

Colleen was up with the sun this morning and took care of the chickens and walked Roux. Surprisingly, there is not a lot to be done around here today. I will go for my walk in a little while and maybe work with my baseball cards this afternoon. Colleen will get her lunch ready for tomorrow. I decided that I will not make a “To-Do” list for Sundays, so I can just meander through the day. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the day comes to an end, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 01, 2024: Another Blast Of Summer Heat, A Full Week Of School For Colleen, Retirement Suits Me Well, And Fall Is Right Around The Corner.

And just like that, another week has passed, and another month has passed. Today is the first day of September which means summer is waning, fall is just three weeks away, and we are in the peak of Atlantic hurricane season. Mother Nature did not want us to forget that summer is still with us though. She ran up last week’s temperatures well into the 90’s, and we had several days with the heat index over 100 degrees. In the way of an exclamation point to the heat, we had a couple of heavy thunderstorms during the week too. Today, the mercury may not get to 90 degrees, but there is a good chance we will see a rogue thunderstorm later this afternoon or evening. The skies are mostly cloudy now and are likely to stay that way all day. On the bright side, the temperatures will cool down considerably in the upcoming week.

Last Sunday was quiet and peaceful up here on our little hill. Colleen was not looking forward to her first full week back to school on Monday, and I decided that I wasn’t going to put together a “To-Do” on Sundays. Colleen was back from walking Roux before I ever came downstairs to start my day. I took a good long walk after I had a little breakfast and spent the rest of my day organizing and listing baseball cards for sale on eBay. Colleen tried relaxing as best she could, but ultimately ended up puttering around the house, getting everything ready she needed to take to school with her in the morning.

If I was worried about not having enough to do around the house when Colleen was at school, I quickly figured out that it was not going to happen. I get up every morning when she leaves for school, spend a little time on the front porch, and then check my “To-Do” list for the day. The first two things on the list every morning is opening the hen coop for the day and taking Roux for her walk. Once Roux and I get home, I take care of a housework chore or two and then tackle whatever my big thing is for the day which on Monday meant digging out the fire pit to get ready for the fall. After lunch, I put away any dry dishes and then wash and dirty dishes. The afternoons, until Colleen gets home, are mine to do as I see fit.

Thursday turned out to be a hot and crazy day for everyone though. I opened the hen coop and walked Roux like usual to start the day, but then I had to do the market run for the week. When I got home, I put all the groceries away and got cleaned up. After lunch, I needed to go to the oral surgeon’s office with Alex. It was just a consultation, but Colleen and I are paying for everything to help Alex out. Colleen had to leave school early because the AC at her school was not working. I think one teacher fainted from the heat too. Colleen was home before me, but once I got home everything was calm and quiet.

Friday, Alex took the day off from work to take me fishing. The first place we wanted to go was mired in ankle-deep mud and infested with mosquitoes. It did not take us long to figure out we did not want to fish there. Our second choice of fishing spots was dry and mosquito free. Unfortunately, the fish weren’t biting. When Alex dropped me off at the house after a few hours of fishing, the skies were starting to get dark. Maybe an hour after that, we got hit with one heck of a thunderstorm. Colleen got caught in the storm on her way home. Fortunately, despite the tricky driving conditions, Colleen made it home safely. We treated ourselves to Mexican takeout for dinner.

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day. Colleen experimented with a recipe she found online. In the afternoon, she sat down to pay our end of the month bills. James called me first thing in the morning to let me know he could not come to the house to rebuild our front porch stairs because he had to work. My motivation was running low anyway, so I spent most of my day listing baseball cards for sale. I wanted to use up as many free listing spots as I could for August. Overall, the day was mostly slow paced and quiet, and I even went for a short, second walk after dinner.

I am not sure what today has in store for us. Colleen’s not under the gun to get meals ready for the upcoming week because tomorrow is Labor Day, and she does not have school. I will take my morning walk before too long. There are signs of summer waning starting to pop up everywhere. Colleen’s Solomon Seal plants are starting to yellow, the leaves in the poplar trees are starting to change color, and there are noticeably cooler temperatures forecast for the week ahead of us. I will say that retirement seems to suit me well though. All the same, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, when all is said and done, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 08, 2024: A Crazy Week, Fall Like Weather, Our 24th Wedding Anniversary!

Well, we are solidly into the month of September now. The Labor Day weekend has come and gone marking the unofficial end to summer. Autumn is just two weeks away now. Despite several cloudy mornings last week, we only saw the rain last Sunday and some into Monday. The weather for the rest of our week was like a tune-up for fall. The days started around 60 degrees and the mercury snuck through 80 degrees by a degree or two on the warmest afternoons. The trees, while still mostly green, are starting to lose their vibrancy, and the tulip poplar trees’ leaves have started turning yellow. The poplar trees are the first to get their leaves in the spring and the first to lose their leaves in the fall around here.

Last Sunday was wet with the rain starting right before lunchtime. Colleen and I managed to take our morning walks before the rain started falling again, but we were pretty much confined to the house for the rest of the day. Colleen found the time to experiment in the kitchen. Since Colleen had a three-day weekend with the Monday holiday, neither of us were in much of a hurry to do anything though. I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon. After dinner, we got to enjoy a movie on the big screen TV in the living room.

The rain gave us a break early Monday morning, and Colleen was able to walk Roux before I ever made it downstairs. I started out on my walk, got halfway down the driveway, felt a few raindrops, turned around, and got back under cover just as it started to rain again. Colleen started not feeling well, so she took it easy for most of the day. She even ended up going upstairs to take a nap, which she generally will not do. I quietly did some housework on the first floor. We lost power in the middle of the afternoon, so we ate an early dinner. Colleen had made a quiche after she had gotten up from her nap, and before we lost power, and the quiche was still warm. We got the electricity back around 5 o’clock, the sun was shining, so I went for my daily walk then. The rest of our evening was quiet.

Colleen headed into school at her usual time on Tuesday morning, so it was back to my usual routine of opening the hen coop and walking Roux before I started my day. I did some housework in the morning and checked the garden. We are still getting plenty of cucumbers every other day or so. I took a nap in the early afternoon and then spent the rest of the afternoon listing baseball cards for sale online. Slowly but surely, I’m building my online inventory and have close to 500 cards listed now. Fortunately, eBay has a maximum limit of 5,000,000 listings. Only the first 250 listings each month are free though, so I have to play a numbers game to avoid paying their listing fees.

Wednesday turned into a crazy day. Colleen got to school okay, but the check engine light lit up, and the oil pressure gage dropped to 0 right before she got to school. I opened the hen coop, walked Roux, waited for the morning traffic to clear, then headed out to Colleen’s school to check the Trail Blazer. When I got there, I checked the ground, all around the engine, and didn’t see any oil. The dip stick showed the oil reservoir to be full, so I started the engine. The oil pressure gage went right back to where it was supposed to be, and the check engine light was not lit. I let the engine run for a bit and everything seemed fine. I left the Honda for Colleen to drive home, and I drove the Trail Blazer home. It ran just fine. I made it home without incident.

Thursday morning, Colleen drove the Trail Blazer to school and did not have any problems. Thursday was my crazy day though. After I opened the hen coop and walked Roux, I had to run to the market and be back in time to take Alex to the oral surgeon. I got back from the market, had the groceries put away, and had just sat down on the front porch when Alex showed up. We got to the oral surgeon’s a few minutes early, and they took him right in after I paid the bill. Colleen and I are helping Alex with his medical bills. It is not anything major. It is just something that needs to be done. Alex and I were back home when he realized he had left his keys at the oral surgeon’s office, so we had to head back. We got home from our second trip and Alex headed on his way after a bit. Colleen made it home at her usual time, and the Trail Blazer was still behaving. I did catch a glimpse of our garden robber after dinner.

Friday morning, I woke up with a head cold. I opened the hen coop, but knew I did not have it in me to take Roux for her walk. I also knew my whole “To-Do” list was shot, so I spent a good bit of the morning in the recliner. After a bowl of clam chowder for lunch, I was feeling more human, so I headed out to the backyard to gather pinecones. We use pinecones as fire starters in the winter. I filled one trash bag and was wiped out. Colleen was still wrestling with her cold, so when she got home, we headed down the road to get Chinese takeout for dinner. I took my daily walk after dinner, we had a doe and her two fawns visit us when I got home, but we both made an early evening shortly after I got home.

Yesterday, Colleen and I were still fighting off the dregs of our colds. Colleen walked Roux in the morning, but I was not up for a morning walk. I did end up taking a late morning nap. Alex showed up right around lunchtime to cut and quarter firewood for us. I listed more baseball cards for sale online, and Colleen did some experimental cooking. She made a cucumber-carrot cake bread that turned out quite well. Steven showed up with Lily and Jaxon later in the afternoon. Alex and Steven talked shop for a while and then Steven loaded his Jeep with as much of his stuff as he could that he had stored here. After the boys left, Colleen and I enjoyed a peaceful and quiet evening.

Colleen and I are feeling considerably better this morning. Colleen had Roux walked and was back home enjoying her morning coffee before I made it downstairs. She has plans to do some cooking today for the upcoming week. I will most likely list more baseball cards for sale online. Later, I will grill lamb chops for our dinner this evening in the way of a celebration of mine and Colleen’s 24th wedding anniversary. That is as much celebration as we ever do. Next week, we start the routine all over again. Fall is starting to work its way into the scenary. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When we come to the end of each day, we look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 15, 2024: More Fall Like Weather, A Busy Week, And Another Full Rack Of Firewood Plus Some.

