Getting by & a trip to Flat Lick Falls

Wednesday, August 4

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! I know I keep mentioning the weather but this has been the best summer since we’ve moved to Kentucky. I mean, when we’re able to sit on the porch in the middle of the afternoon waiting on guests to arrive and being quite comfortable it is rather amazing especially in July and August.

I went in to work today at 8:30. I just couldn’t get up and going. CountryBoy is still under the weather so I fed and watered everybody while he got some more sleep. I drank one cup of coffee and took the other one with me. I finished it at 1:15! I washed and dried a couple loads of sheets and ironed them all and was finished around 12:45. I helped serve lunch for a group of ladies having a one day retreat at the farmhouse then I was on my way by 2 o’clock.

Before heading home I zipped up to the big city of Richmond and made two stops – Walmart, for the spices I needed to can more tomatoes and a few other things then it was on to Tractor Supply for a bag of cracked corn. I had given the girls the last of it this morning. They’re getting plenty of goodies from the girls at the B&B and plenty of cobs from us but there’s something about that routine in the morning that shouldn’t be messed with, wink. Even Mabel finishes her breakfast then comes out to help the girls finish off the corn.

I was wore out by the time I got home and wound up doing a little bit of knitting and a whole lot of nothing. We were just so thankful our guests were here for three nights meaning there was no cabin to clean and ready just yet.

Thursday, August 5

We were in bed before the sun set last night. In fact, I read a couple chapters in the latest book I’m reading and turned my light out at 8:57. We’re just a fury of excitement ’round here these days.

We were supposed to be enjoying this beautiful day on the lake fishing with two of our friends – part of the family that adopted us shortly after we moved here. Well, they would be fishing and I would reading and relaxing. Unfortunately, we had to cancel as CountryBoy is still under the weather. He has improved but still has no energy. He did more today than yesterday. I’m just hoping he didn’t overdo it.

I’ve pushed myself today to just ‘get it done’ cuz ya’ never know. I’ve been fighting something as well, mostly irritated throat and runny sinuses but that’s usually the beginning of something more serious such as bronchitis and, God forbid, pneumonia. That just seems to be my MO. Lots of colloidal silver, elderberry syrup, Thieves chest rub, Thieves & Eucalyptus Globulus in the diffuser, hot tea with honey, and so on, has been my defense. So far so good. Let’s just hope I didn’t overdo it today.

First up was all the farm chores, feeding all the birds, watering plants in the greenhouse, making iced tea, cleaning the coffee pot, cleaning the cabin, making two batches of dog food – one with ground turkey, carrots, a bit of shredded zucchini, brown rice and powdered egg shells; the other was with chicken (CountryBoy started it in the crock pot this morning) and the same ingredients listed before. I gave LizzieBelle a sample of the ground turkey and hoped that she liked it. She did! I put a few days worth of the ground turkey mixture into a bowl in the fridge and froze all the rest in quart size baggies. Before, during and after all that there was lots of dish washing. I even squeezed a trip into town to get milk (pasteurized only) from the health food store and I had to stop at Walmart (again, sigh) because we were out of carrots. LizzieBelle is like her Mama and doesn’t like peas so about the only vegetable she likes in her food is carrots. I snuck a little bit of zucchini in and she didn’t seem to mind.

Thankfully our guests arrived early this evening and I foresee another early night.

Speaking of guests, we have a guest book in the cabin that prompts people to write a little bit about their stay. One of my favorite comments from recent guests (who were not from Kentucky, never mind the eastern part of Kentucky) was about our “roads” and how they never knew that roads existed that weren’t made for two vehicles, hahahaha! It’s true. It seems GPS leads our guests down a narrow, windy road that’s truly about a lane and a half. We have to drive that road to go to church and let me tell you, I’m prayed up by the time I get to church! Anyway, loved that comment and I can imagine their sigh of relief when the road ended onto a two lane road and they came out unscathed.

Friday, August 6

It was another nice, cool morning and we enjoyed our coffee on the porch. There wasn’t much on today’s agenda but I knew we needed to walk the tomato rows and pick the ripe ones. I wound up with a bucket full o’ Roma’s and CountryBoy had a basket full of Pink Bumble Bee cherry tomatoes. I knew we’d never eat that many before they started to spoil so I messaged my ol’ partner in crime at the paper (the editor, wink) and asked her if she was participating in the farmers market this afternoon. She and her husband are tomato farmers and supply half the county with delicious tomatoes. She said she planned on being there so I asked if she wouldn’t mind selling the excess of cherry tomatoes for us. She said she would give it a go if we sold them in units. I found the boxes we used for CountryBoy’s cinnamon buns he used to sell at market and they held exactly one pound of tomatoes. After the boxes were filled I spent a few minutes making labels for them. We sold seven out of eleven boxes but we only hung around for a couple hours.

