Time & Tides 8.9.13

Sometimes it seems like time drags on, especially when one is waiting for something, good or bad. But for me, most days it seems like time ripples like the tide, rushing in then slowly drawing back into the sea. Altho, I suppose that I would prefer that time move slowly like turtle with no important place to be, I also do enjoy the flux of time, ever changing, rushing forward, sliding back, standing still.

So much has happened, as it seems to do, that I can’t keep up with the writing of it all. I’ll compromise and write what I can remember at the moment  :)

Things are moving along as they are wont to do.

The garden is overgrown but still producing. Cut worms got to the tomatoes and, although we’ve picked off a great deal as supper for the chickens, they have done a fair bit of damage to the tomatoes. Even so, we have plenty. Not as many as I had hoped for canning but more than enough for fresh eating and maybe still a jar or two to put back. I wouldn’t mind at all if the cutworms, which are actually caterpillars, ate several tomatoes completely, but instead they eat some of many and leave most in ruins.

I never got much of the vegetables planted that I had intended to. Net year, always next year.

I’m using the largest raised bed for me herb starting bed and it has worked out very well. It’s the way I used it at the Burrow as well and gives a good start to the green folk. Right now there’s Lavender, Anise Hyssop, Broadleaf Sage, Sheep Sorrel, Devils Claw, 3 types of Basil, Horehound, Poppies, Borage, Echinacea, Orris Root and others. They will more to their permanent beds soon and make way for more starts.

We hatched out 8 chicks some months go with the help of an incubator. 7 are doing wonderfully but the one young roo was lost to a possum. We still have Old Hen, who is probably around 10 or so years old now, 6 older Buff hens and 5 Adult RIRs. I intend to invest in an incubator as soon as I can, I prefer the chicks to be hen raised but we’ve not had a broody hen since we moved here 3 years ago.

Old Juniper rabbit has been set free and she is fat and happy. I was worried she might try to eat Nemo’s food but she pays it no mind at all. She does use Nemo’s paw to reach things she can’t otherwise tho. I think I have never known any being quite so kind and patient as Nemo.

Anya, the mare, is fine and beautiful. It’s taken this long for her to put real meat and fat on but she has done so and is absolutely amazing.

We’ve had so much rain this year and it’s been cooler than normal (with very high humidity) which has caused a few problems, hooves needing to be tended, mold growing where I would rather it not, lots of mud.

But with the rains have come abundance as well. More Monarda than I’ve seen in years, daylilies continuing to bloom much past their usual, so much Mullein and Clovers, And the orchard came back better than I expected. We did lose almost all to the droughts and heat of last year but that’s almost all, not all  J  There’s at least one very healthy pecan, at least 2 hazelnuts, 2 or 3 hawthorns, 2 sour cherries which grew into 1, witch hazel, currents and more. Much less than we started with when we planted them all and hauled water by hand day after day. But one tree or bush is much more than no trees or bushes  J

I took a break from everything but minimal chores and work for a few weeks because I hurt my shoulder badly. It’s an old injury reinjured. It felt like a hot knife stabbing my shoulder for some time but has finally started to ease away a bit. I think it’s a damaged nerve that was pinched or knotted, Work and rest are the best things, work out the knot or pinch and rest so it can heal. Pain is a smallish thing and we can learn to live with it. Better live with it than stop living  J

We’ve been focusing a lot on the house, mainly getting the horrible wall to wall carpets out. I won’t even begin to say how I feel about the monstrosities, the dander, dirt, filth nests. Wall to wall carpeting is one of the absolutely worse things a person can do for anyone’s health. 2 or 4 legged. Creepy and terrible things!  Ok, so maybe I will begin to say how I feel about them.

So, we’re getting these out as we can. In sections, about half a room at a time so the first half can be properly cleaned then all the furniture moved to the clean half an so on. Thankfully there’s new plywood on all the floors so far but I don’t think there will be on the enclosed back porch floor. We’ll see when we get there.

For awhile we’ll just live with the plywood and eventually I’ll get it sealed and painted. Way down the line I would like to lay hardwood in the living and bed rooms and tile or stone in the kitchen, bath and back porch. When I do paint my room will be Antique White walls with Victorian Sage floor. I’m working (very slowly) on a rag rug that I hope will be done pretty soon to go beside my bed, it’s sage, denim blue and white.

With all the rain it has been difficult to get laundry dry. The high humidity even makes hanging it inside take forever. So, I’ve decided to see about hooking up the electric dryer for times like these. And it would be nice to get the wolf hair off some of my clothing.