We are down to one week left in the summer of 2024. Last week turned out to be an awesome week weather wise. It never got too hot, and it never got too cold. We had some rain on Friday, but it was gone by midafternoon. Yesterday was only partly sunny, and today is starting out mostly cloudy. We may have had a little rain overnight, but it was not much more than a sprinkle at best. We may see some rain later this afternoon, but tomorrow and Tuesday, we will get wet as a storm pushes onshore from the Atlantic Ocean. It does not look like it will have much of a chance to develop into anything other than a rainmaker though. Hurricane Gordon is spinning around in the Atlantic, but with its sights in line for Cuba. That hurricane is nowhere near us now.

Last Sunday was mine and Colleen’s 24th wedding anniversary, and we made an easy day of it. We do not make a big deal of anniversaries or birthdays, so the day was really like a typical Sunday. I even took a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Colleen spent a little time in the kitchen, but I grilled our dinner. We had lamb chops, grilled squash, a baked potato, and a glass of wine for dinner. After dinner, Colleen cleaned the kitchen, made her lunch for school on Monday, locked up the hen coop, and then headed upstairs for the rest of the evening. I hung out on the porch until just after dark.

Colleen headed back to school on Monday morning. I struggled to get out of bed, but I did. Roux and I took our morning walk. And after a short break and a cold drink when we got back, I started moving the firewood that Alex had quartered up to the log splitter. Moving the wood took me all morning, but I got all the quartered wood up the hill. It seemed I should have finished sooner, but I was limiting myself to a garden wagon full on each trip. Our wagon holds five or six quarter rounds, so it is not too heavy for me to pull up the hill. Colleen got home at her usual time in the afternoon. The rest of the afternoon and evening were uneventful with our usual evening chores and then relaxing.

Tuesday started the way most weekdays start around here. Colleen headed to school, and I opened the hen coop and took Roux for her morning walk. When Roux and I got back, I decided that I needed to mow the side yard and backyard. Mowing the yards used to take me an hour and a half, now it’s closer to a four-hour job now, because I take breaks. I can tell when my back is starting to get close to its limit, and I really do not want to push it. I took a nap after lunch, and Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. We had reheated leftovers for dinner and apart from drying laundry, did our best to relax during the evening.

Wednesday started out just fine. Colleen made it to school, and I opened the hen coop and then took Roux for a walk. Part of our winter fireplace supplies include pinecones, which we use to start the fire. Wednesday morning, I was out collecting pinecones. After I finished filling a 17-gallon trash bag, my back had had enough bending over. While I was sitting down letting my back rest, I ordered one of those things that lets you grab stuff on the ground without bending over. I needed to take a nap after lunch because my back was still sore. After my nap and before Colleen got home from school, I made sure all the housework was done. I noticed that our cucumber vines were starting to play out too.

Thursday was market day, and after I opened the hen coop and walked Roux, I headed to the market. That was about as routine as it gets for me. Colleen’s day started quietly, but it went downhill right after lunch. It seems the air conditioning system in her school was not working again and rather than subject teachers and students on the third floor to overheating, her school released everyone early. Colleen ended up getting home shortly after I got up from my nap. I checked on my health insurance status, because I have an MRI scheduled for this coming Monday. I am glad I did too, because the hospital had me listed as uninsured. I got everything squared away though, and now, I am just waiting for them to update my out-of-pocket expenses.

Colleen beat the rain to school on Friday morning, but it started not long after she arrived. It rained here at the house all morning and well into the afternoon. Roux did not get her walk on Friday. I spent most of the day cleaning the house. The family and living rooms got vacuumed, the downstairs bathroom and kitchen got cleaned, and I cleaned the entryway. Colleen’s day at school had not gone too well, so when she got home, we decided on takeout pizza for dinner. After dinner, I got to take my walk, and Colleen and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Yesterday turned out to be a busy Saturday up here on our little hill. Colleen opened the hen coop and walked Roux. I took my morning walk and when I got home, I fired up the log splitter to split the quarter rounds I had brought up the hill earlier in the week. Colleen was getting her greenhouses on the second-floor porch set for the fall and winter, but when she heard the log splitter, she came outside to help. We got all the wood split and stacked shortly after lunch. We finished filling the fourth half-cord rack and filled about half of the fifth rack. We still have more to go once the boys cut and quarter more wood. After lunch, Colleen finished working with her greenhouses. We were both tired by the time dinner rolled around.

Colleen and Roux had a short walk this morning. Colleen said it was misting on them, so they came home. I will try to take my walk a little later. I have my MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning, so I want to make sure I have all the paperwork ready to go. Colleen will be coming with me. Today, I think Colleen will be spending some time in the kitchen though. Later today, I will fire up the grill for dinner too. If we are lucky, we may even see sunshine later today, although there is rain in the forecast. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When we reach the day’s end, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 22, 2024: Fall Is Here, Some Late Summer Rain, Doctor Appointments, Good News After Our Checkups!

Another week has passed, and another season has passed. Today is the first day of Autumn. As one might expect, we have plenty of sunshine and late summer-like temperatures in store for us today. We did get a good bit of rain on Monday and Tuesday. It was not a steady rain, but it came in waves, every 90 minutes or so. Some of those waves were heavy too. The rest of the week was dry and comfortable except for the middle of last night. We got rocked by one dandy thunderstorm right around midnight. Storms in the middle of the night do not wake me up usually, but last night’s storm did wake me up. The rain came down hard and fast. I bet we got more than an inch of rain in less than an hour. The upcoming week has rain in the forecast. There is a better chance of rain some days than others, but we will wait and see what comes of it.

Colleen and I had an easy day last Sunday. Colleen took Roux for a short walk, and I took a 3-mile walk to start the day. Colleen was of the mind to experiment in the kitchen, and she made fried cucumber slices which turned out quite well. I did my weekly writing and then grilled a couple of small steaks for our dinner later in the afternoon. After dinner, I made sure I had all my paperwork ready to take with me to the hospital on Monday for my MRI and doctor’s appointment. I figured they probably had everything on record, but I wanted to make sure my bases were covered.

Monday morning started out gray. Colleen and I headed down to the hospital, parked the Trail Blazer five or six levels up on the parking deck, and found our way to where I needed to be. It took 30 minutes of prep time to get ready for my MRI, and then I spent about an hour in the MRI tube. When I was done, I had just enough time to get dressed and get to the doctor’s office three buildings away. I made it in good time, but after getting into the exam room and getting all the preliminary stuff done, I had to wait another 30 minutes to see the doctor. It seems that my aneurysm is not a thin spot on my aorta, but rather my entire aorta is mildly enlarged, uniformly. This was really good news, because that condition is far more stable than a thin spot on my aorta. I scheduled an appointment for another checkup in a year on the way out. Colleen and I celebrated by going out to lunch after I was done at the hospital. When we got home, we were both wiped out, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Tuesday morning Colleen headed into school at her usual time. I stayed home and watched the rain all day. I got a good bit of housework done during the day and listed some more baseball cards for sale online in the afternoon. Colleen had a typical day at school. We got a break in the rain after dinner, so I figured I had better try to do my walking for the day. I am glad I took an umbrella though, because Mother Nature sure did try to give me a good soaking a couple of times while I was walking.

Wednesday morning, driving to school was a challenge for Colleen. There was a dense ground fog that limited her visibility to less than 10 feet at times. Fortunately, she made it to school safely and without incident. Roux and I had a nice long walk to start our day. It did take us longer than usual though, because Roux had to stop and sample every puddle along the way. I did some more housework during the day. The afternoon gave us beautiful blue skies. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. After dinner, I went for a short walk while Colleen dried the wet laundry.

Thursday morning’s skies were threatening, so instead of taking Roux for a morning walk, I headed to the market earlier than usual. Colleen left me a short market list, but there were a lot of “buy one-get one” sales, so Colleen and I had a running text conversation as I made my way around the market. We managed to turn that short list into a buggy full of sale items. I also picked what fresh veggies from the garden I could once I got home. After dinner, I wanted to go for a walk. As I walked down the driveway, Roux came out to the front porch, barking and howling at me. I turned around and put Roux on a lead and took her with me. The dog is spoiled!

Friday, it was Colleen’s turn to visit the doctor for a checkup. She had the first appointment of the day and was back home by 9:30. We quickly decided to get our weekend errands out of the way, so we headed off to TSC and Walmart. Christmas decorations were starting to show up on the shelves in Walmart. We checked everything out and, of course, put a few in the cart before we made our way around the rest of the store. After we were done shopping, we treated ourselves to lunch for the second time in the week. When dinner time rolled around that evening, we were both worn out, so we got takeout pizza for dinner.

Yesterday started out like most Saturdays do with Colleen walking Roux, and I took a good long walk. When I got home, I planted the lettuce and broccoli that I bought at TSC on Friday. The planting went easily. Figuring out how to keep the rabbits from eating my plants took a bit of doing. I finally rigged up some PVC pipes and covered everything with a fine mesh netting. The plants were untouched this morning. Alex showed up shortly after lunch just to visit. He and I sat out on the front porch chewing the fat for more than an hour. Colleen was busy upstairs in her workroom. I did list more baseball cards for sale online after Alex left, but after that, Colleen and I spent our time relaxing.

Colleen is already walking Roux this morning. I will take my walk when they get back. Colleen is planning on spending time in the kitchen today, getting meals ready for the week and making dill pickles with the plethora of cucumbers we got from the garden recently. Hopefully, this afternoon, we can get Colleen’s Medicare Part A squared away too. Even though Colleen is not planning on retiring until July of 2026, the Medicare piece has to be in place for her birthday in November. Tomorrow, we will start over again. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 29, 2024: Lots Of Rain, Hurricane Helene, A Day Trip To Get the Caliber, We’re Tired!

