Random Musings

Several years ago Joey Burns and I  began clearing the fence line. I don't  know how many hours we worked in briars but we managed to clear a small section and keep most of it maintained. Then DOT did some road work and cleared out the entire area we had worked on!! So last year when they built the school and paved the road, they not only took 1/3 of our front yard, they also cleared a good chunk of the fence line (a long with the fence). When we complained about the fence being moved, they put a new barbed wire fence in, but it's  no longer on the property line. So we've  once again started tackling the task of clearing the fenceline and repairing what is left of the old fence. Josh and Jake have done an incredible amount of work and I can't  believe how much progress they've  made in just a few days!  The trees in this pic is where DOT stopped clearing. From immediately in front of the trees to the woods is how much they've accomplished. ...

So this morning we were up and early so I could make it to my classes on time. I glanced at the calendar as I head out the door and halfway to class my mind starts telling me that I saw 10 AM  on the calendar and not 9 AM  as I've been thinking all week. So after pulling into a parking spot and call Bobby. He double checks for me, and sure enough I've  arrived an hour early! So I'm  trying to focus on what I  can accomplish during this hour instead of all the things that need doing at home. Happy Saturday!

Somewhere we've read that drilling holes into stumps and filling the holes with epsom salt will help them naturally deteriorate faster. I have three stumps in the yard and several small ones in a wooded area that we're slowly clearing (trying to get to where we can redo the fence on the property line and reclaim part of the woods near a bbq pit Bobby's dad had built years ago).  So before all the rain come this past Monday morning we went to work. I should have used a larger drill bit, but since we were fighting the clouds it was a "get this down NOW" event.  I didn't take pictures, though I'm hoping within a month we'll be very pleased with the results. Time will tell!

All these people keep complaining about the weather and how we don't have spring on social media, and I want to simply shake them. I understand relishing warmer temps and the sunshine, but my sinuses are now in pain mode and won't get any better for several weeks, the spring cold season is now in full force (think people sneezing on laptops during class and having to leave class because they are coughing so bad), my calendar blossoms with the warmer weather and my energy level doesn't. Don't get me wrong. I love watching seeds sprout and new growth on trees and flowers. I love biddies and watching them grow  (and so far we've not lost one to the hawks, though we did lose our rooster Tuesday morning about 3am and I'm more than a little creeped out that something got it out of the garage), and I enjoy all the events that come with warmer weather.  But I feel as if life is hopping by and I simply can't keep up with it all. In the past I've shrugged the feel...

We will probably never know what happened that day, other than the fact God miraculously protected. This is the passenger side of the truck. My uncle and Charley's father-in-law took pics of the truck this afternoon. There was only one from inside that they've felt free to share on FB, and judging by that one, I understand why they think the other inside pics are too graphic. I am just SO amazed that he is only going home with bruises, staples in his head, and a blood spot on the brain. Meanwhile prayers are still going up for other family members and friends who are struggling and hurting in various ways in their lives. Life in this broken world is not always easy.

Monday night was awful. Tuesday was a hallelujah day. Wednesday was awful, then by Wednesday evening things finally started calming down for my cousin. We are rejoicing, even though we know there is still a very long road ahead. This is what his wife posted on FB around 3:30NC time today: Today’s Update: Great news, we’re going home  🎉 !!! He’s still hurting terribly, but we’ve gotten all the answers we need and he is seizure activity free. Memory will come back slowly. There’s a lot of details, but he’s ok. Spots on the brain will heal and so will the rest of him. No driving for a long time. He will gradually be back to normal. Words cannot explain how thankful we are for your prayers.  ❤️  Monday, we were at Twin Cities thinking Dad had an aneurism when I found out about Charley’s accident. Both of the closest men in my life are safe and healthy. We are blessed. From this picture to this picture in 4 1/2 days... S sI am still

The biddies are almost all feathered (meaning no more heat lamp). Hooray! We're letting them out a little more, but still cautious because of the hawks that fly around (though they've yet to catch a squirrel!). They enjoy their free range time, and venturing out around the house more.  When laying hens face trauma, it's not unusual for them to quit laying for 2-3 days. We knew our injured hen would not lay for quite a while (her butt feathers/fuzz are growing back but her tail is still bare), but we've been disappointed at how long the uninjured hen has gone without laying. Sunday night we got our first egg from her. :) They're still making a horrible mess in the garage, but I'm hoping within 2 weeks we'll have at least the roof on the pen so they can resume going into the house.

