Tuesday, February 11
Less than six hours of sleep. I think it’s going to be another coffee via IV day. Although my first mug is already kicking in a bit so that’s good news.
Typically I don’t really NEED coffee to get me going as most nights I get a good amount of sleep. After 20 years of drinking coffee I just like it. But then there are the short nights like last night and this morning’s coffee is twofold – tasty and energizing.
Funny story about coffee some of you may have already heard me tell… before I got married I couldn’t stand it – the smell, the taste, bleh. After getting married the hopeless romantic in me thought how lovely it would be to sit on the front porch with my love drinking a cuppa joe. The only thing that didn’t fit that romantic notion was the fact that I didn’t drink or even like coffee. So CountryBoy started fixing me a cup with probably 95% milk or creamer and 5% coffee, no sugar. We even had his & hers coffee pots because he liked it strong and well, I was still getting used to the flavor of coffee. Over the years the ratio reversed and now we are down to one plain ‘ol coffee pot and we’re drinking it black these days. During the cold months we drink it in front of the fire place and in the warmer months we are still drinking it on the front porch. š
It’s time for me to get ready for work. Fingers crossed it’s a short day. Fingers crossed that our guest does OK up in the cabin. We worry about that.
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Goodness gracious I’m exhausted.
The drive in to work was a wet one with a continued misty rain. The creeks were swollen with rushing water heading downstream. I stopped to take another photo of the driveway that crosses the creek. Remember I said that if we get a lot of rain that it becomes impassable? …
The ‘driveway’ through the creek is no longer discernible with all the water flowing over it. Many low-lying roads were under water as well. We’re supposed to get more rain the rest of the week and clearing on Friday.
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Work was OK. I finished what pages I could and then started prepping for next week’s 02-20-20 edition. What a crazy date! I even begrudgingly dealt with some billing issues. When I’m tired and something comes at me that I’ve not anticipated and especially if I don’t like doing it in the first place I don’t handle it well. But now that I am aware of this awful character trait I try my best to get a hold of myself sooner rather than later and to handle it more graciously. Some times are better than others. I have SUCH a long way to go though. sigh.
After work I made a couple quick stops at the local grocery store and the Dollar General for some light bulbs and cards then headed home. After tending to the cats and LizzieBelle we headed to Berea for a birthday dinner with my great-niece and her family. We all ate WAY too much and didn’t leave any room for cake but we had a great time. I am now in my comfy clothes and sipping some Lemongrass & Ginger tea with Thieves & raw honey. So good!
Speaking of tea, I enjoy making my own tea blends using dried herbs. I had the typical tea ball and the tea spoon (a spoon with holes and a flip top on it) but in both of those the tiny bits of dried herbs would find their way into my tea. Now I don’t mind a few bits but some of my loose teas and herbs are finer than others and there would be far too many bits floating around. I found this adorable little tea pot at the Shaker Village that has a strainer in it…
It’s the small single serving teapot (18.2 oz) made by Tealyra and I have to tell you it works great!
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Our guest got along nicely last night and ended up booking another night. Yay! Sometimes it’s a little crazy when it’s a last minute booking but it’s worth it especially when the guest enjoys the cabin and their stay.
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I plan on going to bed early. Like between 8:00 & 8:30 early. Well, at least being IN bed by then to do a little reading before nodding off. Fingers crossed nothing hinders that. I am in need of a good night’s sleep. Sleep is SO important this time of year to help one stay healthy. Which is one reason why I’m drinking some hot tea with Thieves in it. That and it just tastes good!
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Farm news: 12 eggs
The farm is once again a saturated, muddy mess but nothing like the interior of the barn. It gets muddier with each rain and it’s easy to slip and fall in there. I can’t wait until we can get the ditch dug beside the barn to help re-route the water. Unfortunately, the ground has to dry out before we can get the backhoe back there. Meanwhile, we’ll just slosh our way through to the chicken coop and Mabel’s pen.
Wednesday, February 12
B&B day today. I went in early and got all the ironing done shortly after noon then put together a newsletter and sent it out. It was a longer day than usual but it helped to make up for not going in last Sunday afternoon.
Driving in to work this morning it was cool and not raining. On my way home it was downright cold and drizzling rain. Must be a damp cold because the temperature was a little higher on my way home than when I left for work. All I know is that I was now underdressed. Thankfully I only felt the cold walking to and from the truck. You’d better believe I’m currently sitting in front of the fire place soaking in its warmth.
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Our guest in the cabin booked another night – can you believe it? Who knew that a tiny, off-grid cabin would be so well received. We are simply amazed!