Colleen and I got up to a foggy morning today, but we will take fog after all the rain we had last week. Last Sunday was nice enough until a thunderstorm found us during the evening. That thunderstorm turned into a whole night of rain that lasted until Tuesday morning. The ground didn’t get much of a chance to dry out on Wednesday and Thursday because of the cloud covering that hung around. Thursday night we got the first wave of rain from hurricane Helene. Friday morning the skies just opened up on us. Fortunately, we got to see some sunshine yesterday, once the morning fog clears, we should have plenty of sunshine today. Unfortunately, it looks like rain is in the forecast for the start of our new week too. On the bright side of things, the daily temperatures have been running between 55 and 80 degrees. They should pretty much stay there for a while too.

Last Sunday was typical as Sundays go around here. Colleen was up and out walking Roux before I ever found my way downstairs. After I sat around and cleared the cobwebs out of my head, I went for my morning walk. Colleen was already busy preparing last week’s meals in the kitchen when I got home. She finished her meal prep before noon, and while I was writing, she was turning all the recently picked cucumbers from our garden into dill pickles. I ended up getting ahold of Louis and planning to get the Caliber during the middle of the week. The car was acting up and needed to be taken to the shop.

Colleen had to drive to school in the dark and rain on Monday morning which is never fun. The rain did break early enough for me to take Roux for a walk. I spent the rest of my morning doing housework. After lunch, I went out into the gardens for a while. The gardens have seen better days, but I was still able to pick a few cucumbers, some okra, and some peppers. More importantly though, the lettuce and broccoli are doing just fine under the mesh I put over them. Our local rabbits have not gotten to the plants as of right now. I know the lettuce has a good chance of growing right into December. I have never had luck with broccoli before, so I do not know what to expect.

It was raining again Tuesday morning, but I needed to head down to Louis’s place to get the Caliber. The car is in my name and AAA needs to see my ID before they tow a car. Louis lives just under 80 miles south of us. Fortunately, I was able to drive out of the rain and then had sunshine for the drive home. Unfortunately, it took two hours for the tow truck to show up, but I did get to have a nice visit with Louis and Maya. I did not get home until after Colleen got home from school though. I gave the shop a quick call to make sure they had the Caliber which they did by that point. Colleen and I finally got to sit down to eat dinner. I went out for a short walk after dinner and managed to get back home about 10 minutes before the rain started falling, again.

Wednesday morning my back let me know the weather was changing for the worse. There was a dense, ground fog in the morning, so I opted out of walking Roux until it lifted, and I spent the whole morning doing housework. Having been gone most of Tuesday, I had some catching up to do if I wanted to stay on top of the housework. Roux and I went for a short walk after lunch and I spent the rest of the afternoon working with my baseball cards, listing more for sale, and getting those I sold into the mail. Colleen got home from school at her usual time, took care of the girls, and made dinner. My back was done for the day by then, so I did not do anything for the rest of the evening.

Thursday was market day. After I walked Roux in the morning, I headed out to do our weekly grocery shopping. It was a very light week for us, and I brought the groceries in for about $100. With the groceries home and all put away, I checked the gardens. I found a couple more cucumbers, a few peppers, and a couple of okra pods. What I really went out there for was to give our oregano plant a haircut so I could start drying it to use over the winter months. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. After dinner, we got the first wave of rain from Helene. By 7:30 Thursday evening, Colleen found the county in which she teaches had canceled school on Friday.

Colleen and I got to sleep in some on Friday morning. When we checked the weather radar, it looked like we had some time before the next band of storms from Helene were due to reach us. Colleen got to walk Roux, and I got to get three miles under foot and get back home before the rain started again. Okay, so I got home with only 10 minutes to spare. Once the rain started falling again, it came down hard, heavy, fast, and stayed that way for a good two hours. Finally, just before noon, the storm cleared out. Colleen and I ordered some takeout for lunch and picked it up on our way back from getting the Caliber back from the shop. As soon as we got home, Colleen and I decided we were done running errands for the weekend.

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day, everything was still wet, but nonetheless, it was a beautiful day. When I headed out for my walk, the sun was streaming through the trees and the skies were blue. Colleen spent the morning in the kitchen making meals for the upcoming week. When I got back from my walk, I spent the rest of the morning making minor repairs to the hen coop and pen. After lunch, Colleen found time to relax, and I worked with my baseball cards on the front porch. Neither of us had much energy left to do any more than that, and by the time the sun set, we both were ready to call it a day.

Colleen is already walking Roux this morning. After breakfast, I will head out for my morning walk. Colleen has a couple of meals she wants to prepare today for the upcoming week. I will put my “To-Do” list together for tomorrow, package some sold baseball cards for tomorrow’s mail, and just generally make myself available for whatever Colleen needs me to do. We should have sunshine all day which will be nice, and the temperature will probably get up to 80 degrees. I do not think next week will be as crazy as last week, but who knows. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When we make it to the end of each day, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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October 06, 2024: More Rain To Start The Week, Colleen Had A Day Off, Time To Finish Filling The Firewood Racks.

Colleen and I made it through another week. After Helene tore through this part of the country, nearly wiping western North Carolina off the map, we kept getting rain around here right through Wednesday. Granted, it was not much rain after all the water Helene dumped on us, but it was still rain. If it was not raining in the morning, it seemed like we had fog hanging around. Even this morning, there was a ground fog to start the day. Colleen said the mist in the fog made it feel like it was raining on her. The temperatures were comfortable all week at least. The mornings would start between 60 and 65 degrees, and by the afternoons, we would be looking at temperatures between 75 and 80. After this weekend, I do not think we will be seeing many more, if any, 80-degree days.

Last Sunday cleared up nicely and turned out to be a surprisingly quiet day up here on our little hill. Colleen walked Roux, and I took my morning walk. I have given up putting together “To-Do” lists for Sunday. There always seems to be little things that need doing and if I do get to my “To-Do” list, any project I start, ends up feeling rushed. Now that I am retired, I do not rush for anything. Colleen spent some time in the kitchen making meals for the upcoming week, and she made a lovely Chicken Marsala for dinner. I did get around to putting together a “To-Do” list for Monday and made sure I had all the baseball cards I had sold over the weekend packaged for Monday’s mail.

Colleen headed to school Monday morning, and Roux and I got caught in a little bit of rain on our two and a half mile walk in the morning. That was not a good way to start the day or the week. I ended up turning on all the house fans when Roux and I got home to mitigate the humidity. The bathrooms needed some good cleaning, so I took care of that in the morning. I also gave the landings and our two flights of stairs a good vacuuming to get the carpet ready to steam clean. The cloud cover finally broke in midafternoon, and we got to see some blue overhead. Apparently, trees were still coming down because of the saturated ground, and our electricity went out for a few minutes after dinner. I don’t even want to begin to imagine the mess Helene left in the western part of the state.

Tuesday was the day I started to steam clean the landings and stairs. Between the weather fluctuations and having cleaned the top landing and the upper flight of stairs, it did not take long for my back to start screaming at me. I spent the rest of the afternoon listing baseball cards for sale online. Colleen got home at her usual time and put together a dinner of broiled salmon on a bed of pasta with an Alfredo sauce. Fortunately, the evening was quiet, and everyone got to relax. I ended up even going to bed early. At least when I woke up Wednesday morning my back was feeling fine again.

Wednesday, I was back to steam cleaning the carpet in the middle landing and lower flight of stairs after I walked Roux. My back was not happy about me steam cleaning the landing and stairs, but it was not complaining the way it did on Tuesday either. After lunch, I wrote a letter of recommendation for one of my former school kids. I figured it would possibly be the last school related activity I would have to do after being a teacher for 23 years. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. Once Colleen was home, she started drying the laundry in the basement and reheated some leftovers for dinner. I was exhausted after dinner, so I went to bed early and slept for 10 hours straight through the night.

Colleen didn’t have to go to school on Thursday. After she took Roux for her morning walk, Colleen and I headed down to the market. It was still early when we got there, and there were very few people besides us. We got in and out in near record time. I decided to spend the rest of my day sorting and boxing up baseball cards. I have to start thinking about getting everything off the dining room table and in general, cleaning up the dining room for the holidays. Most of the day we spent relaxing though. I finally went for my daily walk after dinner. I couldn’t help noticing that the leaves around here were starting to change colors too.

Friday morning, I walked Roux and took care of the morning chores. I had promised my former school kid that I would get them my letter of recommendation by Friday, and since they are friends of the family, I drove to their place with the letters. By the time I got done visiting and driving home, it was time for lunch. After lunch, I harvested sage from our herb garden and started drying it in our dehydrator. Ironically, even with Colleen having Thursday off, by the time she got home Friday afternoon, we were both worn out. It did not take us long to decide to get takeout pizza for dinner. We both called it an early evening as well.

Yesterday ended up being a busy day. After Colleen walked Roux, I headed out for my morning walk and covered four and a half miles. Colleen had changed the bedding in the hen coop and was moving her potted plants off the back porch to the bedroom and greenhouses she had on the second-floor porch when I got home. I took a short break and then pulled out the chainsaw to start moving and cutting up the piles of firewood in the backyard. I ran through one tank of gas on the chainsaw, my back was still feeling good, so I decided not to push the issue. I will cut more firewood during the upcoming week and haul it up the hill to the log splitter. Most of the wood is small enough not to be a problem. We still will need the boys to take care of the bigger stuff for us.

Colleen was out walking Roux in the fog when I got down to the porch this morning. I’ll go for my walk when they get back. Colleen will spend a good part of today in the kitchen getting meals ready for the rest of the week. I will do a few things around the house and just generally be available should Colleen think of something that needs to be done. With any luck, the week in front of us will be quiet. I have the usual chores and will spend what time I can with the firewood. We still need to finish filling out winter-ready wood racks. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. At the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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October 13, 2024: Dry Weather Finally, Cooler Temperatures, Cutting, Splitting, And Stacking Firewood, Maybe The First Fire Of The Season In The Fireplace This Coming Week.

