Just trying to stay out of trouble.

Hubby is doing well. The hardest part is getting him to not do anything. He is not one for sitting still.
The other day he changed the headlight bulbs on our sub-compact tractor.
Yesterday, he got the push mower started and rigged it so he could mow one handed!
Fortunately he didn't do a lot.
Where was I?
I was out mowing the 'pasture'.
Chaperoned by about ten 'cattle' egrets.



I like to see them come around. :-)

I keep reminding hubby that he doesn't want to have to go through the surgery again; so hopefully (God willing) the inside of his shoulder will heal quickly.

Hope you all have a good evening, and a wonderful week! ♥

February is almost over

Figured I should give an update.
Here is how the celery is doing:



The celery in the red-neck planter and a bucket, are doing the best.
Oddly, the celery I planted in the garden is not. One just died off (though I blame the cat for thinking I made her a new toilet); and the other just isn't doing well.

We've had a lot of rain.



It's looked like this three or four different times in the last month.

That garden has Brussels sprouts, bush beans, sunflowers, and four fruit trees in it. We planted two Stark double delicious dwarf apple trees (because we don't climb so well any more). A cinnamon spice apple tree, semi-dwarf, also from Stark. And an Asian pear, also dwarf variety.
We bought six Natchez thorn-less blackberry plants, too. If any of these survive my black thumb, we'll have some good snacking.

I'm also trying my hand at growing some broccoli.


That's the celery that survived being planted in the bed.
The broccoli is Packman.

This other broccoli isn't doing so well.


I don't remember which variety it is, and the little name tag disappeared. I lost one to either the cat, or possibly an armadillo. I thought that little one was going to survive, but it may not. No surprise with my lack of gardening genes. ;-)
You may have noticed some tires in this garden. We planted some seedless grapes here. A couple called Manukka, and a Concord.
Oh, there are a few garlic plants and onions here, too.

The potatoes seem to like their tire planter.


Tomorrow I'm going to learn how to install a toilet. And we may be getting in the house quicker than we expected. Hubby tore the rotator cuff of his right shoulder. He has limited movement. They took an MRI today. Now we wait for the doctor to give us his opinion.
We bought a... double recliner, or sofa today. It has two seats that recline and an arm rest - cup holder section in the middle.
From all the research hubby did, most people that had torn a rotator cuff said the only way they could sleep was in a recliner.
Well, where hubby goes, I go. There's no heat in the house, though we do have a small propane heater we can use, but we always have the trailer as a fall back.
They deliver the couch tomorrow.
After we get the toilet installed, we turn on the water.

Cross your fingers or say a little prayer or what have you, please, that the lines are good and hubby can sleep in the recliner. We haven't really had a good night's sleep since he hurt his shoulder 3 days ago.

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend! ♥

No clouds or smoke today

Just a short update.

Things are proceeding slowly on the house.

We have harvested probably another 250 pounds of pecans since the post where I told you we sold 460 pounds. This is all done by hand (with a hand held picker) because all of our trees are too old and big to use a mechanical shaker on, even if we knew someone who had one.

My husband's back has been bothering him a lot more since we retired, understandably. It has bothered him for years, but with a desk job, he usually was okay after a cortisone shot. Now with all the clearing, roof repair, plumbing repairs and other various things; it is bothering him more. He is concerned he may need back surgery.

My biggest concern, after buying the house and seeing all the work needing to be done (4 years ago) was that we might be getting too old to accomplish it.

His knees have been bothering him more, too. He had outpatient surgery on one knee, oh, maybe five years ago? Maybe a bit longer.
The doctor mentioned knee replacement surgery then.
We were hoping not to have to go that route; but now I don't know.

Anyway. We have a bathroom about half finished.
We got the counters. One was measured wrong. Because we did not pay $900 to have them installed, we were told at the time we ordered them that any problems would be ours to deal with.
We paid $35 to have the Lowe's 'professional' measure the cabinets for the counter tops.
It has taken us a week of thinking and moving and measuring, and finally cutting a notch in one of the cabinets, to be able to get the counters to match so I could have a sink where it should be; without having to move all the major appliances.

I did complain to Lowe's, home office 3 days ago; and supposedly someone from the local office is going to call; but I am not holding my breath.
We have already come up with our own solution which we think will work (fingers crossed).

I've already told my husband we need to find other places to buy our lumber. There are several options, so hopefully it won't cost us a lot more. There's a lot of work to be done on the house yet.

So, that's why no updates and no pictures. I do still try to document things, but now that we are here, I see it every day.

I've also been in touch with the daughter of Eva-Lou Joffrion, who also grew up in this house back in the early 1900's. Nice times.

Have a wonderful, safe weekend!

An update of sorts.

I don't know how many of you remember this post here; but I thought I would do a little update since the neighbor came over today.

We thought her dog had gotten better. We saw it earlier this week, but it died three days after they brought it home.
Turns out, not only was the dog poisoned, but little shards of metal had also been put in whatever it ate. Sadly, that wasn't found out in time, but probably wouldn't have helped if they had.
:o(

Also, eight places around us, including that neighbor, have been robbed/ robbed again.
One place while the guy was in the shower. He had parked in back so they didn't know he was home.
He saw them running off after he got out of the shower.

