2025 – Archived Blogs

Well, it is the first weekend of the new year, and it is as cold as the Dickens! Mother Nature gave us a break with some very pleasant and unseasonably warm days to close out December, but she turned off the heat on New Year’s Day, and the mercury has been dropping ever since. The temperature is now starting the days near 25 degrees and struggling to make it into the 40’s. Colleen and I have been burning the fire hard to heat of the house, and it looks like that will be our strategy for at least the next couple of weeks. We have not had much in the way of precipitation, but that is supposed to change later today and into tomorrow. Unfortunately, it will just be a cold biting rain.

We started taking down Christmas decorations last weekend and Colleen spent the better part of last Sunday taking down the decorations hung on the walls, while I did my writing. We did get some rain Sunday afternoon. After the rain passed, Colleen headed down back to bring the girls their afternoon treats. That did not go well, because Colleen lost her footing in the chicken pen and ended up on her backside. Fortunately, she did not get hurt. It was a good excuse for her to get into her pj’s before dinner though.

Monday after our morning walks, Colleen and I were both all in on putting Christmas decorations away. In the morning, while Colleen packed up decorations inside the house, I took down the garland and lights on the front porch. The noon hour showed up, and we kept going as we headed outside to put the yard decorations away. That took us a couple of hours. Since we had not eaten lunch, after Colleen took care of the girls in the afternoon, we ate an early dinner. I always get sad when we put away our Christmas decorations and sitting out in the front porch in the evening with my cigar just did not seem right without the Christmas lights.

Tuesday was New Year’s Eve, and it was time for the Christmas tree to come down. That little job took us all morning, but by 1 o’clock, Colleen and I were unceremoniously tossing the defrocked Christmas tree over the front porch rail. Neither of us did much for the rest of the day. Taking down the Christmas tree is another sad event for me, and the living room looked barren without it. It was not even cold enough to have a fire in the fireplace. A fire would have at least added a warm and cheery glow to the room. We did get Chinese takeout for dinner though. It is a New Year’s Eve thing for us.

Wednesday was New Year’s Day. The morning brought us a fiery eastern horizon to start the new year. Colleen and I filled up about half of the back porch firewood rack after our morning walks. Colleen puttered around the house for the rest of the day, and I worked with my baseball cards, packaging some up for the mail and listing a bunch of others for sale online. The whole day was calm and quiet and for dinner all we did was heat up the leftovers from our New Year’s Eve Chinese takeout.

Thursday was market day, and Colleen and I headed out shortly after daylight. I guess it was a sign that we were getting back into a normal, everyday routine. It was cold though, and as soon as we got home, I made sure we had a good fire burning in the fireplace. I spent most of the day tending the fire. I did go for a walk after lunch. When I got home, there were deer in the backyard, and they didn’t seem to mind me being on the back porch to get more firewood for the hearth rack. Colleen spent the evening figuring out and looking for what we needed to get a “Real ID” to replace our driver’s licenses. Those things are a pain!

Friday Colleen and I started thinking about getting back to a post-Christmas normal daily routine. The morning was a cold 25 degrees, and while Colleen was walking Roux, I made sure we had a nice fire burning in the fireplace. While I was out walking, Colleen started making a big pot of corn chowder. The chowder recipe is from Revolutionary times and is one of our favorites. I ended up taking a nap after lunch, and when I came back downstairs, Colleen was just taking a batch of freshly baked blueberry muffins out of the oven. Since it was Friday, we got takeout pizza for dinner. We spent most of our evening relaxing.

It was another cold start to yesterday, and while Colleen was walking Roux, I made darn sure we had a hardy fire burning in the fireplace. Colleen made some German apple pancakes for breakfast when she got home. I went for my walk after breakfast. Colleen and I put some more firewood on the back porch rack after lunch. I tended the fire and listed baseball cards for sale online for the rest of the afternoon. Colleen made a turkey dinner with frozen Thanksgiving leftovers. After dinner we spent a quiet and peaceful evening in front of the fireplace.

This morning Colleen and I were treated to another brilliant orange horizon as the sun came up. The fire is burning in the fireplace now. Colleen is walking Roux, and I will go for my walk later today. Today is also Colleen’s last day of Christmas break. She will be getting everything ready to head to school tomorrow morning, but she is not looking forward to heading back into school. I cannot say as I blame her either. As for me, I am just getting ready for another day of being retired which I very much enjoy. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When we come 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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January 12, 2025: More Biting Cold, A Daily Fire, And The First Snowfall In About Three Years.

Mother Nature did her best last week to remind us that we are still in the throes of winter. Most of our mornings last week started with the thermometer needle sitting at the 20-degree mark. For three consecutive days, the high temperature in the afternoons only got to 36 degrees. While we were doing our best to keep the house warm, the weather prognosticators warned us of an impending snowstorm late Friday afternoon and all through the night. Snowfall projections ran anywhere from 3 to 5 inches. Having missed out on a White Christmas, Colleen and I genuinely were excited at the chance of snow. Yesterday morning, we woke up expecting to see the ever so rare winter wonderland around here. It did not happen! Mother Nature really dropped the ball. We barely got an inch of snow, and most of it melted by sunset. What is left on the ground today are a few white patches of snow in shady spots and black ice on the roads where the runoff refroze last night.

Last Sunday started out like most winter Sundays around here. Colleen took Roux for her morning walk, while I put a fire in the fireplace. I did not go for my walk when Colleen and Roux got home because on top of writing our weekly blog, I needed to put together the source code for this year’s new page on our website. Colleen spent some time in the kitchen, and when I finished my preliminary work with the blog and website, she proofread my work. I got everything posted and made sure all the links on the website worked after that. I thought I had enough time for a walk when I finished, so I headed out. A mile into my walk, the weather app on my phone warned of rain starting soon, so I turned around and headed home. I was not home more than 15 minutes and sleet started falling. We had a five-minute snow flurry in the mix with the sleet, and then everything turned into a cold biting freezing rain. It turned out to be a perfect evening for a dinner of hot corn chowder and grilled tomato and cheese sandwiches.

Sunday night’s freezing rain left a layer of ice on Colleen’s windshield that she had to scrape off before heading to school Monday morning. Fortunately, the roads were not bad, and Colleen got to school without incident. The morning was too cold and miserable to take Roux for a walk. I ended up spending most of my day tending the fire to chase the cold damp air from the house. The sun came out when Colleen got home from school, so I went for a walk while she tended the fire. By the time I got back from my walk, Colleen had dinner almost ready. After dinner, we just relaxed in front of the fireplace.

Tuesday morning was bitter cold, but dry outside. It was too cold to walk Roux, so I spent the morning tending the fire and doing housework. After lunch, I banked the fire and headed outside to refill the back porch rack with firewood. Filling the back porch firewood rack entails me pulling firewood off the winter-ready racks, tossing it up to the back porch, then stacking the firewood on the back porch rack. I did what I could, but only got the back porch rack about two-thirds full. Colleen got home a little late, but I still went for a walk when she got home. The sun was low in the sky by then, the wind picked up, and it got cold. I was glad to get back home to a warm fire and a hot dinner.

Wednesday morning started the same way Tuesday did. I did not walk Roux and focused on the fire to keep the first floor warm. I managed to get some vacuuming and other housework done during the morning. I did go outside to make sure the Honda started, because we had not used it since the weekend before Christmas. When Colleen got home, I went for my walk. The high temperature Wednesday afternoon was just 36 degrees, and the windchill stayed below freezing. Colleen and I let the fire burn down early Wednesday evening and headed upstairs to the bedroom where we have a high efficiency space heater.

Thursday was market day. I put Roux in her heavy winter coat to keep her warm while I was gone, and I headed down to the market as early as I could. I got home, put the groceries away, and the fire was burning by 9:30. That was still three hours later than I usually start the fire, so it was a struggle to heat up the first floor. Of course, another day with the windchill temperature under freezing outside did not help much. I managed to have the first floor somewhat warm by the time Colleen got home, and yes, I went for my walk. Colleen had dinner ready and waiting when I got home.

The pending snowstorm was Friday’s big story. Some school districts in the area outright canceled school for the day. Colleen’s school released the kids three hours early, so Colleen was able to come home early. I spent the day tending the fire and getting more firewood up to the back porch rack. Roux decided to hide under a blanket for most of the day. When Colleen got home, I went for a walk. Anticipating getting takeout might be an issue because of the snowstorm, I had bought all the fixings for Friday evening tempura shrimp street taco dinner at the market on Thursday. Once I got home from my walk, Colleen and I just hunkered down and had our dinner. The snow started falling about 4:30. By the time we went to bed, everything looked very promising for a real, honest to goodness, snow storm overnight.

Colleen and I woke up yesterday morning to a pathetic sight. The 3 to 5 inches of snow that was predicted to fall, turned into one inch and just barely covered the ground. Colleen decided she would take Roux for a walk while I got the day’s fire burning. I did not take my walk in the morning, instead opting to tend the fire and heat up the first floor. Colleen spent her morning in the kitchen making ham and pea soup and oatmeal raisin cookies. After a lunch of hot homemade soup, I took a nap while Colleen made a double batch of cinnamon rolls. When I woke up and came back downstairs, I banked the fire again and then headed out for a walk. By the time I got home, Colleen just about had dinner ready. After dinner, we took care of the evening chores and then relaxed in front of the fireplace.

Colleen was up before me this morning. She decided it was not too cold to take Roux for a walk. I got the day’s fire lit. I will take my walk later today. I think Colleen wants to do a little bit in the kitchen today to get ready for the upcoming week. I will tend the fire and do whatever odds and ends around the house I can. I do not think next week will be as cold as last week, but I am sure I will have a fire going everyday while Colleen is at school. I am now six months into my retirement, and I am loving every minute of it. I do not get rushed for anything. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When each day comes to an end, we look around and smile, knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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January 19, 2025: Plenty Of Sunshine, A Few Warm Days, And An Arctic Blast Of Bitter Cold Temperatures Headed Our Way!

Last week was not a bad week for weather. The snow we got a week ago Friday sort of hung around here and there during the week. Between the sunshine and the temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s all week, the last few shady spots did not lose their snow until yesterday though. We were supposed to get some rain yesterday, but we only had a few sprinkles. Today, it seems we may see some rain, but as of right now, all we have is fog. The nice weather ends today though. We are in for some bitter cold starting tomorrow morning, and we may even see some snow on Tuesday night. I sure hope if we do see some snow, it is more than what we got the last time it snowed. That was pathetic.

Colleen and I just laid low last Sunday because the roads were covered with ice from the refreezing of the snow that had melted. We, however, both managed to get our walks for the day, Colleen with Roux in the morning and mine later in the day. My day was consumed with tending the fire, writing, and listing baseball cards for sale online. Colleen puttered around the house mostly. For dinner we enjoyed Swiss mushroom burgers Friendly’s style. For those not familiar with Friendly’s restaurants, the burgers were on toasted bread instead of buns.

There was still some lingering black ice on the roads Monday morning when Colleen headed into school. Fortunately, she did not have any problems and got there safely. It was warm enough for me to take Roux for a morning walk. There was a little bit of leftover snow around our herb garden too. I spent the rest of my day doing housework, tending the fire, and researching baseball cards. Colleen got home at her usual time without incident. It seems that tending the fire chews up more time than I think it does, but it kept the house warm, and after dinner, Colleen and I relaxed in front of the fireplace before we called it a day.

Tuesday morning was warm enough to walk Roux and when we got back, I promptly lit the fire in the fireplace. It did not take long to warm up the house either. I spent most of the morning refilling the back porch wood rack. After a quick lunch, I cleaned the kitchen and entry way floors and did some other housework. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home, so she was a little late. After she took care of the girls for the afternoon, we had our dinner and then we headed into the living room to relax in front of the fire for the evening again.

Wednesday was a busy day. Colleen headed to school, and I got up to do some housework. One of the kids I tutor and her mom were going to come by the house later in the morning, so I could help the kid. The young lady really did not need much help. I gave her a couple of books, pointed her in the right direction, and she was off and running. She ended up working until just after noon while her mom who is a friend of mine and I got caught up with each other. After the kid and her mom left, I listed some baseball cards for sale online. When Colleen got home, I headed out for a walk while Colleen brought the girls their afternoon treats and started making our dinner.

Thursday was market day, and I headed out early. I did not light our fire until I got back home around 9 o’clock. It did not take me long to ramp up the fire and chase the chill from the first floor. After I put the groceries away, I spent the rest of my day tending the fire, packaging up baseball cards for the mail, doing research, and listing more cards online. I took my walk when Colleen got home. Colleen had dinner ready when I got back from my walk. We spent our evening in front of the fireplace once again.

Friday turned out to be bright sunny and warm. I took Roux for a walk in the morning. I started a small fire in the fireplace when we got back just to make the house cozy. I spent a good part of the morning filling up the back porch firewood rack. I can only do so much before my back starts to get upset with me, so I never quite get the rack full. I did let Roux outside in the afternoon for about an hour because she loves laying in the sunshine. Colleen and I took the Trail Blazer to the shop when she got home so they could reset a maintenance indicator and then we got takeout subs for dinner. Colleen has a 3-day weekend this weekend, so we did not do much after dinner.

Yesterday was gray. It threatened to rain, but it never really did. We both managed to get to go for our walks in the morning. Colleen puttered around the house, spending some of day in her workroom cleaning up and filing papers. Colleen hates filing. I tended the fire all day and mostly just bumped around. I do tend to do less when Colleen is home so I can stay out of her way or help her do things if she needs my help. I did manage to list a few more baseball cards for sale during the day. Even though the day had not been terribly busy, we both called it an early day when our fire burnt down in the evening.

Today will be another gray day. Colleen is already out walking Roux, and the weather folks issued a dense fog warning for the area. I have already started the day’s fire. I guess I will try to take my walk a little later. Tomorrow, the bottom will fall out of the thermometer, and most of next week will be bitter cold. It does not get that cold, that often, around here, and it is a sure bet I will be burning hard all week long. After we get through this cold snap, it looks like temperatures will get back to seasonal. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. No matter what Mother Nature throws at us though, at the end of each day, we can look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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January 26, 2025: Bitter Cold, Snow And Snow Days For School, Nothing Better Than A Hot Fire!

It seems like Mother Nature and Old Man Winter had a little party for themselves last week. It was easily the longest stretch of sub-freezing temperatures I can remember since the early 2000’s. Then just to make things interesting, a storm moved across the Gulf States dumping inches of snow from Houston to Tallahassee. We were far enough north to only get about an inch of snow. Still, that inch really made a mess around here. Colleen only had to go to school on Tuesday and Friday. The snow showed up Tuesday night. For most of the week, I kept the fire burning hard and hot for as long as I could. This morning the temperature is just below the freezing mark, but it looks like this will be the last time the mercury drops that low at least for the next couple of weeks.

Last Sunday was a low-key day around here, but we still rolled out of bed early. Colleen was in the middle of a 3-day weekend, so nothing absolutely had to be done for Monday. Colleen took Roux for a walk in the morning, and I got to take my morning walk when they got home. Colleen spent a good part of her morning making a pot of beef and vegetable soup. I tended the fire and did my usual Sunday writing. The daytime temperatures managed to climb over 50 degrees, but by early evening the breeze picked up, and then temperatures started to drop rather quickly.

Monday morning the temperature had fallen to below the freezing mark. Colleen did not have school, so she bundled up Roux and herself and went for their morning walk. I got the fire lit and burning as soon as I came downstairs. The high temperatures for the day barely got over the freezing mark. Knowing it was going to get colder and stay cold, Colleen and I headed out back after breakfast to put more firewood on the back porch rack. I waited until the middle of the afternoon to take my walk. We can keep the house warm enough to be comfortable, but Colleen decided our meals were cooling too quickly, so she started microwaving the dinner plates to keep the food warm longer.

Tuesday morning Colleen headed off to school at her usual time. Since I wanted to get a fire burning as soon as possible, I did not take Roux for a morning walk. The daytime high temperature was only 25 degrees, and I worked hard keeping our fire burning to heat up the first floor. Colleen’s school district decided to release everyone a couple of hours early because of the impending storm. I finally did go for my walk after Colleen got home. The snow started falling not long after dark.

Colleen’s school district canceled school on Wednesday because of the snow. It really was not all that much snow, but the roads were a mess, and it was cold! Colleen spent the morning making big pot of gumbo and baking some gumbo cookies. I tended the fire and stayed at it all day long. The temperature may have gotten a degree or two above freezing during the afternoon, but that only made the roads worse, because anything that melted refroze quickly. I did manage to go for my walk in the middle of the afternoon while the sun was high overhead. Colleen baked some blueberry muffins while I was out walking. We did not do much after dinner.

School got canceled again on Thursday for Colleen because of the treacherous roads. I got the fire lit as soon as I came downstairs in the morning. Colleen made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies in the morning. I waited until after lunch to make our usual market run. Colleen stayed home and tended the fire while I headed to the market. The mess on the roads had softened up considerably in the afternoon, but everything else seemed to be still frozen. When I got back from the market, I headed out for a walk and Colleen started making dinner.

Colleen had to go to school on Friday. Even though school started with a 2-hour delay for the kids, Colleen had to go in at her regular time, so she would not have to make up any time. Unfortunately, the teacher in her room called in sick, a sub did not pick up the job, and Colleen flew solo all day. I did a little housework and tended the fire on the day. When Colleen got home, I went for a walk. Colleen ordered our takeout pizza when I got back, so I hopped into the Trail Blazer and went to get dinner.

Everything started warming up yesterday. Colleen took Roux for a walk in the morning, and then Colleen and I headed to Walmart. Mostly, we just needed a few odds and ends, but it gave us a chance to get out of the house. I did buy some seeds with the hope I can get out into the gardens early this year. We treated ourselves to a couple of burgers from Hardee’s for lunch before we came home. Once we got home, I lit the fire to chase the chill out of the house. With the fire burning nicely, I headed out for my walk. It was a clear, sunny day and from our hill we could see for a good many miles down into the lowlands.

Our warm up starts for real today, and the last of the snow on the ground should disappear. The thermometer needle is sitting just below the freezing mark right now, but this should be the coldest it will get for the next couple of weeks. Colleen is already out walking Roux, and after that, she will spend some time in the kitchen. She said she has a hankering to make another pot of soup. I will go for my walk when Colleen and Roux get back. I am sure my day will be spent tending the fire, getting baseball cards ready for tomorrow’s mail, and listing more cards for sale. The relentless bitter cold of last week was tough on us, but we made it. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, we will look around and smile though, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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February 02, 2025: Warmer Weather Finally, Lots Of Sunshine, Lots Of Cleaning

Last week the weather seemed to have turned on a dime. I lit fires last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to chase the days’ chill from the house, and I lit it again this morning. From Wednesday through yesterday, it was warm enough to not only warrant not having a fire, but to also open the house and let in the warm, fresh air. Today, the mercury will struggle to reach the 50-degree mark, but for most of last week, daytime high temperatures ran between 65 and 75 degrees. It looks like warmer temperatures will be back with us for the coming week again. The only significant rain we got last week showed up after dark on Friday night and was gone before sunrise yesterday. The weather was so nice at the end of the week that I contemplated working in the gardens, but I knew better. We are only at the beginning of February, and I am sure we are just biding our time until the next cold snap arrives.

Last Sunday was low key up here on our little hill. All the holidays and holiday cleanup were well behind us, and it was too cold the week before to do much of anything outside. We did wake up to a very colorful morning though. Colleen and I both got a chance to go for our walks to start the day. I spent the bulk of my day tending the fire and doing my usual Sunday writing. Colleen spent her day in the kitchen preparing meals for the upcoming week. The real treat for the day was the Cuban sandwiches Colleen made for dinner. Colleen spent the evening getting ready for school on Monday morning. I enjoyed a cigar out on the front porch.

Having battled the bitter cold for almost two weeks, Monday’s warm up was both a relief and a chance to get caught up on housework. I scrubbed the downstairs bathroom and gave the floor a good washing. I cleaned the entryway and then tackled the family room. The family room really was not all that messy. There was a pile of Amazon boxes than needed to be broken down and put in the recycle bin, and the rug needed a good vacuuming. I even managed to get the day’s dishes washed before Colleen got home from school. Roux, who does not like the vacuum cleaner, decided to take advantage of the sunshine, and she laid out on the back porch while I cleaned.

Tuesday, it was time to clean the living room. That was a major undertaking, and it took me most of the morning. I picked up as many small wood shards as I could, moved some furniture around, and started vacuuming. The vacuum cleaner did not sound quite right, so I ended up pulling it apart and giving it a good cleaning. With the vacuum cleaner functioning as it should again, I finished cleaning the living room. I be spent the afternoon working with baseball cards until Colleen came home. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. Apart from dinner and drying the laundry, the evening was mostly quiet.

Even though I did not have a fire burning on Wednesday, I spent the morning refilling the back porch firewood rack as best I could. I started when Roux and I got back from our walk and managed to fill half the rack by lunchtime. It was a beautiful day, and after lunch, I set up my computer on the front porch to work with baseball cards. I needed to get some cards in the day’s mail and list some more for sale. When Colleen pulled into the driveway in the afternoon, the windows were down on the Trail Blazer, and she was yelling something about springlike weather. She may have been singing, but it was hard to tell. I had to help Colleen with some computer stuff after dinner, but mostly it was another quiet evening.

Thursday was market day. I walked Roux before I headed to the market. I did not get home and get everything put away until just before lunch even though it was a surprisingly light market run. It was another gorgeous afternoon, so I had my computer out on the front porch again. Colleen took care of the girls when she got home and made dinner. After dinner, she sat down to pay our monthly bills which reminded me I needed to start thinking about doing our taxes. I hate doing taxes!

I slept late Friday morning. When I headed down back to open up the hen coop for the day, I found it needed some minor repairs, so I spent the next hour doing that before I took Roux for a walk. By the time we got back home, it was almost noon and I had not eaten breakfast yet, so my breakfast became lunch. Colleen had a bit of a crazy day at school and was she ever glad to get home in the afternoon. Since I did not have a fire burning, Colleen, Roux, and I all hopped into the Trail Blazer to go get our Mexican takeout for dinner. Clouds started rolling right before dinner, and the rain started after dark.

Yesterday cooled off a little, but it was still warm enough for Colleen and I to open up the house in the afternoon. We even had some sunshine later in the day. Colleen and I started the day with our walks. I spent most of the rest my day on the computer on the front porch working with baseball cards. Colleen made a big pot of Bolognese soup and then a marbled pound cake. Today is a perfect day to have soup for lunch too. The day was not rushed fortunately, and after dinner we both got to relax.

On top of being chilly this morning, it is cloudy. I put a fire in the fireplace when I came downstairs. Colleen is out walking Roux. I will head out for my walk when they get home. Colleen wants to do some cleaning this morning and then this afternoon she wants to make Greek stuffed peppers for dinner. I will tend the fire and be available in case Colleen needs me to do something. Hopefully, I have the time to list more baseball card for sale too. It seems strange that it is already February. I am wondering what happened to January. It sure looks like it will be another quick year. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. We cannot change yesterday, and there is no sense in worrying about tomorrow. One thing is for certain however, 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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February 09, 2025: Unseasonably Warm Some Days, Cold With A Bite Other Days, Nasty Weather Headed Our Way.

Last week certainly was not like any week in February I have seen ever before. If the sun was shining last week, the day was mild with the temperature between 65 and 70 degrees. If the sun was not shining, the day was cold and dreary. Colleen and I opened up the doors and windows on the nice days to let the fresh air into the house. Then there was Wednesday and Saturday. We did not see a lick of sunshine either day. Of course, the mercury struggled to reach the 50-degree mark on both days as well. I lit a fire in the fireplace for those two days. Alas, this coming week, February weather will return. The morning temperatures will start around the freezing mark, the daily high temperatures will struggle to get into the 50’s, and there will be a cold biting rain for a couple of days in the middle of the week.

Last Sunday was a little calmer than usual. Colleen walked Roux and then I took my morning walk. Colleen started cleaning upstairs while I was walking. When I got home, I did my usual Sunday writing. Colleen was in the kitchen for most of the afternoon making Greek stuffed peppers which we had for dinner. I managed to find some time to take a nap though. Nothing much else came of the day. After dinner, it was the routine clean up, some relaxing, and the usual evening chores before we headed off to bed.

Monday morning Colleen headed off to school at her usual time. The day started out warm and just got warmer with no need of a fire in the fireplace. Since I was not tending a fire, after I walked Roux, I started sweeping and washing floors. That took me all morning. After lunch, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and sat out on the front porch sharpening my 30-year-old wood carving tools. I probably have not used them in 20 years, but the weather is getting better, and I am retired now. Colleen got home at her usual time. After she brought some afternoon treats to the girls and then started working on dinner for us.

Tuesday turned out to be prettier than Monday. Unfortunately, I had no motivation to do much of anything after Roux and I got back home from our walk. I basically sat outside on the front porch and enjoyed the lovely weather. After lunch, I figured I had better at least get the daily household chores out of the way before Colleen got home. I even managed to put more firewood on the back porch rack expecting Wednesday to be cold and miserable. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. Dinner was a few minutes later than usual, but the evening was quiet and relaxing.

It seemed like someone flipped a switch on Wednesday morning. It was gray, it was dreary, and it was cold. The deer did not seem to mind though. Roux and I went walking a little later than usual and when we got back, I put a fire in the fireplace. Once the fire was lit, my day consisted of some minor household chores, listing baseball cards for sale, tending the fire, and keeping the hearth rack full of firewood. Colleen got home at her usual time, took care of the girls, and got our dinner ready. After dinner, it was time to sit in the living room in front of a warm and cozy fireplace.

Thursday was market day. Roux and I opened up the hen coop for the day when we had some daylight, but then I headed to the market instead of taking Roux for her walk. Colleen had a long list last Thursday, and I filled up a buggy. That was the easy part, getting everything home, into the house, and put away proved more interesting. Cabinet and refrigerator space are at a premium around here. I took Roux for her walk after I finished. I did the usual household chores before Colleen got home, but did not do much for the rest of the day.

Friday turned out to be a little bit of a Monday. The check engine light came on in the Trail Blazer while Colleen was driving to school. After talking about it for a bit, we decided that Colleen would drop the Trail Blazer off at the shop on her way home from school, and I would pick her up. My day got eaten up with walking Roux, the routine household chores, and baseball cards. When it was time to get Colleen, I headed down to the shop. Instead of coming right home though, we headed to a nearby restaurant to get some takeout fried fish and sides for dinner. There were plenty of leftovers for Saturday’s dinner too.

The operative word for yesterday was relax. Neither Colleen nor I did a whole lot, essentially using yesterday to recharge our batteries. The day was gray and dreary, so I lit a fire while Colleen was walking Roux. After they got back, I went for a walk. The skies even sprinkled a little rain on me while I was out walking. I packaged up a bunch of baseball cards for the mail when I got home. That was probably the extent of the energy I exerted yesterday. Alex swung by the house for a bit in the late morning. He is looking and doing great. Colleen managed to find enough energy to heat up some lunch and then some dinner later in the day. We do get days like yesterday every once in a while.

It is already warm outside this morning. Colleen is out walking Roux. I will go for my walk after they get home. The skies are a bit gray at the moment, but the sun will burn through the clouds well before noon. Colleen wants to spend some time in the kitchen today. I have a bunch more cards to package up for tomorrow’s mail, and I have got some databases that need updating. This afternoon, I hope I can put more firewood on the back porch rack because we will need for the coming week. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When the day is done, we can always look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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February 16, 2025: Lots Of Rain, Cooler Temperatures, Snow In Next Week’s Forecast.

We sure had a wet week last week. To go with all the rain, the temperatures never seemed to get above 50 degrees. Although, we did get to 70 degrees last Sunday. We did have a few sunny days thrown into the mix, so I was able to get a few things done outside. Mostly though, I stayed inside, tended the fire, and worked at keeping the house clean and warm. This morning Colleen and I slept late because of the weather. To go along with the intermittent rain, we had a dense fog hanging around right as we started to get a little daylight. The week in front of us should prove interesting. The forecast for Wednesday calls for a day of snow, anywhere from three to eight inches. That much snow around here will shut things for a day or two, I am sure.

Colleen, Roux, and I got to take our usual weekend morning walks to start last Sunday. Colleen spent some of her morning in the kitchen baking. After lunch, we took advantage of the nice weather and put some more firewood up on the back porch rack in anticipation of a week of lousy weather. Colleen ended up getting something in her eye that was really bothering her, so instead of cooking dinner, we just had heated up leftovers. Colleen took it easy after dinner. I printed out shipping labels and packing slips for baseball cards that needed to be in Monday’s mail.

Colleen left for school early on Monday. The weather was not great, and she had to drive the Honda. Whatever was in her eye worked its way out once she was at school. Roux and I managed to get our walk when we had a good break in the rain. I spent the rest of the morning tending the fire, taking care of morning chores, and getting baseball cards packaged up and out into the mailbox. Right around lunchtime, the shop called me to let me know we needed to replace the transmission on the Trail Blazer. I told them I would let them know on Tuesday if Colleen and I wanted to go ahead with the new transmission. After lunch, it was more tending the fire and housework. I did some vacuuming and cleaned floors. Colleen got home at her regular time. We decided over dinner that it would be cheaper to replace the transmission on the Trail Blazer, rather than find another vehicle.

The forecast was calling for rain on Tuesday, but not until around lunchtime. Roux and I headed out at the day’s first light to be on the safe side. Tuesday was another day of tending the fire, baseball cards, and housework though. I did call the shop and tell them to go ahead and replace the transmission on the Trail Blazer. I spent part of the afternoon figuring out how to pay for the repairs. It took a little money juggling, but it looks like we will be able to pay for the repairs without putting ourselves between a rock and a hard place.

Wednesday was wet and cold. Roux and I did not go for a morning walk. Roux just curled up on her loveseat under a blanket. I spent all day tending the fire and buried in baseball cards. I did make time to clean up the living room after which I start looking into various accounts, so I could moving some money around to pay for the Trail Blazer’s transmission. Colleen got home at her usual time. After dinner, we had a break in the rain, so I got to go for a short walk. I am always looking to take my daily walks because it is the only real exercise the doctors will let me because of the aneurysm on my aorta. I am all in favor of staying alive.

Colleen left early for school again, because of the weather on Thursday. Since Colleen was in the Honda and the Trail Blazer was still in the shop, I was not able to go the market in the morning. I spent most of the day tending the fire again and buried in baseball cards. In the middle of the afternoon, I decided it was time to download the tax program because taxes will need to be filed before too long. I hate tax time. When Colleen got home, I headed down to the market so Colleen could get dinner ready. I went out for a short walk after dinner again on Thursday. We sure did have a colorful evening sky.

Friday morning, we had Sunshine O’Plenty, and Roux and I went for a nice, long morning walk. When we got home, I lit the day’s fire and had a little breakfast. It was another day of tending the fire and doing what I could in between keeping the house warm. I did notice that there were a good many shiitake mushrooms on our mushroom logs. I did not realize how many mushrooms were on the logs, and I filled a small grocery sack with what I harvested. I found the time to throw some more firewood up on the back porch in the afternoon too. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home and while she was stacking the firewood on the back porch, I headed down the road to get a takeout pizza for dinner.

We were expecting rain again yesterday, but not until just before lunchtime. The morning skies were gray, but Colleen got to walk Roux, and I got to go for my walk. Colleen spent the better part of the rest of her day in the kitchen preparing various things to make our meals during the week. I tended the day’s fire, kept the hearth rack filled, packaged up more baseball cards for the mail, managed to list a few more for sale, and even got to watch some live college baseball. After dinner neither Colleen nor I did much before we called it a day.

The rain is supposed to stop around lunchtime today. We might even see some sunshine in the afternoon. We had rain and fog this morning, so nobody went for a walk. I will most likely go walking later today. Colleen will spend some time in the kitchen. She is planning on having an early Sunday dinner too, so she can relax through the evening. I will tend the fire and look into listing more baseball cards. If I get a chance, I will throw more firewood up on the back porch too. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. No matter what comes down the road, 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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February 23, 2025: Finally Some Snow, Sub-Freezing Temperatures, Three Canceled School Days, But The Girls Are Laying Eggs Again!

The weather sure was all over the place last week. Last Sunday, we started with some rain, a dense ground fog, and the temperature eventually getting up to 60 degrees. It was all downhill from there though. Monday and Tuesday, we barely got above freezing even though we had plenty of sunshine. Wednesday, it snowed, starting in the late morning and staying most all of the day. Thursday, we woke up to temperatures below freezing and three to four inches of snow. The temperature never did make above freezing, and it snowed again Thursday morning. The sun came out Thursday afternoon though. Friday morning started cold, but with plenty of sunshine the temperature might have gotten to 40 degrees. Yesterday, we had plenty of sunshine, and the mercury got close to the 50-degree mark. Today, we could see 55 degrees. The snow shut schools down for the last three days of the week, so Colleen got a chance to relax with a five-day weekend.

Everything seemed backwards last Sunday. The weather was not good enough to take Roux for a morning walk. The air was damp and heavy, so I started a fire right after I came downstairs. Colleen made chicken fried steak for our Sunday meal, and we ate an early dinner. By the middle of the afternoon the sun had come out, so I ended up going for a walk after we ate. The wind picked up in the afternoon, and the day really started to cool down right after I got home from my walk. I guess the cold Arctic air was starting to move south. Thankfully, the evening was quiet and uneventful.

Colleen headed to school in the Honda again Monday morning. Roux and I stayed upstairs in bed until well after Colleen got to school, but we did go for a morning walk. Of course, the first thing I did when we got home was to light the day’s fire. I spent the day tending the fire, taking care of little things around the house, and updating my baseball card databases. The shop called to let me know the Trail Blazer was ready to get picked up. After lunch, I even threw four wagonloads of firewood up on the back porch. When Colleen got home, she stacked the firewood while I ran to the shop. I left the Honda there for some routine maintenance and drove the Trail Blazer home. After I got home, Colleen warmed up our dinner, and we finally got a chance to sit down to eat.

Tuesday morning, Colleen’s school was buzzing about the impending snowstorm. When Roux and I headed down back to open up the hen coop for the day, I was surprised to find our first egg of the season. Roux and I took our usual morning walk after that, but the wind had picked noticeably. It was getting colder. I did more work around the house, worked with baseball cards, and threw more firewood up on the back porch. When Colleen got home, we all headed down to the shop to pick up the Honda. Hopefully, both the Trail Blazer and the Honda are good to go for a while now. By the time we got home, Colleen’s school district had canceled school for Wednesday, so we just hunkered down waiting for the snow.

Wednesday morning was gray, but the snow had not started falling. The temperature was below 20 degrees, so Colleen did not walk Roux. I finished my coffee and was getting ready to take my walk, but Colleen made German apple pancakes for breakfast, so my walk got put on hold. When I did get to head out for my walk, the snow had just started falling. By the time I got home an hour later, the snow was starting to cover cars and mailboxes. It snowed the rest of the day until after dark. Colleen’s school district canceled school for Thursday around dinner time, and we spent another evening hunkered down.