Fall most definitely has arrived. Temperatures have cooled off a good bit, with the mercury on the warmest days struggling to reach 80 degrees, and the morning temperatures starting out around 50 degrees. We even had a morning or two where the thermometer needle dipped down to near 45 degrees. We did not see a lick of rain all week either. I took advantage of the cooler temperatures and managed to get outside just about every day during the week. It looks like Mother Nature is going to bump the temperatures down some more starting Monday evening. The middle of the week will be chillier than it has been. The morning temperatures are forecast to start the day in the upper 30’s and struggle to get up to 60 degrees. Today, however, we might see the mercury reach the 80-degree mark.

Last Sunday was quiet up here on our little hill. We were expecting the boys to show up, but they got tied up and could not make it. Colleen took Roux for her morning walk, and after my morning walk, I sat down and did my usual Sunday writing before I got involved with listing baseball cards online for sale. Colleen spent a good part of her day in the kitchen preparing meals for the week and experimenting with a new recipe for cod which we had for dinner. Her experiment turned out great! After dinner, Colleen made sure she had everything ready to go for school in the morning, and we spent the rest of our evening relaxing.

Colleen headed to school before sunrise Monday morning. After I opened the hen coop and took Roux for a walk, I headed outside and spent the morning with the firewood. I hauled everything I had cut on Saturday up to the log splitter and spent the rest of the morning cutting more wood with the chainsaw. I did not want to try moving and cutting any bigger logs because of my back and my heart. My old body sure does have a way of getting in the way of what I can do. Colleen got home at her usual time. She had been worrying about getting her Medicare setup and fortunately, the letter from Social Security with her system access code showed up in Monday’s mail.

Tuesday started out like Monday with Colleen heading to school and with me opening the hen coop and walking Roux. I guess I had cut more firewood than I thought on Monday, because it took me all morning to haul it up the hill by the log splitter. After lunch, I did the housework and then set my computer up on the front porch and listed a bunch more baseball cards for sale online. Right now, I have more than 500 individual listings, and more listings keep going up every day or so. Colleen got home at her usual time. After dinner we got sidetracked and never got Colleen signed up for her Medicare, so it got put off until Wednesday.

Wednesday started like Monday and Tuesday. When Roux and I got home from our walk, I was determined to cut all the remaining wood I could that was still on the two piles in the backyard. That little job took me until after lunch. I was planning on hauling the wood up to the log splitter on Friday, but after looking at the pile by the log splitter and the pile I had just made, I realized Colleen and I would not be able to split and stack all that wood on Saturday. I just left my new pile where it was. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. I reheated our dinner so Colleen would not have to do it. That evening Amazon delivered a box for Colleen. She ordered a bunch of decorations and other gizmos for the chicken pen, so our one remaining hen would not get bored or lonely. Watching Colleen open the box, I began to think Christmas came early.

Thursday was market day, so after my morning walk with Roux, I was on my way. By the time I got back home and had the groceries put away, it was time for lunch. Since Colleen and I have already started Christmas shopping, and Amazon made four stops at our house over the course of the day, our scrap box pile grew by leaps and bounds. After dinner, Colleen and I were finally able to sit down and get her signed up for Medicare Part A. It only took us about 20 minutes. When we were done, it looked like Colleen had the weight of the world taken off of her shoulders.

With colder temperatures not far in the offing, I decided to collect pinecones Friday morning. We use them for starting the fire in the fireplace. We now have three trash bags full of pinecones. I still had plenty of the morning left too, so I pulled out the weed eater and knocked down all the knee-high weeds in the backyard that I cannot get with the lawn mower. Once I move the pile of firewood out of the backyard this coming week, I will cut the grass. Colleen and I treated ourselves to some Mexican takeout for dinner Friday evening and after dinner, we did nothing!

Yesterday morning, Colleen walked Roux, and I took a 4-mile walk. When I got back, I fired up the log splitter. As I split the wood, Colleen stacked it. Three hours later, all the wood was split, stacked in the winter-ready racks, and the area was cleaned up until we start splitting and stacking again next weekend. I am glad I did not move the pile of cut wood up from the backyard. That pile is bigger than the one that was by the splitter. The rest of our day was low key. I got into the gardens for a little bit and did some more online Christmas shopping, but mostly we just took the afternoon and evening off having worn ourselves out with the firewood in the morning.

Colleen is out walking Roux right now, and I will go for a morning walk when they return. I do not have anything on my “To-Do” list today in case Colleen has anything she wants me to do. She is planning on spending a good bit of the day in the kitchen preparing meals for the week. She will be making a pot of chili and a pot of her spicy chicken soup too. The soup will mostly be for my lunches. There is nothing better than a cup of hot soup for lunch on a chilly day. Alex is supposed to swing by the house today, and I hope he does because there is more firewood that needs to be bucked and quartered. Since being retired means I will be home every day during the winter and most likely have a fire burning in the fireplace, I ordered another firewood rack, so we have extra firewood on hand. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When the sun starts to set at the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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October 20, 2024: Beautiful Fall Weather, The First Fire Of The Season In The Fireplace, A New Chair For Colleen, We’re Getting Ready For Christmas Too!

Last week’s weather proved to be interesting, and we got our first cold snap of the season. It was cold enough on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for me to light a fire in the fireplace. I kept the fires going all Wednesday and Thursday, but I let it burn out after lunch on Friday afternoon, since the day had warmed up. With the temperatures for the upcoming week supposed to be between a low of 50 degrees in the morning and a high of 75 degrees in the afternoon, I am not anticipating having to light a fire again for a while. Our cold snap did jump start the foliage into changing colors around here. The poplar trees are mostly yellow now, and the maple trees are starting to turn red. There are not a great many leaves on the ground yet, but I am sure I will be dealing with the leaves soon enough.

Last Sunday was quiet up here on our little hill. Even our chicken seemed to be taking the day easily. Colleen walked Roux, and I took my morning walk a little later. Colleen ended up in the kitchen for a good part of the day, preparing meals for the week. I did my usual Sunday writing, dealt with selling more of my baseball cards, and did some online Christmas shopping. I had hoped at least one of the boys would show up during the day to buck and quarter some firewood, but they were all busy and could not make it. Fortunately, we have plenty of firewood on the racks at the moment, but we will need more before the end of winter. I still have a pile of cut wood I need to move up by the log splitter which will be one of my tasks for the coming week. Colleen and I will be splitting and stacking wood again next weekend.

Colleen left for school at her usual time on Monday, but the kids had the day off. It was Columbus or whatever day the politicians are trying to sell it as now. For all I know, it could have been National Pickled Okra Day. Anyway, I took advantage of the cool and sunny morning. I dragged the lawnmower out to the front yard and cut the grass I could with it. The rest of the yard has to be done with a weed eater because of all the tree stumps and big rocks. I worked until just before noon when the weed eater threw its last little piece of string. I restrung the weed eater, but figured I was done working outside for the day. I do not mind busting my tail in the mornings, but I do like to get lazy in the afternoons. It is a retirement thing, I guess.

Tuesday morning, after I walked Roux, I picked up where I left off with the weed eater on Monday. I grossly underestimated how much work there was left to do in the yard and did not finish up until noon. I was surprised to find the last cucumber of the season hiding in the tall grass by the garden fence. After lunch, I started moving firewood from the winter-ready racks to the back porch rack. I did not want to get Colleen upset with me for carrying all that wood, so I filled our garden wagon, hauled it to the foot of the back porch stairs, threw the wood up onto the back porch piece by piece, and then stacked all the wood on the back porch rack. It was not the most efficient way of getting the job done, but I did not carry anything too heavy either.

Wednesday morning was cold enough in the house to put a fire in the fireplace. I waited until after Roux and I got back from walking though. Instead of working in the yards on Wednesday, I opted to take care of some housework. I cleaned the kitchen floor and the entry way. I spent the afternoon buried in my baseball cards while I kept the fire going. By the time that Colleen got home after school, the first floor was cozy and toasty warm. After dinner, I banked the fire one more time and then let it burn out before I headed upstairs for the night.

Thursday was market day. Colleen had a short list, but I ran across a sale on turkeys. I ended up buying two 15-pound turkeys and one 12-pound turkey. The two big birds will be for our Thanksgiving feast, and the small bird will get cooked next weekend. It will give us plenty of leftovers with which we can stock the freezer and refrigerator that will last for a while. Needless to say, I blew our budget for the week, but we should come out ahead in the long run. Personally, I am really looking forward to Colleen’s homemade turkey soup. I did not start Thursday’s fire until after lunch, but the fire did not take long to chase the chill out of the air. The rest of the day was uneventful. Colleen got home from school at her regular time, we had dinner, and I let the fire burn out again before I headed upstairs for the night.

I started a fire Friday morning when Roux and I got back from our walk. The day warmed up quickly into the low 70’s, so I let the fire burn out right after lunch. I spent part of the afternoon putting more firewood on the back porch rack too. I figure if I do a little bit each day, the rack will be full when it is time to light a fire again. Colleen had a wild day at school. I guess the kids were dealing with the effects of a full moon. By the time Colleen got home, she was worn out. We quickly decided to have Mexican takeout for dinner. We even had enough leftovers to make a nice lunch yesterday. We sure didn’t do much Friday evening, and we ended up heading upstairs for the night a little earlier than usual.