So hubby thinks he really did hear something a few nights ago, though when he went out with his pistol he didn't find anything.

This time they are only taking commodities. Things that they can use, or sell easily at a flea market or some such.
The neighbor said three different police agencies are involved now.

I told hubby I guess it's time for us to go out and do some shooting practice.
He doesn't need it, but I do.

Some people suck lemons.


Hope you all have a wonderful, safe, blessed weekend. ♥

Paradise not quite lost

So. I was going to do a post and tell you what a beautiful day we had today. I was going to show you the nice mess of crappie, 1 blue gill, and one bass out of a dozen we caught; that we kept.

But instead, I will tell you about the neighbor across the street. She came over this evening and talked to hubby while I was in the pasture collecting a few pecans. I don't know if they are last year's or this year's pecans, but I was collecting them.

Anyway, came to find out that when we were robbed, they were robbed too. Someone broke into their house and their tool shed.
Looking back over my posts, it was Friday the 13th that we got here and found things had been stolen.

Anyway, turns out it was the neighbors just up the road from us that had broken in. The house on the other side of the empty field.
Apparently there were about 20 cop cars out there yesterday and the couple was arrested.
For cooking Meth in their house.
And maybe for the thefts, too.
Apparently the wife had just gotten out of prison for drug related stuff...

We were in Shreveport having a great day off, haha!
But the ignorant people label?

Someone poisoned the neighbor's golden lab. We just saw the dog yesterday morning so it happened sometime in the last 24 hours.
She doesn't think her dog will live. :o(
It may not help, but please pray for her dog.

All this got me to thinking of something that happened a little earlier when I went out to check the laundry.
A smaller blue pickup truck slowed down by the driveway. I thought it might be one of the two people I've been waiting to call or come by for various reasons.
But they didn't pull in. Just sort of off the shoulder, in the driveway. Then they drove to the empty field and pulled into that driveway and just sat there for a bit while I was taking my laundry down.
(I have my clothesline strung on my porch until we can sink posts for clotheslines.)
Not sure why this person stopped there, since the neighbor up the road has equipment there right now. They were out harvesting the corn in the back field.
After 4 or 5 minutes, the person drove off.

After what the lady across the street told my husband, it definitely left me feeling unsettled.
We have actually locked the house doors, even though we are here.
And tonight, Mr. Kimber will be sleeping with us, too, I think. Not sure about 5/7, but you never know.

I don't like people who are mean to animals. I hope God has a special place for them.

God bless you all. Have a wonderful Tuesday. ♥

We leave on our next trip in 3 days

Yup. Friday evening. Late start this trip, he says; but I'll believe it when I see it. ;o)
I'm glad we've decided no more quick turn trips. Sad to say it has shown us we're not as young as we like to think we are.

Which does worry me when I think about all the work we have in front of us.
But I know we just need to have faith. :o)

Haven't shared much about the last couple of trips. Just seem to be more into reading blogs (and keeping the house running) than into sharing.
Not sure how much internet we'll have when we get to the farm. May have to use our laptop Travelling Matt to update at Wi-Fi hot spots around town if nothing else. ;o)

A couple pictures to finish this up are appropriate, I think. Hope you all have a wonderful, blessed day. ♥

Friday Farm post

We got to the farm Saturday afternoon. This is what we found.

The Johnson Grass wasn't too bad yet.

We also found this.

Now let's see if I can get this to work...



Sorry about the fingers. Don't watch if you get dizzy easily. It was my first try at a video and I am obviously clueless, haha!

There will be more to follow on this topic.

Hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend! :o)

Time of change

I want to do a post, but my thoughts are all over the place. I'm sitting here going through old papers and trying to get my thoughts to settle, but it's not happening very well.

We're going to the farm the end of this month, finally.
But only for maybe a week--which means we'll spend just a couple days there. The rest will be on the road.

We've decided (hubby has, and it's not something worth arguing about) that the out building needs to come down. More about that at a later post or two, when I can get it together.

I love reading about all your animals. I love the funny stories, common sense and sage advice that I read on so many blogs too.

My husband's retirement has been approved. The only thing left to decide now is when. Knowing the government, it will be the last possible moment. Right now there is an 85% chance (my estimate based on all the factors I know) that it will be 30 June. If it is June, I expect we'll find out about the 28th.

Otherwise it will be the end of December, and I will be spending some time alone at the farm this summer to try to keep up with the mowing.

Here's hoping (and a little prayer) for June.
This is going to be such a big change for us. I'm happy, nervous and uncertain all at once.

Happy, Blessed Wednesday to you all. ♥

December

I am definitely not feeling it this year.
Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for all the blessings God has given us; but there are so many things going on in this country that I have to keep my view very small so that I don't get discouraged.
I'm not going to say more. I'll just read blogs and do what needs to be done today.