Colleen and I woke up to just about four inches of snow on Thursday morning. Roux was not quite sure what to make of it and did not stay out very long when we let her go into the backyard. The first thing I did when I came downstairs was get a fire burning hard. The day was not going to get above freezing, so keeping the house warm was going to be a challenge. By midmorning, it was snowing again. The snow lasted a couple of hours, but by early afternoon, there was plenty of sunshine and blue skies. The snow on the roads melted a little bit, but everything quickly refroze leaving ice everywhere. Surprisingly, there was another egg waiting in the nesting boxes when Colleen opened the hen coop for the day. Knowing the roads would be a mess Friday morning, Colleen’s school district canceled school on Friday too.

Friday morning was sunny and cold, but for the first time in a few days, the temperature was going to get above freezing. I ended up taking my walk right around noon. The streets were pretty clean by then. I got home just in time to watch a spring training baseball game on my computer. Other than that, I spent most of the day tending the fire. Colleen and I decided the roads were safe enough to order takeout for dinner. It was not anything fancy just a couple of Firehouse subs, but it sure was a treat for us.

Yesterday morning, Colleen walked Roux, and I lit the day’s fire. When they got home, I went for my walk. Colleen opened the hen coop, got another egg, and then did something I rarely see her do, she took most of the day off and relaxed. I tended the fire, listed baseball cards for sale online, and watched a ballgame in the afternoon. It was warm enough that I got to set my computer up on the front porch and enjoy a cigar during the game. Later in the afternoon, Colleen did bake a batch of carrot cake cupcakes before she heated up our dinner. After dinner, she made a meatloaf for today’s meal. Our evening was peaceful and quiet.

Colleen was walking Roux this morning when I came downstairs. The moon was still out. I lit the fire and headed out to the front porch with my coffee. I will take my walk later. Colleen does want to prepare a couple of meals for the upcoming week. I have baseball cards to package up for tomorrow’s mail and I would like to watch another ballgame today. Of course, I will also tend the fire all day. Colleen said we will have our big Sunday meal early today. This afternoon she will get ready to head back to school tomorrow after her five-day break. The weather looks like it will really warm up next week, so I am looking forward to getting outside into the gardens. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time, like always. At day’s end, we will catch our breath, look around, and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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March 02, 2025: Warm Days, No Fires, Firewood Is Getting Low, Spring Is Coming Though!

Two weeks ago, we dealt with snow, but last week we got a good taste of early spring. The week was sunny and bright for the most part, although we did get a little rain Thursday night. I did not have to light a fire in the fireplace all week. In fact, most afternoons, I had the house opened up. The daytime high temperatures ran between 70 and 75 degrees. This morning when Colleen and I got up, the temperature was below freezing with the forecast for a high temperature this afternoon only somewhere between 45 and 50 degrees. I guess Mother Nature did not want us to forget there are still three weeks of winter left. After today though, we will start warming up again.

Last Sunday was a rather mundane sort of day. Colleen walked Roux in the morning, and I took my walk when they got back home. Colleen spent the morning in the kitchen making a couple of meals to get us through the week. I spent my time writing, watching preseason baseball, and working with baseball cards. Colleen made a wonderful meatloaf for our Sunday dinner. Of course, after her five-day weekend, thanks to the snow we got, she was not looking forward to heading back to school on Monday morning.

Colleen begrudgingly left for school at her usual time on Monday morning. After I opened the hen coop and took Roux for a walk, I cleaned and washed the kitchen and bathroom floors and cleaned and vacuumed the family room. I finished everything up just in time to grab a quick lunch and turn on the day’s baseball game. Between innings I bounced in and out of the house taking care of the usual daily chores. I had everything done by the time Colleen got home. Our evening was quiet and peaceful.

After Colleen left Tuesday morning, I finished my coffee and took Roux for a walk. Tuesday was another cleaning day for me. I tackled the living room when Roux and I got home from our walk. Cleaning the living room involved moving furniture around and picking up small shards of wood out of the carpet before I could bring the vacuum cleaner to bear. That took me most of the morning. I had to package up some baseball cards and get them into the mailbox, before the day’s baseball game started too. After the game and after Colleen got home, I harvested a bag full of shiitake mushrooms from our mushroom garden. Colleen says we have enough mushrooms to last us a while now.

Wednesday was my day to get outside and work in the yard. I had wanted to work in the gardens, but with rain in the forecast for Thursday, I figured I better clean up the leaves in the front yard. I took advantage of the leaves being dry and blew them off of some of Colleen’s flower gardens as well. There were a bunch of daffodils and hyacinths under the leaves. Moving all those leaves took me until just after lunchtime. I had just enough time to get my routine daily chores done before the baseball game started. When Colleen got home, she brought the girls their afternoon treats and came back upstairs with two eggs. She was very excited. We only have three chickens and now two of them are laying eggs. I thought we might have had Sexlink chickens, but the eggs are drab olive in color. It looks like our two new birds are Araucana’s.

Thursday started out with gray skies. Roux and I took our walk after I opened the hen coop, and then I headed to the market. The snow kept me from going to the market in the previous week, so I had some catching up to do for our groceries. I was home and had everything put away by noon though. After a quick lunch, I listed some baseball cards online for sale until the day’s baseball game started. I finished listing the cards after dinner. Our rain showed up around dinner time and was not really all that much rain either. Most of the storms stayed north of us.

Friday morning Roux and I headed out for our walk after I finished my coffee. As the forecast was calling for cold temperatures on Sunday, I figured I better put some more firewood up on the back porch. I spent the rest of my morning throwing firewood up to the back porch and then stacking it in the porch firewood rack. Unfortunately, I emptied our winter-ready racks and only filled two-thirds of the porch rack. Hopefully, that wood will last us through these last few cold days. If we need more firewood, I will have to split some of the seasoned stuff we still have on the ground. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school and after she got home, we ordered takeout pizza for dinner. Colleen got two more eggs from our girls when she went to lock up the coop in the evening.

Yesterday was another one of those beautiful spring-like days. Colleen and Roux went for their walk, and I went for mine after they got back. Neither Colleen nor I had much motivation yesterday. Colleen changed the bedding in the hen coop and got two more eggs. Our egg basket is filling up quickly. Colleen changed the bed linens too. I got the fireplace ready for today, filled the hearth rack, and listed more baseball cards for sale before I sat down to watch yesterday’s baseball game. Mostly, we spent yesterday catching our breath and relaxing.

Colleen was out walking Roux this morning when I came downstairs. The first thing I did was light the day’s fire. When Colleen and Roux get back, and I finish my coffee, I will head out for my walk. Colleen is planning on being in the kitchen today. She told me we will have flounder stuffed with crab meat for our Sunday dinner. I think we will eat an early meal too. We might even drink a little wine with that dinner. I have some baseball cards to list on eBay and some to get ready for tomorrow’s mail. I am not sure what the rest of the day has in store for us, but there is a baseball game this afternoon. The upcoming week should start to warm up again, so I am hopeful about finally getting into our gardens. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When a day comes to its close, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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March 09, 2025: Midweek Storms, Seasonable Weather, Time In The Gardens, A Good Week Over All.

We are solidly into March now, and our temperatures are starting to warm up. We only lit a fire last Sunday and Monday to chase the morning chill from the house. Most of the last week’s afternoons were warm enough to open up the house for the fresh air. The weather on Wednesday was a little hairy when that line of storms wreaking havoc across the country came sweeping through our neck of the woods. Fortunately, the mountains to the west of us seemed to break up the storms some, so all we got was rain and some gusty wind. By midafternoon Wednesday, we had blue skies and sunshine. This weekend has cooled off a bit. It’s not cool enough that we needed a fire though, and the week in front of us promises to warm up nicely.

Last Sunday was quiet like usual. I lit the day’s fire while Colleen was walking Roux, and when they got home, I went for my walk. Colleen spent a good bit of her day in the kitchen. I tended the fire, wrote, watched a baseball game, and packaged up some baseball cards for Monday’s mail. Colleen made some awesome flounder stuffed with crab meat for our big Sunday meal. After Colleen got everything ready for school on Monday, we both spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

It was chilly Monday morning. Roux and I did not go for a walk. I lit the day’s fire instead. Because of the cold outside temperatures, I decided to spend Monday buried in baseball cards. I packaged up a bunch more for the mail, listed more than two dozen cards on eBay, sorted through a bunch of other cards, but I did watch the day’s baseball game on the big screen. I still managed to get the daily housework done before Colleen got home too. The afternoon warmed up enough for Roux to spend time in the sun on the back porch. Colleen was a little bit late getting home because she stopped at the laundromat after school.

Tuesday morning was warm enough for Roux and me to take a walk. When we got back, I finally got to get outside and work in the gardens. I did not start with our raised beds though, rather I cleaned up Colleen’s flower garden by the mailbox. It was looking rough. After four cubic feet of garden soil and two cubic feet of red mulch, the garden looks much better and is ready for Colleen to plant some flowers. I got the day’s housework done before and was watching the baseball game when Colleen got home. Colleen was tickled pink to see the facelift her garden got. Our dinner conversation was unusual in the sense that we were talking about the storms headed our way, whether or not schools would close because of the storms, and was I really going to go to the DMV on Wednesday morning before the storms.

Wednesday morning showed and the line of storms was still a good way west of us. Colleen left for school at her usual time, and I headed to the DMV 30 minutes later. I got there an hour before they opened and was the first one in line. I got out of there and was home by 8 o’clock with a renewed driver’s license and a Real ID. Colleen will have to wait until May before she can renew her license. I took advantage of getting home early and cleaned and vacuumed the family room. We did get about two hours of a heavy, steady rain that filled our fire pit. The fire pit is about two feet deep. Colleen had a hectic day at school though. Because of the storms, the school had two different tornado drills. Fortunately, both were precautionary, and there was not a tornado. By the time Colleen got home the sun was shining again, and I got to take my walk right after dinner.

Thursday was a blustery day with wind gusts up to 30 mph, but it was sunny. After I walked Roux, I headed down to the market. I was home and had everything put away before noon. I did the daily chores while I listened to the baseball game on the radio stream. The highlight of the day for Colleen was when she got home and brought the girls their afternoon treats. She came back upstairs with three eggs. At the rate the girls are laying, we are getting a dozen to 18 fresh eggs every week. Colleen stopped to get wrapping paper and birthday cards in her way home. After dinner she wrapped Jaxon and Lily’s birthday presents. Both kids turned 6 years old this year.

Friday was cloudy, gray, and a bit cooler. It was warm enough for Roux and me to go walking though. When we got back, I headed out into the raised bed gardens. I worked the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. I even streamed the audio of the baseball game so I could listen to it while I was in the gardens. By the time Colleen got home, I had three gardens cleaned up and ready to go. A couple of the gardens will need more garden soil, but a quick trip to the Lowe’s Garden Center will take care of that. Colleen got home at her usual time. After Colleen brought the girls their afternoon treats, we headed down the road to pick up our takeout fried fish for our dinner.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. After walking Roux, Colleen headed into the kitchen. By lunchtime she had made a cinnamon apple coffee cake and a couple of potato pies. Steven came for a visit right around noon with Lily and Jaxon. The kids are growing up quickly. About 30 minutes later, Louis and Maya showed up. It was a great afternoon visiting with everyone. Lily got particularly excited to see the deer walking along the wood line in the backyard. After the kids left, Colleen and I caught our breath and ate a quiet dinner. After dinner we just relaxed and got ready for the time change to daylight savings time.

Colleen is out walking Roux right now. I will take my walk when they get back. Right now though, I am sitting on the front porch with some coffee, marveling at the onset of spring and admiring the forsythias that are strting to bloom. I would have to say we are still on yesterday’s time schedule, so it seems like we are a little behind. I will do my usual writing, and I am going to fire up the grill for the first time this year. Colleen says she wants to eat an early meal, so I will get going early. I will try to get the game playing on my computer while I am grilling too. Most of our day should be low key though. Colleen will get everything ready for school tomorrow. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When each day comes to end, we’ll look around and smile, because everything is right on the homestead.

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March 16, 2025: Finally, Time In The Gardens, Warm Weather All Week, A Gray Weekend With Tornado Watches.

Winter is petering out quickly up here on our little hill. For the most part, we had a lovely week of weather last week. I think, we even had one day where the thermometer needle touched 80°. Yesterday was mostly cloudy, but we did see the sun in the afternoon for a little while. Today on the other hand, we will be getting some rain from the line of storms that is moving across the country. It looks like the worst of the weather will get here just about 11 o’clock this morning, but by late afternoon everything should be gone. Tomorrow, we will get chilly again, but after that, everything will warm up for the rest of the week.

Colleen and I were a little out of step last Sunday because of the time change to daylight savings time. Colleen took Roux for her morning walk, and then I took my usual morning walk. Mostly, we just puttered around the house. The day was definitely nice enough to fire up the grill, and we treated ourselves to small steaks, lobster tails, asparagus, and a baked potato for our Sunday meal. We even had a little wine with dinner. I watched the ballgame in the afternoon. Colleen made sure she had everything ready for school on Monday. Most of the day we spent relaxing though.

Colleen left for school at usual time on Monday morning. After my morning coffee, I opened the hen coop and took Roux for her walk. I decided I needed to run down to Lowe’s Garden Center midmorning to get some stuff for the garden. I ended up buying a couple of plants for our raised beds, a bunch of flowers for Colleen’s flower gardens, and some extra garden soil, and some mulch to cover Colleen’s gardens. In the afternoon, I added the garden soil to our raised beds where they needed it. I planted the lettuce that I had bought, but I left Colleen‘s flowers for her to work on later in the week. I managed to get all the housework done before Colleen got home too. Colleen was excited to see her flowers and was happy to get a couple of eggs from the girls when she went down to the hen coop in the afternoon. The evening was quiet and relaxing for us.

Tuesday morning started with my usual routine of opening the hen coop and taking Roux for a walk after my morning coffee. As the day started to warm up, I got back into the raised bed gardens and planted beets, radishes, Swiss chard, and potatoes. I ran the hoses out to the garden and set up the sprinkler too, so I could water the gardens as needed. I took care of the housework and was listening to a ballgame when Colleen got home in the afternoon. After dinner, I listed some baseball cards for sale and enjoyed a cigar on the front porch. Colleen cleaned the kitchen, eventually closed up the hen coop, got ready for the morning, but spent most of the evening relaxing.

Wednesday after my coffee, opening the hen coop, and walking Roux, I was back in the gardens, but Thursday was time for the herb garden. That garden proved to be more challenging than the other gardens since the herbs are perennial, coming back every year, and they were buried in dead oak leaves. It took me a while to clean that garden out. The thyme plant had really spread out, so I had to cut the plant back some and put all clippings into the dehydrator to dry out the thyme for Colleen spice jar. I managed to get all my housework done before Colleen got home. After dinner I listened to the ballgame before I headed upstairs for the night.

Thursday was market day like every Thursday. After opening the hen coop and walking Roux, I headed down to the market to do our weekly grocery shopping. There were a lot of sales. It was a big shopping week, and I did not finish getting everything put away until just about noon. After lunch, I planted more beets and even planted some Swiss chard in some peat pots to start them in the house. Colleen took care of the girls in the afternoon when she got home and then heated up our dinner. Our evening was quiet and relaxing, fortunately.

I was running low on motivation on Friday. The foggy morning probably played a big part of that. So, after walking Roux, I decided to sit down and tackle the taxes. I started with taxes for Alex which are the easiest, and it took me all morning. After lunch, I took the thyme out of the dehydrator and started peeling the leaves off of the stems. I only managed to fill half of Colleen’s spice jar despite having a full dehydrator. Colleen and I treated ourselves to Chinese takeout for the Friday evening meal. After dinner, we just both sat back and relaxed for the rest of the evening. We are getting better at not killing ourselves with work in the evenings.

Yesterday started out gray, but there was not much of a chance of rain. Colleen took advantage of the free time in the morning to get out and plant the flowers that I bought earlier in the week for her. I spent the afternoon listing baseball cards for sale and listening to the ballgame. Fortunately, there was not a whole lot to be done on the day, so Colleen and I spent most of the time in the afternoon relaxing. We both ended up calling it an early evening though and headed to bed, not too long after sunset.

Colleen was already out walking Roux this morning when I came downstairs. Since we are expecting heavy rain later today, when they got home, I headed out for my walk. There are even tornado watches for today. Colleen will make corned beef and cabbage today to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, which is tomorrow. The rest of the day, she will spend in the kitchen or getting ready for school in the morning. I will listen to a ballgame later this afternoon and see what else I can get done but mostly, we will be confined at the house because of the weather. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of our day, we will look around and smile, because we know everything is right on the homestead.

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March 23, 2025: The Storms Missed Us, Spring Is Finally Here, Temperatures Are Starting To Warm Up.

Spring is here! I certainly am not going to complain about the weather so far either. Even with the storm last Sunday and all of the havoc that it caused coming across the country, around here, the storm was basically nothing more than a couple hours of wind and rain. By late Sunday afternoon, we had cotton candy clouds and blue skies overhead. The rest of the week was just beautiful. We started the mornings with temperatures around 40° and we managed to get up around 70° by the midafternoon. I think we even hit 80° one day. The week in front of us looks to be about the same as last week. We might have rain Monday but there is only a 50-50 chance of that. If the weather keeps up like this all week though, I think I may try to go fishing one day.

Colleen and I knew the storm was headed our way last Sunday, but it was not expected to get to us until late in the morning. Colleen took Roux for her morning walk at her usual time, and I took my walk right after they got home. Colleen spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen baking. I did my usual Sunday writing. Since it was the day before St. Patrick’s Day, our big Sunday dinner was going to be corned beef and cabbage. Colleen started boiling that right after she was done baking. The meal turned out great! The storm blew through in a couple of hours. I watched an afternoon baseball game. Colleen brought the girls their afternoon treats after the rain passed and collected three eggs for her troubles. The evening was mostly quiet. I enjoyed a cigar out on the front porch. Colleen got ready for school. We called it a day not long after sunset.

Colleen left for school Monday morning at her usual time. After walking Roux once the sun came up, I spent my morning doing housework and sorting and listing baseball cards for sale online. When Colleen got home in the afternoon, I was sitting on the front porch watching the day’s baseball game. Colleen made a quick stop at the market on her way home to get some rye bread. We had Reuben sandwiches for dinner. That is what you do with leftover corned beef after all, right? Colleen got a couple more eggs when she brought the girls their afternoon treats. We have plenty of fresh eggs now the way the girls are laying.

After I took Roux for her morning walk on Tuesday, I did Louis’ taxes for him. I still have our taxes to do. Louis’ taxes did not take me too long, so I started cleaning the living room. The vacuum cleaner was not behaving or cooperating with me at all. I pulled it apart, cleaned it, put it back together, and then tried it again. It still was not doing what I wanted it to do. I decided it was time to buy a new vacuum cleaner. Colleen got home at her usual time again, and I was watching the baseball game. Colleen only got one egg in the afternoon when she brought the girls her treats, but right before sunset when she headed down back to lock up the coop, she got two more eggs. Overall, we enjoyed a quiet evening, and we managed to get a little relaxing done.

Wednesday morning, after I opened up the hen coop and took a Roux for her walk, I headed down to the local discount store to see if they had any vacuum cleaners. Unfortunately, they did not. Without a functioning vacuum cleaner, I was dead in the water for doing housework. I spent the rest of my morning in my baseball cards, listing more for sale. In the afternoon, I decided to check the gardens. I was excited to see things starting to sprout. The radishes were up. A few shard plants were up too. I watered the gardens after that. Colleen got home at her usual time, took care of the girls, and heated up our dinner. It was another quiet evening around the house.

Thursday morning showed up right on schedule. Thursday is market day. After I took Roux for her walk and opened up the hen coop, I headed down to the market. That took me most of the morning. In the afternoon, I sat down to watch the baseball game and get my new fishing pole ready. Well, that did not work out quite the way I wanted, because while trying to cut a tie wrap off the fishing pole, I stuck my hunting knife into my hand. It was not bad. I got the webbing between my thumb and my forefinger on my left-hand. I should know better though. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on our way home. Colleen got a couple more eggs from the girls in the afternoon. After dinner, she spent the evening drying the clothes. Since we did not want to get blood all over the bed linens, Colleen wrapped my hand up before we went to bed.

I was planning on going to Lowe’s Garden Center on Friday morning, but after I stuck a knife into my left-hand Thursday afternoon, I decided getting my hand dirty, probably was not the best idea. After Roux and I got back from our walk, I spent the rest of the morning, sweeping and washing floors. The kitchen floor got scrubbed, and the entryway got scrubbed. When Colleen got home, she brought the girls their afternoon treats, collected the eggs, and we made our own tempura shrimp street tacos for dinner. Friday’s ballgame did not start until 6 o’clock in the evening, so after dinner, I cleared the kitchen table and headed out to the porch to enjoy a cigar while I watched the ballgame. Colleen wrapped my hand up again before we went to bed.

Yesterday morning, Colleen and I needed to run to TSC to get chicken supplies and dog food and to Walmart to get a new vacuum cleaner. We treated ourselves to lunch at Hardee’s too. It really was a beautiful day. I watched the ballgame in the afternoon while Colleen relaxed. Colleen got a couple more eggs when she closed the hen coop for the night. I decided to make it an early evening yesterday while Colleen was still in the kitchen baking. Colleen did take time to wrap my hand again before I called it a night.

Colleen was up before the sun this morning walking Roux. I was on the front porch waiting when they got home. I will head out for my walk in a little bit. I promised Colleen I would make omelets for brunch this morning too. Yes, I can cook and do on occasion. I am not planning on doing much today. I will watch the afternoon ballgame. It is the last game of spring training. The regular season starts this coming Thursday. Today, Colleen will spend her time in the kitchen getting meals ready for the week in front of us. It is supposed to warm up nicely again today, so I suspect we will have the doors and windows open around the house to air everything out. The rest of our day will be quiet and relaxing. Colleen is planning on making Swiss mushroom burgers for dinner. 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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March 30, 2025: Spring Break, Planted Gardens, And Mild Weather!

Spring is here, Colleen is on spring break, and the weather was only slightly erratic during the week. We got a little bit of rain over last week, and the temperatures ran from a low in upper 30s to a high of 80°. We had plenty of sunshine with more and more trees starting to bloom, and our gardens are just about all planted right now. Today is going to be another one of those warm days. When I rolled out of bed this morning, the temperature was at 60°. I suspect it will warm up to 80° later today. There was rain in today’s forecast, but the new forecast pushed it off until Monday and even then, there is not that great of a chance of rain. The upcoming week will be warm, and it does not look like there are any significant chances of rain in it.

Colleen walked Roux before the sun came up last Sunday. I went for my walk not long after they got back home. When I returned, I chased Colleen out of the kitchen and made a couple of omelets for our brunch. There is nothing better than an omelet made with fresh eggs, and our girls are giving us plenty of fresh eggs. After our brunch, Colleen cleaned the kitchen, then made Crème Brûlée and coconut macaroons. I headed out to the front porch to watch the afternoon baseball game. It was the last day of spring training. Nothing else exciting happened during the day, but Colleen did make Swiss mushroom burgers for dinner.

Colleen left for school at her regular time on Monday morning. It was a cloudy morning, but Roux and I were able to go walking before the rain came. It rained from 11 to 2 o’clock, and then, the sun came out after that. I spent the day doing housework and working with baseball cards. I pulled our new vacuum cleaner out of its box, put it together, and vacuumed the living room. I was very impressed with how good of a job it did. I had to show Colleen how well it did when she got home, and she laughed at me, asking if I was going door-to-door to sell vacuum cleaners in my spare time.

Tuesday morning, after Roux and I got back from our walk, I headed out to the gardens. I planted some chives in our herb garden, and some more lettuce in another one of our raised beds. My big experiment for the day was setting up the hydroponics unit the kids got me for Christmas. I took some cilantro and dill starts, cleaned off the roots, and set the plants into the hydroponic unit. In theory it should work, but they recommend you start with seeds. I did not want to wait that long. Unfortunately, as of this morning, the cilantro is doing fine, but I lost the dill. Now, I need to figure out with what I will replace the dill. Maybe this time, I will start something from seed.

Wednesday morning, after I walked Roux, I headed down to Lowe’s Garden Center. I was looking for a couple of bags of topsoil to amend the clay on the upper tier of our front yard by the driveway so Colleen can plant more flowers. Of course, I came home with some more plants too, specifically some strawberry plants, pepper plants, celery plants, and a cucumber plant. Naturally, I got a bunch more flowers for Colleen to plant too. In the afternoon, I just checked our gardens for what we had already planted, and it looked like everything was starting to sprout nicely. While I was waiting for Colleen to get home in the afternoon, I watered the raised bed gardens and sat out on the back porch and watched a purple finch building its nest in the overhang of our house.

Thursday was market day. After I walked Roux in the morning, I headed down the road to the market. Colleen’s list was short, but I still managed to fill up most of the buggy. I got all our groceries home and put away with enough time in the early afternoon to work in our gardens. I planted all the veggie plants in our raised beds before Colleen got home, and then took a break, because Thursday was also the opening day of baseball season. I wanted to watch the first game of the season which started a little after 4 o’clock. Colleen made a very early dinner, and I wolfed it down just in time to see the first pitch of the game.

Friday was the last day of school before Colleen started her spring break. After I walked Roux in the morning, I headed down the river to do some fishing. I only spent a couple of hours fishing though. The fish were biting, but I did not catch anything big enough to bring home. I got home a little before Colleen left school, so I did the housework which I finished before Colleen got home. Since Colleen was now on break once she got home, we opted for takeout pizza for Friday’s evening meal. After dinner, I hung out on the front porch watching the baseball game. Colleen finally found the time to sit down and relax, not worrying about having to get ready for school the next day or getting meals ready for the upcoming week.

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. Colleen took full advantage of her first full day of spring break and did not stress about anything. She managed to clean out the hen coop and change the chickens’ bedding though. I followed Colleen’s lead and did not kill myself yesterday either. I managed to package up some baseball cards to put in the mailbox and then I listed a bunch more for sale online. Colleen did not look like she wanted to cook dinner yesterday evening, so I suggested we get takeout Firehouse Subs for dinner. My darling wife jumped on that idea. After dinner we both relaxed. I was out on the front porch again watching a baseball game while enjoying a cigar with Roux for company.

Today is supposed to be a little cloudier than yesterday was, but it still should be a gorgeous day. Colleen has alreay walked Roux, and opend up the hen coop for the day. I will take my walk in a little while. I do not think we will be doing much today again. Colleen wants to move her potted plants out to the back deck. I want to watch the afternoon ballgame. Colleen is planning on making a fish dinner for us this evening. Whatever comes up today, 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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April 06, 2025: A Warm Spring Break Week, Lots Of Green All Around, One Last Cold Snap Coming!

Well, this is rather unusual. It is Monday morning, and I am just sitting down to write last week’s blog. I usually try to get it done on Sundays and let Colleen edit it, but I was busy. Yesterday was bright, sunny, and warm like the rest of our week had been. It is only mid-April and already the days are getting into the mid and upper 80s. Unfortunately, it looks like we are heading in for a few days of cold temperatures, but by Friday things should start warming up to seasonal temperatures again, and our days will be in the 60s and 70s. Today, the temperature will only get into the 60s, and after a week of abundant sunshine, today is rainy. On the bright side, at least I will not have to water any of the gardens today.

Last Sunday was peaceful up here on our little hill. The morning started out gray, but the sun soon burned the clouds away, and we had a lovely day. Colleen started her spring break on Friday, so we were in no great rush to get anything done. We took our usual morning walks. The day was warm enough, so we opened up the house too. I spent the afternoon watching baseball on a computer on the front porch, and Colleen made a lemon butter cod dish for dinner. After dinner, we just sat back and relaxed enjoying a quiet evening.

Weatherwise, Monday was the first day of our run of 80° days. It was also the most stressful day of the week. After I got back from my morning walk, I sat down and did our taxes. I hate doing taxes! Fortunately, they were done by noon. Colleen spent the day planting the flowers that I got for her the week before. I ended up taking a nap after the taxes were done and after I eat lunch. Colleen got to relax for most of the afternoon. She heated up some leftovers for our dinner. Right around sunset, she closed up the hen coop for the night and headed upstairs to relax watching shows on her iPad. I stayed out on the front porch for a while and then, eventually, headed inside to close everything up for the night before I went upstairs.

Tuesday morning after our walks, Colleen and I decided we were going try to reclaim a section of the upper tier of our front yard. Everything in our yard is hard packed clay, so that was going to be a job. I took a pickax to a strip of ground on the top tier of terraced yard. I dug out a whole strip of clay, moved it out of the way, put a small rock wall around the whole section, backfilled what I had dug out with topsoil and then a top layer of garden soil. Colleen planted a package of wildflower seeds on the whole area. The entire project took us into the early afternoon. Dinner that evening was reheated leftovers, and we surely did not do much after dinner.

Wednesday morning after our walks, Colleen and I were out in the gardens working again. Colleen watered her flower gardens and started collecting stones to build a stone wall around another garden she has. I spent my morning in the raised beds, weeding, replanting seeds that had not sprouted, backfilling dirt around the potato plants, and putting up tomato cages for support around our pepper plants that are getting rather large. Colleen found some time later in the day to bake 60 oatmeal raisin cookies. Actually, she did not like the way the first batch of 30 cookies came out, so she adjusted the recipe and made a second batch of 30. We enjoyed a quiet evening and headed upstairs to bed not long after sunset.

Thursday was market day. After Colleen walked Roux, she watered all her gardens and then turned on the sprinkler for the raised bed gardens. After I finished my morning coffee, we headed down to the market. We got back from the market and got everything in the house a little before noon. While Colleen put the groceries away, I pulled out the lawn mower and cut the side yard, the grass we do have in the front yard, and about half of the backyard. I got excited when I reailized the Colleen’s white azalea bush was getting ready to explode with flowers. I finished cutting the yards just in time to listen to the afternoon ballgame on my computer. Colleen decided it was getting too hot, so when she finished with the groceries, she started bringing the floor fans up from the basement. By dinner time the fans were up and running, and the air was moving through the house. We did not do much after that.

Friday morning, Colleen and I took our usual walks. After the gardens were watered, I headed down to the river to enjoy a couple hours of fishing. Colleen spent the time while I was gone cleaning up the row of gardens in the side yard along the property line. She had an idea she wanted to build a stone wall on the backside of one of those gardens, but the sun came out, the day got too hot, and she lost her motivation. Fishing was slow on the river, but I managed to come home with one catfish and now we have a couple of very nice fillets in the freezer. Before we can have a fish fry, though, I am going to have to catch more fish. For dinner, I grilled steak and lobster tails with a baked potato and asparagus, to go with the steak and lobster. We even treated ourselves to a glass of wine with dinner.

Saturday was warm again, but we opened the house, and the fans were going early. After Colleen you got home from her walk with Roux, she gave the downstairs bathroom a good, thorough cleaning. There is still a lot of pollen in the air, everywhere, but that should end soon because the oak trees are losing their flowers. After I got back from walking, I packaged up baseball cards for the mail and then listed some more for sale online. Colleen wanted to eat an early dinner, so when she was done with the bathroom, she started putting together a pot roast for our meal. I guess we ate dinner about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. We did not do much the rest of the day. Colleen got to read and watch some shows on her iPad. I sat on the front porch and watched a few baseball games on my computer.

Yesterday was a busy day for me. It turned out to be a busy day for Colleen too. Colleen took her walk with Roux in the morning, watered the gardens, took a short break, and then went to the kitchen to start preparing meals for the upcoming week. After I took my walk, I hit the showers to get cleaned up so I could go to a live baseball game with some friends of mine. I left for the ballgame around 11 o’clock, so I could find a decent parking place and make sure I was there when my friends showed up. It was a perfect day for a baseball game, and I ended up getting home right around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Colleen spent the time I was gone making a meatloaf and eggplant Parmesan for our meals this week. The evening was quiet. Colleen got everything ready she needed for school today. I listened to a ballgame on my computer. Knowing we would have to get up early again this morning, Colleen and I made it relatively early evening. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time, though. At the end of each day, we will look around and smile, knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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April 13, 2025: Gray Skies, Storms, Cold Temperatures, Flowers Are Blooming Though.

Spring weather is always unpredictable, and last week was an example of just that. Two weeks ago, we enjoyed near record heat. Last week, the mercury struggled to get to the 60- or 65-degree mark. We got some rain on Monday, and just to make things even more uncomfortable, it rained Thursday night. It rained on and off all day Friday too. At least, the gardens got watered well. Yesterday, we caught brief glimpses of the sun, but the skies stayed gray for most of the day. The mercury never got to the 60-degree mark either. Today, we should see some sunshine, and tomorrow, the forecast is for the thermometer needle to get by the 80-degree mark.

Last Sunday was a different sort of day up here on our hill. Colleen walked Roux first thing in the morning, and then I took my walk. When I got home, I got cleaned up and got ready to head to the ballpark to watch a live ballgame with some friends. Colleen is not a huge baseball fan and would rather stay home most times. After I left, Colleen headed into the kitchen. While I was enjoying the ballgame, Colleen made a meatloaf and an eggplant lasagna. It was an early ballgame, so I was home by 4:30. I was not hungry after an afternoon of ballpark fare. The evening was quiet with Colleen getting ready to head back to school in the morning after her week off for spring break.

Colleen headed to back school at her usual time on Monday morning. With the rain, I stayed in bed a little longer than usual, because I would not be able to take Roux for a walk. I did get a break in the rain so I could let the girls out for the day. I used Monday to catch up on our blog which I did not get to write on Sunday. I spent some time with my baseball cards. I did get a couple of short walks in during the day too. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. Dinner and the evening were quiet. And apart from Colleen drying the laundry, nothing much else came of the evening.

Tuesday morning was a little chillier and still wet, but the skies were clear. Roux and I went for our morning walk after the sun came up. After Roux and I got home, I pulled the kitchen apart and scrubbed the kitchen floor. I needed to get out into the gardens, but the gardens were still wet, and we had a freeze advisory for Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. I figured it was probably best to let the gardens sit until it warmed up a little. Colleen got home at her usual time. After dinner there was not much happening, so I got to sit down and watch a baseball game.

Things warmed up some on Wednesday. After Colleen left for school and the sun came up, Roux and I headed out for our walk. When we got back, I checked in with Colleen at school and then headed out to the raised bed gardens. I thinned out the beets and Swiss chard, weeded a couple of the raised beds, and put more dirt around the potato plants. I still have more work to do in the gardens. Colleen did not have a good day at school and was worn out when she got home. Still, she brought the girls their afternoon treats and heated up some leftovers for an early dinner. Colleen did her best to spend the evening relaxing. I watched another ballgame after dinner.