Yesterday morning, Colleen walked Roux, and I went for my morning walk when they got home. Colleen and I headed off to run a few errands once I got back home. Colleen has been wanting a new chair for our living room to replace her Canadian glider. Our first stop yesterday morning was the Habitat for Humanity Restore. They had maybe 50 different chairs for sale. Colleen had to sit in each one twice and then walk around to think about it before she settled on the one she wanted. She calls it making an informed decision. I call it the inability to make a choice. Colleen ended up getting a straight, wingback chair. Our next stop was a discount department store. The Christmas stuff was out, and we filled a buggy. Apart from needing a few presents, we are pretty much ready for Christmas with plenty of wrapping paper, Christmas candles, Christmas cards, paper plates and napkins for Colleen’s Christmas buffet, and a few extra Christmas decorations. Colleen even ordered our Christmas stamps online when we got home. I took a nap after lunch while Colleen fiddled in her workroom, getting everything set up to start wrapping presents.

The sun is coming up now, and we are in store for another beautiful fall day. Colleen is just getting back from her walk with Roux, so I will be heading out for my walk soon. It will not be cold enough for a fire today, and besides, Colleen will be in the kitchen for the better part of the day. The stove will add some extra heat to the house. I did not hear from any of the boys yesterday, so I figure we will not see them today. It should be a quiet day for us. I guess I will get back to getting things done around here tomorrow. I am really taking quite well to being retired, working for myself and doing things in my own time. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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October 27, 2024: Leaves Changing Colors, Filled Firewood Racks, New Porch Stairs, And Two New Chickens.

Fall is definitely here. The leaves are changing colors. Mother Nature is bouncing the temperature all over the place. Some of the morning low temperatures dipped to 40 degrees. Yesterday afternoon, the mercury flirted with the 80-degree mark. The one thing we did have an abundance of last week was sunshine. We did get some rain last night, but it was done shortly before sunrise today. Today, we will have gray skies all day and the thermometer needle will struggle to get to the 60-degree mark. The sun comes back tomorrow, and everything starts to warm up again tomorrow, and by the end of the week, we’ll watch the mercury climb towards 80 degrees again.

Last Sunday was an ordinary Sunday up here on the hill. I do not even try to put together a “To-Do” on Sundays, knowing full well, I will be sleeping a bit later than usual, walking a bit further than usual, and moving a bit slower than usual. Most of my morning is spent writing, and in the early afternoon Colleen edits my work, I post it to our website. Colleen spent the better part of her day in the kitchen. Last week, she made a Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole, a pot of her spicy chicken soup, and a big container of make salad. After we had dinner, she made her lunch for Monday and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Monday morning Colleen left for school at her usual time. I waited for sunup to walk Roux. It was a short walk because she was favoring her front right paw, and I did not want her to overdo it. Once Roux and I got home, I tackled the housework, vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms. After lunch, I moved more firewood to the back porch rack. I did make out to the gardens too and picked some fresh lettuce for Colleen’s lunch wraps. Everything was quiet after dinner, and Colleen and I got to relax.

After another short walk with Roux on Tuesday morning, I moved some more firewood up to the back porch rack, but did not finish filling it, opting instead to move the pile of cut wood from the middle of the backyard you up to the log splitter so I could split it on Saturday. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. After dinner, she finished drying the laundry before she was able to sit down and relax. I had to fiddle around with her iPad to free up some cloud memory so her iPad could back itself up properly. Mostly it was another quiet evening.

Wednesday, I finished filling the back porch firewood rack. I was surprised to find our electricity was off when I finished with the firewood, but the leaf blower runs on gasoline. I pulled the leaf blower out of the basement and got the first batch of fall leaves blown off the front yard. After last night’s rain, I will have to do it again this week once everything dries up. Colleen brought some treats down to the chicken pen when she got home from school and then reheated some leftovers up for dinner. After dinner Colleen made sure she had everything on her market list she wanted me to get on Thursday’s market run.

After I took Roux for her short walk Thursday morning, I headed for the market. I would love to slap some common sense into these politicians that say the economy is improving. Our grocery bill has pretty much doubled over the last few years with no signs of getting any less any time soon. Anyway, after I got the groceries home, put them away, and had some lunch, I decided to collect acorns to make some acorn coffee. After I had all the acorns I wanted, I spent the rest of the afternoon pulling the acorn meat from the shells. I ended up with a sandwich baggie filled with acorn meat. I put the baggie in the refrigerator, saving the rest of the coffee making process for Friday.

Friday morning rolled around, and James let me know he would be coming up to the house to rebuild the front porch stairs. After I walked Roux, I spent the rest of the morning boiling the tannin out of the acorn meat. That was almost four hours of boiling, changing the water every 30 to 45 minutes. I had finished boiling the acorn meat when James showed up. I put the two chickens he brought us into the pen in a travel cage, and we headed down to Lowe’s to get the material he needed for the stair rebuild. While he worked on the stairs, I dried, chopped, roasted, and ground the acorn meat into coffee. Colleen ordered some Firehouse Subs for dinner when she got home. After dinner, James finished the stairs, and I went for a walk. Right before sunset, I put our two new chickens into the coop and closed everything up for the night. James spent the night at the house, so he and I spent the evening getting caught up on the front porch.

Yesterday was a crazy day around here. Colleen made a pot of acorn coffee, half regular coffee grounds and half acorn grounds. James loved it! James and I were talking about mushrooms while we had our coffee, and I realized we had a huge bloom of shiitake mushrooms on our logs. I filled up a grocery sack when I harvested the mushrooms. James got to take some home when he left. I started splitting firewood after James was gone. Colleen stuffed and roasted a turkey and came to stack firewood while the turkey was in the oven. We filled our last standing rack and still have quite a bit more wood to split. It will have to wait though until I assemble another rack. We split and stacked firewood until lunchtime.

After lunch, I took a nap. Colleen took the roasted turkey apart and started boiling the bones to make a soup base. When I finally came back downstairs, I listed more baseball cards for sale online. Colleen reheated some leftovers for dinner and after dinner I went for a walk. When I got home is when all the fun started. Our two new chickens need to get in the habit of heading into the coop around sunset. Right now, they still need a little encouragement. When I went into the pen, I got one hen to go into the coop, but the other hen snuck out of the pen. Colleen and I chased that dang bird around in the woods for 20 minutes and did not catch it until Roux got into the act. Roux corralled the bird up the hill from the bottom of the ravine and cornered her in between the roots of a big tree where I was able to grab her. Colleen and I laughed on our way to bed last night.

With this morning’s rain, Colleen will not be walking Roux. I will take her out for her walk a little bit later. Colleen is planning on being in the kitchen most of the day making turkey soup and turkey pot pies. We are also expecting Alex to swing by the house at some point in the day. He was not feeling well yesterday, so I am not expecting much work from him today. This afternoon, I have to print some shipping labels and packing slips, so I can get some baseball cards ready for tomorrow’s mail. I guess it will be a quiet Sunday. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. Every evening though, we’ll be able to look around and smile because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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November 03, 2024: 40-Degree Temperature Swings, Leaves Piling Up On The Ground, Roux Visited The Vet, And Our Christmas Shopping Is Almost Done.

Welcome to November everyone. Mother Nature is still figuring out how to use the thermostat, because we have had temperatures as low as 40 degrees and as high as 80 in the last week. The only rain we had was a light sprinkle yesterday morning, and apart from a cloudy Tuesday, we enjoyed plenty of sunshine for most of the week. It looks like that could change by later in the upcoming week with rain in the forecast leading up to next weekend. There is still a good bit of green in the treetops, but the leaves are starting to change color and fall. I figure by Thanksgiving, most of the leaves should be on the ground. Still, it has not been cold enough to put a fire in the fireplace, except for the cold snap we had a couple of weeks ago.

Last Sunday was quiet up here on our little hill. It was too wet for Colleen to walk Roux first thing in the morning because it had rained Saturday night. I took Roux for her walk a little later in the morning while Colleen pulled apart the turkey she had roasted on Saturday. By the end of the day, Colleen had made a big pot of her turkey soup, a couple of turkey pot pies, and a turkey dinner with all the fixings for our Sunday meal. We said we were just practicing for Thanksgiving. Alex stopped by the house for a short visit right before lunch, just to check on things. I spent the day writing and doing odds and ends around the house.

Monday showed up right on schedule, and it really proved to be a Monday. Colleen forgot to bring her lunch to school. Fortunately, she had enough back up in her desk, and she did not have to go hungry all day. I walked Roux after the sun came up. When we got home, I washed the kitchen and downstairs bathroom floors. Since we had the option of voting early, when Colleen got home, we headed to the polling station. It took us maybe twenty minutes to get in, vote, and get out. Now, we just wait to see where the chips fall this coming Tuesday. The rest of our evening was quiet.

After forgetting her lunch on Monday, Colleen had an abundance of food on Tuesday. She stopped to get donuts on her way to school, the teacher in the room with her stopped and got them bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits, and a parent brought them a couple of big pieces of three-layer chocolate cake. Yes, Colleen brought her usual lunch too. I spent the morning sorting, organizing, and boxing up baseball cards. I found out that my back does not like sitting in a dining room chair for a prolonged length of time. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. I did some more online Christmas shopping in the afternoon. Much to our surprise, our new chickens figured out how to go in and out of the hen coop without my help.

Wednesday morning, Roux and I took a 2-mile walk. Her paw no longer seems to be bothering her. When we got back, I spent the rest of the morning blowing the leaves off the front yard. I was surprised to find out that having the leaf blower strapped to my back does not bother my back. The yard looked great when I finished. Unfortunately, by the time Colleen got home, the front yard was covered with leaves again. That is not a problem though. I knew I would be blowing leaves again because I do not want them to pile up. Blowing dry leaves several times over the course of the season is still easier than trying to blow wet, matted down leaves.

