Wednesday, April 29
Today has flown by! We started our day right after our last sip of coffee with no breakfast. I think CountryBoy was anxious to work on his camper renovation project. Since I was off today I figured I would lend a hand. We took the metal cabinet that the sink and stovetop sit on out to my Dremel shop and we set it up on saw horses so that I could paint it. It was extremely windy today so I thought that would be the best place to work on everything. We also decided to reuse the cabinet doors as they weren’t in too bad of shape. They are made of press board and the backside needed quite a bit of sanding to get it fairly smooth. I sanded the fronts as well to prep them for painting.
I managed to get the backside of the doors painted.
I cleaned the metal cabinet that the sink and stovetop cabinet sits on top of with Young Living’s Thieves Household Cleaner (in the orange spray bottle)…
… and then painted it…
While I was working on the doors CountryBoy was busy painting inside the cabinets. He wanted it to look more appealing in there rather than just a particle board floor. I can’t say that I blame him.
Lots of painting going on!
After a short break to drink Young Living’s Slique meal replacement shake (with a couple of ice cubes and half a banana added – so good!) he cut the new countertop for the sink and stove and got it sanded. Shortly after that it started to sprinkle. We figured it was about time to wrap it up.
While he buttoned up the camper I came in and started working on this afternoon’s supper – lasagna. I had some ricotta cheese that needed to be used up so it was just as good a time as any to make some lasagna. We ended up eating early and it was so good. I used some of our Italian spice home canned tomatoes and, of course, country eggs in the cheese mixture. Can’t go wrong with those!
After supper I took a long hot bath. I felt like I had sawdust all over me and my feet were white. Literally. It felt so good. I laid down (I love my bathtub!)…
… and soaked my neck and shoulders while listening to the rain on the metal roof. Thankfully our pulled ‘whatever’s’ are doing much better thanks to Young Living’s Pain Relief cream, Deep Relief roll-on and Sulfurzyme (a supplement that supports recovery time and acute inflammation associated with exercise and overall joint health). My injury was definitely not from exercise but I knew there would be some acute inflammation so I decided to take the supplement. Thank goodness because we sure don’t have time for any of that nonsense.
Anyway, it has steadily rained all afternoon. There are already reports of some flooded streets and I’m sure it won’t be long until there’s a river flood advisory. I’m glad I’m tucked inside the farmhouse staying warm and dry. (CountryBoy started a fire to knock the chill out of the house.)
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I’ve added two more dish scrubbies to the farm market today and have started a new one.
I forgot to mention the other day that my newspaper boss asked me if I had a sewing machine. Of course I said yes and then the conversation turned to me making face masks for each of us at the paper for when we are allowed to open back up. I don’t remember her asking me if I would or even COULD make them. I guess if you have a sewing machine you automatically KNOW how to make things? Well, the next day she handed me a bag of muslin and some elastic that she found in her sewing stuff. I guess I’ll be figuring out how to make some face masks in my spare time.
Speaking of sewing, I also need to figure out how to recover the camper cushions. That’s not actually the correct terminology because I basically know how to recover them. What I really need to do is figure out the dimensions plus seam allowances and do I want to add piping (but I can’t find any piping these days because the craft aisles at Walmart are basically depleted of everything) or do I want a French Mattress style cushion or do I want any sort of edging at all. If I can’t find piping I may try the French Mattress style which needs a bit more fabric in the overall size. In any case, I need to get in the mindset to just sit down and figure it out. I’ll get there. Meanwhile, I’ve got masks to figure out, too. I think I’m going to pick up my knitting needles instead – ha!
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Farm news: 28
Thursday, April 30
Up early on this rainy day. I wanted to go into work early to get the billing entered before the boss came in. Being the last day of the month means that today we have to close the month and print all the customer’s bills. Then there’s stuffing & stamping them… on top of everything else that has to be done on Thursdays. I’m trying so hard to stay positive but it’s getting really hard these days. We’re already short-handed because half of us are working from home but then when whoever’s left doesn’t step up to help out it’s really frustrating. If we all had the same work ethic the work place would be a much more pleasant environment. This on top of the extra work involved to get the upcoming Senior grad section ready to be printed. Maybe when that’s published I won’t feel the effects so bad and the workload will level out.