Thursday turned out to be the warmest day of the week, and it really was not all that warm. The day did not start out great either. Roux got sick on the bed, so I had to strip all the linens off the bed. We did take our walk, but Roux petered out about halfway through the walk, so we came home. After we got home, I headed to the market. I got home from the market and had everything put away just before noon. When Colleen got home, she took the girls their afternoon treats, put new linens on the bed, and then heated up our dinner. It was warm enough Thursday evening for me to stream the ballgame on my computer out on the front porch. The rain started before the end of my ballgame, but I stayed dry under cover.

The rain that started right at sunset on Thursday evening hung around on Friday. Roux and I did not go for a walk. We did see some sunshine here and there throughout the day. I went for a shorter walk later in the morning when there was a break in the rain. Since I was not going to be able to work outside, I moved what furniture I could in the family room and vacuumed the heck out of the carpet. We leave our doors and windows open when it is a nice day, so there was a good bit of pollen in the carpet. I will probably have to vacuum everything another three out four times before all the pollen is really gone. I managed to get a short walk in the afternoon, but it started to sprinkle rain on me before I got home.

Yesterday was gray all day long, but we did not get any rain. Colleen and Roux were out walking before sunrise like usual. I went for a longer walk than usual because I was not walking Roux. When I got home, Alex was here, so we finished up his taxes and got them sent off. After Alex left, I got the baseball cards I needed to get mailed out into the mailbox and listed a bunch more. Colleen made a cinnamon apple coffee cake and some Chi-Ghetti. We ate an early dinner. After Colleen cleaned the kitchen, she got to sit down and relax for the rest of the afternoon and the early evening. I went outside to stream a baseball game on my computer. Not much else happened during the evening.

The sun is coming up, and Colleen and Roux are back from their walk. I will head out for my walk after I finish my coffee. Colleen wants to make her Greek stuffed peppers today. I suspect we will eat an early meal again today. Louis may show up today to sign his taxes at some point today. He was not sure if he would be here today or tomorrow. I will get our taxes finalized tomorrow. Since we always seem to owe the government money, we always wait until the day the taxes are due to send them. On the bright side of things, it looks like the week in front of us will be a good bit warmer than last week. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. With 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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April 20, 2025: Today Is Easter, Taxes Are Done, Flowers And Vegetables Got Planted, Temperatures Really Has Warmed Up!

It is Easter Sunday morning, the sun is coming up, and the day is supposed to warm up nicely. Last week’s weather could not have been nicer for the spring. Most days, we had plenty of sunshine and the afternoon temperatures were between 70 and 85 degrees. If the morning was cloudy, the sun chased the clouds by lunchtime. Flowers are blooming especially the azalea bushes, and our gardens seem to be thriving. While we are still dealing with some tree pollen, it is starting to taper off, making it much easier to be outside and enjoy the warm weather. We might see some rain in week in front of us, but the temperatures should stay warm.

Colleen took Roux for a walk before the sun came up last Sunday. When I finally came downstairs, they were home, and the coffee was hot and fresh. I took my walk while Colleen headed into the kitchen to make Greek stuffed peppers. Mostly, it was a quiet day. Colleen did some cleaning around the house in the afternoon. I made sure I was available if she needed me to do something, but mostly I watched a baseball game. The evening was just as quiet as the afternoon. Colleen got everything ready she needed for school on Monday morning before she headed upstairs to watch shows on her iPad. At the end of the day, I closed up the house and headed upstairs myself.

Colleen left for school at her usual time on Monday morning. After the sun came up, I opened up the hen coop and even found an egg in one of the nesting boxes. Roux and I cut our normal morning walk short because Roux seemed to be having a hard time of it. She kept wanting to take breaks which was not normal for her. Louis and Maya showed up later in the morning so I could finish Louis’ taxes. Unfortunately, they had to leave before Colleen got home, but I did send them on their way with a dozen fresh eggs and homemade pickles. Colleen heated up some leftovers for dinner, and after dinner, I finished our taxes. I hate tax time every year. It just stresses me out badly. Colleen and I both relaxed once the taxes were done, and I even got to watch a ballgame.

Roux did a bit better on her walk Tuesday morning, but it was still a shorter walk than usual. She routinely could match me, stride for stride, for two and a half miles. Monday and Tuesday we struggled to put a mile underfoot. I spent most of my morning working with baseball cards when we got home. In the afternoon, I took care of the day’s housework. Colleen brought the girls their afternoon treats when she got home and collected three eggs for her troubles. After dinner, I headed out for a walk. It is the only type of exercise the doctors let me do, so I want to make sure I get my cardio in every day.

Wednesday, Roux did do a bit better, but it was still a shorter walk than usual. When we got home, I ate a little breakfast and headed outside to clean up around the winter-ready firewood racks. That took me all of the morning and into the early afternoon, but everything is set to start splitting and stacking firewood for next winter. I had enough time to get the day’s housework done before Colleen got home too. After Colleen and I had dinner, I headed out for my walk to get my daily cardio. We spent the rest of our evening relaxing.

Thursday was Colleen’s last day of school before her long Easter weekend. My walk with Roux was short again. She is still sitting and laying down to take breaks while we are out walking. When we got home, I ate some breakfast and then headed to the market. Colleen’s market list was short, but she told me I could freelance at the market. I filled the buggy, spent a bit more than usual, but ended saving about one-third of the total cost because of sales. When I got home, the electricity was out. I had to move quickly as not to keep the freezer and refrigerator door open too long while I put stuff away. Colleen decided we would get takeout for dinner that evening. After she got home and settled, we headed down the road to get our takeout pizza. The evening was peaceful and warm, and I ended up watching baseball out on the front porch.

Colleen took Roux for her walk Friday morning and Roux did okay, but not great. I took my walk after they got home. When I got home, Colleen and I headed to Lowe’s. I knew I was in trouble when we were looking at new freezers and Colleen memorized a model number. We bought a new freezer and then went to the garden center. Between a few bags of garden soil, pots of flowers, and pots of vegetable starts, we managed to fill up a buggy. After lunch, Colleen took a quick nap in her living room chair. I headed into the basement to clear a space and a path for our new freezer that Lowe’s was going to deliver on Saturday. When I came upstairs to check on Colleen again, she was out front planting flowers. She was having a heck of a time digging holes in the clay, so I grabbed a pickax and made short work of it for her. She did get one long pot of begonias that she just put in one of her gardens. After dinner, we finished up getting the basement ready for the freezer.

I slept late yesterday morning. Colleen and Roux were already back from their walk when I came downstairs. By the time I finished my coffee, it was too late to take a walk if I wanted to be home when the freezer got delivered. Colleen and I spent our morning outside in the gardens. Roux just laid in the shade while we worked. Collen finished planting all her flowers. I planted all the vegetable starts we bought. I even potted three tomato plants for the back porch. Hopefully, being on the porch will deter the squirrels. Lowe’s delivered the freezer right after lunch. After dinner, Colleen and I started moving things between our freezers. I went for my walk after we finished with the freezer.

I slept late again this morning. Colleen and Roux were already home from their walk when I came downstairs for my coffee. I opted out of my usual morning walk and will walk this evening. Colleen wants to do some baking today. I hope to be able to list some baseball cards for sale online later today. Steven and Ariel want to bring Lily and Jaxon over later this afternoon for a visit too. Hopefully, things won’t get too crazy up here on our little hill today. Colleen has a full week of school in front of her. With the nicer weather now, I am looking to spend next week out in the yard working. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the evenings come, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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April 27, 2025: Beautiful Weather, Warm Temperatures, No Major Bumps In The Road.

April is winding down quickly. May starts in the middle of the next week. The weather definitely feels like it is mid-spring too. We had very little rain last week. Any rain we got, came in short 10-to-15-minute showers. It seems the storm cells that had little thunderstorms in them, slid either north or south of us, but never directly over us. The temperatures got into the mid 80s most afternoons last week. And it looks like next week will give us more of the same kind of weather. Actually, this morning has been the coolest it has been all week. We started today at 55°. I took advantage of the nice weather to get things done outside of the house. Colleen on the other hand, is counting down her days until her summer break which starts in June and didn’t get to enjoy the lovely days we had.

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday. The day began like any other weekend Sunday with Colleen taking Roux for a walk and with me taking my walk after they got home. We really did not have any special plans for the day, because we knew probably all the kids would be busy. Steven and Ariel surprised us and brought Lily and Jaxon over for a visit. Colleen and I had made up two little pseudo-Easter baskets. The kids thought those were great. The kids did not stay very long though, but it was good to see them. Colleen managed to put together some potato salad in betwixt and between all the day’s chaos. Dinner was leftover meatloaf. I guess for most of the day we just did our best to relax and enjoy our company.

Colleen headed to school at her usual time on Monday morning. I took Roux for a walk, and she did not do so great, but she made it. Colleen and I think old age and arthritis may be catching up with our baby girl. I did get to spend some time in the gardens Monday morning. After I finished in the gardens, I took the opportunity to check around the yard. There are more pears on our pear tree this year than I have ever seen, and the raspberry bush on the back porch is loaded with flowers this year. In Massachusetts, Monday was Patriots Day, which means they run the Boston marathon, and the Red Sox start playing baseball at 11:30 in the morning. I spent my late morning and into the early to midafternoon watching baseball. After the baseball game, I tried to cut the front yard. Unfortunately, I hit a rather large rock and bent the lawnmower blade to the point to where it could no longer be used. That was the end of my cutting grass for the afternoon.

Tuesday morning, I jumped right out of bed after Colleen left for school. I had forgotten to bring the trash out to the road Monday evening, and it needed to be out there to be picked up on Tuesday morning. It was not a full moon outside, but it sure was bright. After the sun came up and I took Roux for her walk, I pulled the weed whacker out of the basement and finished cutting the long, tall weeds and grass in the front yard that I could not do with the bent lawnmower blade. I also ordered a new lawnmower blade from Amazon. The rest of our day was pretty run of the mill. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on our way home. When she got home, she brought the girls their afternoon treats collected the eggs and then heated up our dinner. After Colleen finished drying the laundry, the rest of our evening, we spent relaxing.

Wednesday morning, I took Roux for her walk, like every morning. Where she used to stay stride for stride with me for a good 2 1/2 miles, the best the old girl can do now is about a mile. That does tend to give me a little extra time in the morning. Wednesday turned into a housework day. I pulled apart the living room, moved a little furniture around, and gave the rug a good vacuuming. When I finished, I put everything back together and had the living room looking at least presentable. I was watching an afternoon baseball game when Colleen got home. After dinner, I helped her with some computer work. Not much else happened during the evening.

Thursday was market day. Thursday is always market day. The local market gives senior citizens a 5% discount. It may not sound like much, but believe me, it makes a difference. Between the sales and our senior discount, I was able to save more than 30% on our grocery bill last week. I was able to get all the groceries home and put away just before lunch too. After lunch, I spent my time listing baseball cards for sale online. Colleen got home at her usual time, and was she ever excited to see the clover she planted last year come back with a vengeance this year. She has been trying for years to get something to grow up on that section of the yard. The evening was quiet. Colleen relaxed watching shows on her iPad, and I spent my time on the front porch, smoking a cigar.

Amazon delivered the new lawnmower blade Thursday evening. After I walked Roux on Friday morning, I headed out back to repair the lawnmower. Getting the new blade on the lawnmower went a lot quicker than I anticipated. I had a little trouble trying to start the lawnmower, because I forgot to reconnect the spark plug. Once I put everything back together the way it should be, the lawnmower cranked up, and I spent the rest of the morning cutting the grass in about half of the backyard. I guess I will get to the rest of the backyard this coming week. Colleen got home from school at her regular time and decided we were going to have pizza for our takeout Friday meal. I was good with that. I am always good with that. Colleen and I were both tired Friday evening, so we did not do much more than spend the evening relaxing.

Yesterday morning, Colleen and Roux were back from their walk and Colleen was watering the garden before I ever made it downstairs. When I finished my coffee, I took my long morning walk. Colleen spent some time in the kitchen. After I got back home and since it was close to lunchtime, I had leftover pizza for breakfast. The big thing on my “To-Do” list yesterday was to split the pile of firewood by the log splitter. Colleen came out after I had split a bit of wood, and she started stacking everything. I guess it took us about two hours to get through the pile, get it stacked, and get the area cleaned up. In the end, we got a good start on this winter’s firewood, filling up about 3/4 of a half cord rack. All the wood was seasoned white oak too. It is not anywhere near the wood we will need for this winter, but it was a good start. We did not do a whole lot for the rest of the day.

Colleen was up before the sun and out walking Roux this morning. They were home by the time I got to the front porch. Roux spent the rest of the day laying around or hanging out on the front porch. I promised Colleen I would make omelets for brunch today, so I think I am going to postpone my walk until later this afternoon. Colleen has a little bit of prep work in the kitchen to get meals ready for next week to do today. She also has to get ready for school tomorrow morning. I will probably watch a baseball game this afternoon and basically be available if Colleen needs my help for anything. We are not expecting to see any of the kids today, so everything should stay quiet and peaceful around here. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the sun starts to set in the evening, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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May 04, 2025: More Beautiful Weather, Thriving Gardens, Cutting Winter Firewood, Time To Start Spring Cleaning.

Our week ended up being wet. We had storms move through the area last night, giving everything a good soaking. There is a chill to this morning’s air, but all our gardens are very thankful for the added moisture. As we slid from April into May in the middle of last week, we had plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. The mercury even got close to the 90-degree mark a couple of times. The days warmed up quickly too. Every day when I got back from walking Roux, I would open the house and turn on the fans. Fortunately, pollen season seems to be done, so the air is considerably more breathable. After today, the week in front of us looks to be dry with the only significant chance of rain again coming late in the week and into next weekend. Of course, that is still a way off, and the weather could change by then.

Colleen and I both took it easy last Sunday. After Colleen and Roux got back from their morning walk, and I finished my coffee out on the front porch, I headed inside to make an omelet brunch. Fresh eggs make awesome omelets and Colleen loves omelets. Colleen puttered around the house for a good part of the afternoon. I checked on the gardens and streamed a live baseball game on my computer. Colleen made brats, cabbage, and pierogis for dinner later in the afternoon. I went for my walk after dinner. Apart from Colleen getting ready for school on Monday morning, we both spent the evening relaxing.

After a somewhat restful weekend, Colleen and I were back in the game on Monday. Colleen headed to school at her usual time. Roux was still having a hard time walking for much more than a mile, so our morning walk was short. When we got back, I moved all the cut firewood I could up by the log splitter and then moved all the split firewood from the back porch rack down to the winter-ready racks. I dragged the porch rack off the porch and cleaned up the porch to give us more room for the summer months. Colleen got home from school at her usual time, and after dinner, I went for a walk so I could meet my day’s cardio goal.

Tuesday was my day to dig into the housework while Colleen was at school. After Roux and I got back from our walk, I cleaned and vacuumed the family room. Sweeping and washing the kitchen floor was next. Finally, I cleaned the entryway floor as well. After lunch, I packaged up my sold baseball cards for the mail and then listed more cards for sale on eBay. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. After dinner, I went for a short walk again after dinner. Colleen dried the laundry. Both of us called it a day not long after sunset.

Wednesday was the last day of April, and I wanted to use up as many of my remaining free listing slots on eBay as I could. After Colleen left for school, and Roux and I got home from our walk, I pulled out my computer and got to work with my baseball cards. I spent most of my day listing cards. I did get off the porch to check the gardens. I went out back to check our pear tree too. The tree is covered with tiny pears, but they are getting bigger. We might have enough pears this year to can them. Colleen got home at her usual time, took care of the girls, and made dinner. The evening was quiet and peaceful.

Thursday was market day. Roux walked a little further than she had been walking earlier in the week. Colleen’s market list was shorter than usual, so I got there, came back home, and had everything put away well before noon. After lunch, I got outside to water Colleen’s flower gardens. After standing out there holding a garden hose longer than I thought was reasonable, I decided it was time to buy a second sprinkler. I love Amazon! We will still have to water the plants on the back deck by hand though. I already had run a second hose to a sprinkler for our raised bed gardens last year. Colleen got home from school at her usual time and after she took care of the girls and collected the day’s eggs, we had dinner.

Since pollen season has finished, the driveway needed to be cleaned of all the seasonal debris. I decided that would be my big Friday task. I could have used the leaf blower and been done quickly, but that would have blown too much debris into Colleen’s gardens and into the yard. I did not want to do that, so I grabbed a push broom. I had the driveway swept clean by lunchtime. When Colleen got home from school, she took care of the girls, and then we headed to Costco. Fortunately, we only had a short Costco list, and we did not blow the budget. We stopped to pick up subs for dinner on the way home. Once we got home, got everything into the house, and had our dinner, we hunkered down for the evening.

Yesterday was a busy Saturday around here. Colleen and Roux went out for their usual morning walk. When they got back and after I finished my coffee, I headed out for a three-and-a-half-mile walk. While I was gone, Colleen was in the kitchen making potato pies. I got l home a few minutes before Alex showed up at the house. Alex’s Suburban needs some repairs, and he will leave it here until he can save up enough money to pay for the work. He still has the Dodge Caliber to drive. Alex also brought his chainsaw to cut up the logs on the ground in the backyard. I had to drive Alex home when he finished, and Roux even came along for the ride. Colleen made sure Alex went home with a fresh baked potato pie, a sleeve of frozen hamburgers from Costco, and a three pack of Costco hotdogs though. Colleen and I did not eat lunch until I got back home. After lunch, Colleen made some frozen watermelon and coconut milk treats for Roux’s evening snacks. The rest of the day was quiet. The skies started getting cloudy in the late afternoon and the rain started falling when the last light of day started to melt into nighttime.

Colleen will not walk Roux this morning, and I will wait for later in the day for my walk because of the rain. I guess I will not have to water gardens today either. The rain should end, and the skies start to clear up around lunchtime today. I do not have much on my agenda for the day, but I think Colleen wants to do some cleaning. If I am lucky, I may be able to watch a ballgame this afternoon. The week in front of us will be a busy one for me. Colleen has called a gathering of the clan for next weekend, so I will spend a good part of the week cleaning the house and making everything ready. I would like to move the firewood out of the backyard up to the log splitter and cut the grass in the backyard too. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When we come 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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May 11, 2025: Rain, A Major House Cleaning, Cooking All Day Saturday, A Planned Gathering Of The Clan.

The weather last week was pleasant enough even though we got our share of rain. The week started off wet coming out of a rainy Sunday, but by Tuesday, we were seeing the sunshine during the day, and the rain only seemed to show up after dark. That is how things went until this morning. We are not likely to see the sun today, and there are flood warnings right through until Tuesday morning. Our forecast is calling for inches of rain over the next couple of days with flood warnings. We are not worried about it though being on top of our little hill. The kids may be driving in rain to get here for today’s gathering of the clan, and Colleen will have a tough drive in the rain tomorrow morning on her way to school. I will not have to worry about watering the gardens for a couple of days though.

The rained dampened last Sunday morning. Colleen did not take Roux for their usual walk, and I waited until the late afternoon and early evening to take my walk. Colleen did not have a lot of meal prep to do for the weekend and ended up spending a good part of the day dusting. I did my usual writing, watched some baseball, and listed more baseball cards for sale online. Colleen did make us a wonderful Sunday meal of pan seared cod, seasoned yellow rice, and steamed fresh broccoli. We even had wine with dinner, which is not usual, but it was a treat.

Colleen headed out to school Monday morning like usual, and my week of cleaning the house to get ready for the gathering of the clan today started. Monday’s rain was not supposed to start until lunchtime, so after I got back from walking Roux and had some breakfast, I moved the last of the heavy pieces of unsplit firewood up to the log splitter. I used a dolly and moved one piece at a time. I spent the rest of my morning inside, putting things away, dusting and polishing the credenza in the family room, and doing the daily housework. Colleen got home at her regular time, we ate our dinner, cleaned up, and we kept everything low key for the rest of the evening.

I was up shortly after Colleen left for school Tuesday morning. I opened up the hen coop with the day’s first light and then Roux and I went for a walk. I spent the bulk of my day putting together my new BBQ/smoker. The last one I bought, about a dozen years ago, was assembled at the store. This one came from Amazon on a box. I worked on putting the new one together right through lunch and had it done before Colleen got home from school. I sure wish I had an extra set of hands for projects like that one. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. After dinner she dried the laundry, and I headed out for a short walk. By the end of the evening, we were both worn out.

Wednesday morning I struggled to get out of bed, but I know I had to get back to housework. I spent the morning moving all my baseball cards out of the dining room. While I was doing that, I had the cast iron grates to my BBQ/smoker seasoning in Colleen’s oven. I seasoned them just like we would a new cast iron skillet or pot. After lunch, I started dusting and polishing the dining room chairs. Colleen got home at her usual time. After dinner, I headed out to check our gardens. I pulled the last few radish plants up and gave the girls the greens. Thankfully, it was a quiet evening for Colleen and me.

Thursday was market day. I headed down to the market after Roux and I got back from our morning walk. Colleen’s list had a bunch of specialty items that she needed for cooking Sunday’s meal, so I had to do a little hunting at the market. After I got home and had the groceries put away, I headed back into the dining room to finish polishing and dusting the chairs. By the time Colleen got home, I smelled like lemon Pledge. After dinner, I was back into the gardens. The peas are doing great, and it looks like we will have a bumper crop of Swiss chard this year.

Colleen headed to school again Friday morning, and Roux and I were up not long after she left. Friday was the day I wanted to do the floors on the first floor, all the floors. I swept and washed the kitchen and downstairs bathrooms floors, swept the entryway, and vacuumed the family and living rooms. I only vacuumed half the dining room carpet because Colleen and I had to move the dining room table to the other side of the room. I vacuumed the second half of the dining room carpet after dinner. I cleaned the small corner tables on the dining room after dinner too.

Saturday was all Colleen cooking in the kitchen. I did my best to stay out of her way and help when she requested it. Colleen started first thing in the morning and finally headed upstairs for the evening at 9 PM. When all was said and done, Colleen had made spanakopita, a black bean, yellow rice, and red pepper medley, a spaghetti squash, mushroom, and spinach medley, dinner rolls, her twice-baked potato casserole, glazed baby carrots, and lemon bars for dessert. I do not think she even looked outside to see how blue the skies were. Somewhere in the midst of all that we also moved some furniture around to accommodate extending our dining room table to seat 11 people.

Today is Mother’s Day, and we are expecting the kids for a big sit-down dinner. Colleen has already set the table and got the ham in the oven. I do not know what time the kids will start showing up. I think I can get a short walk in this morning. I do know one thing for sure though, and that is there will be plenty to eat for everyone. Colleen and I do look forward to our clan gatherings, unfortunately, because of work schedules we only get together four or five times a year. Colleen and I will both be very tired this evening after all is said and done. Whatever comes of today, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the day finally does come to an end, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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May 18, 2025: A Mother’s Day Gathering, A Lot More Rain, A Flood Warning, Cut Grass, And Split Firewood.

We finally have some sunshine this morning. I think we had some rain every day last week, some days were wetter than others. If it was not raining in the morning, there was a dense ground fog, so everything was still muggy and hot. If we did not get rain during the day, it rained at night. Needless to say, I did not have to water the gardens once last week. Between the warm temperatures and the rain though, everything is a lush green now, and the trees have their full canopies. The last few days have seen the mercury climb up to the 85-degree mark, but there has been a nice breeze helping to make it feel more comfortable. After last week being warm and steamy, the week in front of us is supposed to cooler and dry.

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day. Colleen had planned a gathering of the clan with a full sit-down dinner. Not surprisingly, all the kids showed, up mostly on time. Colleen and I had spent the week before cleaning and getting things ready so when Sunday morning rolled around, it was just a matter of tying all the loose ends together and getting dinner on the table. Dinner was ham and all the appropriate sides. Colleen even got adventurous and made spanakopita. The dinner turned out great, and everyone ate their fill and then some. After all the kids headed home in the late afternoon, Colleen started cleaning up. She finally finished washing the last serving dish around 8:30.

The rain was on and off all Monday. I took care of the morning chores and took a short walk without getting wet. I was not able to walk Roux though because she likes to sniff everything, and I did not want to get caught in the rain. I did let Roux wander around in the backyard a couple of times, but as soon as the rain started, she headed straight for the house. I spent most of the day, inside, working with baseball cards. There was another short break in the rain in the early afternoon, so I took another short walk. Apart from the usual daily housework, not much got accomplished on the day.

Tuesday started the same way Monday had. Unfortunately, my timing for my morning walk was not as good as Monday’s timing, and I got wet. The rain and clouds gave way to a little sunshine in the middle and late afternoon. Colleen got home from school at her usual time. After we had dinner, I went for another short walk and got to see a beautiful red-tailed howk sitting on a satelite dish. Tuesday was another slow day when just the routine housework got done and nothing extra. Of course, we got more rain Tuesday night too.

Wednesday after Colleen left for school, I figured I had better do something around the house. There was no rain in the morning forecast, so Roux finally got to go for a walk. When we got home, I got to spend some time in our gardens. I picked our first batch of snow peas for the year. The peas will keep going until the summer heat settles in, and the temperatures get too hot. The rain came back after dinner. Colleen managed to get the hen coop closed up for the night and get back inside just a minute or two before the rain started falling again.

Thursday was market day, and the weather finally cut me a break. It was foggy and everything was still wet in the morning, but it wasn’t raining. I got to take Roux for a walk before I headed off to the market. Roux has been struggling a bit lately, but Thursday she did well. Colleen’s market list was short, but there were a lot of BOGO sales at the market. I still managed to fill the cart. I saved 25 percent of the total bill thanks to the sales too. I got everything home and put away before noon which left me the early afternoon to get other things done. I put a new porch bed together for Roux, broke down all the Amazon boxes, got them into the recycle bin, and got the day’s housework done before Colleen got home.

We did not get any rain Thursday night, so Friday morning, I cranked up the lawnmower and cut the grass and weeds in the backyard. That took me until lunchtime. Colleen had a challenging day at school. The primary teacher in her classroom was sick and there was a sub. The kids were bouncing off the walls, and Colleen spent her school day keeping things under control as best she could. By the time Colleen got home, we were both worn out, and a quick, convenient takeout pizza was our dinner of choice. The only thing we could do Friday after dinner was trying to catch our breath.

Colleen was up early to walk Roux yesterday morning. After they got home, it started to rain. Colleen and I had plans to split and stack firewood yesterday morning, but not in the rain. Fortunately, by 10 o’clock the skies cleared up, and by 10:30, I was splitting firewood and Colleen was stacking the split wood on the rack. Two and a half hours later, the log splitter ran out of gas, there was still unsplit woof on the ground, but we had filled a half-cord rack. I ate a late lunch. Colleen did not feel like cooking dinner, so we skipped dinner. I went for my walk instead. Apart from a few housework items, we did not do much the rest of the evening.

Colleen was up early this morning to walk Roux. When they got home, Roux ran upstairs and jumped back in bed with me. I will head out for my walk after I finish my coffee. Colleen has some cooking she wants to do today, but I promised her I would grill today’s big meal. I suspect we will eat in the middle of the afternoon. It should be a quiet day up here on our little hill. Colleen only has four weeks to go until her summer break, and next weekend is the long Memorial Day weekend. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When we come to a day’s end, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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May 25, 2025: A Quiet But Busy Week, Nice Weather, May Is Coming To An End Quickly.

It is Memorial Day weekend, and so far, we have a lovely weekend on tap. The week as a whole has been very nice too. Most of the week saw the mercury climb up to or above the 80-degree mark. We had some storms move through the area Tuesday night and linger into Wednesday morning. The days cooled off a little bit after the rain. The thermometer needle stayed below the 80-degree mark for the whole back end of the week. Tomorrow there is a 50-50 chance of rain, but it looks like we are in for a good soaking on Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, the mercury will climb back over the 80-degree mark as we get ready to start hurricane season next Sunday, June 1st.

After a week of rain, last Sunday was a gorgeous day. Colleen and I did not have any specific plans for the day and took it easy. Colleen took Roux for a walk before dawn, and after the sun came up, I got up, I had some coffee, and I went for a good long walk. Colleen spent some time in the kitchen during the day. I grilled lamb chops and lobster tails for our Sunday meal. We even treated ourselves to some wine with dinner. The evening found Roux and me on the front porch and Colleen in her favorite chair in the living room. I did have to help her with some computer work, but that only took ten minutes or so. When the sun set, Colleen locked up the hen coop for the night and headed upstairs. I finished my cigar not long after dark and then headed inside to close up shop for the night.

Colleen headed to school at her usual time on Monday morning. I took care of the usual morning chores and took Roux for a walk before I got busy for the day. I disassembled an old vacuum cleaner and an old carpet cleaner so they could go into the trash. I started the syphon to drain the swimming pool and then got out the weed eater to clean up the front yard and around the raised bed gardens. I even got to play electrician and changed an outlet on the back porch a little later. Of course, the daily housework got done before Colleen got home after school too. Not much happened the rest of the day, and we enjoyed a quiet evening.

I decided Tuesday would be a garden day. After I finished with the usual morning routine, I transplanted a bunch of Swiss chard from peat pots to bigger pots. Since the chard in the garden I started from seed all sprouted and is growing well, I will give the chard in pots to neighbors for their gardens. The rest of the morning I spent on my knees weeding all of our raised bed gardens. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school making her a bit later getting home compared to usual. After dinner, Colleen dried the laundry, and I listed baseball cards for sale online before we called it a night.

The rain moved into the area Tuesday night and stuck around through Wednesday morning. I did not walk Roux Wednesday morning. I did open the hen coop when we had a break in the rain. I decided that the family room and entryway needed a good cleaning. After I swept the entryway, I moved a little furniture and gave the family room a good, thorough vacuuming. After lunch, I listed baseball cards for sale, and after dinner I went for a walk. The sun had come out in the middle of the afternoon and made for a pleasant late afternoon and evening. Colleen cleaned the kitchen after dinner, and the rest of our evening, apart from a few evening chores, was peaceful and uneventful.

Colleen left for school like usual on Thursday morning, and after I got up and had my coffee, I took Roux for a walk. Thursday is market day, so after Roux and I got back home and I ate some breakfast, I headed down to the market. I got home and had everything put away shortly before noon. I took advantage of the few hours I had before Colleen got home to vacuum the living and dining rooms and take care of the daily housework. After Colleen got home and we had dinner, Colleen got on the phone to straighten out a mix up on one of our credit cards. Fortunately, it did not cost us any money, but we will not be using that credit card anymore. The evening turned out to be quite nice, and the back woods had the old familiar summer patchwork of sunlight shining through the trees as the sun started to sink into the western sky.

Friday morning, it was time for me to get back outside and do some work. After I walked Roux, I headed to the gas station to fill up our 5-gallon gas can. I spent the rest of the morning cutting the grass in the side and front yards. The real treat of the day was realizing just how many pears are on our pear tree in the side yard this year. I think we will be canning pears later this summer. When Colleen got home from school, we headed down to Costco to get a few things, and a big salmon filet in particular. We picked up Firehouse subs on our way home for dinner. It was the start of Colleen’s long holiday weekend, so we did not do much.

Yesterday was errand day. Colleen and I needed to get chicken feed from the Tractor Supply Company, and since Walmart is right there too, we made a quick stop there. We really did not need much but ended up walking out with a bunch more flowers for Colleen’s garden and a bunch more dog treats for Roux. Before we came home, we treated ourselves to lunch at Hardee’s. We did have a notion to start cleaning the pool yesterday, but after we got home and got everything into the house, we decided that yesterday was not a pool cleaning day. Colleen spent the afternoon putting things away and then made some potato salad. I listed baseball cards for sale online. We took it easy after that.

Colleen was back from walking Roux this morning before I made it downstairs. I will head out for my walk after I finish my coffee. Colleen wants to make some coleslaw and a macaroni salad this morning. I will smoke some salmon and asparagus for our Sunday meal. I’ve never smoked salmon before, so it will be interesting. Since Colleen has tomorrow off for Memorial Day, not much is being rushed today. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the evening gets here, we will look around and smile though, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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June 01, 2025: Ran All Week, A Flood Warning, A Tornado Warning, Time To Close The Book On May.

Sunday has caught up with us again, and today, it brought along the start of a new month. It is June 1st, and summer officially starts in just under three weeks. It felt more like early spring rather than late spring last week. The temperatures were a little cooler, and it rained nearly the entire week. With all the rain we got, all the vegetation quickly became vibrant green and overgrown. Unfortunately, the rain also limited the outdoor activities. The front part of the week was the wettest. There were flood warnings in the lowlands. Friday, we had a line of thunderstorms move through the area that carried a tornado watch with it. Yesterday, we had one small storm cell dump rain on our heads in the late afternoon, but otherwise it was a lovely spring day. The sun is coming up this morning, but surely as shooting, we are expecting another late afternoon thunderstorm.

I think last Sunday was the only day it did not rain for all of last week. Colleen was up early and took Roux for a walk. I went for my walk after I finished my coffee. Sunday is usually my day to grill, but last Sunday, I fired up the smoker and smoked a large salmon filet. I used apple wood in the smoker, and the salmon turned out fantastic. I had never smoked salmon before, but I will definitely smoke more salmon in the future. I smoked some asparagus too, and Colleen made some potato salad, so we had ourselves a regular feast for our Sunday meal. We even enjoyed a little wine with our meal. Since last weekend was Memorial Day weekend, neither Colleen nor I were in much of a rush to do anything either.

Monday was Memorial Day, and a day off from school for Colleen. The day started out gray and stayed gray all day long. The rain spit on Colleen and Roux while they were on their morning walk. After I had my coffee, I whipped up a couple of omelets for a late morning brunch. It looked like we had a good break in the rain after we ate brunch, so I took my walk. Alex and a friend showed up in the early afternoon. They had been fishing, but without any luck. Alex did not stay long, and poor Roux was very sad to see him leave. I spent a good bit of the afternoon with my baseball cards. We had brats, coleslaw, potato salad, and corn on the cob for dinner to celebrate the unofficial start to summer.

Tuesday morning, Colleen headed to school with the threat of rain, but it did not start raining until she was at school. I did not walk Roux. I spent the day doing housework and working with baseball cards. It was pouring by the time Colleen got home after school. We did get a break in the rain right after dinner, so I headed out for my daily walk then. I am glad I did too, because not long after I got back, the rain started falling again. There was not much we needed to do in the evening, so after Colleen cleaned the kitchen and made her school lunch, we both got to relax.

It was raining again on Wednesday morning when Colleen left for school. Roux and I stayed in bed for a couple more hours. I did not walk Roux again. She just hung out on the front porch. With dreary weather, Wednesday was another day for housework and baseball cards. The clouds started to give way to the sun around noon. By the time Colleen got home from school, it seemed like a sunny spring day. Of course, because everything was still wet and starting to dry out, the humidity was through the roof. Colleen brought the girls their usual afternoon treats and then heated up our dinner. I finally got to take my daily walk after dinner.

It was not raining Thursday morning! I opened the hen coop and took Roux for a walk before I headed down to the market for our weekly groceries. Colleen had a short market list, so it was a light run. It only took me two trips to get everything into the house when I got home. I even managed to save one-third of the total grocery bill by shopping the sales. After lunch I took care of the daily housework. Colleen got home at her usual time, took care of the girls, and heated up our dinner. I went out for a short walk after dinner, and the rest of the evening was quiet and peaceful, except for the storm cell headed our way and the tornado watch.

