Getting Stuff Done

 I spent a couple of hours down

at the garden today.

Pulled a bunch of weeds and

harvested a gallon bag of 

green beans.

(Those are a PAIN to harvest!)

I planted them on the trellis

but also planted watermelon

and cantaloupe on the same 

trellis and they are TOTALLY

wrapped up in each other.

But as they get taller, it 

should get easier.

I hope.

Anyhow.

We got a nice haul today.

Actually there are five MORE cantaloupe, the green beans, AND a gallon bag of okra!
Plus Jim harvested a bunch of peppers and took them home for dinner.

Got a little sunburn, but not bad.

Also made sure I was up to speed

on the watering system since

Kyle is going to start

Door Dashing on Monday and it 

will be up to me to make sure

everything gets sufficient water.

The guys went over to the storage

and got Jim's washer and dryer and

took it to his house.

Took our machines out and put his

in and got them all hooked up.

And then they brought our machines

over to the new house.

YEA!!!

I don't have a dryer vent yet,

so I can't do any laundry,

but Rod will pick up one tomorrow.

The brown box is a shelf to be

installed over the machines so I can

store my soap and dryer sheets

and also hang the clothes as they

come out of the dryer.

We got all the boxes off the island.

It looks GOOD!

(But we haven't sealed it yet, so 

there shouldn't be anything on it.... lol.)

Got the piano, but it's still in the

box. Going to move the TV over a little.

Eventually the TV will be on the other wall,

but currently that wall is covered in boxes.

One day at a time.

The office is a mess,

but I plan to get it all set up tomorrow morning

while Rod is in town helping a member

move to their new house.

(No farmers market...)

(There is one, but we aren't going.)

I can't find my little bags I put my

freeze dried stuff in.

I have an idea, but don't have the

energy tonight to find them and then

package up a bunch of stuff.

So we will just take the weekend off.

Oh, and here's the bedspread in the daytime!

I really like it.

OK.

Class is over.

Blog is done.

Paperwork is submitted.

I'm going to go find something to feed

us and then we will wind down and

head off to bed.

NIGHT ALL!

Have a great weekend!

Another Busy, Productive Day

 Ok, we have lived here for

ONE WEEK!

It feels like much longer.

But today we enjoyed a little 

sunshine on our porch.

And I went to the old house and

got another car load of stuff.

Including Rod's computer and

our desks.

Eventually we are building desks

in the two corners, but for now,

we will just use the tables we were

using in WaKeeney.

They worked fine.

Kyle and Rod went up to the 

storage unit and got the other

chest freezer and put it

in the shop.

After spending a couple hours

cleaning up the shop.

Poor Rod.

It has been the staging / dumping

area during the build.

There's STILL a lot of stuff in there,

but at least it is more organized.

Kyle and Bear came and got Beau and I

this morning and we went for a walk

out to the barrow pit.

(Where he's pulling dirt...)

The dirt was cool, so Bear decided

to play KING OF THE HILL.

It was a nice walk out and back.

While Kyle was working in the garden,

planting our fall crop of peas and beans...

Rod and I glued down the acacia wood

on top of the island.

It needed to be held down with something

heavy for 24 hours.

Luckily we have a LOT of heavy boxes

just kind of laying around.

We also got our new bedspread!

I'm really happy with it!

I ordered a California King and put it on

sideways so it would reach to the floor

on all 3 sides.

I think it looks nice.

It will look even nicer when we 

get some art on the wall,

but it's a start!

And now we are eating some

mac and cheese for dinner

and watching a Hallmark movie.

You'd Think We Were Done.......

 But we are NOT.

And things continue to move along.

I had a LIST of stuff.

And got it all done....

Meanwhile,

Kyle and Rod were BUSY.

(As always...)

They started with a simple frame.

And then they started adding decking.

Didn't take them long to get those

all in place.

And then moved on to the stairs...

Every hour when I came out for break,

there was MORE completed!

Added a Welcome Mat.

And a folding camp chair.

Rod sat out there for a bit this evening

while I finished up.

It was nice and cool with a lovely breeze.

And no bugs!

But now it's dark.

I just finished class.

He headed off to take a shower.

I'll head into the kitchen and

see about some dinner.

Speaking of the kitchen...

This is how it's looking these days.

Still construction stuff on the island.

And the pressure cooker, making 

hard boiled eggs.

And a red bowl full of the okra I

harvested this morning but haven't

processed yet...

But it's starting to FEEL like home.

And we are VERY happy.

Update

 There are still LOTS of boxes.

And bags.

And totes.

And random stuff in corners.....

But things ARE progressing!

Saturday???

Wow, where did the time go???

Kyle and Rod worked all day and got

the skirt done on the front of the house.

I didn't get a picture, since I was teaching,

but here is one from today at the

back of the house.

We will do the sides later.

Closer to winter.

Right now we just need to be able

to get in and out of the house.

The rickety stairs we built did the

job we built them for,

but they were too hard for the dogs

to go in and out of.

(Me too......)