After we had come in from tomato pickin’ the B&B boss called to see about a trash run this afternoon. I said we’d be there which worked out perfect as we would stop on our way to town to drop the maters off at the market.

Knowing we would be exerting energy this afternoon we took it easy the rest of the morning. I read, CountryBoy napped then we got ready to go. He says he’s on the upswing and feeling better but still wears out fairly quick. I’m still conserving energy and fighting.

Once the trash was at the dump and the maters were at the market we tried our local Chinese restaurant for the first time. And we’ve lived here over six years. Mercy. It was good and we’ll be back. In fact, he said he’s going to stop in every time he’s in town and order a dinner to go and stick it in the freezer so that whenever he’s craving Chinese food he can simply thaw it out and heat it up in the oven. I’m not sure how they will freeze but he’s willing to give it a shot. I know CountryBoy is feeling better when his appetite starts coming back and to crave something specific is even better.

This evening I finished up another dish scrubby and read. We were both in bed before 9 o’clock again.

Saturday, August 7

The night wasn’t as cool as it has been but it was still nice and pleasant and very much appreciated during August. We sat on the porch with our coffee and listened to the humming, chirping and buzzing of the hummingbirds. Both feeders are filled and emptied in a day.

Hummingbird season started with mostly males and the occasional female. We have mostly females now. I’m not sure where the males went but maybe they decided there were far too many females to deal with, ha. I’ve only seen one male battling the females at the feeder. Hopefully there are a few more out there maybe just waiting till things settle down a bit.

I did absolutely nothing today. Well, other than wash and dry the cabin sheets and comforters and take care of household animal morning chores. I’ve read and napped while CountryBoy took care of the cabin and made breakfast. I woke up feeling OK but with no energy and, as predicted, whatever I’m fighting settled in my chest. That’s never a good thing.

I did check out the watermelon patch today.

We love a good watermelon and we’re anxiously waiting for these to ripen.

LizzieBelle is not a fan of her ground turkey dinners. The first time she had it she ate it all. The next time she ate the ground turkey and left quite a bit of rice and carrots. This morning, she was having none of it. sigh. I thawed out the chicken meal I made the other day and she’s a happy camper again.

We are not a very exciting bunch these days with the lack of energy and not feeling 100 percent. We have guests arriving this evening and then I’m sure it will be another early night.

Sunday, August 8

Sitting on the porch drinking coffee we watched the fog roll in then slowly disappear as the sun rose above the mountain. It was another nice morning but with temps predicted to be close to ninety degrees I went in to work two hours early. Doing so allowed me to be almost finished before the girls came in to start supper and before it got too warm. Since I was leaving as supper preparation was underway arrangements were made for Mabel’s and the girls goodies to be saved and picked up the next day or two. They’re really liking their treats of eggplant, strawberries, and so much more!

We still don’t have a lot of energy but we pace ourselves doing what needs to be done and then resting. I came home from work and laid down while CountryBoy put the finishing touches on supper. I was starving so that was a good sign.

I spent the rest of the evening reading.

Monday, August 9

I spent the day in the kitchen putting up tomatoes. Several pint jars each of Italian and Mexican spice tomatoes were prepped, processed and put in the pantry. By evening I was spent and took a nap on the couch. CountryBoy mowed.

Tuesday, August 10

Another day in the kitchen putting up tomatoes. Yesterday I only tackled one bucket of tomatoes. Today I tackled another bucket. This time I made sauce and canned five pint jars. I’m getting critically low on pint jars and can’t find any. Both towns with WalMart’s are college towns and seem to cater to such. If we ever move again remind me to steer clear of college towns.

Wednesday, August 11

The day started off innocently enough however the drive to work quickly showed signs of possibly becoming ‘one of those days’. Two miles from work a squirrel in the road couldn’t decide which way it wanted to go so I braked to slow down till it could make up its mind which sent my bag full of egg cartons and Pink Bumble Bee tomatoes toppling head first onto the floor board. great. stupid squirrel. There was nothing to do but keep going and deal with whatever mess there was once I got to work. I also made up my mind that this was NOT going to be ‘one of those days’ – that it would be a good day.

In the parking lot I picked up and inspected each carton of 18 eggs and discovered that only one egg in each carton was cracked and one carton had one egg that had broken open. Not bad considering the jolt they received which tells me the girls calcium levels are pretty good. Still being pretty miffed about the whole thing I just shoved them in the fridge and told the breakfast cook what happened and what she would find. Thankfully she laughed.