Friday morning the rain was falling when Colleen left for school. It was not a hard rain. The rain had stopped by the time Roux and I got out of bed, so after I opened the hen coop, we went for a morning walk under gray skies. Age and arthritis are catching up with Roux, sadly. Our walks are not nearly as long as they used to be, and Roux does take breaks while we are out walking now. Everything was still too wet to work outside, so I spent the day doing things inside the house. Colleen and I had Mexican takeout for dinner. Roux can still jump into the back of the Trail Blazer when it is time to go for a ride. After we got home and ate, I headed out for a short walk before settling on the front porch to enjoy a cigar.

Colleen was up well before me yesterday. By the time I came downstairs to get my morning coffee, Colleen and Roux were back from their walk, and Colleen was outside, planting begonias in her garden. After I finished my coffee, I headed out for a long walk. Colleen changed the bedding in the hen coop while I was walking. The backyard had dried out enough by the time I got back home that I decided it was time to cut the grass. That took me into the middle of the afternoon. While I was pushing the lawnmower, Colleen was in the kitchen making her Greek stuffed peppers to feed us in the upcoming week. Between my morning walk and mowing the backyard yesterday, I ended up walking over 7.5 miles yesterday.

Today has started out bright and sunny. Colleen is already back from walking Roux and has let the girls out for the day. I will go for my walk after I finish my coffee. I will be grilling dinner again today. We will probably eat early because the forecast says there is a dandy thunderstorm headed our way around 5 o’clock this afternoon. I suppose we shall see. Colleen heads back to school tomorrow morning, but final exams start later in the week. I am just hoping for a dry week, so I can spend some time working outside. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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June 08, 2025: More Rain, Doctor’s Appointments, A Tax Mess Up, Steamy Mornings.

There is no doubt about it, now, we are solidly into June. Thunderstorms are almost a nightly event around here. The mornings are warm and steamy too. Last weekend we started off on the cool side, but everything heated up as the week progressed. Wednesday evening was when things started getting really wet around here. There was a storm spinning in the Atlantic, just off the coast of the Carolinas, that was funneling the rain right over us. It rained on and off all day Thursday. Friday was warm and steamy with thunderstorms in the evening and overnight. Yesterday was just plain hot with the mercury tickling the 90-degree mark on the thermometer. Of course, we had thunderstorms yesterday evening and overnight again. A couple of rounds of storms came with some pretty heavy rains. This morning, the skies are blue, the humidity is high, and the temperature is climbing already.

Last Sunday was a low-key day around here. It had rained Saturday night, so everything was vibrant green along with being wet in the morning. At least, some of the local critters were enjoying the weather. Colleen walked Roux and had the coffee made before I ever got downstairs. After I finished my coffee, I took a nice long 3-mile walk. Colleen baked a coffee cake while I was walking. After I got back home and had a chance to cool off some, I fired up the BBQ and grilled a couple of ribeye steaks for our Sunday meal. I even got to take a short nap after we ate. The rest of our day was quiet and uneventful. Colleen got everything ready for school Monday morning before she got to relax. I enjoyed a cigar on the from porch until after dark and it was time to close up shop for the day.

Colleen left for school at her usual time on Monday morning. I was up right before she left to get ready for a doctor’s appointment. I let Roux out in the backyard, and then I was on my way. I had the first appointment of the day, so I was in and out quickly. I did have to wait for the lab to open so they could take some blood for a PSA test to check for prostate cancer. I am happy to say my weight is still coming off slowly and staying off, my blood pressure is now staying at or below 120/80, and my PSA results showed no signs of any problems there. I wish someone had told me about all these darn tests I keep needing now that I am older. Colleen got home at her usual time, and everything was going smoothly until the mail came. It seems we forgot to send a form with our state taxes, so our tax returns got rejected, and we had to send everything back into the state.

Tuesday proved to be a better day than Monday, thankfully. The temperature started to warm up some. I got to walk Roux in the morning, and then, I traded some Swiss chard plants for some Chinese chive and Egyptian walking onions with a neighbor. My neighbor has an incredible garden! I planted those in our raised bed gardens after I got home. I did a little more weeding and gardening too, and I checked to see how our pear tree was doing. Colleen and I are still amazed and excited to see so many pears on the tree this year. I spent my time after lunch getting all of our state tax papers together and ready for the mail. I had the housework done by the time Colleen got home from school too. Fortunately, we cruised the Tuesday evening without anything else unusual popping up.

Wednesday, I had an eye doctor’s appointment. I was up when Colleen left for school which gave me enough time to open up the hen coop for the day and take Roux for a walk. My eye doctor appointment went well, and my vision has not changed in the last year. I ordered a new pair of glasses though. The whole bill with the new glasses after insurance came to $108. When I got home, I had to schedule another doctor’s appointment for an ultrasound to see if I have an aneurysm on my abdominal aorta though. Colleen got home at her usual time and was very excited to see her ballon flowers starting to bloom. I took a short walk after dinner while Colleen put together our market list for Thursday. I was worn out by bedtime and my running around for the week was not over yet though.

Thursday, like every Thursday, was market day. I managed to get Roux walked, because we had a break in the rain. I jumped into the car and headed down to the market shortly after we got home. I got lucky because I got another break in the rain when I got back home, so I stayed dry shuttling the groceries into the house from the car. I got the groceries put away before lunch. After lunch, I pulled out the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed all the carpets and rugs on the first floor. Colleen got home at her regular time. I managed to take a short walk after dinner when we had another break in the rain. The sun even made an appearance at the end of the day. I ended the day enjoying a cigar on the front porch while Colleen relaxed in her favorite living room chair in front of a fan.

Friday morning it was not raining, and I had a mind to go fishing. Unfortunately, the temperature started climbing quickly while I was walking Roux, and I sure did not feel like the idea of sitting on the riverbank in the sun on a hot, humid morning. I decided not to go fishing. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. We agreed that we wanted a fried fish takeout dinner when she got home. Colleen ordered our meal online with French fries and fried okra and then, Colleen, Roux, and I jumped into the Trail Blazer to pick up our dinner. Roux absolutely loves going on rides. I went for a short walk after dinner again, but the rest of our evening was peaceful.

Yesterday, we knew there was a chance of thunderstorms, but after Colleen walked Roux and I took my morning walk, we got into the pool to start cleaning it out. I had drained the pool about a week ago, but after the rain we had had, there was about four inches of water in the bottom of the pool. Colleen and I used 5-gallon buckets to bail the water out of the pool. I used a plastic coal shovel to scoop up the leaves and get them out of the pool after the water was gone. Colleen mopped the bottom of the pool after that. We did all this with the sun directly overhead. We left the pool there and will finish cleaning and filling it next weekend. We ate an early dinner of the leftover fried fish, and I headed upstairs afterwards to take a nap. Colleen nodded off sitting in her living room chair. Neither of us did much yesterday evening, and we were still both worn out when it was time to go to bed.

The sun was up this morning when I finally made it downstairs. Colleen and Roux were already back from their walk. I will take my walk after I finish my morning coffee. I do not think we have much on our agenda today. Colleen will spend some time in the kitchen. We will most likely eat an early meal today too. Colleen’s school is in final exam week, so she should have an easy week in front of her. She is counting down the days until the end of the school year though. Maybe I will get to list some baseball cards for sale online later, but I will be checking in on today’s ballgames. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When each 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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June 15, 2025: School Winding Down, Summer Ramping Up, Thunderstorms Every Night, Father’s Day Today.

Today is Father’s Day, and summer officially starts this coming Friday. Up here on our little hill, the afternoon thunderstorms have become routine. I think we only had one stretch of 24 hours last week where we did not get some sort of rain. As a rule, it did not rain in the mornings last week. We would start the day with the temperature somewhere between 70 and 75, but the humidity was almost always over 90 percent. As soon as I would get downstairs, I would turn the fans on before I got my morning coffee. In the evenings, the skies would start getting noisy right around dinner time, and between then and midnight, a thunderstorm would plow through the area. Fortunately, most of the storms were short lived. It does not look like things will be much different for the week in front of us.

After a wild week leading up to last Sunday, the day turned out to very calm and low key. Colleen took Roux for her early morning walk and let me sleep late. After I finished my morning coffee, I headed out on a 4-mile walk. Colleen spent some time in the kitchen prepping meals for the week. I spent most of the day relaxing and helping Colleen if she needed it. I even got to stream some baseball on my computer. Like usual, Colleen headed upstairs after she locked up the hen coop for the night, and I closed up the house after I finished my cigar and let Roux have her last call of the day.

Monday turned out to be just as relaxed as Sunday had been. After Colleen left for school, the sun came up, and I finished my coffee. I took Roux for a walk. The walk was a good bit longer than Roux had been taking too. The rest of my day was spent with baseball cards and doing housework. Colleen’s day was uneventful too, well, until she went to lock up the hen coop for the night. One of the girls snuck past Colleen and got out of the pen. Fortunately, Roux was there and corralled the bird into to basement so Colleen could catch it and put it back into the coop. My darling wife was quite exasperated over the whole incident.

Tuesday morning started out like most days, but Roux did not do well on our walk, so I cut it short, and we came home, covering less than a half a mile. After breakfast, I spent the morning out in the gardens. Colleen had more flowers blooming, and I got to pick more peas. After lunch it was baseball cards and housework for me. Colleen got home at her usual time and went about her regular afternoon routine. Fortunately, we did not have anything unexpected happen for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Colleen and I made an early night of it too.

After the rough walk Roux had Tuesday morning, I wanted to see if Roux would do better Wednesday morning. She did, and we walked almost a whole mile. Everything outside was still soaked from the overnight rains, so I spent the day inside. The deer didn’t seem to mind the wet conditions though. Like most days when I am stuck inside, I used my time for housework and baseball cards. Colleen looked tired when she got home from school. I figured with school ending this coming Tuesday, there was not much to keep her going, so her adrenaline pump slowed down and everything was just catching up with her. I went for a walk after dinner, but not much else happened for the rest of our evening.

Thursday was market day, and I did not walk Roux before I headed down the road. I got home and had the groceries put away shortly before noon. After a short break, I pulled out the power washer and washed the Honda. Between, power washing the dirt off the car, soaping up the car and rubbing it down, and rinsing all the soap off the car, I just barely finished before Colleen got home. I did not have time to do the daily housework. I took a walk after dinner though. There was not much more left in my tank when I got home, so I planted myself on the front porch in front of a fan with a bottle of Gatorade and a cigar. It was a pretty evening and everything stayed quiet fortunately.

Friday morning, I took Roux for a walk after I had finished my coffee and opened the hen coop. Roux struggled, and it was another short walk for us. I had a couple of errands to run Friday morning after we got back home. The most important of those errands was to get my new eyeglasses. I got home about lunchtime, and after a quick lunch, I did not feel like doing much. Colleen was wiped out but smiling when she got home. We ultimately decided dinner would be takeout pizza, the quickest and closest to the house. Even Roux came with us for the ride to pick up dinner. She had no trouble getting in and out of the Trail Blazer. I went for a walk after dinner, and that was the extent of anything Colleen or I did for the rest of the evening.

Colleen walked Roux yesterday morning and was back home before I came downstairs. I finished my coffee and opted not to take my walk right away. Colleen and I headed outside and finished cleaning the pool instead. I power washed the liner walls, Colleen scrubbed the walls with Scrubbing Bubbles, I rinsed everything off, and then Colleen and I used buckets to get the last of the dirty water out of the bottom of the pool. By noon, we had the hose in the pool, and it was being filled with water. Neither of us did much more for the rest of the day. I did go for about a 3-mile walk after dinner while Colleen cleaned the kitchen. We called it an early evening again yesterday.

Colleen is back from walking Roux already this morning. I will head out for my walk in a bit. I have already turned the water back on to finish filling the pool and put the chemicals into the pool. Just maybe, Colleen will enjoy the cool water in the pool later today. Colleen does have a little cooking she wants to do in the kitchen. I am expecting to hear from the kids today for Father’s Day. Colleen will be done with school for the summer on Tuesday. I have a funny feeling it will be a busy summer for though. 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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June 22, 2025: Colleen’s Summer Break, It’s Summer, Hot Days, More Thunderstorms.

Summer is here, and Mother Nature wants to make sure we know it. After a week that saw spring close out with a thunderstorm just about every day, as soon as we hit summer, the temperatures started climbing. The mercury has not quite reached the century mark yet, but it will soon. The heat index has gotten over 100 degrees a couple times so far this summer though. Today is just the third day of summer too. The week in front of us looks extraordinarily hot with the chance of three or four days of 100-degree temperatures. The local news says that has only happened six times since they started tracking weather data. Last year we did not have any days that reached 100 degrees. It does not look like there is any rain in the forecast to cool things off either.

Last Sunday was Father’s Day and I really had not planned on doing much. I heard from the kids, and Louis and Maya showed up for a visit. Maya wanted to work in the gardens, so I let her dig up our potatoes, pick peas, and plant beans. I grilled cheeseburgers so we could have a late lunch. Colleen puttered around the house and got ready for her last two days of school on Monday and Tuesday. She even found some time to get into the swimming pool. Our evening was quiet except for a thunderstorm that rolled through.

Monday morning Colleen headed into school at her usual time. I had an early morning appointment at the hospital for an ultrasound. With an aneurysm on my ascending aorta, my doctor wanted to check my abdominal aorta too. Fortunately, the results of the ultrasound showed everything was normal. That is one less thing for me to worry about, not that I worry about much anyway. I did not do much the rest of the day. I took a nap, listed some baseball cards for sale, and did the usual daily housework. After dinner, I headed out for a walk. The skies started getting really dark halfway through my walk so I hustled home. Fortunately, the rain missed us until well after dark.

Tuesday was Colleen’s last day of school for the school year. She has one more year to go before she will retire. Roux and I went for a walk in the morning. Colleen’s principal let everyone leave early so Colleen got home a bit after noon. Since I had not eaten lunch yet, I decided to take Colleen to Hardee’s for lunch. Their Frisco Burger is a favorite of Colleen’s. Fortunately, we have AC in the Trail Blazer, so we even took Roux with us. We brought her a chewy bone so she could have a treat too. After we got home, Colleen and I cleaned all the fans with my leaf blower. It was a hack Colleen saw online, and it worked well blowing all the dust out of the fans. We ended up in the pool when we finished the fans. After dinner, I went for a walk. I much prefer walking in the mornings.

Wednesday morning, we did not have to get up to an alarm clock. Colleen had started her summer break. She took Roux for a walk while I stayed in bed. After they got back and Colleen had her coffee, we took Roux to the vet for a checkup. Roux is getting older now and slowing down, but we wanted to make sure that was all it was. The day heated up quickly, but Colleen got the mats down around the pool, and I took care of the day’s housework. By the middle of the afternoon, Colleen and I were floating around in the pool to cool off. Not much happened after dinner other than I took a walk.

Thursday was market day. After Colleen got back from walking Roux, we headed down the road for our weekly market run. It was a good market run too. We managed to save about 25 percent off the total bill by shopping the sales. I made lunch when we got home and after the groceries were put away. As had already become our habit, Colleen and I headed into the pool in the middle of the afternoon. I took a short walk after dinner. The skies got dark quickly again, but I was home before the thunderstorm blew up right over our heads. The storm only lasted about 30 minutes, but it dumped a good bit of water on us.

Colleen took Roux for a walk first thing Friday morning. I took my walk shortly after they got home. Colleen and I planned on splitting and stacking firewood, but those plans changed. Colleen was pulling the furniture off the pool patio when I got home, so it was time to clean the rug on the patio. That job took every bit of three hours. I power washed the rug first, then soaped it up and scrubbed it, and finally power washed the soap and loose dirt off the rug again. In the process of all of this, we noticed a Yellowjacket nest up by Colleen’s flower garden. That could have been very problematic. Anyway, we were back in the pool cooling off in the middle of the afternoon. After dinner, the activity at the entrance of the Yellowjacket nest subsided, so I poured some gasoline into the nest. Thankfully, the rest of our evening was quiet.

Colleen didn’t walk Roux yesterday morning. Roux was not feeling good and had to go outside three or four different times over the course of Friday night. I took my usual morning walk, and after a quick breakfast when I got home, I headed outside to mow the backyard and side yard. That proved to be a real challenge with the day heating up quickly. I took a number of breaks for water and/or Gatorade. The yards are done though. I checked Colleen’s flower garden and there was absolutely no sign of Yellowjacket one. Those things are the meanest flying insect I know. I took a nap in the early afternoon, and Colleen and I headed into the pool after I came back downstairs. We did not do much else after dinner.

The sun is coming up and Colleen and Roux are back from their walk. Today looks like a busy day up here on our little hill. Alex is supposed to come over to take down what is left of the oak tree behind the pool. I will take my morning walk after I finish my coffee. I have a friend coming over later today so we can watch a baseball game. My favorite team is playing his favorite team. Colleen wants to do some housework before it gets too hot too. Other than that, we are just getting ready for the 100-degree heat during the upcoming week. Anything Colleen and I need to do outside will be done in the morning, and we will hide in the shade and in front of the fans in the afternoons. Still, 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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June 29, 2025: A Week Of Oppressive Heat, Lots Of Noise In The Skies, Little Rain.

Summer started and served notice that it is definitely here, for a while. I cannot ever remember a summer heating up quite this fast before. Last week kicked off with three consecutive days of the mercury eclipsing the 100-degree mark, and the heat index was over 100 degrees every single day! Things did not cool down much overnight either. Temperatures never got below 70 degrees. With all this heat, the late afternoon and evening skies tended to get noisy, but we got very little rain with the exception of late yesterday afternoon. We had a dandy thunderstorm blow up right over our heads. We had about twenty minutes of howling winds and torrential rains. When the storm passed, the sun came back out, but the storm was enough to cool the evening down into the 80’s.

Last Sunday was almost like a day off. Colleen took Roux for a morning walk and after I finished my coffee, I headed out for my walk. That was as routine as the day got. Colleen and I spent the rest of our morning and the first part of the afternoon cleaning around the house. That afternoon, a buddy of mine was coming over to the house so we could watch the ballgame between his favorite team and mine. It is not like it was a big thing, but Colleen wanted the place to be presentable. Colleen disappeared when my friend showed up. She did not want to listen to the two of us go on with an in-depth conversation about baseball while we watched the game.

Monday morning Colleen was up early to walk Roux and got into the kitchen before the day heated up too much. Monday was the start of our run of 100-degree days. At some point in the day, I realized I had not posted to our website in two weeks. Father’s Day and spending the afternoon watching baseball sidetracked me. Both weekly posts were written, so I spent most of the afternoon getting my work ready for Colleen to edit. Colleen and I did head into the pool to beat the heat before dinner. After dinner, Colleen edited everything, and I finally got our website caught up to date. Fortunately, there was not much else we were going to do during the day because of the heat.

Tuesday morning started out hot, and the day got hotter. It was the hottest day of the week with the mercury easily eclipsing the century mark. Colleen, Roux, and I all got our walking done early to beat the heat as best we could. I spent the late morning and early afternoon packaging up baseball cards for the day’s mail. I even sent 15 older cards off to be graded. With any luck I will be able to sell the grades, once graded, for five times the cost of grading. Colleen and I spent a good hour in the pool later in the afternoon. For dinner we enjoyed a BLT sandwich with air fried eggplant on the side. The eggplant was a huge improvement over potato chips. In the evening, we did our best to stay cool. I even managed to list more baseball cards for sale online too. The heat just seemed oppressive though and made for a tough day.

Wednesday morning was hot, but not as hot as Tuesday. The day ended up being the third day on a row of 100-degree temperatures though. Colleen did not take Roux for a walk because Roux had licked the pad on her front right paw raw. It looked like she had a cut on the pad too. Colleen wrapped up Roux’s paw. To keep cool, Roux would head down to the basement, but when she would come back upstairs, the wrapping would no longer be on her paw. Colleen, being persistent as she is, would have to re-wrap Roux’s paw. It took three or four times, but Roux finally figured it out, and the wrapping stayed on her paw, more or less. Colleen and I puttered around the house for most of the rest of the day just trying to stay cool.

Thursday, we got a break from the heat. The morning temperature started around 75 degrees, but the daytime high was only 95 degrees or so. I did not go for a walk Thursday morning. Colleen and I had errands to run. The Trail Blazer needed to go to the shop for an oil change and routine maintenance, and it was market day. Our market run went well enough. After we got home, Colleen put the groceries away and I packaged up baseball cards for the day’s mail. Colleen and I headed to the pool in the mid-afternoon. While we were in the pool, we had a light sun shower. I told Colleen she needed to dive under water so the rain would not get her wet. We stayed in the pool a good bit longer than usual too. We sure did not do much after we got out of the pool. Dinner was light and we just stayed as cool as we could get for the rest of the evening.

Friday was still hot and the turned out to be a busy one for us. Colleen did not walk Roux, but I went for my walk. After I got back, changed into dry clothes, and had some breakfast, Colleen and I headed to Costco. We just need a few things, so it was a quick trip, but the lowlands sure were hot. When we got home, I started scanning baseball cards into the computer. The shop called right after lunch to let us know the Trail Blazer was ready, so we headed down the road to pick it up. We headed to the pool as soon as we got home too. While we were in the pool, Colleen and I decided on takeout pizza for dinner. Fortunately, the AC in the Trail Blazer works, because a third trip to the lowlands would have melted our brains. The skies got very noisy after dinner, but we did not get any rain. We did our best to stay cool and comfortable for the evening just like we had been doing all week.

Colleen did not walk Roux again yesterday. I did go for my walk and came home dripping wet. Yesterday turned into a wrestle with technology day. Colleen always pays our bills online, but yesterday one of our accounts was not cooperating. To make things even more crazy, our home phone is not working and the email account tied to this one account has been locked up for a while. In the middle of the afternoon, we threw our hands up and headed to the pool. Our pool time got cut short by a nasty thunderstorm that blew up right over our heads. When we headed inside, we decided to eat an early dinner. After dinner, I spent an hour and a half getting back into our locked-up email account and another hour and a half clearing the backlog of emails. With any luck today, Colleen will be able to get into that one account that would not let her in yesterday, so she can pay the bill.

Colleen took Roux for a walk this morning, and Roux did great! I will head out for my walk in a little while. Colleen and I have no big plans for today. I will fire up the grill later to cook our dinner. Other than that, Colleen and I will spend the day staying as cool and comfortable we can. Tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how the day shapes up, we will get Colleen a new iPhone. Colleen has fought getting a reliable cell phone for a few years now but has finally relented. It looks like the temperatures will be staying in the low 90’s again next week, and Wednesday we may see some real rain. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, we’ll look around and smile though, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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July 06, 2025: Cooler Temperatures, The 4th Of July, Tropical Storm Chantal On Sunday.

Another week has passed, another month has ended, and now we are in the second half of the year. Temperatures cooled off some for us last week. The mercury managed to sneak by the 95-degree mark early in the week, but as we got deeper into the week, we had days where the thermometer needle could not reach the 90-mark. We got some rain on Thursday which helped everything stay cool, but there was plenty of sunshine and blue sky for the rest of the week. Today, we will get wet at some point though. Tropical Storm Chantal is about to make landfall in South Carolina, and its path takes right up to our general vicinity. Fortunately, we are not expecting much more than an afternoon of heavy rain, and Chantal should be gone from the area by tonight.

Last Sunday was the start to our busy week. It is not that we did anything special, but we knew there would extra things we needed to do so we could spend the 4th of July with Al and Alysia. Colleen started her day by weeding gardens after she got home from walking Roux. While I was out taking my walk, Colleen started cleaning the upstairs bathrooms. I did my usual Sunday writing. I fired up the grill before we got into the pool in the afternoon for the potato and corn. For dinner, along with the potato and corn on the cob, I grilled lamb chops and lobster tails. It was the dinner Colleen planned for Father’s Day two weeks earlier. Dinner was wonderful.

We spent Monday taking care of a few things around the house. Colleen made a batch of potato salad, and I packaged some up sold baseball cards for the day’s mail. Our pool time got cut a bit short because of loud gray skies, but we only got a quick shower, and the skies were blue, and the sun was shining again before long. After dinner, I checked on the gardens and quickly realized I was going to have to do something weeding soon. Our peas have played out, but the bush beans that Maya and Louis planted sprouted and the rabbits did not get to the sprouts this year.

Tuesday was a big day. Colleen, finally, after years of me pestering her, agreed she needed a usable cell phone. We spent a good bit of time at the phone store in the middle of the morning. Colleen looked like a deer in the headlights with all the phones that are available. She settled on an iPhone 14 because it works roughly the same way as her iPad. We got home around lunchtime, and Colleen spent the afternoon getting the phone set up and synced to her iPad. I was generally available to answer any questions she had, but mostly I left her alone. We did get into the pool in the afternoon but got chased out when a dandy thunderstorm blew up right over us. As usual, once the storm blew over, there were sunny blue skies for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Wednesday was my day to smoke the salmon and ribs we wanted to take with us to Al and Alysia’s place on Friday. I started the salmon first thing in the morning and took it off the smoker a good bit before lunchtime. The ribs were next on the smoker, and they took until just about dinner time before there were done. Of course, we had to try them for quality control purposes, so that is what we had for dinner. While I babysat the smoker all day to make sure the temperature stayed right, Colleen spent a good part of her day continuing to set up and learn about her iPhone.

Thursday was market day. Colleen and I headed to the market a little earlier than usual. After we got home and had the groceries put away, it seems our motivation disappeared. We did find ourselves in the pool in the middle of the afternoon, and Roux even came outside to hang out in the shade on the pool patio to keep an eye on us. After we got out of the pool, I added the weekly chemicals to the water and changed the filter cartridge. Neither Colleen nor I did much after that, other than having dinner and making sure everything was ready to for Friday’s trip to Al and Alysia’s place.

Friday morning rolled around, and we got ready to head out. Midmorning, Colleen, Roux, and I hopped into the Trail Blazer and headed down the road. Traffic was heavy on the interstate, and the trip to Al and Alysia’s place took a little longer than usual. We made it without incident though. Al and Alysia had a low country boil going when we got there. We all got to visit for a good bit which usually does not happen when the whole family gets together. Roux had a field day sniffing every corner of their house and every square inch of their backyard. Al treated me to some 15-year-old scotch that the kids brought back from Scotland on their trip earlier in the year and the food we ate was fantastic. Traffic was considerably lighter on the way home, and Colleen and I got home, exhausted, around 5:30. I waited until an hour before sunset to take my daily walk once we were home.

Yesterday, everyone slept late. That set the tone of the day too. Colleen spent five hours in the kitchen making a traditional Scottish fish pie despite running on empty. The fish pie turned out quite well and that was dinner. Alex was supposed to come over yesterday to drop the remaining trunk of the big oak tree behind the pool. He never made it. He said he was not feeling good. I guess he did too much celebrating on the 4th of July. Colleen and I spend as much of the day as we could relaxing and called it an early night.

Today will be a waiting game. The skies are gray, and Chantal should start raining on us around lunchtime. Colleen has already walked Roux, and I will try to get my morning walk before the rains come. I am not sure what else today will bring our way, but I know we will not be doing much outside. Colleen does have to start getting ready for her trip up north later in the week though. It looks like the weather for the week in front of us will be our typical summer weather though. Temperatures will run between 85 and 90 degrees during the day with the chance of late afternoon and early evening thunderstorms. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When each day comes to an end, we will look around and smile though, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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July 13, 2025: Colleen’s Road Trip, Flooding, More Heat And Humidity

We are a week deeper into summer, and next week is shaping up to be another tough week of weather. After the oppressive heat we had to start the season, last week’s tropical storm, Chantal, dropped one heck of a lot of rain around here, and we had evening thunderstorms all week after that. Now, the temperature is hot again and everything is steamy. The long-range forecast does not look like things will be getting any better for the upcoming week either. I turn on the fans on the first floor first thing every morning. The second-floor fans stay on around the clock. Roux is spending most of her days in the basement where it is cool. About the only things thriving in this weather are the gardens, and they need to be weeded desperately.

The rain from Chantal did not start until just after lunchtime last Sunday, so Colleen got to walk Roux, and I got to take my walk in the morning. Colleen spent some of her day in the kitchen, but mostly we waited for the rain to start. We did have a young buck visit the front yard. It was hurt, sadly. It let me walk up to it and check it out, but there was nothing I could do for it. I tried to call wildlife rescue groups, but they were all closed. The deer munched our grass and weeds and eventually headed back into the woods. It has not been back since. By mid-afternoon, it was raining and occasionally raining hard. The county just west of us got really hammered, and the local river flooded the lowlands badly. There were a lot of people displaced.

The sun came out Monday morning, but everything was still soaked with standing water everywhere. The humidity stayed ridiculously high all day. My clothes looked like I had gone swimming in them when I got back home from my morning walk. Colleen went to the laundromat in the morning, and while the clothes was drying in the basement after she got home, she started getting things ready for her trip to New Hampshire. I spent most of my day in front of a fan, working with my baseball cards. Colleen and I did find time to get into the swimming pool in the middle of the afternoon though. Our evening was quiet and uneventful, fortunately.

Tuesday morning Colleen was out of bed early but did not walk Roux. She packed and getting everything ready for her trip. I went for my walk and came home soaking wet again. The day was not quite as hot as it had been the week before last though, so I fired up the weed eater and started working on the front yard. As long as I was working in the shade, I was okay. I only lasted about an hour once I had to work out under the day’s sun. The heat index reached the century mark, so I did not want to push things. I think Tuesday was the only day we did not get any rain too. The humidity made the whole day and evening rough though.

Wednesday morning Colleen made her final checks for her travel day. While she was busy in the morning checking and double checking everything, I went for a walk. The skies were gray and ominous in the morning, which seemed to not bode well for the day as a whole. The sun came out before it was time to take Colleen to head to meet her friend though. Colleen was spending Wednesday night at her friend’s place, so they could leave early Thursday morning, headed for New Hampshire. Roux jumped into the Trail Blazer with Colleen and me when it was time to take Colleen to her friend’s house. Colleen spent the afternoon and evening with her friend, and they even went out to dinner. I came home, packaged up some baseball cards for the mail, and spent the rest of my day on the front porch. Right before sunset, the skies got noisy, and it rained up here on our little hill.

Thursday, Colleen and her friend left a little later than they had anticipated. I took Roux for a walk and then headed down to the market. It was an incredibly light day at the market. I got out of the market for under $50. Colleen kept letting me know her progress throughout the day. In the afternoon, I moved things out of the family room and thoroughly vacuumed the carpet. That was just about all the energy I could manage for the rest of the day. After dinner, I took a short walk though. Colleen and her friend made to their destination by 8 o’clock in the evening. I breathed a sigh of relief. Right after I closed up the hen coop for the night, a dandy thunderstorm blew up right over my head. I just sat in the front porch enjoying a cigar while it rained until I decided it was time for me to call it a day.

I slept late Friday morning knowing Colleen was safe and sound at her sister’s house. The morning was warming up quickly, and Roux did not seem like she wanted to go for a walk. I headed out on a walk by myself and did not get home until almost 11 o’clock. All I could do at that point was get a bottle of Gatorade and sit in front of a fan. I took a quick nap after that. After I got up, I pulled out the rug cleaner and steam cleaned the family room carpet. A short while later, when I came back upstairs from giving the girls their treats, I found Roux lying on my clean, damp, and cool family room carpet. I sure did not do much for the rest of the day other than try to stay cool.

Saturday morning, I went for a walk without Roux again. Colleen and her sister spent the morning getting ready for the memorial service for Colleen’s sister’s husband. The family room carpet was dry by mid-morning, so I put the family room back together. I packaged up some baseball cards for the day’s mail after that. The memorial service was in the middle of the afternoon, and there were arrangements for it to be on Zoom. I watched the service while I was sitting on the front porch. When the service finished, I took the girls their afternoon treats, fed Roux, and had my dinner. I spent my evening relaxing on the front porch with a cigar.

Today promises to be another hot and muggy day. Colleen’s wild flower garden is getting more different colled flowers in it. I will take Roux for a walk after I finish my coffee. I am not sure what else I will do today. Colleen and her sister will get out of the house to give themselves a break after yesterday. Colleen is not leaving New Hampshire until Wednesday, so she has some time to visit with her family. I will pick Colleen up from her friend’s house on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, it does not look like we will get a break from the heat or evening thunderstorms in the coming week. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will take time to catch our breath, look around, and smile because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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July 20, 2025: Colleen Is Home, More Rain, Still More Heat And Humidity

We are one month into summer and Mother Nature is having herself a good old time playing with our weather. It seemed to have rained almost every day last week, with the possible exception of last Friday. It has not been a lot of rain, but there always seemed to be a lot of rumbling overhead in the sky and last Thursday, we even had a brilliant light show when the thunderstorm blew up right on top of us. The thunder was loud enough to rattle the windows of our old house. Fortunately, the storms all happened in the late afternoons, early evenings, and sometimes overnight. The temperatures were never horribly unseasonable, but the humidity has been very high since this unstable weather pattern started. It does not look like we will get any rain today, but the rain will be back tomorrow. At least, I have not had to water the gardens.

Colleen was still in New Hampshire last Sunday, and even though I did not get up early, I took Roux for a short walk to start our day. Like most Sundays, I had not planned on doing much. Roux and I hung out on the front porch mostly while I wrote or checked in on the day’s baseball games. Colleen, her sister, and her brother visited the old house where they grew up. Colleen knows the current owner, so they got a tour. The house had been in Colleen’s family since 1921, but Colleen finally sold it when she moved down her to North Carolina in 2000.

Monday morning, I opted out of walking Roux or taking my morning walk. A neighbor up the road has quite a bit of split seasoned firewood they wanted to get rid of from their yard, so they said we could have it. After I ate breakfast, I put a tarp in the back of the Trail Blazer and loaded our wagon into the back too, then I headed up the road to get the first load of wood. Since they live on the side of a hill too, it took me a while to haul what I could up and fill the Trail Blazer. I had hoped to make more than one trip on the day, but by the time I finished with the first load, I knew that was not going to happen. When I got back home, I unloaded the firewood, piling it up in the front yard. That took me until lunchtime. After a quick post lunch nap, I headed straight for the pool. The skies started getting noisy around dinner time, but I checked the weather radar and managed to take a short walk when there was a break in the rain.

Tuesday was gray to start, but the sun burned the clouds out of the sky by lunchtime. Fortunately, I had enough inside work to keep me busy for most of the day. I set up Colleen’s treadmill that got delivered from Amazon on Monday. Amazon delivered the free-standing AC unit for the master bedroom after lunch. I took me a bit of doing to get it upstairs without having to lift it’s full weight. Colleen would not have been happy with me it I tried to carry it upstairs with my aortic aneurysm. With sunshine in the afternoon and the hot temperature, I headed into the pool before dinner. It rained after dinner. It was also Colleen’s last day in New Hampshire, so she spent the day with her family, and in the evening, she hooked up with her friend so they could head home on Wednesday..

