New ideas & a white ceiling

Saturday, September 26

We’re taking it easy today. No major projects. Just enjoying a beautiful day. CountryBoy is making a hay baler out of an old wood box that was given to us. He’s been letting the grass grow across from the garden. When it gets a certain length he’ll cut it, rake it and put it in the ‘baler’, press it down and tie it. These bales will be perfect for using in the chicken coop.

I’ve walked up to the mail box twice. Once with camera in hand and once without. I’m intentionally not doing much of anything (which is not easy for me) in order to rest my wrist. My B&B boss called this morning to see if I could come in tonight. When I told her I had hurt my wrist she said she needed me to be able to iron and to stay home. So, I’m chilling today. I did pick up the crochet hook and I am able to do a little crocheting here and there but I’m not going to do too much so that I don’t aggravate it further. Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be able to go in and get the ironing done.

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Yesterday evening a neighbor stopped by to get some eggs. He was recommended by another neighbor as someone who could dig us a proper pond. He’s coming by this afternoon to discuss it. Let’s hope something doesn’t come up or we’re forgotten.

The plan is to dig the pond across the driveway opposite the existing pond…

In the above photo I am standing on the culvert of the existing pond. The plan is to dig from the small tree at the left edge of the photo to behind the corner of barn. There is a fairly deep ditch in the center of the photo that ends at the creek. The existing pond drains across the road and into that ditch. Below is a view from our driveway. The edge of the pond will be several feet from the drive…

… and would take up a good portion of this field making it a decent size pond. We would need to add another culvert to run under the road and straight into the pond. After the pond is dug we’ll drain the existing pond into the new pond and then fill in the old pond with the mound of dirt still on the hillside. We’ll cut a good size ditch where the pond was so that the mountain runoff would drain into the culvert under the road and into the new pond. This should solve all the drainage needs and our aesthetic wishes. We’d really like to get this project done once and for all so that the land can heal and look natural again and leaving us with good drainage and a nice pond.

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CountryBoy finished his homemade hay baler…

He’ll stuff the dried grass in the top and then press it down…

There will be a string attached and already inside the chamber for tying the bale once compressed.

He decided to go ahead and cut the field this afternoon…

We should wind up with several nice bales with the amount of grass piled up.

I’ve truly done very little today. I read through a really old magazine while sitting on the porch this afternoon and I took the time to finish and proof my last blog post that was a week long of yammering.

After I finished the magazine I grabbed Creamsicle who had been napping on the porch coffee table and was holding him in my lap. While petting him I discovered several knots that needed tended to. I shaved off the knots with an electric beard trimmer. He is so good throughout the whole ordeal and just lays in my lap which is huge since he didn’t like to be held and didn’t trust anyone when we first got him. When I was almost finished I tossed a freed knot onto the porch floor and felt another twinge in my wrist. Dadgummit, I was doing so good today. It’s not too bad but it’s frustrating as I have been doing so good at babying it all day. Hopefully it will disappear soon but, this boy feels so much better now and I feel better knowing that his knots are gone…

ALL that hair! Our Texas rescue cat who didn’t trust anybody and now he sticks around when strangers or company arrives and he lets me shave him. He’s such a good boy and really too pretty to be a boy don’t you think?

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In the diffusers all day are scents of Fall – Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger and Stress Away (a blend of Copaiba, Lime, Cedarwood, Vanilla, Ocotea, and Lavender). The house is smelling sweet and spicy! I like being able to mix up the scents according to the day, the mood, or the need medicinally.

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Farm news: 17 eggs plus two found on the outskirts of the paddock.

Sunday, September 27

A day of rest my foot. Our guests left fairly early so we jumped up to get started on cleaning the cabin hoping to get most of it done before church. We came down just in time for me to jump in the shower, eat and get to church. We were five minutes late. oops. Something told me to wear my work clothes to church, which I never do, but for some reason I listened. It was a good thing because we stood around after church talking bees to one of the guys (who we were able to get some honey from – yay!) and then we ran into some friends on the drive home and talked to them for a bit while taking up the entire road. Thankfully it’s not a busy road. When we finally made it home I had enough time to make a lunch and head out the door. I made it home around 6:30. I was worn out and did very little the rest of the evening.

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Farm news: 24 eggs

Monday, September 28

This morning was another early morning. I was wakened from a sound sleep around 5:30 with a tingling nose and a desperate need to blow it. Blowing didn’t help and only worsened the tingling so I decided to get up. CountryBoy got up too and we sat in the living room with the oil lamps lit and had our coffee. It was quite cozy.

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The other day I was in the downstairs bathroom and I happened to look up. I discovered that I don’t look up very often because if I did I would’ve discovered a while ago that we had a serious problem…

sigh. I’m, actually, we’re getting sick and tired of all the water problems ’round here. My guess was the upstairs toilet was the culprit. CountryBoy hoped it was that but thought it might be where the bathtub and sink drain lines were connected.