Thursday was nothing short of crazy around here. After I took Roux for her walk, I headed down to the market. I was home, had the groceries in the house, and put them away by noon. After lunch, I did some more Christmas online shopping. When Colleen got home, she had a quick bite to eat and then headed to the vets with Roux. Apart from being a little overweight, Roux had a great checkup and is doing very well. When Colleen got home, we ran the Trail Blazer down to the shop. The Trail Blazer needed its annual state inspection, and since it is getting close to 250,000 miles, it is time for a bunch of high mileage, routine maintenance. I have a feeling the next few months will see some expensive work done on the Trail Blazer to keep it up to snuff.

Colleen did not have school on Friday. She took Roux for her morning walk. I got the leaf blower out again, but this time, I blew both the front and backyards clean. That little job took me until the middle of the afternoon. Colleen started wrapping Christmas presents during the day. Thanksgiving is just about three weeks away now, and Christmas will be close on its heels. We did take a break in the middle of the afternoon to pick the Trail Blazer up from the shop. Being that it was Friday, we decided to get Chinese takeout for dinner.

Yesterday morning we had a few sprinkles of rain right around dawn. Colleen and Roux got a bit wet on their morning walk. I waited for the clouds to pass before I took my walk and ended up putting a good three miles underfoot. Colleen and I took care of a few small things around the house during the morning. By mid-morning the sun was shining again. After lunch, I listed a couple of dozen baseball cards for sale online and finished our Christmas shopping, save for some stocking stuffers. Colleen spent the afternoon in her workroom wrapping Christmas presents. We could have all our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. Colleen still has to write out our Christmas cards. She will not let me help though, because she says my handwriting is illegible.

With the time change last night, it seems we are behind our times this morning, but we are not. Colleen has walked Roux, the sun is coming up, and I will head out for my walk shortly. Colleen does not have a lot of meal preparation to do for the upcoming week today. I need to print shipping labels and packing slips to get cards that I sold into tomorrow’s mail. I do not think we will see any of the boys today either. It looks like the temperatures are going to warm up again this coming week, and I want to blow the leaves off the front yard before any rain falls. Colleen does not have school on Tuesday because it is Election Day. If you have not voted yet, I strongly encourage you to do so on Tuesday. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When we reach the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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November 10, 2024: Not Much Rain, A Day At The Hospital, More Christmas Shopping, And A Long Weekend.

The first full week of November turned out to be something else up here on our little hill. It was a dry week with the only rain that found us falling overnight on Wednesday. We have had a few days where the temperatures were relatively seasonable and a couple of days where the mercury danced with the 80-degree mark on the thermometer. There are still a good many leaves on the trees, but they are falling to the ground faster and faster every day. Today looks like it will be cool, and we will not see the lovely sunshine that we enjoyed for most of last week, and there is a chance we could get a little rain later in the afternoon and into the evening. Next week seems to be setting up with seasonable temperatures, and there is a chance of some rain later in the week.

The time change last Sunday threw a bit of a curve into our day. Colleen loves Standard Time, but I absolutely hate it. It gets dark far too early in the evenings. It seemed like we both spent the day a step or two out of sync. We managed to take our walks, so there was that. Colleen spent part of her day foraging through the freezers looking for portions of leftovers, and she found enough to feed us for the week without having to do a great deal of preparation. I did my usual Sunday writing. Colleen made us a delicious turkey dinner for our Sunday meal too. She really stretched out feeding us from that 12-pound turkey which she roasted the past weekend. By 6 PM, the dark of night had swallowed all the daylight!

Monday was a school day, and Colleen was on her way down the road at her usual time. I took Roux for her morning walk and started the housework when we got back home. I cleaned and vacuumed the family and living rooms and then cleaned the kitchen and bathroom floors. My afternoon was quiet. When Colleen got home, she brought the girls their treats and then started to heat up dinner. Surprisingly, the evening didn’t cool off too quickly as the sun went down, so I got to enjoy a cigar on the front porch before I called it a day.

Tuesday was Election Day. Colleen had the day off from school, Roux did not much care about the election. Since we both had voted early, we got to stay home, sleep a little later, and putter around the house all day. When Colleen was not doing schoolwork, she was in her workroom wrapping Christmas presents. I set up our new firewood rack and got it ready to be filled. Alex showed up after work so we could drop his Suburban off at the shop. He took the Caliber to drive until the Suburban was ready. Louis and Maya stopped by the house for a quick visit on their way home from visiting Maya’s mom. Colleen and I had made plans to take the kids to dinner, but none of them stayed long enough, so Colleen just reheated some leftovers for our dinner. We both ended up going to bed before the election results started being announced.

Wednesday morning Colleen headed back to school. I had my coffee and took Roux for her morning walk right after we had some daylight. I ended up blowing the leaves of the front yard again when Roux and I got home, and yes, I will have to do it again this coming week at some point. After lunch, I got a bunch of baseball cards I had sold into the mail and listed a few more for sale online. Colleen had a crazy day at school, so when she got home, she reheated some turkey pot pie for dinner. We took it easy during the evening, because we knew that our Thursday was going to be crazy.

Colleen headed off to school Thursday morning. I was going to take Roux for a walk, but she did not want to go, so I just waited for Alex to show up. Alex had a 9:30 appointment at the hospital for some minor outpatient surgery, and I needed to go along to drive him home. We got to the hospital right on time, but the hospital was running behind and did not take Alex into pre-op until after 11:30. From pre-op to discharge took about three hours. Alex lives about 45 minutes from the hospital and a little more than an hour away from us. By the time I got Alex home and drove back to the house, the sun was just dipping below the western horizon. Thankfully, Colleen had dinner waiting when I got home, because I had not eaten anything since breakfast. Colleen was still wrapping Christmas presents when I said good night and went to bed.

Friday did not start out too well. Colleen headed to school at her usual time, and I tried to get out of bed. Apparently, I had slept on my right shoulder the wrong way, and it was incredibly painful. It hurt so bad that I almost passed out from the pain while I was tying my boots. Ibuprofen and I became very good friends quickly. I spent all morning listing baseball cards because I did not have to move my arm to move the mouse next to my computer. I had wanted to blow the leaves off the backyard. I finally started feeling human again in the middle of the afternoon. When Colleen got home, we headed down the road to get takeout pizza for dinner. Alex got a ride to our house and showed up right at 5 o’clock, so we were able to get his Suburban back from the shop. Alex did not stick around too long after that, and Colleen sent Alex home with a soda and half of our pizza. Alex let me know when he got home and said his Suburban ran much better.

Yesterday, Colleen and I decided to make a Walmart run to find stocking stuffers for Christmas. Colleen and I left in the middle of the morning and took our time wandering around the store. We filled up a buggy with stocking stuffers, dog treats for Roux, more Christmas decorations, and a few odds and ends we needed. We treated ourselves to a late lunch at Hardee’s and then came home. After Colleen and I got everything into the house and updated our annual Christmas gift spreadsheet, Colleen headed upstairs to wrap more presents, and I relaxed out on the front porch. We had eaten lunch so late that we both decided we were not hungry when dinner time rolled around.

Colleen does not have school tomorrow because it is Veterans Day, but she still wants to do some meal preparation for the upcoming week. When she gets back from walking Roux this morning, I will go for one of my longer walks. Colleen’s cooking today will include some homemade ham and pea soup, banana muffins, a cucumber salad for Alex, and lemon-butter cod dinner. Hopefully tomorrow, we can split and stack some firewood. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When our days wind down, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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November 17, 2024: Cold Temperatures, A Fire In The Fireplace, Firewood Split And Stacked, And A Super Moon On Friday Night.

Fall is here with more cool days than warm days last week. It was cold a couple of mornings to prompt me into lighting a fire in the fireplace. It was the first thing I did this morning too. We do have a little bit of a warmup in front of us though. The mercury might reach the 70-degree mark a time or two between tomorrow and Wednesday, but when the cold front pushes through on Wednesday, it looks like I will be lighting a fire every morning after that. We had an abundance of sunshine for most of last week, and apart from some rain on Wednesday night and Thursday, we should see plenty of sunshine for the week ahead of us too. The week of Thanksgiving is looking good as well, but it’s still too far out to be able to say for sure.

Last Sunday was a quiet day up here on our little hill. Colleen walked Roux, and I took a nice long morning walk for myself. Colleen spent a good bit of her day in the kitchen and even tried a new twist on her already awesome banana muffins. She put candied ginger on the top of the muffins, and that took the muffins to a whole new level. I spent most of my day out on the front porch, writing and then doing a little of this and little of that. When Colleen was not in the kitchen, she was upstairs in her workroom wrapping Christmas presents. Colleen made some lemon-butter cod for dinner too.

Colleen did not have school on Monday since it was Veterans Day. It was Colleen’s birthday too. A dense fog hung in the treetops for most of the morning. Since Colleen was not going to do anything outside, she started cooking for the holidays by making French meat pies using my mother’s recipe. I look forward to them every year. Alex stopped by the house with a card and some chocolates for Colleen. He had time to kill, so we sat out on the front porch and talked for a good while. The Trail Blazer needed some work on its brakes, so it spent the day in the shop. When the shop finished, I dropped the Caliber off so it could get a state inspection. It seems like last week and the week before that the shop was my second home.

Tuesday morning Colleen headed back to school. I walked Roux and then blew the leaves off the backyard when I got home. Alex showed up just before noon with Koda, his dog. Alex bucked and quartered a good bit of seasoned firewood while he was here. The shop called to let me know a part for the Trail Blazer had finally gotten there, and they would be able to fix the Trail Blazer’s window switch if Colleen dropped it off on her way home. Colleen left the Trail Blazer there and drove the Caliber home. We picked up the Trail Blazer at the end of day.

Wednesday morning to celebrate being able to open and close the driver side window again, Colleen stopped at Bojangles to get breakfast for her and the teacher with whom she works. It was cold enough Wednesday morning to put a winter coat on Roux for her morning walk. Colleen has bought Roux several different coats and Roux loves wearing them. After our walk, I spent the morning hauling the firewood Alex had quartered up to the log splitter. I still had a pile of un-split by the log splitter up there too. We were supposed to get rain starting Wednesday night, and knowing I wanted to split and stack the wood on Saturday, I covered everything up with a large tarp.

