Getting It Done

We may be slow, but little by little we are getting this place fixed up.  Spent the day yesterday mowing, pulling weeds and watering while my husband did some tree and brush trimming.  This time of year everything grows fast and we need to do a whole lot more in the way of cleaning and trimming brush.  I have been concentrating on getting things planted to produce food, my orchard is almost set...I had a peach tree die, so I will probably replace it...maybe when they go on clearance?  Still have a lot of planting to do in the garden too.  Maybe I can get that done in the next couple of days.  I have been doctoring roosters for the past two months, but I am about ready to send them back out to the yard.  I really need to power wash my house and the back porch needs to be cleaned off badly.  But, we are working on remodeling the master bath too.  

Today we actually got the shower pan poured.  Ok, maybe poured is not the correct terminology.  I guess it was more like shoveling large blobs of the mortar in the form and smashing it into place...then trying to smooth it out.  That sounds more like it.  My husband mixed it and shoveled it in, and I moved it and tamped it down and smoothed it.  We haven’t ever done it before so hopefully we did a good job.  We have done a lot more than just that, but that is what we did today.  It is just a small piece of the bathroom remodel that has been happening since October maybe?  Yeah, things kind of expanded...problems found and fixed and we are finally getting things closed up.  My bathroom was so cold, hopefully once everything is complete, I won’t freeze to death taking a shower anymore.  We removed the non-working jetted tub and redid all the plumbing in the wall.  We will be actually attaching the toilet to the floor after I tile.  I got metal legs to make an Industrial looking vanity, and we are going to use a piece of Walnut butcher block left over from the kitchen remodel on top.  We are installing a vessel sink and new fixtures and such too.  When I have time and we finish it up I will post pictures.  We are upgrading the floor from vinyl to tile too.  I have never tiled a shower surround, but there is a first time for everything.  They just put some kind of fake wallboard up to begin with and it was falling apart too.  Nothing like living with that nasty bathroom for five years, but it is changing...but because of other issues, the other two are getting something of a facelift too.  We just want to get ours finished before we start working on them.  Plumbing issues are getting fixed, so all are getting new ceramic flooring, some new fixtures and paint after the walls are repaired.

Yep, a lot of it we are attempting to learn and do on our own.  We didn’t count on having to do three bathrooms at once.  But, it is what it is.  I just need to get ours done before the garden starts producing and canning season is in full force.  Just not enough time in the day sometimes.  I am thankful my husband will eat a sandwich or hotdogs or a premade frozen pizza, because gourmet cooking will not be happening for awhile.  

In the mean time, I have to finish my drainage project too.  I have only done one French drain that is about 20 feet long and dug trenches for more.  But, because I didn’t get the pipes in the trenches...I will have to redig them a bit, then a drainage pipe I was going to attach them to collapsed...so I need to dig it out and replace it too...I need materials.  I also found a bunch of cinderblocks and paving stones on a sale site and need to build a retaining wall and fix some coop foundations too.  So, if I don’t write again for awhile...it. Is because I have so many projects to do.  We are not rich...so we tackle everything ourselves.  A lot of the time I am working by myself and this old body of mine ain’t what she use to be.

On a wonderful note...my grapevines that I transplanted are growing.  I was afraid I might have killed them.  We used cattle panels this time for them to climb on, I think they will last a long time.  You can’t cut through cattle panels with a weed eater string like you can with 2”x4” welded wire fencing.  Three of the rose bushes I planted have bloomed too.  So I got to do a little to pretty up the place some...they smell good too!  I have peaches, pears, apples, plums and blueberries growing...and have harvested some strawberries already.  I need to stake some of the fruit trees I planted, but my little orchard is doing good and starting to produce.  Even the wild plums I transplanted three years ago have lots of plums on them now.

I am happy, I feel like our hard work is starting to pay off.  We still have a long way to go and I am still behind on a lot of chores, but...tomorrow is another day.

Have You Ever?