Wednesday morning Colleen and her friend were back on the road, headed home. I got to work putting a standalone AC unit in the master bedroom. We do not have double-hung windows that would have made venting the AC unit easy, so I had to cut a hole in the door from the bedroom to the second-floor porch. Fortunately, the door is a hollow frame door. Of course, being an engineer by education, I went by the old rule, “When in doubt, make it stout!” The footprint for the second floor is 900 square feet, the bedroom is considerably smaller than that. The AC unit is 14000 BTUs rated for 700 square feet. I had the unit up and running shortly after lunch. Colleen and her friend had a tough drive home with detours and traffic. They did not get to her friend’s house until almost 11 PM. Colleen spent the night there.

Thursday morning Roux and I headed out to get Colleen. Her friend lives a little more than an hour away from us. I timed it so Colleen and I could stop for lunch at Hardee’s on the way home. Once we got home, Colleen put together a market list, and we headed to the market. Fortunately, it was a quick trip to the market. Colleen put the groceries away when we got home and brought the girls their afternoon treats. A little later, we fed Roux and ordered takeout pizza for dinner. Cooking dinner was not something we even considered. It was raining after dinner, so I did my walking on Colleen’s new treadmill.

Colleen was up early Friday morning having slept well in an air-conditioned bedroom, so she took Roux for a walk. I opted out of my morning walk, grabbed the weed eater and cleaned up the western property line of our backyard, making sure I was careful not to disturb Colleen’s hydrangea bush. I was not done when I finished with the weed eater though. With all the rain and heat, the backyard was starting to get overgrown again, I pulled out the lawnmower and cut the backyard grass. That took me until shortly after lunchtime because I took several breaks thanks to the heat. Louis and Maya showed up for a visit not long after that. Louis moved the pile of firewood on the front yard to by the log splitter. Maya and I got into the garden to harvest peppers and eggplant. After the kids left, Colleen and I had dinner. We did not do much for the rest of the evening.

Yesterday morning everyone slept late, even Roux. Colleen really enjoys the air-conditioned bedroom at night. Nobody went for a walk in the morning because we were behind our times. Knowing the mercury was headed to the 95-degree mark, after my coffee, I grabbed the weed eater and started knocking down the tall weeds along the wood line at the back of our property. There was no way I was going to get a lawnmower over that terrain with the rocks and tree roots. That took me pretty much all morning. Colleen spent most of her morning and part of the early afternoon cleaning. The skies got dark and noisy when we wanted to head into the pool. Mother Nature changed our pool plans. After dinner, I went for a walk when we got a break in the rain. I got back home just five minutes before the rain started falling again. The rest of our evening was uneventful.

Colleen and Roux were back from their walk when I came downstairs this morning. I will head out for my walk in a little while. We actually have a day without rain or thunderstorms in the forecast. Colleen and I will both take it easy today. I did promise I would grill dinner though. Unfortunately, it looks like the rain will be back tomorrow and Tuesday. Fortunately, the forecast for Wednesday through Friday is for cooler temperatures. Hopefully, everything will be dry enough by Wednesday, so that I can get out to work in the yard. 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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July 27, 2025: Brain Melting Heat, The New Ac Unit Is Working Great, Looking Forward To Cooler Temperatures Next Weekend!

Mother Nature set us up for a good roasting last week. We got a nice break from the heat, and from the rain to start our week. From Monday until Wednesday, the mercury struggled to get past the 85-degree mark. The whole game change on Thursday. The old thermometer needle had no trouble reaching the 95-degree mark and from Friday until Sunday, the mercury was dancing with the century mark. The humidity hung around too as the thermometer kept going higher and higher. Our heat index blew through the 100-degree mark all weekend long. I think the heat index got to 105 degrees up here on our hill, but down in the lowlands, there were reports of heat indices of 115. The first half of this week our temperatures will stay in the mid to upper 90’s, but relief is in sight. The mercury is going to fall below the 90-degree mark and stay there through the weekend starting this coming Thursday.

Last Sunday, the heat was not too bad. Colleen was up early and walked Roux right before dawn. I took my walk and came home soaked to the skin from sweating though. Colleen found some time to walk on her treadmill, but we did not do much else on the day after that. I wrote until it was time to get into the pool. For dinner, I fired up the grill and grilled some corn on the cob and some hotdogs. Colleen had made a batch of potato salad on Saturday, so we had a nice simple Sunday meal. Our evening was quiet, and when we headed upstairs, the AC unit I installed while Colleen was in New Hampshire was doing a fine job of keeping the master bedroom cool.

Monday, I woke up with a good case of jet lag. I could not get out of my own way. Colleen had already walked Roux by the time got downstairs, and it seems her energy levels were running low too. I still went for my walk after my coffee though and ended up taking a nap when I got home. Colleen spent most of the morning sewing patches on my overalls. We just took it easy for most of the day though. After dinner, I walked up to the neighbor’s place to give them some fresh eggs. They always give us fresh tomatoes from their garden. I got home just in time too, because the skies opened up about the same time as I got on the front porch, and we had a dandy downpour. I was very happy when I found my way back to bed Monday evening.

Tuesday was a beautiful day, and the temperature never got out of the 80s. Colleen did some more sewing until a piece on her sewing machine came loose, and she did not have the right size Allen wrench to fix it. After my walk, I headed out into the front yard with the weed eater and knocked everything down in areas I cannot run the lawnmower. I spent some time with my baseball cards after lunch, and Colleen spent some time on her treadmill. She’s starting to get the hang of walking on that thing. The rest of our day was routine, time in the pool, feed Roux, take care of the chickens, eat dinner, and relax in the evening.

Wednesday was our last comfortable day with the temperatures staying in the 80s. After Colleen walked Roux, and I went for my walk, we both headed outside to split and stack firewood when I got home. It took us right into the early afternoon, but we filled our third half-cord rack for the winter. We only have four more racks to go. We skipped lunch, headed into the pool, and had an early dinner after we got out of the pool. Roux even came outside and laid under the canopy of the pool patio while we were in the water. It was a quiet and relaxing evening after dinner.

Thursday things really started to heat up outside. Colleen walked Roux first thing in the morning, and after I finished my coffee, we headed down to the market. It was a quick market run. After we got back home, Colleen put the groceries away while I headed outside to get the smoker fired up. Colleen and I had almost 20 pounds of pork shoulder we wanted to smoke. I had the meat in the smoker by 11:30 in the morning and apart from taking the meat off the grate to wrap it in the middle of the afternoon, the pork stayed in the smoker until 7 o’clock that evening. We did make it into the pool in the afternoon, and I did finally manage to go for a walk at the end of the evening.

Friday morning started out hot and got even hotter quickly. Colleen walked Roux just before sunrise like usual, and I headed out for my walk right after I finished my coffee. Colleen was pulling apart the pork I smoked on Thursday before I even got started on my walk. When I got back home from walking, Colleen was pulling out of the driveway headed to the laundromat. I did a little work in our gardens once I was home, but it got too hot, so I headed inside. Even with the heat, the bush beans are looking good. When Colleen got home, she made a fresh batch of coleslaw while the wet laundry was drying. We headed out to the pool later in the afternoon only to find the filter pump had died. I ended up ordering a new from Amazon after dinner.

Saturday started hot like Friday and then got hotter too. Colleen and I tried to do what we could around the house, but mostly we just worked at staying cool. Roux retreated to the basement where it was cool and that is where she stayed for most of the day, coming back upstairs to check on us only occasionally. Colleen and I waited until the pool was completely in the shade before we got into the water. Dinner was a little later than usual. After dinner, Colleen and I headed about 10 miles down the road to a farm with a farm stand selling fresh vegetables and soft serve ice cream. The ice cream was wonderful, and we even got to look around the farm some.

Yesterday was hot as Hades again around here. Colleen walked Roux before the sun came up and then I went for my walk. I guess I will leave the rest of our day’s adventures until next week, so I do not cross up the usual timing of our blogs. Unfortunately, it looks like this heat wave will last until Thursday though. Colleen and I are definitely looking forward to the cooler temperatures headed our way from Friday through next weekend though. We might even see a little rain next weekend as well. I have been having to water our gardens every day lately, so they do not dry up and burn out in this heat. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. Still, when the sun starts to set, we will look around and smile, because side we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 03, 2025: A Major Cool Down, A little Work Outside, Soft Serve Ice Cream, Unrest In the Atlantic Ocean!

I would not have believed anyone if they told me last Sunday that the weather would change for the better once August got here. Well, August is here, and it is like Mother Nature flipped the weather switch. We rode the tail end of the heat wave to start last week. A daytime high temperature of 95 degrees was almost starting to become routine. It was a miserable routine, but it was routine, nonetheless. Friday was the first day of August, and the mercury struggled to reach the 90-degree mark. Yesterday, the thermometer needle spent the afternoon dancing with the 75-degree mark. This morning, we got out of bed to a very comfortable 60 degrees and there was a light breeze to make everything that much better.

Last Sunday, we were still in the midst of the oppressive heat wave. The relentless day after day of three-digit heat indices were wearing Colleen and me out. I was up first and headed outside with my morning coffee. Before I ever sat down though, I turned on the water to the sprinkler for our raised bed gardens. I managed to take my morning walk, but when I got home and after I changed into dry clothes, I laid down on the bed and fell asleep. Colleen spent a little time in the kitchen and even made some fresh mayonnaise. We spent the better part of the day just trying to stay cool. Roux resorted to going into the basement to lay on the cool floor down there. Even doing as little as we did all day, when the evening rolled around, Colleen and I were exhausted. The evening did not bring much relief from the day’s heat either.

I slept late Monday morning. Colleen walked Roux right before sunrise to beat the heat. By the time I headed for my walk, the thermometer needle was already sitting on the 80-degree mark. I was soaked to the skin when I got home. I did not any writing on the day, because I just did not have it in me. Colleen found some time to walk on her treadmill in the early afternoon. The pool provided us an hour or so of escape from the heat in the middle of the afternoon though. By dinner time our energy levels had waned almost completely. I think the biggest thing we accomplished all day was getting our three half-cord racks of firewood covered with a tarp.

Tuesday was another hot day, but the day did not heat up quite as quickly as we had become used to it doing. After my morning walk, I was able to get out in the front yard with the weed eater while the yard was still shaded. Colleen spent a good bit of the morning upstairs on her workroom sewing. The afternoon found us in the swimming pool again. The butterflies on a nearby flowering tree kept us entertained and enthralled as we floated around in the water. I did get to write during the day too. We were able to edit and post our weekly blog to our website after dinner finally. I guess better late than never. We spent the rest of the evening trying to relax and stay cool which we had grown all to accustomed to doing.

The heat did not let up much on Wednesday, but Colleen and I began looking forward to the cool down on Friday though. The morning heated up quickly, so I passed on my walk until after dinner. Colleen headed back upstairs to her workroom to do more sewing in the morning. I pruned back an overgrown privet bush by the back porch and then came inside to clean up the family room. I gave the room a good vacuuming too. The afternoon was a bit too hot to do much of anything except stay cool until it was time to head into the swimming pool. After dinner I took my walk and then checked the gardens. The heat has been rough on them even with me watering them daily. We do have a few things thriving in the heat though, peppers, bush beans, and eggplant.

Thursday was market day. Colleen and I both took a pass on our morning walks, and after finishing our morning coffee, we headed to the market. After we got back home, Colleen started putting the groceries away, and I settled down in front of my computer to list baseball cards for sale online. Since it was the last day of July, I wanted to use up my last free listing spaces for the month. In the middle of the afternoon, we headed into the pool. After dinner, I tracked down and chatted with the boys to make sure they were doing well. Steven and Alex had to work outside in the heat. I finally went for a short walk about an hour before sunset. We did start seeing clouds in the sky after dinner too. The weather was about to change!

Friday morning was gray. Colleen had taken Roux for a walk and opened the hen coop before I got downstairs. While I was having my coffee, Colleen headed down to the laundromat. I finished my coffee and decided it was time to pick the pears off our pear tree. This year we got a nice, bowl full of pears, unlike previous years where we may have gotten four or five. After picking pears, I emptied the drip pans in the smoker that had been sitting there for about a week. Pork fat drippings in water is a nasty thing. Fortunately, I was able to get everything cleaned up without making a mess. Colleen spent a good bit of the rest of the morning drying clothes, and I headed out into the yards to do more weed eating. The clouds kept the day’s high temperature near 80 degrees. We did not go swimming for the first time in a couple of weeks. After dinner, I went for a walk and luckily, got home before the rain started falling. We had a good bit of rain Friday night.

Yesterday was cloudy and gray, but it was cool! I think yesterday was the first day we did not turn on our falls all summer. The thermometer needle never even got close to the 80-degree mark, staying below it all day. Everything was still soaked from the rain overnight, and it was still falling when Colleen got up. We both scrubbed our morning walks, and after I finished my coffee, we headed to TSC and Walmart. We only have an eight-mile run on the interstate, but the traffic was heavy. I hate driving. I hate driving in traffic even more. After we finished our shopping, we treated ourselves to lunch at Hardee’s before we came home. For most of the afternoon we took it easy. We decided we were not hungry when dinner time rolled around, but we did head up the road to the Broken Spoke Farm stand to get some soft serve ice cream. After we got home and sat around for a little while, I headed out for a short evening walk.

Last night was great for sleeping. The temperature this morning was just over 60 degrees. Colleen and Roux were back home from their walk before I ever came downstairs. I will go for my walk after I finished my coffee. Colleen has a small list of things she wants to do today. I would like to list some baseball cards for sale online. By all standards, it should be a quiet day up here on our little hill. Colleen still has a few more weeks of summer break left, but she is already counting down to her retirement after this coming school year. Right now, though, we are keeping our eyes on a potential hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the sun starts to set, we will take pause to look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 10, 2025: Mild Temperatures, Lots Of Rain, The Heat Is Coming Back!

Well, last week was one for the books. We were smack dab in the middle of August, and the thermometer needle could not get by the 80-degree mark until this weekend. We did not have a hurricane, but we did get close to six inches of rain in the beginning of the week. There was flooding in the lowlands again, and a couple of neighbors had some rather sizable trees uproot on them. Up here on our little hill, we escaped without out a scratch, and the gardens get well watered along with everything else. Starting Thursday though, the weather could not have been any nicer. The days got into the mid-70s to low-80’s, there was a light breeze during the days, and we had blue skies overhead. This morning, the sun is already peeking through the treetops. I guess we cannot have too much of a good thing though, and as we get into the coming week, the mercury is headed back over the 90-degree mark.

Last Sunday was a quiet and comfortable day. Colleen walked Roux in the morning, and I took 4.5-mile walk after they got back home. Colleen puttered around the house for most of the day. I stayed out on the front porch. Even our Sunday meal was not a big deal. We had our Chinese takeout leftovers from Friday evening. The mercury just managed to sneak over the 80-degree mark, but the humidity started ramping up. The evening skies got gray and noisy, but the storms stayed south of us.

Monday morning was hazy and muggy. Colleen took Roux for a short walk and was back home well before I got out of bed. I did not head out for my walk until right around 10 o’clock. I took another long walk, got some lunch when I got home, and then headed outside to cut the grass in the side yard. When I finished the yard, I headed upstairs to take a nap. Colleen spent her afternoon repotting some of her plants. The evening was quiet, but we got the first rain of the week not long after dark.

Tuesday morning was gray and wet, although it was not raining. The rain was trying to fall though. Colleen had a doctor’s appointment first thing in the morning, so she did not take Roux for a walk. Colleen’s appointment went well, and she ended up spending more time at the store on her way home than she did with the doctor. I spent most of my day reading and listing baseball cards for sale online. The rain really started falling in the middle of the afternoon, but it did stop shortly after dinner. I managed to take a short walk without getting wet. By the time Colleen and I called it a night, the skies were rumbling loudly, and the rain was coming down again. It stayed that way through most of the night.

Everyone slept late on Wednesday morning. The rain was falling, so no one was going anywhere. In the middle of the morning, Colleen headed upstairs to walk on her treadmill. I took advantage of the situation, moved some of the living room furniture out of the way and gave the living room rug a good vacuuming. After lunch, Colleen headed into the basement to organize the freezers. I logged some time on her treadmill, not knowing if the rain would let up. Colleen found an old ham bone in the freezer, so when she finished and came back upstairs, she made a pot of ham and pea soup. The rain did stop for a bit after dinner, and I got to take a short walk. It started raining again though right after sunset.

Thursday was market day. It was raining when Colleen and I headed down the road, but it had pretty much stopped by the time we got home. The skies were still gray though. I had to laugh when I saw the garden wagon. It was full of water and running over the side. Colleen made some pear muffins with a crumble top in the afternoon and then made Cuban sandwiches for dinner. After dinner, it looked like the rain had stopped for good, so I headed out for a walk. Well, it was not raining, but I took my walk in a misty drizzle. At least, it was cool while I was walking.

Friday morning, I just did not want to get out of bed. It was 10:30 before I started my walk. Fortunately, the temperature was still in the low 70s. I guess the rain had finally given up the ghost before sunrise, but everything was still wet, and the creeks were still roiling. A large oak tree at the bottom of our hill had uprooted and blocked the road. Fortunately, it did not hit anything or anybody when it fell. When I got home from my walk, I changed into dry clothes, had a peach for lunch, and headed upstairs for a nap. Colleen cleaned and reorganized the refrigerator. When it came time for dinner, Colleen was having one heck of a time trying to order online. She finally got so frustrated, she said we would get pizza, ordered the pizza online without difficulty, and then we headed down the road to pick it up.

Yesterday was one of the mildest mid-August days I can ever remember around here. Friday evening, Colleen told me the hen coop needed to be repaired. I was up with the sun yesterday and headed straight down to do the repairs before I let the girls out for the day. It is easier to make repairs when the girls are not underfoot. When I finally let the girls out for the day, I checked the nesting boxes, and there were a couple of eggs waiting for me. I did have my coffee and go for my walk after I finished on the hen coop. Thankfully, the rest of the day was quiet and uneventful. Colleen and I headed over to the Broken Spoke Farm stand in the early evening for some soft serve ice cream.

It looks like we will have sunshine all day today, and the temperature will stay under 85 degrees. Colleen has already walked Roux, opened the hen coop, and made a fresh pot of coffee. I will head out for my walk in a little while. Colleen said she wanted to make a pot roast for our Sunday dinner. That is definitely something to which I look forward. The upcoming week is Colleen’s last week of summer break. Hopefully, everything will stay low key. Come this time next year, Colleen will be retired. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When each 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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August 17, 2025: More Rain, The Heat Is Back, Colleen Starts School On Tuesday.

Summer is back in full swing after a bit of a pause last week. Gray skies and rain, on and off, showed up last Sunday and stuck around until Thursday. We sure did not need the extra rain we got, but thanks to the rain coupled with the cloud cover, the temperatures stayed below 80 degrees. It was a very welcome break from some of the brain searing heat we had this summer. Of course, all the extra rain did create some havoc in the lowlands. There was some more flooding, and trees uprooted because the ground was soft. Some of our neighbors up here on the hill even lost trees. Fortunately, nothing happened to our little half-acre. When the sun came back out on Friday, everything started to dry out, but with the humidity staying as high as it was, drying was and is a slow process. There are still wet areas and standing water around here this morning.

With Colleen’s summer break winding down, last Sunday was an easy day spent mostly relaxing. Colleen took Roux for her early morning walk. I headed out for a long walk after I finished my morning coffee. While I was gone, Colleen logged some walk time on her treadmill. We skipped lunch in favor of an early dinner. Colleen put together a wonderful pot roast with all the fixings. Even Roux got a little bit in her dinner bowl. We did get some sunshine Sunday afternoon, but that was the last we saw of it until after lunch on Thursday. The rain started falling right after dinner.

Monday morning was gray, but the rain had not started yet. Colleen and Roux stayed dry on their morning walk. I was not so lucky. While I did not get caught in a downpour, the last half of my walk was in a heavy misting rain. It started when I was at the furthest point from the house too, so I just finished my walk, figuring I was going to get wet no matter what I did. Mostly, Colleen and I puttered around the house all day. It rained some after lunch, and we had an outright downpour around dinner time. We did get a break right before sunset and Colleen headed down back to close up the hen coop. She was not happy with the girls. Two of the hens were soaking wet, playing around in the mud like two little kids.

Tuesday morning, everything was wet, and Colleen did not take Roux for a walk. I managed to take a short walk while there was a break in the rain. Colleen decided to change bed linens in the morning. Unfortunately, the humidity was so high that all the new linens felt wet. Colleen ended up putting the clean linens in the dryer for a while before she could put them on the bed. Mostly we cleaned up the house for most of the day. I packaged up some baseball cards for the mail too. The girls were more cooperative about going to roost when Colleen went to close up the coop for the night. When I called it a night, I had to coax Roux to go outside for her last call of the day because of the falling rain.

I did not sleep well Tuesday night and ended up staying in bed very late on Wednesday morning. Colleen had managed to walk Roux, open the hen coop, make a trip to the laundromat, and come home before I ever got up. Colleen and Roux were not home long before the skies opened up again. The weather was really wreaking havoc with my back. I guess that is just something I will have to get used to happening. I was pretty worthless on the day too. Colleen spent a good bit of her time drying laundry and then folding it and putting it away. We got some sunshine right after dinner, so I ended up going for a short walk after dinner.

It was raining again Thursday morning. Colleen and I headed down to the market after I finished my coffee. The rain stopped before we left out of the market, so we stayed dry loading our groceries into the Trail Blazer and then again bringing them into the house. After lunch, the day started heating up. It did not get terribly hot, but the humidity was over 90 percent making the afternoon feel miserable. We did not do much for the rest of the day. I cannot say I blame Colleen either, because we were in the last few days of her summer break and she wanted to relax. I can get caught up on things after she heads back to school.

Friday morning arrived hot and humid. Colleen walked Roux and opened the hen coop for the day. After I finished my coffee, we headed up the road to get firewood from our neighbors. I am not sure if the Trail Blazer is a blessing or a curse. It does not hold a lot of firewood, so we did not kill ourselves, but we will have to make several trips to get all the wood. The smaller pieces of wood we did get ended up in the front yard to be moved later. Colleen and I managed to move the bigger pieces by the log splitter. After lunch, Colleen started her last summer project right after lunch. She wanted to make new screens for our windows. She managed to get a couple done too. For dinner, we treated ourselves to BBQ takeout from a restaurant we had not tried before. The meal was wonderful. After dinner I went for a short walk.

Yesterday started out warm and just kept getting warmer. By midafternoon, the mercury had reached the 90-degree mark. Of course, it was still humid as all get out because of all the rain earlier in the week. Colleen managed to knock out a couple more screens on the day. We ate an early dinner and then headed out for some soft serve ice cream for dessert. The Broken Spoke farm stand where they sell the ice cream is every bit the working farm too. While Colleen and I were looking out over the pasture, a chicken decided to hop up on the fence right next to Colleen. When we got home, I headed out for a walk, and Colleen headed upstairs to walk on her treadmill. The rest of our evening was quiet and uneventful.

Colleen is already back from walking Roux this morning. I will go for my walk shortly, and because it is cool right now, I am thinking it will be a long walk. Tomorrow is Colleen’s last day of summer break. She heads back to school on Tuesday, and I will start getting caught up on all things I have not done lately. I may try to mow the backyard tomorrow to get a start on things. The temperature is supposed to reach 90 degrees again today and probably tomorrow too. After that, we will get a little bit of a cool down again, and fortunately, hurricane Erin does not look like it will be affecting us. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 24, 2025: No Rain, Mild Temperatures, Erin Missed Us, Colleen Headed Back To School.

The weather has finally decided to play nice. Last week, we had reasonable temperatures and no rain, despite having a good bit of cloud cover throughout the week. The mercury flirted with the 90-degree mark to start the week, but never really got there. By the end of the week, the mercury was struggling to push past the 80-degree mark. Hurricane Erin blew by us in the middle of the week with nothing more than a glancing blow to the shoreline. We do not mind those kinds of hurricanes. Fernando is spinning around in the Atlantic Ocean right now, but it does not pose any threat to land. The week in front of us looks like another dandy too. The high temperatures will be around 80 degrees, and there is little chance of any rain.

Colleen was up early and walked Roux last Sunday. I had my coffee and went for my walk. Colleen spent the first part of her day putting up a couple of new window screens she had made on Saturday. Sundays are the days I do not do very much. I did manage to take a nap. Colleen made one of my favorite meals for Sunday dinner, country fried steak, green beans, mashed potatoes, and country gravy. It just does not get any better than that. After dinner we both relaxed until it was time to lock up the hen coop for the night. I stayed out on the front porch until after dark, closing up the house when I headed inside for the night.

Monday was Colleen’s last day of summer break. Colleen was up early, walked Roux, and opened the hen coop for the day. I had my coffee and opted out of my morning walk in favor of cutting the grass in the backyard. With all the rain in the previous week, the yard got shaggy. Colleen went into hyper-cleaning mode and did what she could inside the house. I finished the yard around lunch time and ended up taking a short nap after lunch. After dinner, I checked on our gardens. We have a wonderful crop of bush beans going, and based on the number of flowers, we should be getting plenty of beans this year. I did take a short walk after dinner, and Colleen got her things ready for school in the morning.

The alarm clock went off Tuesday morning and before I knew it, Colleen was pulling out of the driveway. It was her last first day of school because she will retire at the end of this school year. Fortunately, it was just a teacher workday. The skies were gray, so I stayed in the house washing floors. That took all morning. Colleen walked into chaos with her room being left upside-down from the summer cleaning. Colleen took care of it though. On her way home she stopped at the laundromat. We had some reheated leftovers for dinner. I did take a short walk after dinner too. Fortunately, the rest of the evening was quiet and uneventful.

Colleen was headed to school before the break of dawn on Wednesday morning again. The morning was gray again, so I just stayed in bed. When I finally came downstairs, I figured I needed to get outside and get work done in the yard. I moved all the firewood that Colleen and I had dumped in the front yard back to by the log splitter. That took a little doing since I am restricted on how much weight I can lift. I ended up cutting an above ground tree root out of the way and resorted to half-full wheelbarrow loads. After lunch, I vacuumed the landings and the stairs to the second floor. That is never a fun job. Colleen heated up some leftovers for dinner when she got home. After dinner, I went for a walk and Colleen logged some time on her treadmill. Not much else got done in the evening.

Thursday was market day. I am back to my solo market runs while Colleen was in school. We do have fun though with an ongoing text conversation while I am shopping. I did not get home and have all the groceries put away until lunchtime. I decided to take it easy after that. Colleen got home at her usual time, brought the girls their treats, fed Roux, and heated our dinner. The rest of our evening turned out to be routine with me taking a walk in the evening light, and Colleen spending time on her treadmill. I am very proud of her as she has made it a habit to walk every evening now.

I guess I needed some extra sleep Friday morning because I did not get up until three hours after Colleen left for school. I was running low on motivation, I knew there were things to do though. I packaged up sold baseball cards for the mail and got them into the mailbox, then I headed for the garden. I picked some eggplant and green beans and spent the rest of the morning weeding the gardens. Unfortunately, I did not get to all the raised beds. Colleen got home a little early, so we got our takeout Mexican dinner early too. I ended up taking a little nap after dinner. Colleen fell asleep in her living room chair while I was napping. After we woke up, I went for a walk, and Colleen walked on her treadmill.

Yesterday was busy. Fortunately, it was cool, because after I took a morning walk, Colleen and I split and stacked firewood. The Trail Blazer only holds about a quarter of a cord, so we only filled half of our fourth winter-ready rack. On the bright side, we are halfway to getting all the wood we think we will need for this winter. We ate an early meal and then headed up the road to get some soft serve ice cream for dessert. Shortly after we got home, our neighbor delivered a couple of trunk loads of firewood and Colleen sent him home with a dozen fresh eggs for his trouble. You cannot carry much firewood in the trunk of a car, but we are thankkful for any wood we get. I did not do much once we got home, but Colleen got busy in the kitchen preparing meals for the upcoming week.

Colleen has already walked Roux and opened the hen coop this morning. I will go for my walk in a little while, becasue it is a beautiful morning. Today should be a quiet day though. Colleen wants to make pan-seared salmon with pasta and an Alfredo sauce for our big Sunday meal. She has to get her things ready for school in the morning too. Tomorrow will be the first day back to school for the kids. I guess I will move firewood to the log splitter tomorrow to start my day. If I am lucky, I can weed more gardens. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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August 31, 2025: Mild Temperatures, Sunny Skies, No Rain, Kids Back In The Classroom.

It is still the summertime, but we sure could not tell by last week’s weather. Almost without exception, the morning temperatures started around 60 degrees and then struggled to get to 80 degrees by the mid-afternoon. We had plenty of sunshine and blue skies, and nary a drop of rain. The local forecast says we can expect more of the same for the upcoming week. We will see a slight increase in our chance of rain later in the week, but at the moment, that is not more than a 25 percent chance. Given that Colleen has a 3-day weekend this weekend, we are reveling in this gorgeous weather. The cooler temperatures also make it much easier to get outside and work during the day when Colleen is at school.

Colleen was up early like usual last Sunday, taking Roux for a walk and then opening the hen coop for the day. I took my walk after I had my morning coffee. Colleen made some pan-seared salmon and some pasta with a spinach and Alfredo sauce for our big meal. Mostly, we took it easy all day though. I spent a good bit of my day out on the front porch while Colleen puttered around the house getting everything ready for her first day of school with kids in her classroom. This will be Colleen’s last year in school. She is planning on retiring at the end of this school year next June.

Colleen left the house at 0-dark-30 on Monday morning. Roux and I stayed in bed until the sun came up, and after I finished my coffee, we went for a walk. I took advantage of the wonderful weather and spent a good part of my morning moving firewood from the front yard to by the log splitter. It was very frustrating though, because I could only half load the wheelbarrow because of the weightlifting restrictions the doctor slapped on me when he found my enlarged aorta. Colleen got home from school at her usual time. She took care of the girls, fed Roux, and put our dinner together. Neither of us were too thrilled to be back in her school day routine.

Tuesday turned out to be a rough day for me. I did not sleep well Monday, so Roux and I did not take a walk, and then I got one of those phone calls about a family member that you never want to get. I decided to keep myself busy and spent all morning weeding gardens. After lunch I picked up pinecones to use as fire starters this winter until it was time do the daily housework. Colleen came home from school to a clean kitchen and a vacuumed family room. I ended up taking my walk after dinner hoping I could wrap my brain around everything happening. The walk did help a good bit.

I did not sleep well Tuesday night again, so Wednesday morning I figured I had better keep myself busy all day again. Colleen left for school at her usual time, and I stayed in bed longer than I should have. When I did get up and out into the yards, I cleaned up some old kindling bins and then weeded our strawberry garden. After lunch, I collected more pinecones and took care of the daily housework. Colleen got home at her usual time, mumbling to herself about the kids already. After dinner, Colleen cleaned the kitchen and got her lunch ready for school. I took another evening walk. Not much else got done around here though.

Thursday was market day, and I headed down the road shortly after I finished my morning coffee. The market was unusually busy, much to my surprise. I did the shopping, came home, and had everything put away before noon. I did not feel like working outside Thursday afternoon, so I did some repair work on an antique coffee table before I did the daily housework. Roux, however felt the need to go outside and sniff around the backyard. Colleen got home at her regular time. It sure did not take us long to get back into a regular school day routine. Apart, from me taking an after-dinner walk, the evening was quiet and peaceful.

I struggled to get out of bed again Friday morning. Roux even got downstairs before I did. Roux seemed full of vim and vigor, so we headed out for a walk. We covered about a mile and a half, and Roux did great. When we got home, I started bringing unsplit rounds up from by the fire pit with a dolly. The rounds are far too heavy for me to lift, even to put on a wagon, but they did not pose a problem with the dolly even though I could only move one piece at a time. Colleen was worn out when she got home, so instead of takeout, we made our own tempura shrimp burritos for dinner. It was the start of Colleen’s long Labor Day weekend, so we both spent the evening relaxing.

Colleen was up early yesterday morning. She had walked Roux and opened the hen coop by the time I got downstairs. When I headed out for my morning walk, Colleen enjoyed some breakfast and a second cup of coffee. Steven and Ariel showed up at the house shortly after I got back home and was just starting my breakfast. Steven got his chainsaw and started working on taking down and cutting up the while oak tree trunk in the backyard. After my breakfast, Colleen and I split and stacked the firewood that was already by the log splitter. After the kids left, Colleen and I had a big lunch. Later in the afternoon, we headed out for some soft serve ice cream. The Broken Spoke farm stand had lemon and blackberry for this week’s flavors. It was an excellent combination.

Colleen was up a good bit before me this morning and took Roux for a walk. Since tomorrow is the Labor Day holiday and Colleen does not have school, there is not much that absolutely has to be done today. After I take my morning walk, we have a turkey and some brats that I want to smoke. Between the turkey and the brats, we should be in great shape for next week’s meals. Colleen does have to pay our end of the month bills today though. It is the start of another beautiful day, so if we do not do anything else except relax, that will be fine too. I have a feeling that when Colleen heads back to school on Tuesday, I will be busy outside for the rest of the week. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the evenings show up, we will look around and smile knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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September 07, 2025: A Long Weekend, A Waning Summer, Pleasant Temperatures, And More Firewood.

Fall is still two weeks away, but summer definitely seems to be getting a nudge to the side early this year. The leaves on the Solomon Seal plants are losing their green, the first harbinger of fall. There was plenty of sunshine and blue skies to start last week. The mercury did not even reach the 80-degree mark until Thursday afternoon. A weak weather front pushed through the area on Thursday evening bringing a thunderstorm, some rain, and warmer temperatures for Friday and Saturday. While the forecast called for the thermometer needle to reach the 90-degree mark both days, neither day got that warm. We had another round of storms late Saturday afternoon and through the night too. This morning the skies are gray and misty, there is a light breeze, and the temperature is below 70 degrees.

Colleen and I were in the middle of her 3-day Labor Day weekend last Sunday, so we did not plan to do a great deal. Technically, it was a 3-day weekend for me as well, but being retired, I tend to lose track of the days. Colleen walked Roux in the morning, and I went walking after I finished my coffee. I see a lot of different things on my walks, but last Sunday was the first time I have ever seen an emu walking around. Colleen changed the bedding in the hen coop while I was out walking. When I got home, I fired up the smoker and smoked a 15-pound turkey. The turkey took most of the day to smoke and when it was done and cooled, Colleen stripped just over six pounds of meat off the bones.

Monday was a beautiful Labor Day. Colleen and I both slept late. Roux did not get her morning walk. Colleen spent the morning making eggplant lasagna. I took a morning walk though. Since Colleen needed some fresh basil and oregano for the lasagna, after I got home and got the herbs for her, I weeded the herb garden. We decided to eat a large mid-afternoon meal instead of lunch and then dinner. Colleen put together a lovely smoked turkey dinner with all the fixings. The rest of our day was quiet. Colleen brought her potted plants up to the greenhouses on the second-floor porch where they will over winter. I collected the trash in the house and brought the trash bin out to the road to get picked upon Tuesday morning.