Thursday morning Roux and I got a short walk before the rain really started falling. We did get caught in a light sprinkle as we were heading home. Thursday was also market day and getting there and back and getting the groceries into the house and put away chewed up my morning. I did light a fire in the fireplace as soon as I got home though, and Roux took full advatnage of it lying on the loveseat for most of the day.. The fire did a great job of chasing the cold, damp air out of the house. By the time Colleen got home from school, the house was warm and cozy. Colleen missed most of the rain driving home after school, but the heaviest rain of the day started falling right around dinner time.

By dawn on Friday, the rain had cleared out of the area. The morning was gray and cold though, so Roux had to wear her warm coat, and as soon as Roux and I got back from our walk, I put a fire in the fireplace. By noon, the sun had burnt away the morning clouds. It was a bright and sunny afternoon, but it didn’t warm up too much. I kept the fire burning all day. When Colleen got home, she babysat the fire while I ran down the road to get our pizza for dinner. Neither of us did much after dinner except relax.

Yesterday started out in a flurry of activity. Colleen walked Roux, I took a 3-mile walk, and then Colleen and I split and stacked firewood for the rest of the morning. We got through all the wood Alex had split on Tuesday, filled up another half-cord rack with the wood, but that was all we had in us. There is still a pile of wood to be split and stacked and an empty rack waiting to be filled. After lunch, I packaged up some baseball cards for Monday’s mail and listed a bunch more for sale online. The afternoon turned out to be quite pretty, but Colleen and I were both played out when dinner time rolled around and just spent the evening relaxing.

The sun is not quite up yet, but Colleen is walking Roux. I will go for my walk when they get back, but I have already lit the day’s fire. Colleen will likely spend the better part of the day in the kitchen. She wants to experiment with a pineapple dessert, make her annual holiday fruit cakes, and prepare a few meals for the upcoming week. Colleen will not eat the fruit cake, but I will devour them! I do not have a “To-Do” list today like usual on Sundays, preferring to see what odds and ends need to be addressed. Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away now and Christmas will not be far behind, so I am gearing up for a busy week of cleaning the house. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. Every evening as the day comes to an end, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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Scroll Down To Leave A Comment

39 Replies to “2024 – Another Year, More Stories, And Retirement Looming”

Robin Hoffman says:

March 10, 2024 at 9:30 pm

Thank you for sharing your life with all of us readers. I live in northern California, close to the town of Blue Lake, out in the country on Redwood Creek. I am a retired Postal Worker and my husband is a retired log truck driver, owner-operator. I really appreciate reading about your life on the homestead. I am so sorry about your accident. You are in my prayers for continued healing. I really appreciate how you end each of your writings with an up-beat message. God Bless you and your family!

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  March 17, 2024 at 1:13 pm
  
  Thanks… We can only take care of the things in our control. No sense in worrying about everything else.
  
  Hope you have a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine Biggers Froderman says:

March 11, 2024 at 12:05 pm

Good Monday Morning,
We have a beautiful day with sunshine and 48 degrees. Local tv says we could get up near 70 today, but by the end of next week, winter is likely to pay us a visit. Well of course it will, it’s high school bb tournament time! My spring flowers are up but a long way from blooming. Our snow has melted and our area is in a high fire danger warning, it’s so dry. We are in dire need of moisture in whatever form. Yesterday I made Irish Soda Bread. Have a new phone to learn so no picture of it, but it tastes very good and I’ll be making it again soon. Your back will take time to fully heal and each time it’s irritated adds to that time span. Mine took 2 yrs to fully heal. Patience is key. Y’all have a fun St. Patrick’s day. Enjoy.

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1. Pops says:
  
  March 17, 2024 at 1:08 pm
  
  Thanks… Might be the first year in a long while we haven’t had a gathering of the clan for corned beef and cabbage though..
  
  Have a great day…
  
  Reply
  1. Nadine says:
    
    March 17, 2024 at 5:32 pm
    
    BUT, you’re all alive and well (or nearly so). Enjoy whatever the day holds.
    
    Reply
    1. Pops says:
      
      March 18, 2024 at 7:17 am
      
      Yeppers… and that’s a good thing!
      
      Reply
Colleen Dawn Hoeg says:

March 13, 2024 at 1:23 am

The nurse in me makes me ask you if you are following doctor’s orders for your back brace? It’s early for healing in your spine. Take care. Had a fall with rib fractures, but pain was gone in 3 to 4 weeks. Also, I retired almost 3 years ago, and love every day of it.

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1. Pops says:
  
  March 17, 2024 at 1:07 pm
  
  The doctor really didn’t give me any instructions for my back brace. All in all though, my back has been feeling good, and I working on building my back muscles back up by walking. I am taking it easy though.
  
  Have a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine Biggers Froderman says:

March 24, 2024 at 1:31 pm

Good Palm Sunday. We are getting more snow, as predicted, but it’s not as heavy as some places are getting. YET. My spring flowers were up and growing nicely but I’m sure this cold will be the end of most of them for this Spring. However, we are in dire need of moisture in whatever form it comes. Meanwhile, roads must be slick since there’s been several roll-over accidents.
My mouth has 80% healed but my denture won’t seat, so I’m still limited to soft foods that don’t require chewing.
I so miss seeing your daily posts. Mr Glover can but the Homesteading group is no longer and option for me on my computer, and that saddens me. Hopefully the last few months of school will pass quickly and calmly. Enjoy your Sunday.

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1. Pops says:
  
  March 24, 2024 at 6:36 pm
  
  Thanks… Don’t know why you wouldn’t be able to access my posts in Homesteading. Have you tried searching my name? I suspect it’s just some FB tom-foolery. Hope you had a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine Biggers Froderman says:

April 1, 2024 at 12:31 am

We spent a quiet Easter. We went to church this morning but the rest of the day was…SLOW. Rain/snow had been predicted but didn’t materialize. The wind, however, was strong, cold and damp. This trio is predicted for tomorrow, too. Bending is a no-no, as ySu’ve discovered. Your back will feel better when you reach your 1 yr. anniversary, so long as you don’t push the envelope too hard. Speaking from experience, sadly.
The temperature and some snow put the kibosh on the bulb growth outside. Time will tell if they’ll bloom, but we’re not going to hold our breathe. I have the flower seeds I hope to plant, and no store has bedding plants yet. TOO early for Zone 3/4. I hope the rest of your school year will pass quickly, and that neither of you will have any potholes. I’m not even sure yet what our district’s last day of school is. Thank to the mild winter there’s only been 1-2 snow days taken off. Happy Spring!!!

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1. Pops says:
  
  April 7, 2024 at 1:05 pm
  
  Thanks… Actually bending isn’t a problem, it’s working with my arms outstretched in front of me. It’s getting much better though and I haven’t had much in the way of problems this past week. Hope you having a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine Biggers Froderman says:

April 7, 2024 at 4:12 pm

We hope you are getting moisture but not in excess. We got a wee bit in the early hours and more is coming, we hope. In another month, we’ll think about planting our garden and flower beds, and moving houseplants outside to the deck. I will have a check up Wednesday and I know it’s not going to go well. Soft foods still have carbohydrates and I’m still limited to those. The dentist thinks I’ll end up having to get implants due to the way my mouth has changed in such a short time. I think I’d rather endure the pain than deal with a loose denture. I’m ready to eat real food again!!! We aren’t in the path of the eclipse. I saw the one in 1977, so I’m good. Thousands have descended on my hometown in AR to view it. Glad to hear you all are well, or nearly so. Give Roux a hug from me and you ALL take care.

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Nancy S says:

April 14, 2024 at 8:23 pm

Happy Birthday! I hope your final weeks go great for you at school.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  April 21, 2024 at 12:07 pm
  
  Thanks… Hope you had a great week!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

May 5, 2024 at 2:05 pm

I sense time is dragging for you about now with your much-anticipated retirement looming ahead. It used to feel slow back when I was a student before graduation. That was a lifetime ago and yet I still remember. The rains have made your garden’s look lush. With any luck, our garden will be planted in another couple of weeks, as will flower beds, pots and planters. We’re told that our summer and fall will be very hot and very dry. I’ve an appointment with my oral surgeon to learn if I have enough bone to install implants. The denture needs retrofitted in order to wear it. For 2 posts, the cost is $4k and it’s not covered by my insurance or Medicare. Shortly after that I am scheduled for tests to find where I’m leaking blood. I’m very anemic. Guess all this means no vacation again this year, per usual. How are your chickens faring? Is Hug-me still alive? One can hope. Enjoy and revel in any accolades the school might shower you with. And for goodness sake, STAY HEALTHY.

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Kevin says:

May 5, 2024 at 8:27 pm

Pops, you have to love those state assignments. 🤣 Glad that this is your last round of them before retirement. Have a wonderful week.

Reply
1. Kevin says:
  
  May 5, 2024 at 8:29 pm
  
  Assessments, not assignments.🤦
  
  Reply
2. Pops says:
  
  May 19, 2024 at 1:19 pm
  
  They definitely are a pain. Asked some kids that graduated if they every made a difference in the academic life. Not one kid every said yes. Have a great day!
  
  Reply
Rita says:

June 9, 2024 at 2:03 pm

Congratulations 🎊 on your retirement, Dennis! Next Thursday will be my last day before retirement, though I will fill in occasionally until they find a replacement…I appreciate your words about reprogramming your brain to retirement mode. I’m taking that to heart! Enjoy your retirement!!!
P.S. hope the injured hen is doing better.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  June 16, 2024 at 7:17 pm
  
  Thanks,
  
  I’m adapting to being retirement very quickly it seems. Of course, the list of work to do around the house is a mile long. OUr hen seems to be getting bette every day so that is good. Congradulations on your retirement!
  