I am just wondering how many people actually realize how valuable farmers are?  There is a reason they get up before the sunrises and work until it is too dark to see at night.  Taking care of animals, planting crops, nurturing them and getting them to grow takes A LOT of work!  It is not a nine to five job, it is around the clock, no days off, 365 days and nights of the year job...even for a small scale farm.  It is amazing that so many people do farm and can feed all those who do not.  Do you know exactly where your food comes from?  No, I am not talking about your corner market, not the shelves and refrigerated sections of the grocery store, not even the Farmers Market that you like to get those great tasting fresh fruits and vegetables from...think about it.  Have you ever thanked a farmer?  Have you thanked a rancher?  How about it?  I never did.  They are precious people, the salt of the earth, hard working people who love what they do...you can pretty much bet they are loosing money or barely scraping by unless they are huge and can actually sell mass quantities of whatever they grow or raise to large Co-ops or Brokers who sell to markets and canners and meatpackers or whatever they do prior to getting them to your favorite store. So, I just want to take a moment, to thank every farmer, rancher, cowboy, picker, driver...did I leave anyone out?  Thank you! Thank you! Thank You, ten million times Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to feeding and clothing the people of this great and wondrous plant we call home.

I slept good last night and yesterday was an easy day for me, I mowed, pulled weeds and watered...and took care of my animals...I got my first official sunburn of the year too.  It just amazes me how much I love seeing things grow, feeling the texture of the soil, seeing fruit developing on my trees, thinking about what am I going to plant next and where?  I have chicks happily chirping in the next room, a rooster is crowing on my back porch and I have fresh picked strawberries from my plants sitting on my kitchen counter waiting to be eaten with French toast made from the fresh eggs from my chickens or ducks.  Today will be a busy day too, it is looking like it is going to be another beautiful day outside.  No I haven’t written much, but I must get busy...always a lot to do on the farm and I just want to thank my husband too, for going on this journey to find our happy place and working so hard and trying to make it our perfect place to be!

Here it is, April...

I did get seeds started, and an initial tilling done in my garden to mix in the composted chicken poop...but flat tires that would not stay aired up caused problems.  I got new inner tubes, but little did we know...they really don’t seem to make the rims for tillers sturdy enough to put new tubes in...now they are bent.  It took me a few days of searching, but...I finally have new wheels and tires on the way!  Maybe I will get my garden planted soon...most of the seeds are sprouted and ready to go and I bought some plants like broccoli, tomato, a variety of peppers.  It is kind of good that I haven’t planted yet, we got down in the 30’s...they called for a possible freeze, but I think the warm days prior kept it from happening here.  We had pretty bad storms too, and of corse tornados close.  None of my plants got damaged, I had them on a covered porch and hung a tarp to block the wind.

I have been playing catch up still too.  I planted more trees and have attempted to get them mulched, but I will need more mulch.  I only got about half done, with 20 bags of mulch.  I tried to get areas done that dry quicker, and the new plants.  I need to do my blueberries though...weeds grow so fast that some of them my disappear if I am not diligent about mowing.  I get behind some and skip a week and if it rains much, the weeds and grass grow really tall...really fast.  I get big projects done at the expense of cleaning things, I still haven’t power washed my house and it is looking pretty bad.  I wasn’t going to start up the incubators until I got caught up, but I have people calling wanting chicks, so I did...and another incubator stopped working!  I am down to one that works well, and one that I really may have to detail clean and disinfect majorly, the first batch of eggs...all but three failed.  It gets warmer on one side than the other too.  I really need to make a cabinet incubator...soon.

I have been battling allergy issues too, a double ear infection that seems not to want to go away completely.  What is weird is although I can hear again and I think the infection has gone away, my ears continue to itch.  Not just my inner ear, but even my ear lobes and the outer ear too.  I am wondering if maybe the drops they prescribed are causing it?  I am trying Sweet Oil and a homeopathic ear drop and allergy drops called Texas Trees and Grasses.  If I remember to take them three times a day, the itching is not too bad...if I don’t, it itches like crazy.  I have cleaned my ears, walked around with Sweet Oil and cotton balls in my ears, used various essential oils.  I just hope after everything finishes releasing so much pollen that it will stop.

I have chicks hatching now, and tons to get done before it gets real hot out so, it may be awhile before another update.  Hopefully I will get the majority of my projects done before canning season begins, time will tell.