Along with the laundry and ironing I had to take care of a couple computer issues but I still managed to finish up by 1:30.

CountryBoy got the cabin ready for this weekend’s guests only to find a last minute booking for tonight. Good thing it was ready!

Our guests weren’t arriving until night time so we decided to make our monthly trip to Rural King to stock up on feed. No jars at Rural King either.

While at work I decided we could both use a day away from the farm, cabin duties, tomatoes and canning. Yesterday, one of the girls at work posted some photos on Facebook from a recent outing. I googled it this evening and told CountryBoy I had a surprise for him tomorrow. While he hopped in the shower I quickly packed a bag and hid it in the storage room. Guests or no guests this outing was going to happen.

So, what started out as a possibly bad day turned out to be OK. Now if our energy levels would get back to normal.

Thursday, August 12

During coffee CountryBoy kept trying to get me to give up some clues as to the big surprise. I divulged very little information which he was truly OK with since he likes surprises.

A few minutes before 10 we were on our way with two chairs, one cooler, one bag, ourselves and LizzieBelle. A few minutes before 11 we were at our destination even with a quick stop to grab a couple sub sandwiches. Our destination? Flat Lick Falls in Gray Hawk, KY.

It was an easy walk to the falls but a little tricky getting to the water especially with a blind & deaf dog and our hands full. We managed though and it was worth it.

We set up our chairs on a little patch of gravel and cooled off a bit.

The constant flow of water has worn the rocks and the grooves smooth.

Once we cooled off and had LizzieBelle settled in one of the chairs we walked down to the bottom of the falls…

It was so tropical and green.

I knew CountryBoy would want to go swimming so in the bag I had packed the night before was his swim trunks, towels, and his knee brace (just in case). He was so excited and wasted no time getting into his bathing suit and into the water.

Of course, I wandered around absorbing the beauty and snapping photos to preserve the moment(s).

Do you see the curve of that rock formation in the above photo? So cool!

Eventually we wandered back up to the top of the falls where LizzieBelle was contentedly sleeping in my chair. I scooped her up and put her in my lap then we ate our sub sandwiches.

As the day progressed more people showed up but it was still fairly quiet and definitely not crowded. CountryBoy went for another swim at the base of the falls while I stayed with LizzieBelle and read. It was four o’clock or so before we finally left. A stop for ice cream on the way home made it the perfect way to end a perfect day. He thanked me over and over for the nice surprise but we both needed this day – this little getaway.

I think lately we’ve been feeling a bit trapped. Trapped by the needs of our animals, trapped by the cabin, trapped by the lack of freedom we no longer have because of them. We know it’s a good problem to have so when we can sneak away every now and then we will do so. In fact, I ordered a foldable, off-road wagon so that we can maneuver gear and LizzieBelle much easier for the next adventure.

Friday, August 13

Friday the 13th! I spent the day in the kitchen putting up – you guessed it – more tomatoes. More sauce in fact. Today yielded six more pints. I have five empty pint jars left and lots more maters on the vine.

LizzieBelle has decided she no longer likes her home cooked food. By evening her breakfast (and her meds) were still in her bowl. sigh. Our guests were already here so we decided to go to Walmart to get her some food. I remembered that she liked the refrigerated food by Fresh Pet Select. What I couldn’t remember is how she fared – whether or not it caused her any problems. I was feeding her that when we were traveling but then I couldn’t find it after we had moved on and then I had forgotten about it altogether. We picked up the tube of beef. It has chicken in it but it appears to be just chicken – no meal or by-product – so fingers crossed she will do OK. She sure gobbled it up! I’m just happy she ate.

On the way home we pulled into one of the neighbors where a host of other neighbors were gathered. A hog was in the smoker for a one year birthday celebration tomorrow.

Saturday, August 14

It’s a low-key day. Our guests had a busy day planned so they left early. CountryBoy got the cabin cleaned and ready for today’s guests while I washed the dishes. We still had the entire day to do whatever which involved not much of nothing. I felt tired today. I’ll be glad when my energy levels are back to normal.

CountryBoy whipped up some homemade cinnamon buns and left them to rise while he mowed. They are for today’s birthday celebration. It’s nice that the neighbors are invited to such events. I think we need to taste test them to make sure they’re sufficiently edible. wink.

I also need to hit the publish button and get this thing published before it becomes a novel.

Speaking of novel, a friend of mine has published a book ‘The Gatekeepers’ by Taylor Borchman and I’m waiting for my copy to arrive. I’m so excited for her! You can order through Amazon.