  Hope you have a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine Biggers Froderman says:

August 11, 2024 at 8:19 pm

We need rain, but not to the extent Debby gave you! Deer nearly decimated our garden, we thought. The tomatoes are small but tasty but there won’t be enough to can. We put canned 30 jars if green beans Thursday, however. This a.m in church, our pastor collapsed due to a heart issue right after our service had begun. That was scary! My kidney stone is hopefully ancient history! Onward ad upward! I fully understand your back ache. Wish I didn’t! Y’all take care now, and take a bit of a vacation for yourselves, Break the routine to refresh yourselves. You’ve earned it.

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Nadine says:

August 19, 2024 at 11:48 am

Good Monday morning. Everything is blissfully quiet here in our tiny town this morning. Usually about this time we hear semi’s hauling grain to the elevator. But not today, so far. We’ve very light wind and sunshine but we’re told that will be changing. We certainly could use a good, soaking rain. The ground has huge cracks in it. Our garden is pretty much done for the season so I guess I’m done canning already and that certainly seems strange. Later this week I see the kidney specialist for my check up and I dread having to contend with the city traffic coming and going. Sometimes I wonder if the drivers ever took driver’s ed classes! Enjoy the remainder of summer if possible.

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1. Pops says:
  
  August 25, 2024 at 2:00 pm
  
  Thanks… Glad you got rain, and I hope your doctor appointment wen well.
  
  Have a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

September 22, 2024 at 4:54 pm

I like your newsy blogs! I saw the radar as the storm approached north central NC and wondered how much rain y’all got. As long as you didn’t get the wickedly, strong winds! We’ve been bone dry with no chance of precip in the forecast for who knows how long. Fall soybean harvest has begun here on the Northern Plains. Dairy farmers have been chopping corn silage for a while now and that phase is winding down as grain farmers prepare for the corn harvest as soon as the moisture content drops a bit. After a field has been combined, my hubby take one of his trucks and goes out to pick up dropped ears to feed the squirrels this winter. I’m thankful you got good news regarding your aneurysm. I imagine the dr told you to continue what you’ve been doing. Well, you and Roux. Her, spoiled? Nah, just loved! I hope Colleen’s appt. goes well and that she gets a clean bill of health. Enjoy the better fall days ahead.

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1. Pops says:
  
  September 29, 2024 at 1:04 pm
  
  THanks,
  
  THe storm stayed well west of us. Western NC is an absolute disaster area. We are just fine though.
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

September 29, 2024 at 8:14 pm

I was thankful to read that you, Colleen and Roux are fine. We would be giddy with joy if we got a fraction of the rain Helene’s giving. Our land and air are extremely dry and the only ones that seem to like it are the teeny, tiny “no-see-um” gnats. I hope you don’t get those little biters! I was surprised to read that Louis now lives 80 miles away from you. I hope the Calibur stays running good for a lot longer and be the exception rather than the norm. Our garden is history and I’m not sorry. We canned twice the amount of green beans I normally strive for. Glad you’re listening to your back. I learned a long time ago that when we don’t, we suffer more. Give Roux a hug.

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1. Pops says:
  
  October 6, 2024 at 1:32 pm
  
  Thanks…
  
  We are glad Helene missed us for the most part. THe devastation in the western part of the state is incredible though.
  
  Have a great day!
  
  Reply
Kathleen Brice says:

October 3, 2024 at 7:18 pm

So glad to hear you two are ok after Heleen. I haven’t commented in a long while. Been traveling. Car camping for 7 months. My sister and I went to Utah. We explored at least 9 states. It was amazing. Was close to you in Murphy visiting friends. Been reading your posts. It’s amazing how fast time passes. Looks like you are enjoying retirement.

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1. Pops says:
  
  October 6, 2024 at 1:30 pm
  
  Thanks…
  
  Sounds like you are having quite the adventure, and yes, I absolutely love being retired. I should have done it years ago…
  
  Have a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

October 21, 2024 at 12:25 am

Fall is here, for sure. We’ve had a few sub-freezing mornings, and the trees are nearly bare. The garden is cleared off and ready for it’s winter’s nap. Got some flower seeds from our neighbor that I’m sure will grow better than what I bought and planted last spring. I had a checkup last week. Most of the tests were better than anticipated, especially my A1c. Now that my kidney stone is gone, those values are nearly normal, and I’ve lost a few more pounds of lard. In about 2 months, I hope to be able to eat normal foods again. That’ll be my Christmas gift! The prices of turkeys are still high, but I might buy a small one since it’ll be just the two of us again. Hubby said he might put the Christmas tree up this year. We’ve not had appreciable rain for 2 months, and there’s none in our forecast, either. Even snow would be welcomed right now

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1. Pops says:
  
  October 27, 2024 at 1:47 pm
  
  We’re still getting herbs, lettuce, and a few peppers from our gardens. We do have three broccoli plants, but I’m not sure if we will see any broccoli. I am glad you tests came back so well. With all the flooding in western North Carolina this year, I’m expecting Christmas trees to be very expensive.
  
  Have a great day
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

October 27, 2024 at 7:29 pm

Good last Sunday of October! We’ve had a cool day, very windy and very, very dry. A fire broke out in a field of cornstalk bales belonging to some friends. It took 3 fire depts 3 hrs to get it out. Cornstalks are used for cattle bedding during the winter. A large percentage of farmers are holding off on their fall tillage due to the high fire danger. Do you still have Hug-me or is she no longer alive? I sure did enjoy hearing about her. Hopefully, one of your new ones will have that kind of personality. I hope Roux’s paw is better. Hope it’s only bruised. Hope Alex is feeling better, too. I’m glad James could come work on your front steps before you or Colleen, or one of your sons, getting injured. Y’all stay healthy and safe.

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1. Pops says:
  
  November 3, 2024 at 12:15 pm
  
  Good morning….
  
  All of the chickens are getting along famously. Maybe we might get an egg or two soon. Alex is back to his old self and everyone else is doing great. Hope you’re having a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

November 4, 2024 at 10:32 am

Finally a bit of snow and a little bit of rain in the form of fog and mist. We may get a bit more later this week, and it will be greatly appreciated. Many farmers still have corn crops to combine and to till the fields. Some have found that the ground is so compacted they’re having to actually plow, not just chisel as they have been. Crop yield has declined this year as well. Soybeans have been less than 50 bu per acre and corn less than 150 bu per acre. Still, some have purchased new pickups, cars, and farm implements so the yields couldn’t have been too bad.
I’m glad to hear Roux is healthy. Our 2 cats see the vet on Friday for their annual vaccines. They do not like being confined, much less in a vehicle, so it’s going to be a long ride!
What kind are your new black hens?
My hubby has raked and bagged leaves. Next spring most will be tilled into our garden, as it is every year to finish decaying. He also filled 3 wood racks on the deck and the one inside as well. The deck racks are used when he can’t get to the pile out back due to snow depth.
We expect our Thanksgiving will be abbreviated again, no surprise there. Christmas will be, too. Young people seem to no longer feel we old people are worth their time. Have yourselves a wonderful week. Note: The Trailblazer is in it’s prime. Don’t give up on it.

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1. Pops says:
  
  November 10, 2024 at 11:48 am
  
  Thanks…
  
  I think the new kids in the pen are Black Sexlinks, but I’m not sure. Hopefully, we can be done our Christmas shopping by thanks giving. Ours Christmmas might be bigger than usual this year, but that depends on whether our not one of our grandsons joins us.
  
  Have a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine Biggers Froderman says:

November 11, 2024 at 2:19 pm

It’s been such a relief not to hear constant political ads! We voted, came home and tidied up the house a bit. I can’t remember what we did after that. Thursday was my birthday but no one called or came by. Friday we took our boys to the vet for their checkups, vaccine updates and to get their nails clipped. They both were very vocal the entire time they were in the car. What a relief to get home- for us! Our son and DIL came by Friday late. They didn’t stay long since he had to work the weekend. They’d replaced their son’s hollow-core front door with a substantial steel door to keep the cold wind out. Grandson called Saturday to say he’d be flying to AR for additional training for WM, and will be there several days. I hope he can do a bit of sight-seeing while he’s in my home state. I feel for Alex. His face doesn’t look like “minor” surgery to me. I hope it solves his problem, but it looks painful. And your shoulder: Baby it with some Voltren along with the Ibuprophen. I wish I had Colleen’s energy and determination! Have a good week.

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1. Pops says:
  
  November 17, 2024 at 11:43 am
  
  Thanks…
  
  Alex’s surgery really was minor and he’s healing up quickly. It hasn’t even bothered him enough to take any pain killers. Colleen and I are looking forward to a busy couple of weekks getting ready for the holidays. Fortunately, most all of the CHristmas shopping and wrapping is done already.
  
  Have a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

November 17, 2024 at 4:19 pm

We’ve been enjoying nice, fall weather but we’re being told that it’ll soon end and snow will be falling. We’re ready for it, I suppose. Last week found us in Sioux Falls for my kidney evaluation, and I got good news that there are no more stones, and to drink some lemon water every day to prevent crystals from forming. Hubby has to go see his cardiologist for a 10 yr check up tomorrow. I dread the traffic we’ll encounter, to and from, and will be thankful to get home again. Yesterday I made a big pot of vegetable beef soup and we know it’ll be better yet when it’s warmed up and served with warm yeast rolls. We will spend Thanksgiving by ourselves, as usual. I’ll not make anything truly special, but we’re thankful for all we’ve been blessed with just the same.

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