still unfinished

 I've yet to haul off the boards from the old hen house. A few on the ground are salvageable and after I get the garage cleaned out (Thurs or Fri?) I'll be ready to haul them off to the dump. I waited because my finger was messed up and it wasn't up to that yet, then life has been busy. I really don't want to go to the landfill on a Saturday as the lines are so long on the weekend, so if I have to wait until next week to borrow a pickup and go, that's okay with me. But hopefully soon...

And I still need to finish the trim on the doors and the edging around back so the house will be totally finished. The window guys are coming tomorrow Thursday though (we had some window sills rot out and come apart in April, and the windows are FINALLY in) so I don't want to do anything that would require a shower or in-depth clean-up since they'll be working in our bedroom (and our bathroom connects to that - with no door - an accessibility thing). Today is the hopefully the last major day for weeding in the garden and corn area.

This has been my first full week at home since the middle of May, and I must say I've enjoyed the productivity, even if I am totally exhausted. I'm blaming the exhaustion on the heat. :)

garden

First zucchini will be ready soon!

Straw bales aren't as prolific as they've been in the past, but still doing well.

Added 2 high wires to tie up tomatoes today. Still need to do a little pruning around the edges and bottoms.

Our voluntary pumpkin is NOT liking this heat!!!

2nd tomato row- first and last plant aren't thriving like the others

green beans...finally getting some blooms, so maybe we'll have some in a few weeks
(and I'll add the plants the geese ate, while growing, aren't blooming yet)

Our solitary pumpkin

Tiny homes

Saturday we had the opportunity to attend the tiny home show at the fairgrounds. It cost way more than we anticipated and the lines were very long, but I enjoyed getting to see some of the options available.

Evidently solar panels (in lieu of electricity) are very popular, though many people who live in small homes eventually add an electric pole and tie in to electricity due to the unpredictability of sunshine and the amount of power you might need during the course of a 2-3 day storm or unusual situations. One house a had both solar and electrical options so you could use whichever you needed at the time.

As a child,  I thought it would be cool to sleep in a loft like the Wilder children did on Little House on the Prairie, and there are many homes I've visited with a loft that I thought made a nice sleeping or sitting area.
But some of these lifts are so small you cannot sit up in them. There's enough length to lie down, but not enough height to sit up. That does not appeal to me at all. But I suppose if I were strapped for cash and needed a place to live, I can see how that would be a viable option for a person or family of 2 or 3 to survive. Homes range from $40k-$63k to build and place.

This girl could totally stretch out, but she had her body bent at an angle to sit up.

They did have one option that looked more like a half a trailer (single wide) that had all the living stuff downstairs and the upstairs were for storage. The inside of that one tied in my mind for personal favorite, but its outside had little appeal.

One of the most fascinating things to me was the boxcar options. We had read about boxcar apartment buildings in new York, and it was neat to actually see one in the process of transition to apartment, as well as many options available for their layout and design. Bobby and I both agreed that one was the most practical and homey-looking out of everything we saw. It was also probably the largest inside.

Several had larger racks like this for holding dishes. This one appeared to be a spice rack,
which is a great use of space even in a regular size home.

This pic is upside down, but this is in the home that tied for one of my 3 favorite.
 It had more storage space than most, but the bathroom cabinets couldn't open all the way because of the toilet...

We were joking on the way home about how much stuff we've accumulated over the years. My sewing room alone would fill up a tiny house!!! We know there will come a day when we have to downsize, and I'm working towards not accumulating more. Using up what I have will take a long time, and the fact that I move at a tired turtle's pace will not help things any.

Perhaps it's from moving around as a child, or from visiting so many homes and towns when Dad "tried out" at churches before his first pastorate, but I always look at a home as "how would I like living here?" lens. I don't ponder where my toys and books would fit now, but I do look at the layout and its functionality.

If you've never looked at a tiny house, you should. If nothing else, it will make you think about how much space we consume and truly need to thrive.

Kids Day Camp 2018

This week I spent most of my days with several (9-12, depending on the day) 1st-3rd graders. For years I've listened to this age group moan that all the kids get to go to camp but them. So last year I decided to do a day camp, except we couldn't pull it off. So this year - it happened.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I think the kids loved it (one was sad to find out we weren't meeting again tomorrow!), or at least most parts of it. And it looks like we will do it again next year, though we'll change certain parts of it.

Two days the sports segment couldn't happen do to a scheduling conflict, so we did field trips the first two days. We know to charge a little more next year, and schedule someone who is an excellent swimmer to be there at swim time. (Thankfully our church's summer intern was able to help out with that the last few days!) The pool we were using has a smaller shallow end than I remember, and it got a little crowded the first few days. I had a few tears from a few who couldn't swim but were convinced they could go off the slide or diving board into water over their heads. Ummm...no. You can't.

I am tired. My house is a wreck, though I did manage to stay semi-caught up on the laundry during the week. So hopefully tomorrow I can start putting things back in order, get some garden work done, and get a schedule going for next week. Since I cut grass after getting my home, my ears have not realized things are quite around me yet.  I don't think I will miss the constant "Ms. Monica, what's next?" tomorrow, but I will miss the giggles, and yes, even the groans.  Day 1 & 2 I thought the week might go on forever, but the last 3 days have absolutely flown by.

It's been a great week, but it's also reminded me that being a caregiver is a job, and while I can work part-time and do it, there were some valid reasons for why I stopped my part-time job.