Have a blessed weekend, all! ♥

When it rains it pours

Not.
Not the good kind of rain, anyway.
Johnson Grass has practically taken over the main yard. Was not happy.
We arrived about 1030 PM. To no water. The pump was out. Went into town and got water and went to bed about midnight.
Hubby has done some troubleshooting. Some resister or something burned out. I am guessing we lost power at some point and the pump lost prime and that was the result.
We filled a couple buckets with water today so we have enough to flush the toilet at least.
Today, the A/C keeps cutting off. Don't know what's going on there, so probably will have to cut this trip short to bring the trailer back to NC to have that looked at.
Just hope we can get the pump working before we have to leave.

Oh, the trees we planted last trip? Well, they're sort of okay. They still have some green leaves anyway. And they have some brown. I'm hoping it's just all the hot weather has been hard on them, and they aren't sick or something.

Final oh before I go, haha. The old cub cadet we were using for a mule? It blew a fuse, too. Between all the hot temps here and him using it for a mower today (it is still a mower, just the transmission slips a lot when it gets hot. we had it fixed but it still does it); the hood (bonnet to some of you) warped from the heat.
Yup. You read right. It warped.
When the mower quit, he opened the cover to look at the engine and it just kind of bent in on itself.

What the heck.

At least the trip here was relatively painless.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Have a blessed week!

So

According to CNN , the earthquake actually MOVED  Japan and shifted the earth's axis. They thought the same thing happened in the Chile earthquake.
This will have to affect the weather. All we can do is wait and see how.

Happy Saturday to you all! ♥

Murphy's Law

Ordered a couple of Filbert/Hazelnut trees for the farm.
Ordered them the beginning of January.
I thought about having them shipped to the farm, but had no idea when we'd be there for sure, at the time I ordered them.
So today I got the shipping confirmation email.
They'll be here tomorrow afternoon.
Hello, Murphy.

I've given one of my boys instructions on how to check on them, hopefully, once they arrive. We'll only be gone a week. Hopefully they can survive until I get back.

It's always something, right? ;)
Hubby will hopefully be home in the next couple hours and we can try to get this show on the road!

January is almost half over!

I've enjoyed catching up with everyone and reading posts. Laundry has been beating me, but I'm catching up on that, too. (I don't like ironing though...)
My memory is really getting spotty some days. I told doctors years ago I thought I was getting Alzheimer's. They told me I was too young. I think they just don't want to bother. So I make a lot of lists, but sometimes the least little thing can make me forget mid sentence.

I am also putting off doing our taxes. It always makes me antsy to do them, for lack of a better word.

Fortunately we did not go to the farm the end of December. As it turned out the weather would not have been conducive to doing anything and with fuel prices only going up, it's too expensive to go too often.
Instead we're going back down the third week of February and hoping to replace the pump house. We wrapped the pipes before we left on our last trip and a good friend checked in December and said everything looked good. There's been some really cold weather since then (kind of unusual for the South), and hopefully everything is still okay. We put in a new water line for the house. Well, it will be when it's extended; it's just for the trailer right now. But we never got the trench refilled because of all the rain, so we just covered it over with plywood. Hopefully it is still okay, too.

When we go in February, we're only going for a week this time. The pump house will be the main project. If we have time, we're going to try to decide what to do with the kitchen floor. Hubby doesn't want it any thicker than it is, so if the plywood that is there won't come up easily, we'll probably just get a sealer for it. I really wish when people did something, they'd take the time to do it right.
How hard can it be to see THIS SIDE DOWN? And even if you can't read, can't you tell by the look that maybe a certain piece or two of wood should be flipped over?

Oh well. No sense complaining about what can't be changed, right?

We have snow! Unexpected. They said we'd only get rain but all the rain seems to be staying outside the Outer Banks. And of course I took the camera back out to the truck yesterday, because I've been forgetting it when we go anywhere and I wanted it when we saw the Bald Eagles. Go figure, haha.

Happy Monday to you all! :-)

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Yup. Home finally. Had a good trip home. Stopped at the flea market in Florence. Didn't buy anything this time, but we looked at a lot of stuff.
Got home and the coffee pot broke.
Then we noticed a crack in the hallway ceiling where the hubby had sent one of the boys in the attic to check something.
And told him to step only on the beams.
He didn't tell us he had missed one.
And we didn't see the crack until now. :(
No idea what that means.
I have a lot of laundry to do.
And a lot of catching up to do, so please bear with me while I get caught up.
Need to take the truck in Tuesday to have them look at the damage done by the accident we were in, in New Orleans when we first got to Louisiana.
And I need to get all the pictures sorted and uploaded, too.
And I need to start thinking about Thanksgiving. I think we are going to the BIL's house.
Hope you are all well and have a blessed week! :)

So this is Christmas

So, it's almost Christmas. We're going to try duck this year. I'm a bit excited. Hope it works out.

Middle son is home. Youngest is 5 days into boot camp. We miss him. I hope he is doing well.

Not at all happy with our government right now. So much stuff going on. Some of which is illegal. At least I was under the impression that vote buying was illegal.

Wish we could win just enough from the lottery to retire now, lol. Oh well.

People think this government is doing so good. I hope they are, but I have a feeling we will be sorely disappointed.

I hope my oldest boy and his family have a wonderful Christmas! We miss them all.