Last night we received a phone call that my cousin had been in an accident and was airlifted to a nearby town. For hours we had no other information, but prayers were going up in many states on the family's behalf. This family has been through a lot the last few months, with my cousin losing some of his memory (he's in his 30s) and a lot of tests and struggles with the VA hospital. This morning they not only took the tubes out, but they allowed him to come out of sedation. Last night he had no reflexes at all below the waist. This morning he was wiggling his toes on command. Last night he once again didn't know his wife. Today he did. Tonight he was moved out of ICU and into a regular hospital room. He still has a very long way to go, and with his illness and being out of work so much the last month, I'm sure the medical bills are going to be unreal. But tonight his wife found the name on Facebook she had been searching for...the name of the woman who arrived at the w...

My planting calendar starts in March (although Bobby had some helpers prep one of my garden areas in Feb). I spaced the pole beans out and planted one kind each week, in hopes that will stagger some of the heavier harvest times. And I'm excited that things are beginning to sprout and grow, and the planting is still on-going. Pole Beans - Kentucky Wonder. They're large, flat green beans. Not Bobby's favorite but I love them because they are easy to grow and I think they taste good. I only have a small row of these this year. (This is what my geese kept eating last year.) Pole Beans - Green Limas  I've never tried these before, and I'm excited at how they keep popping up. (See the small speck of green peaking through in the center top of the pic?) I guess I planted some seeds deeper than others as they're coming up in bunches every 3-4 days. Pole Beans - blue lake stringless. Another green bean that is new to me but should be smaller than the Kentuck...

Geese only lay eggs in the spring. And I use the term spring as in the time frame from Feb- April. And then they're done for the year. But for the last several years, we've not had a gander, so all their eggs are unfertilized. But the geese are unaware of that. So we spend the first few months gathering their eggs when they're not around (the first month or so they lay one egg a day until they have about 10+ and then they'll start setting).  And then they start to set on unfertilized eggs...which means they sit their until the eggs rot and literally explode in the summer heat. And that stinks...mightily. This year a goose has built her nest between the little shed and the old dog pen/my garden area. They're now in panic mode, as between us, the dogs, the fox, and we think a raccoon...something is getting all their eggs. And they're mostly setting on their nest (they head to the pond for the night), which means they're being very aggressive towards us. Just ...

Last fall I started looking for a smallish (as big as me) bookcase or china cabinet to hold finished quilts. We've had many discussions and jokes at the house about cramming "one more thing" into my sewing room, but yesterday it actually became a reality. The family who sold it were carpenters from NY, and they acquired the piece from a home they were renovating (the family gave them several pieces they didn't want anymore). It made the trip with them to NC, and they've finally decided to pass it on. I'm beyond thrilled with it, both in looks, function, and size. And as a crazy side note, I recently learned a new quilting acronym: PIG - projects in grocerybags. :) As you can see from the two machines on either side of the cabinets...I have a few of those (although some are in shoe boxes). And last night we went outside to this sight: This is the "little house" that Josh and I rebuilt (still waiting on the front door and to me to pain the pen),...

Last week I woke up around 5:30am to a chicken making strange noises not far from our bedroom window. I said something to Bobby about it, and he replied, "No, that's a goose." So I'm trying to distinguish exactly what I'm hearing when Freckles races down the ramp, barking full force. Then we distinctly hear the cry of a chicken. So I get up, head to the bathroom window as quickly as I can, and see a fox standing on TOP of the privacy fence, over the chicken pen. I went outside in my pajamas and the fox went off the other side of the fence. I quickly let the one hen in the pen out, and started looking for the second one. I couldn't find her. And then I saw the feathers...two huge piles all around the little hen house. I felt sick, but there was nothing I could do. So about an hour later, I heard the cries of a chicken, and run back outside thinking we're losing our last hen. Instead, the rooster is trying to mate a nearly bald hen. She was alive!!! Evidentl...

Well, the first week of pollen season is here. I remember as a child, the first time I saw pollen on the car. I was horrified and didn't know what was happening in the world. Mother laughed at me and seemed incredulous that I was shocked. I have no clue how old I was, I just remember my horror at coming out of the store to a yellow car. Today in the store, I heard three different ladies from NY saying this was their first spring in NC, and they had never seen anything like it. A part of me wanted to say "Welcome to the South. It only lasts about 3 week" but I remembered my shock when I first saw it and figured I'd let them continue to marvel at this strange and yucky stuff. It's supposed to rain today - storm, actually. So I hustled to get the last of my pole beans into the ground, and planted some eggplant in my one and only planter's box. I'm excited and a tad baffled by my graden this year, even though I'm the one who plotted it out. There's...