He took me to work so that he would have the truck in case he needed to get parts after cutting into the ceiling to see what was going on. Thankfully my guess was right. The wax ring was completely gone on the backside. We are assuming that the gas heat in the downstairs bathroom melted the ring since heat rises. He went to Lowes and managed to find one rubber ring stuffed in a bin where the toilets are. We are glad that’s all it was but now we have a nice square hole in the downstairs bathroom ceiling…

We have not done anything to the downstairs bathroom and now it’s even more disgusting and embarrassing. We’ve been trying to muster up the motivation to tackle it but neither one of us are looking forward to it. I can’t even wrap my head around it right now.

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Work was good. The day flew by. I finished all my pages except the Obituary page. We wait till the last minute to finish it in case another obit comes in. I wanted to get as much done today as possible since tomorrow I have to close the month out and do the billing which also means printing, folding, stuffing and stamping. fun, fun! I should be able to get a good bit of it done while I wait for the editor to do her pages..

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It seems we have been forgotten since the neighbor has not made it over yet to discuss the pond. sigh.

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Farm news: 20 eggs

Tuesday, September 29

I slept in this morning until almost 7:15. mercy! I woke up at 3:30, 4:30, 5:30 and then 7:15. What happened to 6:30?! I quickly headed downstairs to start the coffee on the stovetop. Since it takes 30 minutes or before it’s ready I knew I would have to quickly drink a cup before time to go to work.

Speaking of work, it was good but busy. I finished the Obituary page and then started answering emails and working on ads for next week already. By that time I was able to start the process of closing the month and printing the statements. During that time I was also getting the pages ready for print and sending them to the printer. We got the OK that the pages were all good around 12:30 or so and I finished up the billing by 1:30. Not bad.

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We had a nice rain yesterday and last night which ushered in some cooler temps. Since today was overcast all day the house quickly cooled off and by this evening it was becoming uncomfortable. CountryBoy started a fire right before supper and the house (at least that part of it) is comfortable and cozy now. I will be taking my crochet basket over there and working on a couple rows tonight.

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I’ve broached the subject with CountryBoy of being able to grow old in this house and property. We both know that as each year passes many tasks that were easy to do in the past are becoming a little more difficult. We’ve tossed around the idea of building a small house on some wooded property with a pond but finding the right property at the right price may not be easy; now we’re tossing the idea of staying right here but building a new, one story small house – a house that will be well insulated and not drafty, have central A/C but still heated with wood and gas, doesn’t leak or have water issues (wouldn’t that be nice!), easier to maintain, one floor, has a cellar, and lots of window and nice porch(es). We have a good thing going with the cabin and we have such a beautiful spot that we’ve worked really hard to clean up so we’d like to stay but the house is not conducive for the elderly or especially someone with bad knees. We know that now is not the right time to build due to the exorbitant cost of wood and materials but it’s something we’re tossing around. There’s a lot of groundwork to cover and people to talk it over with to see if it’s even doable. Nothing may ever come of it but that’s where we’re at.

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Farm news: 19 eggs

Eggs keep disappearing from the egg fridge. No sooner does CountryBoy put some eggs in there they’re gone. He doesn’t even hear them come and get them but there’s money in the box and the eggs are gone. In fact, a neighbor came by today needing some eggs and we didn’t have any in the fridge. He only wanted a couple of them for his pancake breakfast tomorrow so that’s what we gave him and he gave us five dollars for them. Eggs are hot commodities ’round here!

Wednesday, September 30

I’m exhausted, my back hurts and I’m stiff and sore. That’s all there is to it. Yet when I came home from work there were cabin sheets and towels to wash and we’re waiting on our guests arrival. They’re not expected to be here until 8:30 and let’s hope that includes the time change. Wednesday’s are quite physical in nature at work and I usually feel it the rest of the evening. By morning I’ll be fine.

CountryBoy is exhausted too. He cleaned and readied the cabin and then spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. He made three batches of banana bread which is twelve mini loaves; cooked a roast in the crock pot to be added to his yummy homemade soup; made homemade dinner rolls; and started another batch of scuppernong wine. He said there was no way he could be a cook and be on his feet all day. He said he’d need a wheelchair! I’d have to agree about being on one’s feet all day.

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This morning I brought up another house option – adding a master bedroom downstairs. We would also take that opportunity to remove the old siding and make any necessary repairs; build the exterior of the house out so that insulation could be added; put a few larger windows in; re-side the house; and since the new room would be where the existing front porch is we would add a wrap-around porch across the whole front of the house and down the one side where it would meet the bathroom exterior. We like this idea the best as it would be cheaper; we could stay in the house during construction; the addition of insulation would be helpful during winter; and it would make it a three bedroom house which is always a plus if we did have to sell in the future.