Colleen headed into school at her usual time on Tuesday. I opened the hen coop and took Roux for a walk. I spent the rest of my morning cleaning up around the log splitter and in the gardens planting snow peas. After lunch, I finally got around to the last bit of repair work on our family room coffee table. I have actually gotten pretty good at repairing and reviving old furniture over the years. We probably would not have any furniture otherwise. Colleen wanted to stop at the laundromat on her way home from school, but she had had a tough day, so she just came straight home. After we ate dinner, we did our best to relax.

Wednesday morning, Colleen headed to school, and I open up the hen coop, walked Roux, and then started tackling my list. I moved some firewood up to the log splitter, but it did not take me long to realize that almost all of the unsplit rounds from the oak tree in the backyard were too heavy for me to move even with the dolly. Feeling somewhat frustrated about the firewood, I ended up filling a plastic garbage bag with pinecones which we will use to starts fires come this winter. The glue had dried and set on our coffee table, so I dusted waxed and polished the table. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. After dinner, Colleen finished drying the laundry while I just relaxed out on the front porch.

Thursday was market day like usual. I did not walk Roux and got to the market a little earlier than usual. There were very few people at the market, and I got in and out quickly, I stayed on budget, and I had everything home and put away by 11 o’clock. Usually, Thursday is an easy day for me, but I was feeling ambitious and decided to wash the kitchen floor. After lunch, I stayed busy doing small little things around the house. Colleen got home a few minutes early, brought the girls their afternoon treats, fed Roux, and heated up our dinner. While most of the day was gorgeous after dinner, we had a pop-up thunderstorm. It only lasted about 45 minutes, and it had stopped before Colleen headed down back to close up the hen coop for the night.

After Colleen left for school Friday morning, I sat out on the front porch with my coffee waiting for the sun to come up. When we had some daylight, Roux and I took our morning walk. I got my breakfast when we got back and then I decided that would spend my day with my baseball cards. I set up shop on the front porch and there I stayed until Colleen got home from school. Colleen surprised the heck out of me too. She had downloaded the Firehouse Subs app to her iPhone, and she came out to the front porch, after she took care of the girls, ordering our dinner on the phone. Neither of us did much after dinner. I guess we were both worn out from the week.

I started yesterday by getting up a little later than I wanted to get out of bed. It was the middle of the morning before I got back from my walk. After a short break, Colleen and I headed up the road to get a load of firewood from our neighbors. By the time we got back home, got the wood unloaded, and piled up next to the log splitter, the sun was high overhead, and the day was getting hot. We decided to forgo splitting the wood, leaving it for another weekend. I took a nap after lunch. Later in the afternoon, Colleen and I headed to the Broken Spoke farm stand to get some soft serve ice cream. The skies started getting dark and noisy on our way home. Twenty minutes after we got home, there was a thunderstorm right on top of us. It rained on and off throughout the night too.

I am running late again this morning. Colleen and Roux are already back from their walk. I will take my walk when I finish my coffee even though the skies are gray. Colleen is planning on spending a little time in the kitchen today. I do not have any plans. Mostly, I will just try to stay out of Colleen’s way. Colleen heads back to school tomorrow morning, and I start working on knocking things off my list again. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the day draws to a close, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 14, 2025: Beautiful Weather, Some Time Outside, Signs Of Fall, Still More Firewood.

Summer is almost over. Fall starts next weekend, but we would never know after last week’s beautiful weather. The high temperatures stayed below the 80-degree mark for the whole week. The closest thing to rain we saw was some ground fog on Thursday morning. Most mornings we either had hazy sunshine, or everything was clear with the sun shining through the trees when I would get out to the front porch. The week in front of us looks to be a bit more volatile with rain in the forecast. Depending at whose forecast we look, the chance of rain is anywhere from 40 to 90 percent from Monday night through Wednesday morning.

I slept unusually late last Sunday and woke up to a hazy morning. Colleen was back from walking Roux, she had opened the hen coop, and she was busy in the kitchen when I came downstairs. I got my coffee and then headed out for a walk when my coffee was gone. I did not get back home until around 12:30. Colleen had already taken two smoked turkey pot pies out of the oven and was working on some banana-blueberry muffins. The muffins turned out really great! Like usual, we ate an early Sunday meal. There was nothing fancy about the meal, but it tasted fabulous, smoked turkey, bacon, tomato, and lettuce sandwiches on toasted rye. We did not do much after we ate, taking advantage of the pleasant evening to just relax.

Colleen left for school at her usual time Monday morning, and I was up shortly thereafter. Roux took her sweet old time coming downstairs, so we got a bit of a late start to our walk. It was a short walk. Roux was not moving very quickly and started to peter out, so we just came home and maybe walked a total of a mile. I spent most of my day cleaning in the house. Roux spent most of the day on the front porch. I vacuumed the family room, cleaned up the kitchen, and swept the floors. I did get to list some baseball cards for sale after lunch. Colleen’s day got turned upside down and she was a good hour and a half late leaving school. When she got home, I had already brought the girls their afternoon treats, fed Roux, and had dinner on the counter waiting to be warmed up. It was not much, but it made her afternoon easier once she got home.

Tuesday morning, I ended up sleeping late. Colleen had been at school a couple of hours before my feet ever hit the floor. I did not take Roux for a walk, but I did get outside to work around the house after I finished my coffee. I cleaned all the old, crushed hickory nut pieces off the driveway and then harvested some basil, putting it into the dehydrator to dry. I even added some more sticks and twigs to the burn pile next to the fire pit. The fire pit is kind of over grown with weeds at the moment. Right before lunch, I sharpened up my hand ax and split a good bit of wood for kindling. After lunch, I was inside, vacuuming, sweeping, and generally taking care of the usual housework. Colleen got home at her regular time, took care of the girls, fed Roux, and heated up our dinner. After dinner, I finally got to take my daily walk. Colleen got to relax.

Wednesday turned out to be more routine, finally. Colleen headed to school. Roux and I went for a walk after the sun came up. I cleaned up outside, around the house after our walk. The best part of that was I got to burn a small pile of old leaves. There is nothing better than the smell of burning leaves in the fall. Right before lunch, I got into the gardens, and I even picked some green beans. We have so many green beans on our plants this year, I have to pick them at least twice a week. After lunch I cleaned and vacuumed the dining room and did the rest of the daily housework. Colleen got home at her usual time and went through her afternoon routine before heating up our dinner. I took a short walk after dinner, but that was about all either of us did.

Thursday was 9-11! That day changed so much in this country and yet, too many people seemed to have let it melt into the history books. Colleen headed into school at her usual time. I was running a bit later than usual and did not get done with the market run and have everything put away until almost 1 o’clock in the afternoon. I spent the rest of my afternoon until Colleen got home, listing baseball cards for sale online and doing housework. Colleen took care of the girls, fed Roux, and heated up our dinner when she got home. The late afternoon and evening skies were deep blue with just a few clouds, so after dinner, I took a three-mile walk to clear my head because of the day it was. I struggle every year on 9-11.

I woke up Friday morning, albeit later than usual, feeling more like myself. I did not take Roux for a walk, but I did run down to Lowe’s to get parts to fix the toilet in the master bedroom. The toilet had a slow leak, and I thought it would be a quick and easy fix. Nope, it was not! I ended up replacing all the guts of the toilet in the tank. On the bright side, I was able to do it without making a mess in the bathroom. While I was at Lowe’s, I walked through the garden center too. I got some lettuce for the gardens and three pots of mums for Colleen’s flower gardens. Since it was Friday, Colleen and I got a takeout pizza for dinner after she got home.

Yesterday started like most Saturdays around here. Colleen was up early and was back from walking Roux before I ever made it downstairs. After my coffee, I went for a morning walk. When I got back home and ate a little breakfast, I headed out to the log splitter. Colleen came outside shortly after I started it up. We spent the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon splitting and staking firewood. We filled three-quarters of another winter-ready rack. Colleen and I were both worn out when we finished. We did not do much of anything else for the rest of the day. Dinner turned out to be whatever we could forage from the refrigerator, and we did not even go and get any soft serve ice cream.

The deer are become more frequent visitors in the backyard. Colleen and Roux are back from their walk already this morning. After I finished my coffee, I will head out for a nice long morning walk today. Colleen and I do not have a lot on our agenda today. She is planning on making a meatloaf for Sunday dinner, so I will pick some fresh green beans for the meal. Hopefully, the week in front of us will not be too crazy. It looks like we will finally get some rain starting late into the night on Monday. At least, it is just rain and not a hurricane. I cannot think of anything else that is headed our way next week though. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 21, 2025: Catching Our Breath, The End Of Summer, A Busy Week In Front Of Us!

It is the last weekend of summer. Despite having some unusual weather this summer, it seems we will slide into fall easily. For the first part of last week, we had days where the thermometer needle stayed below the 80-degree mark. For the last few days of this week, the temperatures have been in the mid-80s. The week in front of us will start with 80-degree days. There is a chance of rain in the middle of the week, and then, our daytime high temperatures return to the 70s. If we do get some rain in this coming week, it will be the first real rain we have had in a while. Last week was dry except for Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and I had to resort to watering our gardens again.

Last Sunday turned out to be sort of a catch-up day for Colleen and me. Colleen took Roux for their usual predawn walk. I ended up going for about a 4-mile walk when they got back. Colleen was planning on a meatloaf dinner, so I picked her some fresh green beans from our garden when I got home from my walk. I had been worried this summer because the beans were planted on Father’s Day, but as it turned out, this has been one of our best years for green beans. We had harvested our potatoes on Father’s Day and planted the beans after we finished. It is not often we get two good harvests from the same space in our gardens. We will try the same thing again next summer.

Colleen left for school on Monday morning at her usual time. Roux and I stayed in bed until well after Colleen was at school. Roux did not seem to want to go for a walk so we opted out of her morning walk even though it was a beautiful day. We know we have the occasional mouse in our basement, but it seems that one had found its way to the first floor. I set out a half dozen mouse traps and within an hour, we had a taker in one of the traps. I have always figured that if you have one mouse, you are likely to have more mice. I reset the one trap and left the others where they were. I spent the rest of the day working with baseball cards and puttering around the house. I did fill up the dehydrator with fresh basil to dry it out for Colleen’s spice jar and get the daily housework done.

Tuesday started much like Monday. There was rain in the forecast, but that did not happen, so I ended up taking Roux for a morning walk. It was about a 2-mile walk too. Still, the skies were overcast, so I had not planned on spending any time outside once we got home. I checked the mouse traps, and they were empty. I decided to let them stay where they were until Friday. I spent the rest of my day on my computer, and I took the dry basil out of the dehumidifier. The changing weather was bothering my back as well. Colleen got home from school at her usual time. We both just relaxed after dinner. We did get a little rain overnight, but nowhere near the amount that had been forecast.

We still had some rain falling on Thursday morning. Roux and I did not go walking, and I decided it was a good day to darn socks. I tend to make a pile of socks that have holes in the toes and every once in a while, tackle the whole pile. It took me all Wednesday morning to darn my pile of socks. The rain stopped around noon, but the clouds stayed all day long. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home, and like always, I had the daily housework finished before she came rolling down the driveway. After dinner, I got to take my walk that I could not take in the morning.

Thursday was market day. Colleen only had a short list, so I got to freelance some of the sales. I stayed on budget too. Colleen had not been sleeping well for the past few nights and was having a tough day at school. When she got home, not only was the daily housework finished, but I had brought the girls their afternoon treats, fed Roux, and had dinner on the counter waiting to be warmed up. Colleen went upstairs to bed right after our dinner. I went for a short walk and closed up the hen coop and the house when I got back home.

Colleen was feeling much better and considerably more rested when she left for school Friday morning. Roux and I took a morning walk after the sun came up. When we got home, I checked the mouse traps, and they were all empty. I figured we got lucky with only one mouse on the first floor. I moved all the traps into the basement after that. Most of my day was spent doing little things around the house. I had the daily housework done before Colleen got home, and after she brought the girls their afternoon treats, we headed down the road to get our Friday takeout dinner. I took a short walk after dinner. Colleen got to just relax.

Yesterday turned out to be a strange day. Colleen was up before the sun and took Roux for their predawn walk. I slept a little bit later than usual and did not end up heading out for my walk until 10:30 which is late. I walked more than 4.5 miles and was not home until after noon. Colleen was getting ready to make a quiche, so she had me get fresh herbs from the garden. I ate a quick lunch but felt lightheaded, so I went upstairs to take a nap. Even after my nap, I was walking around with a good case of brain fog. The rest of our day was very quiet. Colleen and I had some heated-up leftovers for dinner and got to relax for the rest of the evening. I guess every now and then, we need at day without much on our plates.

Colleen and Roux are back from their morning walk already. I will head out soon. We have a beautiful morning, and it looks like the leaves are starting to change color too. Colleen just has a few things she wants to get done today, but nothing major. I will try to relax as best I can because I have to go to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning for an MRI to check on my aneurysm. Hopefully, there will not be any change from last year. We are expecting Alex to show up later to quarter some of the oak rounds lying in the backyard. There is a storm brewing out in the Atlantic Ocean, but it should not present an issue for our coast. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. In the evenings, we will look around and smile thankfully, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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September 28, 2025: An MRI, A Walk In A Garden, Firewood, Hurricanes, What A Week!

We are now one week deep into fall. We enjoyed the remnants of the summer weather during the first part of the week. We had plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 80s. We did get some rain Thursday night, and while we were supposed to get some rain on Friday, it only started after sunset Friday evening. It rained most of Saturday morning, but we have not seen any rain since then. It was supposed to rain all weekend long and into the early part of the upcoming week. Of course, weather being weather all that changes hourly. At one point yesterday, the forecast for the yet to be named storm, Imelda, had it tracking right for us. This morning’s forecast now shows Imelda approaching the Florida coast then taking a hard right turn back out into the Atlantic Ocean. I guess we just wait and see.

Last Sunday was quiet for the most part. Colleen was up early to walk Roux, and I headed out for a walk after I finished my coffee. Colleen cleaned the hen coop and changed the bedding while I was out walking. Alex showed up at the house shortly after I got back from walking. Alex looked tired, but he headed to the backyard and started quartering the oak rounds on the ground. He ended up quartering about one-third of the white oak tree. When he was done, he took some time to visit with us before he headed back home. Later in the afternoon, Colleen made our dinner. After dinner, Colleen logged some time on her treadmill, and then we both took the opportunity to relax.

Monday was a different sort of day for us. Colleen had taken the day from school to accompany me to the hospital for an MRI and a follow up meeting with doctor. My MRI was first thing in the morning and everything went smoothly, so I was out in near record time. Unfortunately, my appointment with the doctor was not until 1 PM. Colleen and I got a quick breakfast at a cafe and then started walking around. As it turned out, the Sarah P. Duke gardens are right behind the hospital. Colleen was thrilled! We walked around the gardens for a good two hours and only saw half of the place. We headed back to the hospital after our walk and checked in early. We were surprised when the doctor took us into the examining room early. Everything from the MRI looked good. Apparently, an aortic aneurysm is not supposed to decrease in size. Mine has shrunk 4.25 percent since they first discovered it. I do not know if that is statistically significant or not, but it did wonders for my frame of mine. Colleen and I celebrated by stopping for lunch at Hardee’s on the way home.

Tuesday morning, Colleen and I were up even earlier than on Monday. Colleen needs to get her driver’s license renewed and make it a Real ID. We got the DMV a few minutes after 5:00 AM. The DMV opens at 7:00 AM. The waiting line was already starting to wrap around the building. We came home. Colleen had no intention of waiting in that line. After Colleen walked Roux and opened the hen coop for the day, we headed to TSC and Walmart to get our Saturday errands done early. It was almost noon when we finished at the stores, so we treated ourselves to lunch at Hardee’s for the second day in a row. Not much happened the rest of the day, but it was a lovely day. The only other news of the day was that Louis started a new job up in Virginia.

Things started getting back to normal on Wednesday. Colleen headed to school at her usual time before sunrise. I took Roux for a morning walk after sleeping late and having a cup of coffee. After lunch, I started hauling the oak that Alex had quartered on Sunday up to the log splitter. I could only move one piece at a time up the hill on a dolly. I only had half of the wood moved when it was time to head inside and do the daily housework before Colleen got home. Once Colleen got home, apart from still being worn out from Monday and Tuesday, everything settled into its normal routine. I even took a short walk after dinner.

Thursday, like every Thursday, was market day. I did not walk Roux in the morning and after I finished my coffee and opened the hen coop, I headed down the road. For the first time in a long while, I brought the groceries in under budget. After lunch, I was in the backyard again moving more firewood up to the log splitter. I finished getting all the wood Alex quartered up the hill and then covered it with a tarp. At that point in time, the rain was supposed to start on Friday and not let up until this coming Wednesday. I got the day’s housework done before Colleen got home. After dinner, Colleen fell asleep in her living room chair, and I fell asleep in my porch chair. I guess it was just one of those weeks. I did go for a short walk after I woke up though. Clouds started filling the skies after dinner, and the first of our rain came after sunset.

It was supposed to rain all day Friday. We did get some rain Thursday night, but it had stopped just after dawn. I spent most of the day cleaning up inside. I swept and washed the kitchen floor, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, and swept the entryway. I even managed to find time to list more baseball cards for sale online. The sun made an appearance in the late afternoon. Colleen and I got some fried fish and all the fixings for dinner. I went for a short walk after dinner and that was all that got accomplished during the evening. It started to rain not long after sunset, and there was a dandy thunderstorm that moved through the area in the middle of the night. The storm woke Colleen up, but I slept through it.

Colleen and I woke up to a light but steady rain yesterday morning. The leaves on the poplar trees were starting to change color. Colleen did not walk Roux. I did some online tutoring around 9 o’clock that lasted about an hour and a half. It looked like there was a break in the rain when I finished tutoring, so I went for a short walk. It started sprinkling on me as I made my way home at the end of the walk. By noon, the rain had stopped, and it did not start back up again despite the cloudy skies. We even got a little sunshine later in the afternoon. Colleen baked some delicious apple muffins during the day and paid our end of the month bills later in the afternoon. We had leftover fish for dinner, and after dinner, I went for another walk. I did not get wet on that walk.

They weather people took the rain out of today’s forecast, and Colleen was up early to walk Roux. I will head out for my walk when I finish my coffee. Colleen wants to spend some time in the kitchen today. I am hoping I can find the time to list more baseball cards for sale online since the end of the month is Tuesday. Who knows what Imelda will do out in the Atlantic today. We will be keeping our eyes on it, but as of right now it looks like it will stay away from the coastline and not be an issue for us. I suspect we will see some rain in the first part of the week though. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings we will look around and smile thankfully, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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October 05, 2025: Rain, The Threat Of A Hurricane, School For Colleen, More Firewood!

From starting the week with the threat of a hurricane, we ended up with an absolutely gorgeous weekend. Humberto and Imelda were dancing around in the Atlantic Ocean last Sunday, but we had a warm and partly sunny day. Monday and Tuesday were rainy and wet even though Humberto never posed a threat to us, and Imelda took a hard right turn and headed out to sea before getting too close to the coast. Wednesday started out cloudy, but everything started drying up after the sun came out around noon. From there right into the weekend, we had blue skies and plenty of sunshine right through this morning. Our afternoon temperatures stayed in the 70s too, even though the mornings dropped into the 50s. It looks like we will have a good bit of the same weather for the upcoming week with the exception of Wednesday when the forecast calls for rain.

Last Sunday started like most do around here. Colleen took Roux for a predawn walk, and I took a long morning walk after I finished my coffee. Somewhere along the way, we ended up with about six pounds of those little oranges. Colleen read somewhere that she could hot water bath can them, so she spent the better part of the morning and some of the early afternoon canning orange wedges. I did not do much on the day. I try to give myself at least one day a week to relax. Last Sunday was also the last day of the regular baseball season, and all the playoff teams were not decided, so I kept tabs on the afternoon’s games. Colleen pulled out one of her frozen smoked turkey pot pies for our dinner, so she did not have to do any extra cooking. She made the pot pie right after I smoked the turkey over Labor Day weekend.

Colleen drove to school in the rain Monday morning. I knew I could not walk Roux in the rain, so I slept late, like three hours late. When I finally got up, I had some coffee, opened the hen coop, and had a quick breakfast before I started moving. I really did nothing special all day though. I packed up some baseball cards and put them in the mailbox, organized a bunch of other cards, cleaned and vacuumed the family room, and took care of the other small daily housework that needed doing. Colleen got home at her regular time, she brought the girls their afternoon treats, fed Roux, and heated up our dinner. The rest of our evening was quiet and uneventful.

It rained again Tuesday morning. I slept late again. My motivation was very low when I finally got out of bed, but I knew there was work that needed doing. After lunch, I finally got rolling. I moved what furniture I could out of the way in the living room and gave the living room carpet a thorough vacuuming. When I finished, I put the furniture back the way it had been. I had time to get all the daily housework done before Colleen got home too. Colleen got home at her usual time and followed the same afternoon routine she always does. After dinner, it was not raining, so I got a chance to go for an evening walk. Colleen filled a laundry bag with dirty laundry after dinner to get ready for Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, my feet hit the ground, and I started moving shortly after Colleen left for school. It was a cloudy morning, but the rain was gone. After I had my coffee and opened the hen coop, Roux and I went for a walk. When we got back home, I grabbed a quick breakfast and then started moving the furniture I could out of the family room. I vacuumed the family room carpet again and then pulled out the steam cleaner. I forgot my back does not like it when I vacuum and steam clean a carpet all in the same day. Our carpet still looks old and tired, but it is clean now. After lunch I did the usual daily housework and waited for Colleen to get home. Colleen was a just a bit later than usual because she stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. After dinner, we did not do much except Colleen did dry the laundry.

I figured I was on a roll with sleeping late in the mornings, so I did it again Thursday morning. After I got up, had my coffee, and opened the hen coop, I headed down to the market. I managed to bring our market run in on budget again last week, but there were a lot of good sales. I managed to save 40 percent of the initial total. I walked out of the market with essentially a lot of free stuff. I even got Colleen a fresh bouquet of flowers. It really pays to stock up on sale items if you have extra space to store things at home. After I had all the groceries put away at home, I grabbed a quick lunch, did the daily housework, and waited for Colleen to get home. After dinner, I went for a short walk and then did some online Christmas shopping.

Friday morning, I hit the ground running again after Colleen left for school. After my coffee, I took Roux for a walk. It was a 2-mile walk too. When we got home and after I had my breakfast, I pulled the leaf blower out of the basement and blew the driveway and front yard clean. I will do that a number of times more before fall is over. I also got the log splitter set up for Saturday. I did run to the gas station to fill our gas cans up again though. When Colleen got home, she took care of the girls and fed Roux before we headed down the road to Costco. On the way home from Costco, we stopped at Firehouse Subs and got our Thanksgiving turkey subs for dinner which are delicious with hot turkey gravy poured in the middle of the sub.

Yesterday started like most weekend days. Colleen walked Roux and then I took my morning walk. I grabbed a quick breakfast when I got home and then headed outside. I fired up the log splitter, Colleen came outside shortly thereafter, and we spent the rest of the morning and the early part of the afternoon splitting and stacking firewood. We put up another half cord of wood. We still have more to go, but our winter-ready racks are almost full. When they are full, we will start stacking the wood on the ground. There is still about two-thirds of the oak tree on the ground in the backyard that needs to be split too. After a short break, we ate an early dinner. After dinner, Colleen started putting the floor fans away for the season.

We have another beautiful morning this morning today. Colleen and Roux are back from their walk, and I will head out for my walk soon. I do not have much on my agenda for today, but Colleen made herself a list. She will put more fans away, prepare some meals for this week, and she wants to try a new recipe for our Sunday meal. I do not think we will see any of the kids this weekend, but a few of them will check in with a text or an email. A friend of mine is planning on stopping by the house tomorrow to help me split and stack some more firewood, and on Friday, one of my former students, who is now in college, wants to come by for a visit. Colleen has school all week. Any work outside I want to do this week will have to get done on Monday and Tuesday with rain in the forecast for Wednesday. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. When the evenings come, we’ll look around and smile knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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October 12, 2025: Cooler Temperatures, Leaves Starting To Change Colors, Still More Firewood.

Last week started off pleasant enough with the thermometer needle bouncing around the 80-degree mark. That all changed in the middle of the week when we had some rain move through the area on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. The mercury has struggled to reach the 70-degree mark since Wednesday, and the rain moved back into the area last night and stuck around into this morning. The rain is only off and on and may very well last into tomorrow morning. It does not even look like there is much of a chance of rain for the rest of next week after Monday. We will be seeing things cool off even more in the coming week with the temperatures for some mornings forecast to be in the mid 40s.

Last Sunday was quiet around here. Colleen and Roux took their early morning walk, and I took my walk in the middle of the morning. While I spent most of my day writing, Colleen was in the kitchen, first getting meals ready for the week in front of us and then trying a new recipe for Sunday dinner. Sunday dinner was sauteed shrimp on a bed of pasta mixed with fresh garden vegetables and herbs and a light sauce. We even enjoyed a glass of wine with our meal. The new recipe is a definite keeper. The evening was uneventful and pleasant. The only thing Colleen did was get ready for school on Monday morning.

Colleen left for school at her usual time Monday morning. I did not walk Roux because I was expecting a friend to show up to help me finish splitting and stacking the wood by the log splitter that Colleen and I did not get to do on Saturday. My buddy showed up mid-morning, and we got right to work. It took us until just past noon to finish, but we now have six full half-cord racks of winter-ready firewood. There is still a good bit more wood on the ground, but most of it needs to be quartered, so I can get it up the log splitter. We still have a reserve rack and the back porch rack both need to be filled. After my buddy left, I managed to get the daily housework done and clean the carpet under the sofa in the living room. Monday night Colleen and I got treated to clear skies and a great view the full Harvest Super Moon.

Colleen’s day at school Tuesday was less than wonderful. The kids were wired thanks to the full moon. As a retired teacher, I know that the full moon effect is a very real thing. I am not so sure the full moon did not affect me and Roux either. We both struggled to get out of bed on Tuesday, and Roux was not up for her morning walk, so our walk ended up being very short. I spent my day puttering around the house. Colleen got home from school at her regular time. She was worn out too. I did go for a walk after dinner though. It helped me shake the day’s malaise. By the time I went walking, clouds had started to fill the sky, and it felt like the rain was coming.

Colleen ended up driving to school in the rain on Wednesday morning. I did not take Roux for a walk, and we both stayed in bed for a couple of extra hours. When we did get up and I let her into the backyard, there were deer grazing on the shaggy grass. The deer did not pay any attention to Roux and Roux did not pay attention to the deer. It was the darnedest thing I ever saw. Colleen and I had put the family room sofa back in place Tuesday evening, so I spent the day putting the family room back together. I still need to clean the carpets in the living room and dining room. By noon the rain had stopped, and the skies started clearing up. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. After our dinner, she dried the laundry while I was out walking.

Thursday was market day just like every Thursday. Roux and I got up late which seems to have become a habit for us. After breakfast, I headed to the market. I was very pleased to have gotten out of there on budget for another week. I was home and had everything put away right before noon. I spent my afternoon trying to remember how to make reservations for a car and hotel for a short trip to Maryland I will take in early November. Before I started teaching, I had traveled a lot for my job and was proficient at making reservations. Of course, that was 25 years ago. There was a good bit of dust on my old memory banks, but I got it done. I guess the old adage is true about using it or losing it.

Friday was another busy morning for me. A friend and their kid whom I taught in high school came for a visit. The kid is in college now and needed a little tutoring in chemistry. We spent most of the morning tutoring and visiting. It was really great to see both of them. My friends stayed around until just past noon. I did not do much more than the daily housework after they left. Colleen got home at her usual time, and she was whipped. She brought the girls the afternoon treats, fed Roux, and ordered our takeout pizza for dinner. After dinner, I went for a walk while Colleen relaxed after a long and tiring week at school.

Yesterday morning Colleen and I woke up to gray skies. Fortunately, the rain was not supposed to show up until in the late evening, so Colleen and Roux got to take a walk, and I took a long walk. Colleen figured she had better clean and organize her workroom to get ready to start wrapping Christmas presents. Yes, we have started our Christmas shopping already. I headed out to the fire pit, lit a fire, and started picking up and burning the various debris around the yards. If it could not be burned, it went into the trash bin. I spent all afternoon out by the fire pit and really made a dent in cleaning things up in the yard. After dinner, we both relaxed for a bit, and shortly after sunset, we were both upstairs in bed.

The only words to describe this morning are blustery and dreary. The rain may give us a break later this afternoon, so I can go for a walk. Colleen wants to do some cleaning and a little bit of cooking today. I do not suspect I will do much today, although I may do some more online Christmas shopping. Last year, we were done our shopping by Thanksgiving! Colleen has tomorrow off from school, so we will give the DMV another shot to see if Colleen can get her Real ID. We will be up early for that. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When each day comes to an end, we will look around and smile thankfully, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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October 19, 2025: A Trip To The DMV, More Firewood On The Racks, Roux Comes Up Lame.

Apart from some rain to start off last Sunday, we have had some pretty typical and nice fall weather all week long. For most mornings, the mercury sat somewhere between the 45 and 55-degree marks. In the afternoons, the thermometer needle would climb to between the 65 and 75-degree marks. Yesterday was kind of an exception to that when the high temperature touch 80 degrees for a little while. We have had anywhere from light breezes to mildly gusty winds all week long too. Most of the leaves are still green and, on the trees, but with cooler temperatures on the way, the leaves should start changing color soon. The week in front of us is forecast to be a bit cooler and apart from a moderate chance of rain tonight, the rest of the week should be dry.

The rain last Sunday morning put a damper on doing anything outside. Colleen did not walk Roux. Mostly, Colleen just puttered around the house, and since, I could not go for a morning walk, I started my usual Sunday writing early. Colleen decided we would have our big Sunday meal around 1 o’clock. She made meatloaf with all the appropriate fixings. The rain stopped by noon, replaced with gray skies and a gusty breeze. After we ate, I headed out for my walk. The rest of our day and evening was quiet. Colleen made sure she had all the paperwork she needed to get her Real ID from the DMV. We both called it an early evening too, because we would be headed to the DMV very early Monday morning.

Colleen and I rolled out of bed at 3 AM on Monday morning. By 4 AM, we were out the front door, headed to the DMV. At 4:15, I set up a lawn chair for Colleen at the DMV’s door, and she was fourth in line. The DMV did not open their doors until 7 AM. Colleen brought her iPad so she could read while she waited. I went for walks around the parking lot. By the time Colleen got inside the building, I had walked over three miles. Appointments at the DMV are like hen’s teeth, so we were taking our chances as a walk-in. Colleen got into the building just after 7 o’clock, and out just before 9 o’clock. She had her temporary license in hand, and we headed home. Colleen’s Real ID will be mailed to her soon. We stopped for breakfast on the way home. We were lucky to stay awake for the rest of the day.

Colleen and I were still tired Tuesday morning, but Colleen managed to head off to school at her usual time. I started my morning in the usual fashion, coffee, open the hen coop, and walk Roux. Roux was full of vim and vigor, and we put more than two miles under foot. With Thanksgiving a little more than a month away, it was time for me to start cleaning the living room rug. I opened up as much space as I could by moving all the furniture back, and then I gave the carpet a thorough vacuuming. Roux does not like the vacuum cleaner and hid in the family room. I spent the rest of my day doing the routine housework until Colleen got home from school. Apart from having dinner, Colleen and I did not do much once she got home.

Colleen left for school at her usual time on Wednesday morning. I got up, had my coffee, opened the hen coop, and took Roux for a walk. I had a quick breakfast when we got home, then the day’s fun started. I vacuumed the living room rug again. Hitting the carpet with the steam cleaner was next on the list. It took me about two hours to thoroughly clean the carpet. Unfortunately, by the time I finished, my back was screaming mightily at me. I had hoped to get more work done around the house, but that did not happen. I was able to package up some sold baseball cards and get them into the mailbox though. Colleen got home at her usual time, and it was a beautiful afternoon. Sadly, sitting at the kitchen table proved to be painful for me, and after dinner, I had to go upstairs and lie down for a little while. Resting got my back to where I could move around, but I sure did not do anything for the rest of the evening.

Thursday was market day. Thursday is always market day. My back was feeling considerably better fortunately. I managed to save about 30 percent off our total grocery bill and got out of the market on budget again. I bought a 15-pound frozen turkey for Thanksgiving too. After I got home, put the groceries away, and had a quick lunch, I started moving un-split wood up to the log splitter. I even swung the maul a half dozen times to split one, and just one, of the big oak rounds in the backyard. Colleen was not happy about that, but it did not seem to bother me. Then again, I did not push myself to do more. Colleen got home from school at her usual time. After dinner, I took a short walk. The rest of our evening was peaceful and quiet.

Friday morning started out like most every other day around here. It did not take long for the day to turn into an adventure though. While Roux and I were out walking, Roux started limping, badly. We were still a good way from the house. Roux struggled to go a hundred yards or so at a time, then she had to lie down and rest. She did this all the way home. Getting back up the hill was the worst of it. I ended up have to support some of her weight by holding her harness up while she walked. We eventually did make it home, and Roux hobbled into the living room and moved very little for the rest of the day. Holding some of Roux’s weight up with the harness also aggravated my back again. After Colleen got home, Colleen and I were going to Firehouse Subs to get our takeout dinner. Roux was having none of that and hobbled out to the Trail Blazer, so she could go for the ride. I had to help her into the back seat.

Needless to say, everyone slept late yesterday morning, because we wanted Roux to stay off her feet. I went for my walk after I finished my coffee, and Colleen started making an orange fluff dessert while I was walking. When I got back, I set up the log splitter and got it running. Colleen came outside to help when she heard the log splitter going. We split and stacked all the wood by the splitter. It only filled half of the back porch wood rack. I am not sure when we will need a fire in the fireplace, but at least, we have some wood on the back porch now. We finished with the firewood right before noon, and after a quick lunch, Colleen was back in the kitchen whipping up a new casserole recipe for dinner.

Roux was still gimpy last night, so Colleen will not be walking her this morning. I will go for my walk after I finish my coffee. Colleen does not have a lot of cooking today, fortunately. She has a new muffin recipe she wants to try, and she wants to make shrimp scampi for our Sunday dinner. Clouds should start moving into our skies later this afternoon with the forecast calling for rain over night. Next week promises to be cool and dry though. Colleen has tomorrow off from school to run to the doctor for some tests, so we can sleep late again. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile thankfully because, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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October 26, 2025: Colleen’s Short Work Week, Still More Firewood, The Season’s First Fire.

We are about a month into fall now, and it appears the season’s weather has finally caught up with us. On the warm days last week, the mercury struggled to reach the 70-degree mark. For the last few days of the week, the old thermometer needle has not gotten that high. The mornings have gotten as cool as 40 degrees, and I put the first fire of the season in the fireplace. Even with the cooler temperatures, the skies overhead have been brilliant blue and filled with sunshine. That looks like it will end today though. Today’s clouds are a harbinger for a rainy week ahead of us. If the forecast is even half accurate, we are in for a gray, dank, and dreary week.