Another reason for going in early was because I needed to leave early. I had to pick up my B&B paycheck from the accountant and get some bananas for us and the B&B boss then drop them off. I guess I’m getting tired of running around. Life is no different for me. Coronavirus or not, my days are the same. No, actually they’re busier. Stay at home? phhhttt. I’m beginning to see a pattern though… when my plate begins to overflow that’s when I long to just stay at the farm and never leave. And stupid things upset me more. I’m sure it’s during those times the good Lord is trying to smooth my rough edges. I have to admit that most times I fail miserably.
We also had some guests checking in this evening and I wanted to give the cabin a once-over and take the bananas up. By the time I got home CountryBoy had taken care of everything and offered to take the bananas up. He also took the cereal & granola bars up that he had forgotten. I had cleaned it after the last guests checked out but still, it’s been a week. I have to learn to trust that all is well and not stress over it.
Enough about that.
Last night I managed to find a pattern that I liked for the face masks. I also found a piece of fabric in my stash that would make four masks using the muslin that the boss gave me for the back. This evening I cut out the four masks and after some seam-ripping managed to figure the best way to put the pieces all together. She wants a couple made for each employee but now that I’ve made one and worked the kinks out the rest should go fairly quickly. At least THAT task is off my mind.
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Farm news: 30 eggs
A male Rose Breasted Grosbeak was spotted at the feeders today. What a cool looking bird and their song is lovely! I do hope it will come back and bring its friends and family. Also spotted was a female hummingbird at their feeder.
Friday, May 1
Here we go again…
This morning’s trip to Rural King to stock up on feed resulted in an impulse buy. Yep, it all started with the speckled one laying by the feeder. It was all by itself and it was a turkey. We felt so bad that it was all alone. CountryBoy looked at me with the look of a child that wanted something so bad as he asked ‘should we get it’? He has always wanted a turkey or two for the farm and I love our chickens so of course I said yes! Why not add a turkey! We decided it needed a buddy so we got the white turkey laying down at the end of the feeder. Well, you can’t get just two of something, the minimum is six, so we got the four Black Sex Links (which will lay brown eggs. We actually DO need more brown layers!) to make the six we needed.
Some would say there were already two turkeys here. Well, now there are more! They are a nice bunch. We don’t know whether they are male or female but we don’t really care. It’s just going to be cool to have a couple of turkeys at the farm.
It didn’t take them long to get acquainted with their new digs.
They did have a big day though so it’s OK to fall asleep with your head in the feed…
… too funny! I put them in the greenhouse across from our chairs and we sat out there for a while just watching them. When we did leave to go work on the camper apparently the one that started it all went looking for us. We had the door from the house to the greenhouse open to let some heat in and apparently she/he decided to come in to see where we were. It had squeezed between the bars and waltzed into the house. When I came in for something I heard the distress call and headed towards the sound. There she/he was almost in our living room hollering for us. She/he came running towards me and I scooped it up and took it back out and put it in the cage again. Twice it did that. It was just too cute! We are hoping the turkeys will be super friendly and so far it appears they will be
And before anyone asks the answer is NO. They will NOT be Thanksgiving dinner. These two are very lucky turkeys as they will simply live out their lives here at the farm.
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We got some more work done on the camper. More painting, staining, cleaning. It won’t be long and it will be ready to be put back together. I’m not going to be able to put off recovering the cushions much longer. Although I did decide on the piping and I resorted to some 3/64″ cotton string that I found at Rural King to use to make the piping. These days it’s all about being resourceful in order to get a task accomplished.
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Farm news: 31 eggs and, of course, two new turkeys and four chicks
The Rose Breasted Grosbeak was back again today and I believe their was a female as well.
Dream Valley Farmstead 