The drawback right now is the cost of materials and finding people that will work. A fella came by this morning to get some eggs and we were discussing this very problem. He says they have all kinds of work available but can’t find anyone willing to do the work. Then there’s the cost of wood and supplies right now – it’s through the roof, no pun intended. So, we will plan, talk to some people we know and we’ll begin to lay the groundwork for whenever it may come to fruition.

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I saw the neighbor that’s going to dig the new pond at the end of the road today when I was coming home. He’s been extremely busy. Like I said, there’s so much work around here that needs to be done and those that are working are swamped. But, he said he’d come by this week but wouldn’t be able to get the dozer here until sometime next week. That’s OK. We just want to get scheduled on his already busy schedule. One thing on our side is that he lives right across the street so he wouldn’t have far to go to work!!!

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Farm news: 21 eggs

Thursday, October 1

Hello October, it is good to see you! October has to be one of my most favorite months. The cooler weather, the colors of Fall beginning to emerge, the anticipation of the upcoming holidays, pumpkins & cider, sitting by the fire drinking coffee or sipping tea, and slowing down are all things that waken my senses and help clear the mind. It’s just a great time of year.

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One hour in at work and I was ready to go home. Emails, phone calls, a bevy of things on my to-do list and I was already behind when I walked in the door. I opened up a bottle of Peace & Calming and did a lot of positive self-talking to keep me from getting overwhelmed. I knew that I would get everything done I just needed to pace myself and work through one task at a time. I kept telling myself that nothing was that urgent and that I had all day to get everything done and before lunch time I was all caught up. I’m one that likes to plan my work tasks on my way in to work and when those plans go awry or I end up with more than I think I can get done I get overwhelmed. Once I wrap my head around the change of plans and can get organized again I’m good and can get it done.

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Before heading home I stopped at our local Florist to check out their ‘yard sale’. I came home with eight cabbage plants and some locally made copper jewelry that caught my eye – some dangly copper earrings and a bangle that reminds of wood bark.

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Our guests booked another night. We love when skeptical or leary guests wind up loving the place and wish they could stay longer or booking another night if it’s available.

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CountryBoy started baling his hay/grass…

He built a pretty nifty little contraption…

Once he’s stuffed and pressed as much grass as will fit he ties it off then opens the door and pulls out a nice bale…

and there’s always someone ready to help…

of course I think Missy would really rather play than help!

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Farm news: I have no idea

Friday, October 2

My goal for my weekend was to finish painting the ceiling in the dining room so after morning coffee I got started. Today’s goal was to finish the last of the sections which would complete the first coat on the entire ceiling and runners. I stopped to help CountryBoy clean and ready the cabin then went back to painting. It took the better part of the day to get it all done but I reached my goal. I think I ended up with just as much paint in my hair as I put on the ceiling. sigh. Tomorrow’s plan is to get the second coat on everything so that I can put my dining room back together.

While I was painting CountryBoy finished baling his hay/grass. He ended up with five nice bales. He also tilled up an area of the garden and planted the cabbage plants I brought home yesterday.

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Farm news: 17 eggs

Egg production is really down. We’re not able to keep up with the demand these days.

Saturday, October 3

More painting, more guests, more laundry and just like that my weekend is gone. I don’t like it very much when my weekends fly by. On the positive side, it flew by because there was a lot to get done.

This morning I worked on updating the cabin guidebook while doing some laundry and helping CountryBoy whip up some homemade Belgium Waffles. So good! While moving about I kept hitting my head on the light so CountryBoy hung some caution ‘flags’…

… some of LizzieBelle’s sweaters and jackets, hahaha! It worked though. I did not hit my head anymore after that.

After breakfast I started painting again. Today’s goal was to completely finish applying the second coat to the entire ceiling and the rafters. I did not meet that goal. I was thinking that the second coat would go much quicker but it was actually much more tedious because I was making sure I had good coverage and didn’t miss any spots. I lack three sections but I was able to put the dining table back in its place so that was a plus. Hopefully next weekend that project will be totally finished. I have to say, I am really pleased with how it came out. Not pleased enough to put myself through the torture of doing the rest of the downstairs ceilings but pleased enough to save up some money and hire someone, ha! The white ceiling makes a world of difference.

Everything seems to ‘pop’ now – the wood walls, the light fixture, even the stones on the fireplace can actually be seen against the white paint.

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I was doing laundry while painting so CountryBoy took care of the cabin today. Afterwards he headed down the road to cut down another tree. While he was gone today’s guests arrived. He was exhausted when he got home but he still managed to make supper while I wrapped up the painting. I was worn out also so I decided to call it quits even though I didn’t reach my goal. I think we’ll both sleep good tonight!

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Farm news: 19 eggs