Oh...and I lost Bobby's church keys. I had to tell the Pastor today. I know I had them yesterday after I unlocked the door, but when we went to lock up in the afternoon, I didn't. So I'm 98% positive they're somewhere at church. I just have NO CLUE where. That might be one way to make sure I never get asked to head something up again!!!!

healing & progress

3 weeks ago this Saturday Tim Beatty, Josh McLean, and myself began dismantling and rebuilding the large hen house. I already had all the doors off and had torn what was left of the netting we had for the pen's roof off. While Tim built the frames for the pen's new roof, Josh and I worked on gutting the rest of the house down to the frame. The parts that were rotten (like the bottom of the back board and edges of the floor) came off very easily. The parts that weren't (like the top of the back board and the center parts of the floor) did not. Josh tackled the floor while I removed the wire from the top of the roof and the back board. While using the sledgehammer to knock out the top of the back board, my little finger somehow got wedged between the 4x4 post, the board, and the sledgehammer. I washed and wrapped it, and changed the band-aids several times throughout the day, and did my best to do jobs that involved holding my arms up to keep the swelling down. By that night, we realized it needed wrapping, and there was no way my left hand could wrap something on my right side. So we called Bobby's cousin Cindy, who is a nurse and lives down the road, to come wrap it. She showed up all excited and had even brought her suture kit. Thankfully I had done everything that needed to be done, other than ice it (which I tried but that made it throb worse), so she just bandaged it WAY bigger than I would have ever done. She was a little disappointed not to give me stitches, and said had I called her when it happened she would have given me stitches. I was kind of glad I didn't. :)

It took 3 days for the the first joint not to be black. Yesterday was the first day it was not swollen, which has me very excited. One of the swollen parts has also peeled like crazy and two of the blood spots have washed away. I tried to type with it yesterday, but that still doesn't feel good so I'm typing with 9 fingers instead of 10. Strange, but I'm adjusting!

As for the pen and house...the pen is 99% finished (need to close off one section and add 2 more bricks around the botttom) and the house is almost finished. Josh, Tim and I completed the roof of the pen and the house that Saturday, and Tim came back while we were in AL and finished the floor and house. I spent a day re-vamping and re-installing the nesting boxes and roosting bar when we got back, and a day painting. Still have about 3 more hours of painting to go (maybe Saturday afternoon?), and then I should be ready to post pics. The chickens have been staying there, and last night was the first night they all voluntarily went inside at bedtime. WhooHoo!!!!

countdown

The May election has come and gone. Mom's heart cath went well, though the follow-up with her specialist that was to happen this week has still not been schedule...evidently he's only seeing patients 4 days during the month of June and those are all booked...so her 2 week follow-up to change the medications based on test results won't happen until JULY. I'm more than ready for her to find a new doctor. On the upside the heart is healthy and previous conditions have not worsened or flared back up, so we are very thankful for the report we did receive.

My nephew graduated from high school. I was so excited about going and possibly seeing old friends, and then the rains came. CHS was the only school in the county (I think) who did not move it inside. Had they moved it indoors, each senior would have been limited to 6 tickets, as opposed to no limit seating on the football field. Seniors held their ground and it was outside, come rain or shine. But due to the clouds, Bobby stayed at the house with my Dad and brother and sister-in-law. So just Mom and I made the trek. Mom was worn out before we left, so we didn't head to the field for pictures afterward but headed home. We were leaving the next morning anyway, so it was just as well. I did get to see one old classmate - his youngest was graduating as well.

We came home and I was able to cut the grass before the rains came and get the laundry done, then after church we hung out with Bobby's baby sister and her family who were in from TN. I managed a quick run to Target to pick up meds and a few things we needed, and Monday we were running errands and trying to get things done around the house. Tuesday we headed to Ocean Isle (where his Mom and sis & fam were) for 2 nights. In the past we've either gone for the day or stayed for one day, but this is one of the few times we've actually stayed two nights. And it was a much needed break. The kids are older so everyone was a little more free to do their own things. I swam, did my water aerobics in the heated pool, walked in the ocean at my own pace, observing shells and small fish, and we went sightseeing/browsing one day. It was a tad bit hard getting back into the grind of laundry and errands and yardwork and such yesterday.

And now we're in June, which is turning out to be an insanely crazy month. Next week is finalizing details for 1st-3rd Kids Day Camp at church (which is the following week), and finalizing 3 quilt presentations with Quilts of Valor. Then we have Kids Day Camp, followed by a "catch up" week, then a week of VBS. The following week family will be in town as we celebrate another high school graduation, and then things are spotty for the remainder of July. There's a lot of other stuff going on, and hopefully I can post about them as details become more certain. I'm still a bit in panic mode that the six month of this year has begun. We should still be in February!!!!

Bullet points

• Proctoring of homeschool achievement tests end today. I'm waiting on the last 2 classes so we can pack things up and prepare to mail, then put one classroom back together.
• My uncle died yesterday morning. Dorris Parrish was one of the older uncles on that side of the family, but he always spoke to me, even as a child. With a family as large as the Whites, it was easy to feel lost as a child. He would always have a nod, hug, or wave. He spoke truth, even if we didn't want to hear it. Uncle Dorris and Aunt Ovelene would open up their home to the family every summer when I came home from China so it would be easier for me to see everyone. They were so supportive of my parents when Dad became a preacher, and despite the numerous hardships and trials they encountered during their life, they were both as positive as possible until the end.
• We knew Mom was weaker than usual these last few months, but we find out today when the next test will be. My nephew graduated the end of the month, but we may be making an extra trip to AL.
• Saw the fox this AM at the pond. By the time I got the rifle and headed to the back porch the dogs spotted him and got in the way. Bobby was amazed that it didn't hurry. I've been telling him I thought the fox knew where the dog's  fence line was. I think this morning confirmed it.
• I am woefully behind in Project 365. Hope to finish up February's blocks today.
• A rabbit has fertilized my garden and also eaten the tops off 90% of the green beans in my garden. I might be planting more herbs nearby in attempts to discourage them, but I'm not overly optimistic.