First he dug the dirt.

Then he brought in load after load after load

of dirt and made a pad outside.

(Thankful for all those house pads he built

for the Bergers in Palm Bay...)

Dumped a bunch of loads of dirt.

And then switched machines and spread it all out.

He had to get VERY close to the house,

but he is a maestro with his machines.

And now we can get in and out of the house

with no trouble!

Don't know what is going on with the siding.

It doesn't look like that in real life.

Sunday Rod and Kyle went to church

and I taught day two of Louisiana.

Monday I went in to town to get a load

of stuff from the house...

AND the PEACHES!!!

They look great and smell even better!

I'll be cutting some into small chunks

to freeze dry for the farmers market.

Some will just go in the freezer for eating

in/on ice cream and yogurt over the winter.

And lots of them are turning into peach jam.

It was our favorite thing!

I taught my Monday night class while

Rod hung blinds over some of the windows.

I was planning to update the blog after class,

but forgot I agreed to a RS Pres Zoom at 9pm

right after class and we didn't finish up until

a little after 10:00.

Made a quick sandwich and headed to BED.

Meanwhile, Rod was busy putting up the

new blinds in the house.

I was only able to get them for the two kitchen 

and two bed-side windows.

The other large windows I had to order some

from Amazon.

Looks like WalMart isn't carrying them anymore.

Grrrrrrrrrr.

So we did the "new move-in" thing and 

hung blankets to keep out the HOT

afternoon sun.

Just putting up the blinds made a big

difference in the temperature in the house.

It was over 100 outside and the AC

was able to keep it a comfy 77 inside.

(We don't have any insulation in the attic

yet, so that will improve but not today.)

Patience Grasshopper!

(hahahaha, I have to keep reminding myself.)

Today Kyle and I went back into town

and dropped his VW Gulf at the local

mechanics where they evacuated all the

freon from his (non-working) AC system.

There was almost none in there.

(It hasn't worked in about 3+ years...)

Then 45 minutes later (after I had a nice

phone chat with Mom) we went back and

picked it up.

Kyle installed a new compressor and then

we dropped it back off again.

And headed into Hays for Tuesday shopping.

On the way back into town, he picked it

up again and enjoyed ICE COLD AIR

all the way back to the farm!

Doors are COMING for all the doorways,

but at $200 a pop it might be a minute.

So we got some pretty black-out curtains

and rods for the important doors.

(Bathrooms, closet and my office.)

A little privacy goes a LONG way.

Meanwhile, Rod was BUSY at home.

Put all the handles on the cabinets and

all the drawers in the kitchen and bath.

There are a LOT of them!

He also put up the little shelves above

the stove for my spices.

I ordered 40 handles and he ran out!

Kyle has the same ones and is

pretty sure he has some left over,

so we will get some from him and

be able to finish up the few that

were missing.

And then he did the last of the painting!

Before.....

Still wet...

Looks so much better!

He's a MUCH better painter than I am!

And now they are outside, working on the

back side of the house.

It's only 68 outside!

So they are taking advantage of the cool weather.

It will be back in the 100's by the

end of the week.

This is a sneak peak for fall.

I plan to get the pea seeds in the ground

tomorrow.

And some bush beans I forgot I ordered.

That along with the 3000 carrots Kyle planted

a couple of days ago, 

should be it for the fall crops.

I harvested the very first of the orange okra

and cooked them up for breakfast.

We will be planting orange okra

from now on.

It is DELICIOUS!

VERY sweet!

And when the green pods get too long,

they get woody, but I picked a couple

long orange ones and they were still

sweet and yummy, so I consider that a WIN!

Anyhow.

I'm going to see about some dinner for

these guys.

Still need to unload all the chicken and

dog feed up at the barn.

But wanted to get an update on here 

before you all disowned me!

We Are HERE!!!!

 It has been a LONG time coming,

but last night we actually got

to spend the night here!

Jim moved the "Welcome Home"

sign Rod made me after one of my

Tucson trips a gazillion years ago, 

to the new fridge.

It made me smile!

We aren't fully moved in.

And there are a LOT of boxes.

And other random construction stuff...

We had to turn the living room 90 degrees

because of the boxes,

but we are HERE!

It felt so good to sleep in our new bed!

The moon was full last night,

it shone right in our bedroom window.

It was lovely.

For the 17 seconds before we fell asleep.

This morning Kyle walked over with Bear

and we headed down to the garden to

finish harvesting the potatoes.

Good harvest!

Especially considering it was pretty

neglected. We watered, but that was it.

And then Rod picked up Jim in town

and they headed to Home Depot to pick

up the wood so we can close in under the

house and Kyle can bring in the fill dirt.

I headed into WaKeeney to bring more

stuff back to the house.

And Kyle started moving dirt.

He found a section where it looked

like the previous owners had dug

into a hill and so he is just

continuing. When he is done he will

re-slope it and you won't even know.

AND we will have more flat ground.

He continued dumping dirt on the front

and the back of the house all afternoon.

I taught.