Last Sunday turned out to be a relatively uneventful day. Roux was still hobbling around, so Colleen did not take Roux for a walk. While I was out on my walk, Colleen tried a new muffin recipe. The muffins turned out well, but not any better than any of her other muffin recipes. This recipe had a bit of work to it, so without a marked improvement over her other recipes, she scrapped the new recipe when she finished. Colleen also made shrimp scampi for dinner. That turned out to be fantastic. I think we may be seeing that on our dinner table a little more frequently.

We got some rain late Sunday night, so Monday morning, everything was wet. When the sun came out, everything started drying up quickly. I went for a morning walk though. It was a teacher workday for Colleen, and she had a doctor’s appointment, so she did not go into school. Roux was still hobbling around but insisted on going for the ride when I took Colleen to the doctor’s office. Roux and I just sat in the Trail Blazer and waited for Colleen. It was just about noon, when Colleen got out of the doctor’s office, so we headed to Hardee’s for lunch. Not much happened the rest of the day. I took a nap when we got home and then spent most of the afternoon Christmas shopping online.

Colleen headed back to school Tuesday morning, much to her disappointment that she was not already retired. Gimpy Roux came down back with me when I opened the hen coop for the day, but that was all she got for a morning walk. After a quick breakfast, I moved all of the living room furniture off the part of the carpet I had not cleaned the previous week and then gave the carpet a thorough vacuuming. It was getting a bit late in the morning, but I really wanted to get the living room carpet finished, so I pulled out the steam cleaner. I finished right before 1 o’clock. I headed out to the backyard, split one round of oak, and just one round, and brought the pieces up to near the log splitter. Colleen would have had a holy fit if I had split any more than one round with the maul. I spent the rest of my afternoon working with my baseball cards. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home. After dinner, I went for a walk, and Colleen dried the laundry.

Wednesday morning, right after breakfast, Roux and I headed down back to open the hen coop. When the girls were set for the day, I made my way into the backyard to bust up another oak round and move it to by the log splitter. I was feeling pretty good after that, so I decided to wash the kitchen floor. Our kitchen floor is old and tired, and even after a good scrubbing, it still looked old and tired, but clean. Since I was on a roll, while the kitchen floor was drying, I cleaned the wooden parquet entryway floor too. Before Colleen got home, I vacuumed the dry living room carpet. After dinner, I took a walk, and when I got back, Colleen and I put most of the living room furniture back in place. The rest of our evening was quiet, thankfully.

Thursday was market day like usual. Unfortunately, the Trail Blazer started acting screwy on Colleen’s way to school. She nursed it to school and got there safely. After I opened the hen coop, I headed to the market. I brought the week’s groceries in under budget again and even got our second frozen Thanksgiving turkey. I finished putting the living room back together after lunch. I had Colleen nurse the Trail Blazer to the shop instead of coming home after school, and Roux and I met her at the shop. Colleen had been having a rough week at school, and with the stress of the Trail Blazer, she was not feeling well when she got home. She decided to take a sick day on Friday so she could start feeling better again.

Everyone slept late Friday morning. Roux was still hobbling around, so Colleen did not take her for a morning walk. Colleen still was not feeling great, but I convinced her to come with me to run a few errands. None of the errands took us more than 5 miles from the house. Since it was early afternoon when we got home, Colleen and I decided to have our usual Friday takeout as a late lunch/early dinner. Colleen called in the order, and we had no trouble convincing gimpy Roux to take another ride to get our takeout meal. After Colleen and I ate, I headed out for a short walk. Unfortunately, we did not hear back from the shop on Friday afternoon, so Colleen will be driving the Honda to school on Monday.

The temperature was right at 40 degrees yesterday morning when Colleen and I got up. The first thing I did was to light a fire in the fireplace. That was our first fire of the season. After I had my coffee, I headed out for my walk. I ended up walking just over 5 miles too. Colleen spent the morning in the kitchen. I had a quick breakfast when I got home. After I ate, I headed into the backyard to break up another oak round and move the pieces to the log splitter. Colleen came outside when she heard the splitter running. We split and stacked enough wood to finish filling the rack on the back porch. Colleen made a pot roast for our dinner, and we sure did not do much for the rest of the evening.

The temperature is just over 40 degrees this morning, the sun is coming up, and I have already lit today’s fire. The mercury might sneak over 60 degrees this afternoon, but we will keep a low fire burning all day. Colleen wants to spend the morning in the kitchen, and after I finish my coffee, I will head for a walk. Mostly, there are just small odds and ends that need to be done today, so the day should be quiet. I am not sure what next week will bring our way. It looks like we will start wet and stay wet for a while. Still, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile thankfully because, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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November 02, 2025: Lots Of Rain, Falling Leaves, Cooler Temperatures, A Week Of Fires.

We got soaked last week! Last Sunday, the skies were filled with ominous gray clouds, and the rain started sometime late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Fortunately, we did not have a steady downpour of rain, but it did not stop until just before lunch on Thursday. Just to make things a bit more uncomfortable, the temperatures ran between 40 and 60 degrees all week. The cooler temperatures gave the damp air just that much more of a bite. Needless to say, we had a fire burning in the fireplace every single day last week. We kept the fires low, just enough to chase the damp chill out of the house. There is some rain forecast for later tonight into tomorrow morning, but that will pretty much be the end of it for the week.

Everything was pretty quiet up here on the hill last Sunday. Roux was still hobbling around so Colleen did not take her for their usual pre-dawn walk. I went for a short walk after I finished my morning coffee. Colleen spent most of her morning in the kitchen preparing meals for the week in front of us. I did my usual writing and tended the fire as needed. We had an early Sunday dinner of Saturday’s leftover pot roast. Colleen got to relax for most of the afternoon, and I did not do much either. We both called it an early evening though because Colleen wanted to leave for school earlier than usual on Monday, because she would be driving the Honda to school.

The weather Monday morning was miserable as expected, and Colleen left for school earlier than usual. The first thing I did when I finally made it downstairs was to light a fire in the fireplace. The weather had me housebound all day. I spent the morning packaging up baseball cards for the mail and taking care of some housework. I went online Christmas shopping for most of the afternoon. The shop called me about the Trail Blazer and confirmed my suspicions about the problems being electrical. They said everything would be ready on Tuesday. Colleen got home from school at her regular time. It was still raining after dinner, so I ended up doing my daily walking on the treadmill.

Colleen left for school early in the Honda again on Tuesday. Unfortunately, sometime during the night, a dead branch fell into the chicken pen. Fortunately, it missed the coop, but it did a number on the frame holding the pen netting. I spent a good half hour to 45 minutes working in the rain to get the frame and netting back up. That was not exactly how I wanted to start my day. Colleen got home at her usual time, and we headed down to the shop to get the Trail Blazer. The evening was quiet. We got a break in the rain, and I was able to go out for a walk. I ended up doing some more online Christmas shopping when I got back home.

Despite the rain Wednesday morning, things seemed like they were getting back to normal, or as normal as things get around here. Colleen headed to work at her usual time in the Trail Blazer. I lit the day’s fire and opened the hen coop for the day. I spent most of the day cleaning around the house, packaging baseball cards for the mail, and listing what cards I could for sale. Colleen got home from school at her usual time. We were seeing more breaks in the rain, so I went for a walk after dinner. While I was out walking, I realized the leaves in the trees were starting to seriously change color.

Thursday was market day. The morning started gray, but by the time I got out of the market, there were blue skies overhead. I missed our budget at the market because I bought a few extra sales, but I ended up only paying $0.70 on the dollar for our total grocery bill. I spent the afternoon with my baseball cards. Colleen got home at her regular time. After dinner, I went for a walk, and Colleen sat down to pay our end of the month bills. It looks like we will be solvent for another month.

Friday turned out to be a busy day for me. My feet hit the ground shortly after Colleen left for school. After some coffee and before daylight, I vacuumed the carpets on the first floor. Roux was still in bed upstairs, so the vacuum cleaner did not bother her. After the carpets were done and there was some daylight, the hen coop got opened. Roux came back upstairs and curled up on the loveseat by the fireplace. I headed to the backyard to split an oak round and haul the pieces up to the log splitter. Colleen worries about the stress splitting firewood puts on my heart, so I only do one round every day or two with the maul. After lunch I started to clean off the back porch. I could not quite finish because some things were still wet. When I was done with what I could do on the back porch, I pulled my old suit out of the closet and made sure it still fit. I had not worn in since 2009, and I will need the suit next weekend. Colleen got home at her regular time. After she ordered our takeout pizza for dinner, I went and picked it up while she stayed home to watch the fire.

Yesterday ended up being busy but not as busy as Friday. Colleen took Roux for a morning walk for the first time in over a week. Roux did okay but ran out of steam coming back up the hill. I headed out for a walk after I finished my coffee. Colleen spent the morning in the kitchen trying a new recipe that turned out okay, but not great. When I got home, I busted up another oak round and got the pieces up to the log splitter before I fired up the leaf blower and blew the front yard clean. Leaf blowing took me a couple of hours. We foraged in the refrigerator for dinner yesterday evening’s dinner. The evening was quiet and peaceful. I did set all the clocks back an hour before I headed upstairs for the night.

I was up before first light this morning even with the time change. Colleen stayed in bed until well after sunup. I lit the day’s fire, had my coffee, and opened the hen coop. I will head out for a walk shortly. Colleen wants to make some bread pudding this morning with a new recipe. There really is not a lot on our agenda for today though. I suppose I could list some baseball cards for sale or do some more online Christmas shopping after I finish writing. Mostly, we will just tend the fire after lunch. I am not looking forward the sun setting at 5:30 today. I really much prefer Daylight Savings Time, but Colleen does not. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. When we start losing the day’s light, we still will look around and smile thankfully, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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November 16, 2025: A Crazy Two Weeks, A Road Trip, A Busted Water Line Needing Repair!

It is not often we miss posting our weekly blog, but last week it could not be avoided. The weather for the last two weeks has not been bad although the temperatures ranged anywhere from freezing to 75 degrees. Most days have been cold enough to warrant lighting a fire in the fireplace with the exception of the last few days. We did get a little bit of rain two Sundays ago and again a week ago Saturday night, but the rest the time, it has been dry. The wind really kicked up at the beginning of this week, and most of the leaves have been stripped from the trees. The colors were pretty while they lasted. We might see some rain in the coming week, but the temperatures will be bouncing around again.

Two Sundays ago was our first day back on Standard time. Colleen took Roux for her usual pre-dawn walk. I lit the day’s fire when I came downstairs and found it amusing that there was smoke from our chimney hanging in the treetops while the fire got going. On the whole, the day was quiet. I wrote and tended the fire. Colleen found a new recipe for bread pudding she wanted to try. The bread pudding turned out fantastic! After dinner, I did some online Christmas shopping, and Colleen wrapped some of the presents we already had in hand.

Colleen headed to school like usual on Monday morning. I did not put a fire in the fireplace when I came downstairs even though it was cold enough for one. Roux had an appointment with the vet, and I did not want a hot fireplace while we were not home. Roux’s appointment went well for the most part. The vet feels that Roux is favoring her back leg because of a torn or strained ACL. The best thing for her is rest at her age. The liver enzymes from her blood work results were a bit strange. The vet put Roux on some meds, and we will go back for a check up the week after Thanksgiving. I did light a fire in the fireplace when we got home. I puttered around the house until Colleen got home. After dinner, I managed to take a short walk, but with the time change, I barely made it home before sunset.

Tuesday was Election Day, Colleen got to stay home from school, but we did not vote. We live outside of the city limits and there was nothing on the county ballot this year. I went for a morning walk after the sun came up. When I got home, Colleen and I spent the next two and a half hours putting together a stand for our small drink refrigerator so we would not have to bend down to reach it. It was a small concession to our age. We did not do much else for the rest of the day other than online Christmas shopping and wrapping presents.

Wednesday it was back to school for Colleen. Roux seemed like she was up for a walk, so we took a short walk after I opened the hen coop for the day. I lit a fire in the fireplace when we got home, but my motivation was running low. I spent most of the rest of the day doing odds and ends around the house. I even managed to break down the pile of Amazon boxes that had built up from our Christmas shopping. Colleen got home from school at her regular time. After dinner, I even went for a walk. I guess I still was not comfortable with the time change, but Colleen loves it.

Thursday, like every Thursday, was market day. I headed down the road right after I opened the hen coop for the day. It was a good day at the market too. I brought our list in under budget and only ended up spending $0.66 on the dollar for everything I bought. I spent my time after lunch cleaning up the house and went for my walk when Colleen got home from school. Colleen had dinner hot and waiting when I got back home. Colleen and I were able to finish up our Christmas shopping after dinner.

Friday morning I opened the hen coop with Roux’s help and then took Roux for a walk. I lit the day’s fire when we got home and then headed to the basement to hunt up a suitcase for my trip to Maryland. After sitting in the basement for so long unused, I needed to clean up the suit case. Once the suitcase was ready to go, I pulled the kitchen apart and washed the floor. While the floor was drying, I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and washed its floor. Since I was on a roll, I cleaned the entryway too. I spent the afternoon packaging up sold baseball cards and listing more baseball cards for sake online. Colleen got home at her regular time. I went for a walk after dinner.

Saturday started out a little on the busy side. Colleen did not walk Roux, but a little later we headed to Hertz to get a rental car for my trip to Maryland. Neither of us really felt like doing much so we watched a Christmas movie after lunch. Christmas is a big deal around here, and we started listening to Christmas music on November 1st. It was pretty day, and I went for a walk after the movie. After dinner, I started packing everything up for my trip. I wasn’t planning for a long trip, but I wanted to make sure I had everything. It had been a few years since I took an overnight trip anywhere.

Last Sunday rolled around, I had my coffee, and I was on the road headed to Maryland. Luckily, my trip was uneventful even if it was a cloudy day. Colleen spent a quiet day at home. She made some potato pies and some country fried steak for us to eat during the week when I got home. I got to spend the afternoon with one of my cousins and my uncle. We enjoyed some time catching up in my cousin’s man cave. I went to dinner with my uncle and another cousin. My cousin is a nurse practitioner who works weird hours, so it was a real treat to have her company for dinner. Colleen treated herself to some takeout for her dinner. I got back to my hotel early enough after dinner so I was able to go for a walk even though it was dark.

Colleen headed to school Monday morning at her usual time. I slept a bit late because my aunt’s funeral wasn’t until 11 o’clock. It turned out to be a gray day too. There was a reception after the funeral and after that I headed back to hotel for a bit and even got some walking done. I briefly saw one of my sisters and my niece at the funeral and the reception, but they were on a tight schedule and had to get back to Baltimore to catch a plane.That evening, I went to dinner with my cousin, his wife, and his daughter. It had been far too long since I had visited my family, and I really enjoyed my time with them even though it was for a funeral. When I got back to the hotel, I packed my things up so I could hit the road home at first light.

Tuesday was Colleen’s birthday, and it was Veterans Day. I just wanted to get home. I was up before the sun, put my things in the car, had a quick breakfast at the hotel, and was on the road home with the rising sun. Four and a half hours later I was pulling into the driveway. The first thing I did when I got home was enjoy a cigar on the front porch. After we had lunch, we brought my rental back to Hertz, came home, and enjoyed a quiet and peaceful afternoon. I did go for a short walk after dinner though.

Colleen headed back to school Wednesday morning, and I spent the day trying to get back into my every day routine around here. I was surprise how much being gone the better part of three days threw me for a loop. I spent the morning getting caught up with baseball cards. I dedicated the afternoon to getting caught up on the housework. Of course, I did all this while tending the day’s fire. Colleen wrapped some presents after dinner. I took a short walk then enjoyed a cigar on the front porch.

Thursday was market day. I headed down the road after the sun came up and I had the hen coop open for the day. Colleen had a number of ingredients on the market list she needs for our Thanksgiving feast, and Roux needed some more wet dog food, so I overshot our weekly budget. We already had two turkeys in the freezer, but with the special the market had going, I could not pass up a 14 pound turkey for less than $4.00. After lunch, I got back into the swing of housework, cleaning and vacuuming the family room along with doing the usually daily chores. After dinner, Colleen wrapped more Christmas presents, and I enjoyed a cigar out on the front porch.

Colleen left for school at her usual time Friday, and when I got up I was feeling like I was back on my game. It was warm enough to not warrant a fire for the day. I pulled the leaf blower out of the basement and started cleaning up the front yard. After I blew the leaves off the second tier of the front yard, I noticed a substantial wet spot with some standing water. It seems that our main, in-ground, water feed line has a leak. There wasn’t much I could do about it other than close the valve at the water meter. Colleen got home at her usual time and we had takeout pizza for dinner. After dinner, we talked about our options for the water line. Colleen eventually headed upstairs to wrap Christmas presents. I retreated out to the front porch.

Colleen was up before the sun yesterday morning and took Roux for a walk. When I got up, I headed outside to check the front yard. The standing water was gone, and the wet spot was starting to dry up. I turned the water back on and Colleen filled fifteen 1-gallon jugs we keep on hand for emergencies with water. I turned the water off after that and headed out for a walk. I ended up walking five miles. Colleen started making French meat pies while I was out walking. The pies freeze well, so that was the start of Colleen’s holiday cooking. I lit a fire in the fire pit to burn yard debris and sat there and wrote while I watched the fire. We did enjoy some meat pie for dinner though. After dinner, I was back out by the fire pit to make sure it burnt down, and Colleen wrapped more Christmas presents.

Colleen is already back from walking Roux this morning. I will turn the water on again this morning so we can refill our water jugs and take showers. After that, the water gets turned off again. After I finish my coffee, I will head out for a morning walk. Colleen wants to do some baking this morning. The temperatures are supposed to drop to 40 degrees again tonight, so I will make sure we have plenty of wood at hand for tomorrow‘s fire. I guess my big task tomorrow is to call around and see if I can get our main water line repaired. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time though. In the evenings, we’ll look around and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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November 23, 2025: A Leaky Water Main, Temperature Swings, Preparing For Thanksgiving.

I am not sure Mother Nature understands we are in the last week of November. Between last weekend and this weekend, the mercury rose above the 70-degree mark a couple of times. In between our two weekends, the thermometer needle was all over the place and even dropped below the 40-degree mark one morning. We got a little bit of rain very late on Tuesday night. The ground barely got wet from that rain as it passed quickly. Most of the week’s rain showed up Thursday night into Friday morning, and then we had a little bit more rain Friday night. The sun came back out Saturday afternoon, and it looks like today will be bright and sunny, albeit cooler than it was yesterday afternoon. The weather around here, heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, looks sketchy at best. The forecast says there will be rain Tuesday and Wednesday and then cold temperatures after that.

Last Sunday was one of those 70-degree days. Colleen took Roux for a pre-dawn walk. When I got up and finally came downstairs, I opened the main water valve long enough so that we could refill our water jugs and take showers. Interestingly enough, we did not notice a drop in our water pressure. I headed out for a walk after I finished my morning coffee. While I was walking, Colleen baked a double batch of apple muffins. The rest of our day was quiet, and I sat out on the front porch doing my usual Sunday writing. Colleen heated up some country fried steak with all the appropriate fixings for dinner which we ate early. Colleen even had some time to wrap more Christmas presents in the late afternoon and early evening.

Colleen headed to school on Monday morning. Roux and I were up early. I did not take Roux for a walk though. After I finished my coffee, I got on the phone and found a plumber to fix our water line and then spent the bulk of my day on various routine cleaning and general upkeep around the house. Burnt out light bulbs got changed, floors got cleaned, and carpets got vacuumed. Cleaning and vacuuming the carpet around the fireplace is always a challenge because of all the wood chards that manage to end up everywhere and need to be picked up, so they do not clog the vacuum cleaner.

I took Roux for a short walk on Tuesday morning. After we got back, and I had a little breakfast, then I pulled the leaf blower out of the basement, fired it up, strapped it to my back, and spent the rest of the morning blowing leaves off the front and two side yards. After lunch I stuck to the easy housework. The plumbers showed up around the time that Colleen got home from school. They dug until just before sunset, pulling some rather hefty rocks from the ground. Our front yard is nothing but hard pack clay, tree roots, and rocks. The plumbers found the general proximity of the leak, but they still could not find the pipe when they called it a day. I took a short walk after dinner. Colleen wrapped up more Christmas presents.

On Wednesday, I waited until Colleen got to school before I got out of bed. Roux did not seem like she wanted to go for a walk, so after breakfast I vacuumed the landings and the stairs. The landings and stairs are the toughest part of vacuuming the carpets in the house because they have to be done with the hand attachments. I did a few other things too, but after lunch, I had my leaf blower on my back again and was blowing the leaves from the backyard. The plumbers showed up while I was in the backyard, and it did not take them long to finally find the main water line and the leak. It did not take them long to repair the line after that either. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home from school. After dinner, I went for a short walk, and Colleen dried the laundry before we called it a day.

Thursday was market day. With Thanksgiving a week away, Colleen had a long list. I did not get home and get everything put away until just before noon. After lunch I was in the backyard again blowing leaves. At one point, I had a line of leaves piled almost chest high. Fortunately, I finished cleaning up the backyard before Colleen got home. Unfortunately, It did not take long for more falling leaves to start covering the backyard. Colleen scheduled Friday off from school. When she got home from school, we decided to get Firehouse subs for dinner. I took a short walk after dinner, and Colleen wrapped up more Christmas presents. By the time we called it a day, Colleen and I were both very tired.

Colleen and I had several errands to run on Friday. I guess we headed out just before 9 o’clock. Of course, we needed to go to TSC and Walmart during our travels. There was more traffic on the roads than I expected, but fewer people were in the stores. Colleen and I found the last few stocking stuffers we needed for Christmas, so we are finished with all of our Christmas shopping for this year. Colleen and I treated ourselves to lunch at Hardee’s before we came home too. Unfortunately, the skies stayed gray all day. Once we got settled at home after our running around, Colleen pulled the Thanksgiving turkeys out of the freezer so they could start thawing. There was still a damp chill in the house from the morning rain, so I lit a fire and made everything warm and cozy. The rest of our afternoon and evening were quiet. We got a little more rain on Friday night.

We did not need a fire in the fireplace yesterday morning. It was 60 degrees outside when Colleen and I got up. I was up and on the front porch before the sun rose and Colleen came downstairs. I had one of my former students stop by the house mid-morning for some help with their college chemistry. Since the kid’s family are friends, Mom and the kid’s younger sister came for a visit too. Roux made a new friend. We worked on their chemistry until about noon. After they left, I spent the first part of my afternoon working with my baseball cards and then went for a walk. Colleen finished wrapping all of the Christmas presents except the stocking stuffers and later made my holiday fruit cakes. The fruit cakes will not be ready to eat for another two weeks though. Neither of us did much after dinner.

Colleen is already back from walking Roux this morning. After the sun comes up and I finish my coffee, I will go for a walk. Colleen has a mind to spend a good part of today in the kitchen making eggnog and biscuits for our Thanksgiving table. I am hoping I will have time to do some cleaning around the house. I will be in full blown cleaning mode on Monday and Tuesday while Colleen is at school. Wednesday is a big prep day for our Thanksgiving feast. Colleen will roast one turkey, and I will smoke two turkeys. I will use cherry wood this year. This is every bit of a coordinated effort by Colleen and me. Even with all the activities, we will keep taking everything one day at a time. At the end of each day, we will look around thankfully and smile, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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November 30, 2025: Crazy Weather, A Thanksgiving Feast, The Christmas Tree, Winter Is Coming.

Thanksgiving is behind us now. November is drawing to a close. Winter and Christmas are just a few weeks away. The lovely weather that ushered in the fall season a couple of months ago has been replaced by cold days and more gray days than not. We got a little bit of everything last week, it seems though. The first part of the week, the thermometer needle danced around the 60-degree mark. We got some rain Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, and the mercury flirted with the 70-degree mark. A cold front pushed through the area on Wednesday night, and the mercury has not seen the 50-degree mark since then, although it might get there today. The week in front of us is not looking much better either. It seems that the mercury will struggle to reach the 50-degree mark on any given day, and there is a good bit more rain in the forecast too.

Last Sunday, and for that matter, the whole beginning of last week was all about getting ready for Thanksgiving. Colleen took Roux for a predawn walk, and I went for a walk after I finished my coffee. Colleen made a big batch of biscuits for our Thanksgiving feast and then turned her attention to making her traditional eggnog for the better part of the day. I did my usual writing and cleaned up some around the house. Colleen just reheated a meat pie for our dinner. Of course, we did have one mishap. The microwave decided to quit working in grand fashion. It died a very sputtery, sparky, and smoky death. Overall, the day was moderately busy for us, but we were just gearing up for the next few days.

Colleen headed off to school at her usual time Monday morning. I was up shortly after Colleen left. When I got some daylight, I opened the hen coop, moved the pool patio canopy over the smoker to keep the impending rain off of it, and loaded more firewood into the porch rack. I ran down to my friend’s new home in the middle of the morning to drop off a housewarming gift. After lunch, I blew leaves off the front yard again. The backyard needs cleaning up as well, but that will have to wait until there are a couple of dry days. Colleen got home at her regular time and took care of the usual afternoon routine and dinner. I managed to take a short walk after dinner.

Colleen headed to school Tuesday morning just like she did on Monday morning.Unfortunately, the skies styarted getting cloudy early in the day. After I had my morning coffee, my day was all about vacuuming, dusting, and washing floors. After I moved what furniture I could get out of the family room, it got vacuumed and everything got dusted. I even hit our caffe table with some Old English furniture polish. I gutted the kitchen and washed the kitchen floor next. While the kitchen floor was drying, I washed the entryway floor. Last, but not least, I headed into the living room. I vacuumed and dusted everything in there as well. Colleen had gotten home by then, but not before she had a little adventure. It seems that a section of the road that Colleen usually travels to and from school was closed on her way home. Authorities detoured everyone off the road a few miles away from the school. Colleen has no sense of direction and would have been totally lost except she has learned to rely on the GPS on her iPhone. Siri gave Colleen directions home without incident. Colleen had no clue where she was, but she said it was a lovely scenic ride. Colleen was very glad to get home Tuesday afternoon and start her long Thanksgiving break.

Colleen and I hit the ground running on Wednesday morning. After our morning coffee and a little daylight, Colleen got the three turkeys ready for cooking. She roasted one bird in the oven, and I smoked the other two birds. I spent the rest of my day cleaning the dining room while keeping tabs on the smoker. Colleen spent her day in the kitchen. I think she prepared everything for our Thanksgiving feast except the sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. The oven roasted turkey took five and a half hours to cook, and when it came out of the oven and cooled a bit, it got carved up and all the bones got put into a soup pot. The smoked turkeys took seven hours, and when they were done, they got carved up too. One of the two birds got bagged up and Colleen put it into the freezer for us to eat down the road. Colleen carved up the second smoked turkey for the Thanksgiving table. By then end of the day, everything was in the refrigerator needing only to be warmed up on Thursday, Colleen’s kitchen was clean, and the living room furniture was rearranged to accommodate a second dining table.

Thursday morning was chilly. The first thing I did was light a fire in the fireplace. After we had our morning coffee, Colleen headed into the kitchen, and I did whatever she needed me to do. The kids started showing up just before 11 o’clock. By 12:30 everyone had arrived. Colleen had the meal on the table by 1 o’clock. The meal was wonderful. Everyone was swapping stories and laughing. After we finished eating everyone hung around for a bit and visited. The kids even lit a fire in the fire pit. Sadly, by 4 o’clock, our visitors had departed, and the house was empty save for Colleen, Roux, and me. Colleen will not let anyone touch her grandmother’s antique china dishes, so she does all the cleaning herself. I took a short walk and then tended to the fire. I did what I could to help. Fortunately, Colleen had the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned by 8 o’clock that evening.

Friday morning showed right on schedule, and it was time to change our direction. Thanksgiving was done, so we started focusing on Christmas. Colleen and I headed out just after 9 o’clock in search of our Christmas tree. The place from which we usually get our tree was not open, so we headed to Lowe’s. The tree we picked went into the backyard of the Trail Blazer, and we headed to the market to get a gallon of milk. Well, we got our gallon of milk, another turkey for $0.29/pound, and a small buggy filled with other things. I lit our fire when we got home, and after Colleen put our market fare away, we set up the Christmas tree. Colleen made some Thanksgiving sandwiches for our late lunch. After lunch, I started stringing the Christmas tree with lights, and Colleen started boiling turkey bones to make the stock for her turkey soup. In the middle of the afternoon, we both started hanging decorations on the tree. It seems that every ornament we have comes with its own unique story. We gave up on decorating the tree when only the tinsel was left to go on the tree. When our day ended, we were both exhausted.

Yesterday turned out to be a little easier for us, but it was still a busy day. Colleen took Roux for a pre-dawn walk. I lit the day’s fire. After we finished our morning coffee, I started putting tinsel on the Christmas tree while Colleen paid our end of the month bills and started putting together her turkey soup. We both finished by noon, took a short break, then headed outside to start putting up the outside Christmas decorations. It took us just over two hours to get all the inflatables in place and staked to the ground. That was all we had in us. There are still more decorations to go up, too. We ate a very late lunch and ended up not being hungry for dinner. We did take time to enjoy a Christmas movie at the end of the day before we headed upstairs for the night.

Colleen was up before me this morning and back from her pre-dawn walk with Roux before I came downstairs. The day’s fire is lit, and I will go for a walk after I finish my coffee. The deer were out when I brought the wood in from the back porch to fill the hearth rack this morning. Colleen wants to make turkey pot pies later today. I will tend to the fire to keep the house warm while I do my usual Sunday writing. I do not suspect we will be doing much more than that on the day. Colleen heads back to school tomorrow morning. I will do some cleaning, tend to the day’s fire, and hopefully spend some time with baseball cards. For the next few weeks, everything should return to normal except for any Christmas decorating we do around the house. Through it all, Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. At each day’s end, we will look around and smile knowing that all is right on the homestead.

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December 07, 2025: Cold Temperatures, A Daily Fire On The Hearth, Winter Weather, And More On The Way!

It was a cold and wet week up here on our little hill, and we have had a fire burning every day. It seems we are into a pattern of starting our mornings at or below the freezing mark and hoping the mercury reaches the 50-degree mark in the afternoon. It did not always make it that high either. We had rain for a good bit of Monday and then again Tuesday morning, and we got snow, sleet, and rain on Friday morning. This morning, Colleen and I woke up to a dense ground fog that left a light frozen glaze on everything. Today is one of those days that we hope we will see 45 degrees this afternoon. It gets even better tomorrow with the forecast calling for snow from about 9 o’clock in the morning and ending around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. I do not think we will see the thermometer needle reach the 40-degree mark tomorrow.

Colleen and I spent last Sunday recovering from Thanksgiving. Colleen walked Roux in the morning, and I took a walk after I finished my coffee. The skies were gray, and there was damp bite to the air, so we kept a hearty fire going in the fireplace all day. Colleen made a couple of her turkey pot pies while I did my usual Sunday writing and tended to the day’s fire. The rain was supposed to start at some point during the night. I left the inflatable lawn decorations blown up all night, so they would stay clean instead of getting mud splattered. The air moving through them keeps the rain from getting into them too.

Monday started out like most do up here on the hill. Colleen headed to school, and I came downstairs and started the day’s fire. Roux eventually came downstairs too, laid down in front of the fireplace, and plopped her head up on the hearth. She is getting quite attached to the fireplace. I spent the morning on my computer with baseball cards and checking in electronically for my doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. After lunch I put Christmas lights on the front porch. I gave up climbing on a ladder to put them around the living room window last year. When Colleen got home from school, I went for a short walk. Colleen had Rachel sandwiches waiting when I got home. After dinner, Colleen and I just relaxed.

On Tuesday morning, Colleen had a tough drive to school in the dark and in the rain. I headed to my doctor’s appointment about an hour after Colleen left, and my drive was not much better. My appointment went well, and I was home before 10 o’clock. Needless to say, the house was damp and cold when I got home, so I put a fire in the fireplace as quickly as possible. I enjoyed a hot cup of Colleen’s turkey soup for lunch and then fell asleep on the recliner in front of the fire until just before Colleen got ready to come home. Colleen stopped at the laundromat on her way home which gave me time to get the routine daily housework finished. By the time she got home, we even started to see a little blue in the sky. After dinner, I checked the results from my blood work and was pleasantly surprised that every single test result was exactly where it needed to be.

The sun was shining Wednesday morning, but it was cold, so I opted to get a fire in the fireplace as quickly as I could instead of taking Roux for a walk. I spent my morning in front of the fireplace working with baseball cards. Colleen’s eyes had been bothering her, and she managed to get a late afternoon appointment with the eye doctor. I knew she would be getting home late, so after I took care of the daily chores, I brought the girls their afternoon treats, fed Roux, and started heating up dinner. When Colleen got home, dinner was hot, ready, and waiting for her. I went for a short walk after dinner.

Thursday was market day as usual. I got there early and got home early, so I could start the day’s fire. With the groceries put away and the fire burning well, I set up our new microwave that got delivered on Wednesday night. After lunch, I thought I would try to drain our water heater. I must have missed a step or done something wrong because it did not drain. At least I did not make a mess on the basement floor. On Thursday evening the weather forecast started looking sketchy for Friday, and counties started canceling school or going to a 2-hour delay. Colleen’s school district opted for a 2-hour delay, but Colleen still would have had to drive in at her regular time. She took the whole day off, so she would not have to drive to school in the dark wintery weather.

The weather was miserable on Friday morning. It was cold, and we had a mix of snow, sleet, and rain falling. Colleen was in desperate need of some rest and slept until 8:30. I was up at my usual time, made sure there was a fire going, gave Roux her breakfast, and opened up the hen coop for the day. I spent my morning tending to the fire and listing baseball cards for sale online. When lunchtime rolled around, we had Colleen’s turkey soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. After lunch, Colleen settled in the living room to write out Christmas cards. I went for a walk since the rain had stopped. The rest of our day was quiet with some much-needed relaxation.

Colleen and I slept a bit later than usual yesterday morning. After I lit the day’s fire, and Colleen opened the hen coop for the day, we headed outside to refill the back porch firewood rack. I threw the wood up to the porch and Colleen stacked the wood. I went for a walk when we finished and ended up walking almost six miles. After lunch we put up a 7-foot-tall Christmas tree of lights in the front yard. We will keep adding things as time permits too. For dinner we decided that we wanted to get takeout subs and to eat them in front of the TV while watching a Christmas movie. We have gotten back into the habit of enjoying Christmas movies again this year.

Colleen and I woke up to a dense ground fog this morning. It was a freezing fog to boot. Colleen still took Roux for a walk though. I will go for a walk after I finish my coffee. Colleen wants to spend some time in the kitchen today. I suspect we will try to get some more holiday lights in the front yard too. Other than tending to our fire in the fireplace today, there really is not much on my agenda. There is the potential for some more winter weather tomorrow, and Colleen has her fingers crossed for a snow-day. Whatever the weather does though, 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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December 14, 2025: Frigid Temperatures, A Couple Of Snow Days, More Decorating Inside And Out!