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Farm news: 14 eggs
Thursday, February 13
I woke up with a headache and what felt like a rock in my throat. I don’t have time for that nonsense. Especially today.
Work was steady with no stressors and that’s always a good thing. I made a cuppa Thieves & Lemon tea with raw honey while there. Boy, did it sure feel good going down. After work I did a bunch of errands and then headed to the library to kill some time before meeting my B&B coworkers at the Mexican restaurant in town for a ‘going away’ party for one of the girls. She’s not actually going anywhere (especially since she’s the owners’ daughter-in-law!) but she did start a new job so she won’t be around as often but she’ll still help out when she can. It was a fun evening!
I finally made it home around 9:30. 30 minutes past our bedtime, ha!
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Our guest booked another night. Said the place is magical! We are SO glad we scrambled to accommodate her last minute booking because she ended up staying for FOUR nights!
Farm news: 12 eggs
Friday, February 14
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
By the time I got home from the party last night I was chilled to the bone. I kept thinking ‘oh no’ please tell me I am NOT getting sick. I sat in front of the fireplace for a bit trying to thaw out before heading up to our cold bedroom. It didn’t work. By the time I crawled in bed I was literally shivering. I turned the radiator heater on high, grabbed LizzieBelle and put her right against my abdomen yet I was still shivering. I finally put my fleece bathrobe directly on top of me under the covers as it’s very warm. CountryBoy also scooted over to share his body heat. It took about 30 minutes but I finally got warm and stopped shivering then I immediately fell asleep. I slept hard.
I woke up with another headache but no rock in the throat. The headache is now gone and I’m feeling back to normal although still a tad on the tired side.
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As we were having coffee this morning it started snowing. There was some accumulation on the ground but it didn’t stay long. A few hours later the sun came out yet there were still a few snowflakes floating here and there. Crazy!
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Our guest reluctantly checked out at noon today and we headed up to clean and ready the cabin for the next guests this afternoon. We are both enjoying the whole Airbnb hosting experience. I think it suits us.
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I can’t decide what to do this afternoon. Our guests should arrive within the hour and after they get settled in then we can carry on about our business. I just don’t know what that business might be at the moment. I may do some reading. I checked out three books yesterday while at the library. One is fiction by Jude Deveraux, one is educational on homesteading and self-sufficiency and the other is a book on tactical tools for intentional (or simple) living. I’ve already started reading that one. Lots of good points in there. The fiction I will start reading as soon as I finish ‘Giver of the Stars’ (I have one, maybe two chapters left).
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Farm news: 15 eggs
Saturday, February 15
I ended up not doing much of nothing Friday afternoon. I did a little reading and we played a few rounds of Fast Scrabble then headed to bed early. Like 8:00 early! I finished ‘Giver of the Stars’ (great read even if I am partial because I’ve met Jojo Moyes at the very Snug Hollow that is mentioned in the Foreward and because it’s about Kentucky!) and then promptly fell asleep.
Today I’ve been in low-gear as my Mom used to say. I would do something and immediately felt drained. I know I’ve been fighting something ever since that day I woke up feeling like there was a rock in my throat. So, again today I did not do much. I did manage to get a couple loads of laundry done and I spent much of the day working on the hexagon afghan. Goodness gracious, so tedious – piecing all the pieces together, weaving in the loose ends – but it’s going to be adorable so I’m determined to get ‘er done!
I took a two hour nap in the afternoon. I never nap but when I’m fighting something – I’ll take a nap if I need one because sleep is very important in the body’s healing process. I also took a hot bath with Eucalyptus Globulus & Wintergreen epsom salts. (I scooped out some epsom salt and dropped several drops of each essential oil onto the salt.) I soaked for quite a while. Baths are good for allowing toxins to exit our bodies via the soles of our feet. Google detox baths, you’ll find all sorts of info.
CountryBoy kept me fed and kept the fire going. We played some Fast Scrabble before calling it a day.
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We’ve had no rain since Thursday. Yay! This will allow the water that has covered many streets and fields to recede. Rain is good for the soil but too much can also be devastating.
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Farm news: 15 eggs
CountryBoy discovered one of the young chicks is a rooster. He had a feeling it may have been as its tail was much longer than the others. Today he saw it dance around one of the hens and try to jump on her. Popcorn, the big rooster, saw it and ran over and pecked at it and the young rooster took off running. Having two roosters is not a good thing. I’m hoping that since the young rooster grew up under Popcorn’s watchful eye that maybe they will just establish a pecking order and be civil to each other. Fingers crossed because otherwise I don’t know what we’ll do.
Dream Valley Farmstead 