Last week was all about the weather. I think we saw a little of everything, and the mercury ran the gambit from near the 20-degree mark up to near the 60-degree mark. On Sunday, we had dense ground fog that lasted until noon. Schools around here closed on Monday because of the impending afternoon and evening rain, sleet, and snow, and then again on Tuesday because of the cold temperatures and the snow on the ground. Our little hill started to warm up on Wednesday and yesterday, the thermometer needle was flirting with the 60-degree mark. Today, the mercury has done an about face. The temperature was just above 40 degrees before dawn, but it will be getting colder all day long with a stiff breeze to make it feel colder, and tomorrow morning, we expect the mercury to be sitting on the 15-degree mark.

Colleen and Roux took their walk on Sunday morning, and after I finished my coffee, I went for a walk. Colleen spent a good part of her day in the kitchen making things to feed us through the week. I spent my time on the front porch doing my usual Sunday writing. We spent some time in the middle of the afternoon putting up more decorations in the front yard. We ate dinner in front of the fireplace and TV while we watched a Christmas movie. The weather forecast called for a winter storm to move into the area in the middle of the day, so we kept checking for school cancellations throughout the evening. Colleen’s school district final canceled school around 8 o’clock in the evening.

Even with a day off from school on Monday, Colleen was up early so she could walk Roux. I did not light a fire when I got up because Roux had a 9 o’clock appointment with the vet. Unfortunately, Roux’s liver enzyme numbers are a little out of whack, so we are having to keep a close eye on them. We do have Roux on medication now, so hopefully in time everything will return to normal. I got the fire going as soon as we got home, and then Colleen and I put up more decorations in the front yard. The first snowflakes started falling right after lunch. I headed out for a walk before it got too bad. The snow started falling more heavily right after dinner, and by 7 o’clock, Colleen’s school district had canceled school for Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning, we woke up to a very light blanket of white everywhere. Colleen had planned to not take Roux for a walk, so she slept late. I had a good burn going in the fireplace when Colleen came downstairs in the morning. Colleen decided with the day off from school it was time to start putting up the big Christmas village in the living room. I kept the fire fed with plenty of firewood and worked with my baseball cards all morning. After lunch, I took a quick nap before I went for a walk. The snow was mostly gone by mid-afternoon. Colleen slipped and landed on her tail when she went to close up the hen coop right before sunset. Fortunately, the only thing she hurt was her pride.

Colleen headed back to school Wednesday morning. I was up shortly after Colleen left and got the day’s fire going. When I went down back to open the hen coop, I cleaned the leaves from around the pen gate where Colleen had slipped. I spent the morning in front of the fireplace working with my baseball cards. Roux just likes to roll around in front of the fireplace. A bit later, I headed outside and re-anchored some of the inflatables in the front yard. The breeze was moving them around too much to my liking. After lunch, I shifted into cleanup mode. The empty Amazon boxes ended up in the recycle bin, the family room got cleaned, dishes were washed, and I swept the kitchen floor. When Colleen got home, I went for a walk before dinner. At least, Colleen and I enjoyed a quiet evening.

Thursday was a beautiful day, and it was market day. Roux wanted to go outside right after Colleen left for school, so that was the end of my sleeping late. Colleen’s market list was considerably longer than usual, and I overshot our budget. I guess there were some ingredients for Colleen’s Christmas buffet brunch on the list. After I got home and put the groceries away, the vacuum cleaner came out. I gave the family room a very thorough vacuum and then took care of the daily housework before Colleen got home. I went for a walk after Colleen got home. We enjoyed watching another Christmas movie with our dinner too. After the movie, Colleen spent a bit more time with her Christmas village while I tracked down and talked with Louis and Alex.

Friday was gray, but it ended up being a busy day. After I packaged baseball cards for the mail, I was outside to put up the last of our outside decorations. It was fun working outside in a snow flurry. After lunch, I gutted the kitchen and washed the kitchen floor. While it was drying, I cleaned the entryway too. The road Colleen travels to and from school was closed for some reason on Friday afternoon, so Siri brought her home via the scenic route over rural backroads. Colleen and I ordered takeout pizza for dinner and relaxed while watching another Christmas movie while we had dinner.

Yesterday it started out chilly and got warm by mid-afternoon. Colleen and Roux took their usual morning walk. Colleen started working with her large living room, Christmas village, when she got home and had it finished by noon. I tended the fire and package up baseball cards for the mail in the morning. After lunch Colleen and I refilled the porch firewood rack. We have gone through more than a cord and a half of wood already, and winter does not start until next Sunday. I went for a walk after we finished. Colleen did more decorating in the living room, putting up standalone Christmas scenes and various bits and bobs. We watched another Christmas movie with our dinner and then relaxed as much as we could for the evening.

This morning started out sunny and warm, but the temperature will drop steadily all day with a hefty breeze to push the wind chill down further. Colleen did walk Roux, and I lit the day’s fire. Colleen will spend a good bit of her day in the kitchen. I will do my usual writing, tend to the fire, and hopefully get some time to work with my baseball cards. Most likely, I will go for a walk in the middle of the afternoon too. Colleen and I are hunkering down for a cold start to the week. The mercury will be lucky if it reaches the 40-degree mark. Fortunately, we have plenty of firewood, and the temperatures will start to warm up on Wednesday. Our Santa-meter is sitting at ElfCon 4 now, and Christmas will be here soon. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will pause to look around and smile thankfully, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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December 21, 2025: The Start Of Winter, More Cold Temperatures, The Last Week Of School, Christmas Later This Week!

Today is the first day of winter, and after a couple of weeks of very cold temperatures around here, we are starting to warm up. Last week, we had the fireplace burning hard every day, and we went through a good bit of wood. Last Tuesday, Colleen and I woke up to sub-20-degree temperatures. Most days, the mercury struggled to reach the 50-degree mark. When things started warming up towards the end of the week, we got a good bit of rain when a line of thunderstorms that moved through the area Friday morning bringing with it some strong gusty winds. Yesterday, it was warm enough that we only needed to burn a low fire to chase the morning chill from the house. Today, the thermometer needle should get to the 55-degree mark or maybe a little higher. Since Colleen and I will be gone until the middle of the afternoon, we may not even light a fire.

Last Sunday started out like most. Colleen walked Roux, and I lit the day’s fire. By the time I finished my coffee, Colleen was in the kitchen making a big pot of chili. She had quite a day in the kitchen, too. On top of the chili, she made some tapioca pudding, a double batch of oatmeal maple muffins, and dinner later in the afternoon. I wrote for a good part of the day, but I took a break for a mid-afternoon walk. As it turned out, Colleen did not get to edit our blog until after dinner, so I ended up posting it to our website in the evening. The fire kept the house comfortably warm all day, but the temperature outside really started to drop once the sun set.

Colleen headed off to school on Monday morning like usual. I put a fire in the fireplace, and after I finished my coffee, I cleaned up the living room. Before I could even think about pulling out the vacuum cleaner, I had to pick up as many wood shards as I could and all the stray pieces of tinsel on the floor. That stuff will clog a vacuum cleaner in the blink of an eye. The rest of my day revolves around packaging, mailing, and listing baseball cards for sale while I tended to the fire. I found some time in the afternoon to re-secure some of the inflatable Christmas decorations in the front yard, as well. Roux pestered me to go outside, and then just laid down in the sunshine. Colleen got home from school at her usual time, and from that point forward, everything became routine.

Tuesday was another cold morning. Roux had me up right after Colleen pulled out of the driveway, so after I let Roux go outside for a bit, I put a fire in the fireplace. I sure did not do much around the house all day. I spent most of my time going through baseball cards and tending to the fire. I really needed the day to unwind. I did the daily housework after lunch and then just hung out on the front porch with Roux until Colleen got home from school. Colleen took care of her usual afternoon routine with the girls, Roux, and dinner. After dinner, I headed out to the back deck to look around. At this time of year, with all the leaves on the ground, we can see a good distance into the lowlands from our little hilltop.

Wednesday started out warmer than Monday or Tuesday. Roux and I went down back, so I could open the hen coop while Roux explored the ravine past the tree line. I did not put a fire in the fireplace, because I promised a friend I would drive him to the shop to get his car when it was ready. He was not exactly sure when that was though. Ironically, it was shortly after Colleen got home from school. Since I did not know exactly when I would be getting home, I told Colleen I would pick up dinner. I stopped and got gas for the Trail Blazer on my way home too. Colleen was very happy! She did not have to cook dinner, and she did not have to stop for gasoline on her way home from school.

Thursday was market day, and Colleen had a list that was two pages long of various things she needed for her Christmas brunch along with the usual weekly items. I probably spent twice as much time in the market as I usually do and did not get home and have everything put away until almost 11 o’clock. After a quick lunch, I went for a walk and got home before the rain started. The sky sure did get gray though. I took care of the daily housework when I got home and then started a small fire in the fireplace to chase the damp air out of the house. Colleen got home at her usual time, and we enjoyed a quiet evening. I did leave the inflatable yard decorations lit up and inflated all night because they fare better in the rain that way.

It was still raining on Friday morning and raining hard, making it a tough drive to school for Colleen. The rain stopped shortly after daylight, but there was a cold front pushing the rain, and the temperatures started dropping after the rain was done. There was a gusty, cold wind that came with the front too. I was still worn out on Friday, I just cleaned up around the house, getting rid of empty Amazon boxes and washing the kitchen floor. I did go outside to adjust and re-secure a few of the yard decorations that got jostled around by the wind. Colleen got home at her usual time and had a beaming grin on her face. It is the look that all teachers and IAs have after the last day of school before their Christmas break. We ordered takeout pizza for dinner and then spent the evening relaxing.

Colleen was up early yesterday to take Roux for their usual predawn walk. I lit the day’s fire before they got home and then had a good laugh when Colleen and Roux got home. Colleen was carrying a couple of scavenged of plant stands someone down the hill had left out by the side of the road. I guess I should not have laughed, because she told me there were two more she wanted down there, and I brought them home when I went for my walk. Colleen spent the better part of her day decorating the family room. She did not quite finish though. I spent most of my day with baseball cards, mailing the ones I had sold and cleaning up my work area, getting ready for Christmas. We were both tired when we called it a day.

Today, Colleen and I will take our annual trip to the mall. We have all the Christmas presents in hand and wrapped so we will look at decorations and treat ourselves to lunch at the food court. Colleen got some Target gift cards from her kids at school, so we will stop there as well. I suspect we will not do much after we get home. The week in front of us will start cold and then get warm by Christmas Day. Colleen and I will spend Monday through Wednesday getting ready for our Christmas festivities. Still, we will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile thankfully, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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December 28, 2025: Near Record Warm Temperatures, An Incredible Christmas Day, Getting Ready For The New Year!

We woke up to cold, gray skies this morning. The mercury will struggle to get near the 50-degree mark today. That is a far cry from the warm temperatures this past week. We had three or four days when the thermometer needle got to or got close to the 70-degree mark. It sure did not feel like December weather, let alone feeling like Christmas weather. I still keep hoping I will see a white Christmas one of these years. Things are supposed to warm up tomorrow, but that may very well be our last warm day for a while. Mother Nature is getting ready to team up with Jack Frost and push the mercury below the freezing mark as we head into later this week and into the new year.

Last Sunday was the day for Colleen and me to take our annual trip to the mall. Because Colleen had some Target gift cards she got from kids at school, we stopped there before we headed to the mall. Target is not a store we go to often either. We got to the mall just before the stores opened, spent the next couple of hours walking around, treated ourselves to lunch, decided we did not have enough Christmas CDs, bought four more CDs, and then came home. We got home shortly after noon. Colleen did some more decorating in the family room in the afternoon. We spent most of the rest of the day relaxing except for when we put some firewood in the back porch wood rack. As it turned out, we did not light a fire after Tuesday.

Colleen was up early Monday morning. She turned on all the lighted Christmas decorations in the family room and then took Roux for a walk. Monday was the start of our big push for Christmas Day. We cleaned all the bedrooms and bathrooms. Colleen found a small leak in one of the water lines going to a toilet, so I ended up running to Lowe’s to get a new hose. Fortunately, it was a quick fix. By the end of the day, everything was clean, the beds had new linens, the air mattress was inflated, and the sleeping bags were out where they needed to be.

Tuesday started with the mercury at the 50-degree mark, and we even got a little rain in the morning. The day warmed up to 70 degrees by mid-afternoon. Colleen spent a good bit of her day in the kitchen. I cleaned, vacuumed, and dusted the first floor. Colleen took a break right before noon, so I made our lunch. I took a short walk in the afternoon before dinner. Dinner was leftovers, so Colleen could make more space in the refrigerator. We were tired but not wiped out when we called it a day.

Wednesday was the big cooking day for Colleen. I cleaned up the last few things that needed cleaning, helped Colleen where I could, and waited for the first of the kids to show up at the house. Maya and Louis showed up at 2:30. James and Donna were supposed to show up between 4 and 6. Just after 4 o’clock, Colleen and I got a couple of pizzas to feed everyone. James and Donna did not get here until 8:30. Colleen was already worn out from her day and was upstairs in bed. I waited for them and then headed upstairs after they got here. The kids stayed up for a while after that but remembered to shut off the lights and lock up the house before they went to bed.

Colleen and I were up early Christmas morning. After we made sure Santa had left the gifts for everyone, we had a cup of coffee and then started getting everything ready. Colleen headed into the kitchen to finish putting together her brunch buffet. Louis was the first one downstairs followed by James, Donna, and then Maya. About 9 o’clock the other kids started showing up, first Al and Alysia, then Alex, and finally Steven and Ariel. Once the paper tear started, it was joyous Christmas chaos. Al and Alysia even brought Nerf guns for everyone just to add to the festivities. Nerf gun wars are a family tradition here. With the presents opened, everyone headed for Colleen’s buffet and ate their fill. Sadly, as the day went on, the kids started to depart. The Ex’s brought the grandkids over to the house after noon, so we had a second paper tear with them. By 4 o’clock, the house was empty again save for Roux, Colleen, and me. Later that evening, we found out that Steven and Ariel got engaged when they got home.

Friday was our day to recuperate. Colleen and I were both moving slowly. After a while, we headed down to the market to get a few staples, some fresh flowers, and whatever other items we could find on sale. Colleen did get to wear her new Christmas sweater though. Colleen did a little cleaning in the afternoon and brought the girls their afternoon treats. I went for a short walk before dinner. Dinner was leftovers and quiet. Neither of us did much after dinner. Colleen headed upstairs after she closed up the hen coop for the night. I called it a day after I finished my evening cigar.

Colleen and I had a bit more spunk yesterday. After Colleen took Roux for a walk in the morning, she started to pack up her Christmas village in the living room. I started putting firewood in the back porch rack. She had everything packed up by noon. I loaded all the boxes and bins into the Trail Blazer. We headed to Lowe’s to get a lock, stopped at Hardee’s for lunch, and then tried to rent a storage unit. The biggest storage unit available was only 5×5, which was too small. That was very frustrating. After we got home, Colleen packed more Christmas things away, and I went for a short walk. It was a slow and quiet afternoon and evening after that.

Colleen was up early again this morning and took Roux for a walk. I was on the front porch with my coffee before they got back home. I suspect today will be very quiet around here. Colleen will pack up more Christmas decorations. I need to put more firewood on the back porch rack, get the boxes and bins from the back of the Trail Blazer, take a walk, and do my usual Sunday writing. Colleen still has a week of Christmas break to go, so there is not much urgency for anything we want to do today. Colleen and I will keep taking everything one day at a time. In the evenings, we will look around and smile though, because we know that all is right on the homestead.

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38 Replies to “2025 – Archived Blogs”

Nadine says:

January 6, 2025 at 1:28 pm

Happy 2025. I don’t envy you the cold for I know how it was for me dealing with cold I was not used to. My winter coat was an unlined double fabric jacket and it was not suitable for sub-zero cold and wind where I now lived. All these decades later, I still feel the sting of icy wind. Our NYE tradition is simply having bbq sandwiches around 10:30 p and watching the big doing’s on tv. This year, I was sick with an upper respiratory virus, hubby was feeling better, and we simply stayed home and stayed warm. We did get to go to church yesterday, but came right home and watched football games. You and Colleen lead active lives compared to us, and I’m glad you do. Happy New Year!!!!

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1. Pops says:
  
  January 12, 2025 at 10:56 am
  
  Thanks… Colleen and I are not TV watchers so NYE was quiet and we were sleeping when the New Year arrived.
  
  Hope you have a great New Year!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

January 12, 2025 at 11:01 pm

We’re back in the deep freeze for another 2-3 days before a sharp heat-wave. By the weekend, we’ll be sub-zero again. It’s +4 now and the wind is settling down. We’re both still sick with whatever’s going ’round, same as everyone else, north, south, east or west. Snow fell up north but we only had brief flurries amounting to less than an inch, and then it evaporated a short time later. The cats are under the headboard, their night-time snoozing place after spending time outdoors. A couple of nights ago, there was a possum feasting on sunflower seeds the blue Jays had pushed out of a feeder. We have house finches galore but few sparrows anymore. We’ve been talking about getting a few hens because of the rising cost of eggs. Feed’s not cheap but……….
When will Colleen retire? Stay warm, stay safe, and stay well.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  January 19, 2025 at 1:46 pm
  
  Colleen retires in June 2026, until then I am on vacation… We’re headed for a run of bitter cold starting this Monday…
  
  Stay warm and have a great day…
  
  Reply
  1. Nadine says:
    
    January 19, 2025 at 5:50 pm
    
    Church services were cancelled in our area due to the life-threatening wind chill factors being near -40. Our congregation is mostly over 70 and no one needed to get stranded anywhere. We are in desperate need of precipitation, being many inches below normal. But, none in sight. Last week, we took a day to go to Spirit Lake, IA since it’d been quite a while since we’d been there and we needed a change of scenery, too. A corn head had fallen off a running gear on the highway so we had to wait for the farmers and implement dealers to reload it in order to continue. No one was in a hurry, and it added some interest to our adventure. We’re looking forward to warmer weather, as I’m sure you and Colleen are as well, Stay warm and stay well.
    
    Reply
  2. Nadine says:
    
    February 24, 2025 at 12:36 am
    
    Starting Wednesday, Feb 12th, our temperatures went into a freefall. Strong north winds made for dangerous conditions to be outside and once we got home from the dentist’s office for a final fitting, we stayed inside nursing the wood stove. We didn’t have the energy to so much of anything even though there was a lot that needed done. Saturday, Feb 22nd, the thermometer rose to 34 degrees, and today, 49. The windchill factors were horrific so most schools started 2 hours late. We’ve only had just short of 5″ of snow thus far. The drought is worsening by the day but since we’re not in charge, the snow/rain goes elsewhere. March is generally our snowiest month, especially during the high school basketball tournament time, so we’re hoping we’ll get some moisture during those. I’ve bought my garden seeds and am starting to get the itch to get my hands in the dirt. I need to be patient! Be careful out on the roads. Black ice forms quickly.
    
    Reply
    1. Pops says:
      
      March 2, 2025 at 12:20 pm
      
      Good morning…
      
      Hope the dentist visit went well. Things are starting to warm up around here, but we have a few more cold days in store, I’m sure. Hope it’s not too many though as we are running low on split firewood.
      
      Hope you have a great day….
      
      Reply
Nadine says:

January 27, 2025 at 2:24 pm

A week ago we were getting Arctic air. Nothing closed or was delayed, however. This we’re, we’re getting a bit of warmth and right now, we have +35, and later on this week we could nudging +40. No moisture in sight, though, and we’re in dire need of some, no mater then form.
I’ve picked up a few garden seeds at Walmart, too. One guy asked me if I was ready to plant and I replied “not in this hard soil.” SO, I decided to start a crochet project, a stocking cap for myself.
The dentist office told me finally that they were going to take another impression but since the other one was wacky, this one would be free and all I’d pay for are the caps that go atop the implants. THAT I can live with.
I hope the two of you are feeling well…. and Roux, too. Post some pictures of the lowland you mentioned. I’m fond of valley views. Take care, y’all.

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1. Pops says:
  
  February 2, 2025 at 3:00 pm
  
  Thanks… We’re finally getting some warm weather, but it will be a few weeks before I can plant anything in the gardens. I’m glad to hear about your teeth. You’ve been dealing with that for a too long.
  
  Have a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

February 3, 2025 at 1:27 am

Happy February. The groundhog didn’t see his shadow so the legend is we’ll have 6 more weeks of winter. Doesn’t mean anything to us since we always have long winters. We are in dire need of moisture no matter how it falls to earth. The cracks in the ground are getting wider and our neighbor lady said she’d heard of a couple instances in town where water lines froze up, and all ours in this area are buried 6 ft. deep. If there was any moisture left, the ground freeze wouldn’t go as deep.
The snowstorm that battered the Gulf states made a lot of folks of all ages happy. That kind of fun (sledding, skijoring, etc) made me wish I was young and flexible again. My brain tells me “You wish. I dare you!” We’re headed back into the deep freezer until mid-month and then we hope our temps will rise to above freezing and not go below 0 again until late next fall. We’ve our garden and flower seeds at the ready, just in case they can be planted sooner than expected. Guess you could call us cockeyed optimists. Stay warm, stay safe, and give Roux a hug from me.

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1. Pops says:
  
  February 9, 2025 at 12:32 pm
  
  Thanks…
  
  My head and body are always at odds with each other… It’s like my head says ‘Here, hold my beer.” and my body falls on the ground laughing….
  
  Have a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

February 10, 2025 at 10:47 am

Good Morning! We are getting snow again, a much needed frozen white form of moisture we’re thankful to be getting, even though we complain how slick it makes roads. We’re glad the Super Bowl is over and we’re not celebrating the win. Oh well.
We’re back in the deep freezer again, though the temperatures are going to be colder than the appliance’s for lows. Fuel oil has been ordered for this week. We’re thankful to have wood to burn for our main heat during the day.
Next week I have a dentist appt for seeing how my new and improved denture fits. Fingers crossed that it fits and I won’t have to go back to that place of torture.
Nothing remarkable happening here, and that’s just fine with us. Keeping warm and staying healthy is our main goals right now.

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1. Pops says:
  
  February 16, 2025 at 12:06 pm
  
  Good Morning,
  
  Hope your dentist appointment went well. Just a wet and cold week around here. We are expecting snow this coming week. Oh Boy!
  
  Hope you have a great day…
  
  Reply
Lisa Millett says:

February 17, 2025 at 1:29 am

yeah there has been a lot that has happened since I was on here last ses previous entry, hope u have a great day,

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  February 23, 2025 at 12:28 pm
  
  Thanks…
  
  Hope you have a great day too!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

March 9, 2025 at 6:14 pm

Happy March! We’ve had a beautifully warm day, compared to last week. Last Tuesday evening a blizzard started. We got just 2″ of dry snow, so it blew terribly, putting visibility down to 0. I-90 was closed from near the SD border across to the border with Wisconsin. There were a lot of jack-knifed trucks along the road due to the rain that fell first and froze. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries nor fatalities. People actually listened and stayed off the roads. We’re told an even larger, more widespread winter storm will move in here for the weekend. Of course, Highschool bb playoffs begin! If I have any luck, I should get my lower teeth on Tuesday. I’m due!!! We’re trying to find a few laying hens for eggs. Prices for eggs are ridiculous.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  March 16, 2025 at 3:59 pm
  
  The price of everything has been bad for as while now. Fortunately, our girls are now laying 12-18 per week. Hope all goes well with your teeth.
  
  Have a great day!
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

March 31, 2025 at 12:54 pm

Good Morning from the tundra. We were blessed with a good rain, some icing, and then snow, all much needed. Roads were glazed over so church was cancelled. This morning, our trees are still ice-covered but the roads are clear. There’s not a puddle of water anywhere, so the frost is out and allowing the water to get down to where it’s needed. We’re still in a drought, though. More precip is due to move in overnight. A trip to the dentist this afternoon to get some alteration done on the denture, then to pay vehicle insurance and get home again to make supper. What yet, I’ve no idea.
We “celebrated” our 55th anniversary last Friday with a trip to get our favorite pizza. It’d been a very long time since we’d had one and oh how pleasant it was for our tastebuds! We’ve been watching the NCAA basketball games and that’ll be replaced by NCAA softball. I miss being flexible like those kids, but then, I don’t envy them the inevitable aches. I’ve begun Christmas shopping and getting melancholy quite often in the process. Enjoy the new life of springtime. Our tree and bush buds are swelling more by the day and robins have had their feet wet more than 3 times now…. LOL

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  April 7, 2025 at 4:40 pm
  
  Well, congraduations on you anniversary! I think I’ve only seen 2 or 3 basketball games in my whole life. I just never found the interestin the game. On the other hand, I will gladly watch 2 or 3 baseball games in one day.Colleen headed back to school today after her spring break. She is counting down the days until June of 2026 so she can retires.
  
  Have a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

April 21, 2025 at 11:55 am

It sounds as if Roux has a bad UTI and might need a change of diet or antibiotics. Poor thing. Our pets can’t tell us they need to see the vet.
After all this time, my teeth are in a I can actually eat something other than soft (boring) food. It’s been a very long road to get to this point.
Our son and his wife came over for a bit yesterday. We got caught up on their grandchildren’s doings.
Today’s bright and sunny and the temp is already up to 51, considerably warmer than yesterday. We had some light rain late yesterday afternoon, and if the legend holds true, we’ll be blessed with rain the next 7 Sundays, and believe me, we need it. Some farmers have their fields planted with corn, thus the countdown to winter begins,

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  April 27, 2025 at 6:35 pm
  
  Good Evening,
  
  Glad to hear about your teeth. I’m sure Roux does not have a UTI. She is almost ten years old and she is subject to arthritis accoding to the vet. We are changing her diet up a bit. We’ll just have to see how thins go…
  
  Hope you had a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

May 4, 2025 at 11:51 pm

We had a beautiful spring day today. 79 degrees with mild wind. How exciting that is for us. The only thing that dampened the weekend was the death of a friend that we’d known for a good many years. I hope on the day she’s buried that we won’t have a gloomy day.
Our ash trees have leafed out and we’re getting a hint of shade. Tulips are blooming as are dandelions, which the bees love. Some o f the large pots are green with seedlings and I hope to plant a few others yet to give the bees a choice of nectar when the time comes. Our boys haven’t been lying in the large pots, so far. Our last frost date is May 12th, and the garden will be tilled a few times, then planted. We’re hoping the deer won’t decide the plants don’t need to be eaten. lol Have yourselves a great week.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  May 13, 2025 at 5:13 pm
  
  See… Spring found you! I’m glad things are starting to turn green for you.
  
  Hope you had a Happy Mother’s Day
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

May 20, 2025 at 10:47 am

Its Tuesday and we are being blessed with rain again today. Our garden is planted and most of my flower pots are, too. Mother’s day was boring. Too sick to go to church and our son didn’t come up but he did send a text and so did our grandson, so they tempered the day for me. Since then, the blowing and coughing have eased a little. Oh how I hate being sick!!! My usual routine labs and checkup are scheduled for next month.
We’ve been watching the NCAA College Women’s Softball tournament to fill our days when it’s raining. My eye dr checkup went well and my numbers had not changed in 2 yrs. Reading is still an issue, however, so I ordered some of those new readers from Sweden that are supposed to be so good. We shall see.
Our cats are fine, spending almost all the time outdoors. Baltimore Orioles and Orchard Orioles arrived the same day, an Eastern Bluebird stuck around for 2 days to rest on it’s migration northward. A yellow-bellied Sapsucker stopped by again, and the goldfinches did as well. Feeders are kept full to welcome them all and give me smiles as they eat. Oh how I love spring!!!

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  May 25, 2025 at 3:13 pm
  
  Good Afternoon,
  
  I am sorry your were sick. Mother’s Day was chaos around here with all the kids that showed up. My 6-month checkup is coming up quickly. I’m hoping everything continues the positive treands that showed up last December.
  
  Have a greaat day..
  
  Reply
  1. Nadine says:
    
    May 25, 2025 at 7:27 pm
    
    Praying for your checkup to show no new red flags and your dr declares you healthy and well. Our garden is in and we’ve had a couple of small rain showers. We’re thankful for every drop. Fields are taking on a green hue as the field corn and soybeans emerge. We drove down to the flea markets in Spirit Lake, IA yesterday. When hubby got back to the car after the first market, he showed me he’d bought me the tractor I’ve been wanting for a long time. It’s a 1949 Ford 8N. It’s perfect, despite it being 1/16th scale. Granted I’d like a full-sized version but this’ll do. lol
    We bought a pizza home, our splurge. Makes my blood sugar go sky-high so I’m glad pizza is a rare treat only.
    Roux is feeling like herself again? Hope she is Enjoy your warm days this spring.
    
    Reply
    1. Pops says:
      
      June 1, 2025 at 5:04 pm
      
      Good Afternoon,
      
      I’m anticipating only good things fron the doctor. I’m feeling great and even managed to shed a few more pounds. If the numbers come in like the did 6 months ago, I’ll be sitting in high cotton. Glad you got you garden planted. Roux is definitely enjoying the warmer days, but I fear age and arthritis are catching up with our baby girl.
      
      Have a great evening….
      
      Reply
Pat Fillmore says:

June 22, 2025 at 9:52 pm

I am really concerned and hope all is OK with you and Colleen. Especially since you have that anuresym. Also last time you were hurt really bad. I care and prayers your way. God knows.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  June 23, 2025 at 3:49 pm
  
  Thanks…
  
  I’m very well and feel great. The doctors are keeping great tabs on me and are pleased with the way things are going.
  
  Hope you’re having a great day.
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

June 24, 2025 at 5:38 pm

‘Tis nearing the end of June, already. Seems summer’s heat is having PMS. Extremely hot and humid last week, and now cool mornings with sunny, windy afternoons. Mother Nature’s mood will be as mercurial as the temperatures. When we had a Hardee’s my favorite was a Frisco burger, too. The business is long gone from our area, however. Now that I can actually chew my food, there’s not much to look forward to fast-food wise.
I was thankful to read your aneurysms were behaving themselves. I hope they stay that way so don’t aggravate them by doing anything more strenuous than normally do.
Our garden is growing nicely, as are the weeds!! Hubby has been pulling weeds for the past 3 days from there and elsewhere on our property. He’s in his element, being outside and pulling weeds!
I hope you and Colleen can enjoy what Mother Nature shares with you in comfort.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  July 6, 2025 at 2:52 pm
  
  Thanks…
  
  Looks like I’ll be pulling weeds this coming week. I find out about the aneurysm on my aorta in September when I get a full blown MRI again this year. Fortunately, it’s the only one I have.
  
  Hope you have a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

July 22, 2025 at 12:34 am

The best starch in the world would go limp in just a few minutes outside. We had some very comfortable days, then WHAM! In came the heat and humidity. Someone mentioned they’d like snow, but we’d prefer that to wait until late November. We got our first ripe tomato early last week. It tasted like red sunshine. BLT’s will be on the menu soon! Homegrown is by far THE best tasting. Hubby bought half a watermelon last week and it’s actually red and has a few seeds. So much better than those tasteless, seedless that are more widely available. Our growing season is far too short for watermelons to ripen. Cantaloupes are the exception. I’m glad Colleen could go to her hometown and I’m thankful she’s home. Everyone needs a change of scenery now and then.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  July 29, 2025 at 4:55 pm
  
  Thanks…
  
  The heat was crazy hot here. We’re looking forward to the cool down this coming weekend.
  
  Stay cool amd I hope you’re having a great day…
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

September 29, 2025 at 9:35 pm

I’m relieved you got a positive report re: your MRI. Even shrinking by a small percentage is a positive, I would think. Hope you and Colleen will be able to visit Louis before too long and I hope his new job is a big boost for him in all ways.
Glad Alex is able to split those quarters for you. Having that wood is a huge blessing with winter coming before long. Until it does, though, I hope Imelda’s not nearly as destructive as she could be. We laughed when we heard the name because a dear friend of ours in named Imelda and she now lives out in your area.
We have lost 3 friends in the past 2 weeks, the youngest is our SIL’s youngest sister who passed from having gangrene, Sad situation.
Our garden is done and hubby has been cleaning it off to ready it for next spring. Last Friday, we had a small flock of robins stop by to refuel before continuing their southerly migration. Saw a pair of swans today at the slough near town. Thus far we’ve seen no geese or ducks flying south. Temps have been up ’round 90. I have a hunch when the weather systems play out, we’ll soon be below freezing for the duration. Soybean harvest looks to be completed and the corn harvest is barely beginning. I pray there will be no fatalities and no major field fires, It’ll be winter soon and a time for r&r and vacations for farmers, Abd some of them will buy new vehicles, too.
I hope all stays well on the homestead.

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1. Pops says:
  
  October 5, 2025 at 3:20 pm
  
  Thanks..
  
  All is well around here. I was very glad to see my aneurysm decreased in size. Don’t know if it is statistically significant, but it was great for my mental health. Fortunately, my heart, proper, is in great shape according to the doctor. I’m thinking we are in for a mild winter around here, so hopefullywe will have more than enough firewood.
  
  Have a great day!
  
  Reply
nadne says:

October 5, 2025 at 8:26 pm

We had a windy but warm day. At least the air temp was down a few notches from earlier in the week when it hovered near 90. Trees are nearly bare now. Those of ours likely won’t have any leave next year thanks to the emerald ash borer that is killing them. I hope that bug isn’t nationwide! We need trees – healthy ones!
Colleen’s got to be thinking more and more about retirement and slowly but surely counting down the weeks and months. I hope the two of you can go visit Louis and have yourselves some actual fun for a change. Just don’t just be homebodies.

Reply
1. Pops says:
  
  October 12, 2025 at 10:41 am
  
  Good Morning… Probably won’t get a chance to visit Louis before he comes here for Thanksgiving. Traveling around is not fun for Colleen and me. We much prefer to stay close to home.
  
  Hope you have a great day …
  
  Reply
Nadine says:

October 13, 2025 at 10:49 am

Good Monday morning to you and Colleen. The sun is shining and the thermometer is sitting at 42 degrees with some mild wind. ‘Tis a beautiful day to be alive.
This past week was BLAH. No motivation to do much of anything that wasn’t necessary. Do you have those weeks, too? Long, aren’t they?
We didn’t get to see the Super Moon thanks to cloudy skies.
Depending on whom you trust with their forecasts, we’re in line for an early snowstorm. While I don’t doubt forecasts that indicate cooler temps, I’m hoping the chances of a snowstorm is nearly 0. Our furnace has been coming on now and then but I really don’t relish getting winter clothing out just yet.
I hope you and Colleen have a really good week now that the rain’s moved out to sea. I, too, have Christmas shopping to do yet. Prices are ridiculous now no matter what store you’re in, it seems. SS does NOT keep up, unfortunately. I’m sure you can agree. Have a good week.

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