Rod fixed the leak under the half bath sink.

Then Kyle came back over just before

sunset (just after my class)

and we went for a walk down to the

stock tank and back.

It was a LOVELY evening!

With LOTS of fire flies!!!!

We are going to LOVE living here!

And now it's LATE.

And we need to quickly eat something

and get to bed so I can teach in the morning.

Hope you had a wonderful Friday.

AND

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SABRINA!!!!!

We are so happy you are here!

We love you bunches!

Home Again!

 WOW!

That was an adventure!!!

First, let me say how much we loved

getting to be with our family this

past week.

All the love we shared!

So many families are so dysfunctional.

They "get along".

Or don't.

But we TRULY love each other!

It is such a blessing!

Ok, I have a GAZILLION things to

do today, so this is a down and dirty

of yesterday's adventure.

It started out with a terrific breakfast

with Greg (Southers) at Waffle House!

YUM!!!

And then he took us to the airport.

We arrived in PLENTY of time to be

comfortable and not worry about

having to rush.

Our flight took off right on time and

was a nice, easy flight.

I had a window seat, Rod got to sit

next to me (we were split on the

flight IN to Dallas...).

Once we got to Dallas, we found our

gate and realized I am TERRIBLE at

telling time when it involves changing

time zones.

Instead of a SIX hour layover, we had

just over 2 hours.

So we found Le Madeleine, but instead

of sitting down for a meal, we just

grabbed an already made sandwich to

split. (It was DELICIOUS!)

And then headed from Terminal A,

where we arrived, to Terminal C.

They announced it was a FULL flight

and recommended checking your bags

(for free) especially if you were in

the last group to board.

(Us...)

So we did.

Which was nice, since we didn't

have to shlep our bags all day.

As we were pulling IN to Dallas,

they announced a nation-wide Ground Stop.

No planes going IN or OUT.

Stay in the boarding area and we will

give you more details.

Meanwhile, I texted Rozann, who checked

and said it was a line of severe thunder

storms that was shutting down a bunch

of airports.

(We later found out it was actually an IT

shutdown that affected ALL American Airline

flights... ugh.)

Anyhow.

We headed to Gate C33.

Ate our yummy sandwich and settled in

for the wait.

OH YEAH!

While we were sitting there, Rod

headed off to the restroom.

And came back with a HUGE lump

on his forehead!

The poor guy was putting his backpack

on after washing his hands, spun around

to leave and ran right into a wall!

(It was painted the same color as the

wall behind it and just blends in!)

Broke his glasses, but not his nose!

Small favors.

And then we were alerted that our flight

would be delayed and moved next door

to Gate C32.

And then were delayed further and moved

back to C33.

Then over to C24.

Once we were all seated and awaiting

boarding instructions, they let us 

know our plane was actually at Gate A27.

(Back where we started!)

So we ALL herded on to the train and

headed to the other terminal.

And then we were delayed.

And then we were delayed.

And then we were delayed more.

And then we were delayed more.

We were supposed to take off at 8:05.

By this time they were saying 10:30.

And then the pilot and crew arrived.

And the plane FINALLY showed up.

And SIX passengers (including a 

"dead heading" pilot) got off.

The new crew got on.

Stayed for about 20 minutes.

Got off again.

The plane's APU (power system, basically

the AC) was broken, it was currently 90

inside the cabin and getting hotter.

So they found us a NEW plane and we ALL

hopped back on the train and moved to Gate D24.

Where we waited while they did....

something.

And then we ACTUALLY BOARDED!!!

The pilot was extremely apologetic and

put the peddle to the metal and shortened

a one hour, 3 minute flight to 58 minutes!

And then we sat on the tarmac for 10 

minutes because the ground crew wasn't

there to guide us in.

Hahahahaha.

FINALLY got into the airport and

headed down to the carousel to get

our bags. After the usual 20 minute wait

to get them all off the plane and into the

airport, we grabbed them and headed

out to the car.

By this time it was 2:30 am.

We got our car out of the paid lot,

hit the highway and then got off

at the next exit to fill the tank

(and buy some Diet Dr Pepper and

Combos) and we were OFF!

Put some fun oldies on Pandora and

I SANG the whole way home.

We pulled up in front of the house

at 5:44 am.

And went to bed.

Hahahahahahahaha.

I just finished doing my paperwork

for last week's classes, and now I'm

going to pack up my computer and

take it to the house (with a load of

other stuff, against the rules to drive

there without a load of stuff to move!)

and setting up a fake zoom to make

sure it's good to go.

And we MIGHT sleep there tonight!!!

Yippeeeeeee!

Anyhow.

Thank you again to everybody for 

making last week such a positive 

experience. It was so good to see

everybody and catch up with all the

goings on in everyone's lives.

We love you guys!!!

You KNOW he's going to tell everybody

at church that I poked him in the eye.

(I'm teaching this weekend, so won't

be there to defend my honor.... lol.)

TUCSON!!!

 I know.

I'm TERRIBLE about taking pictures.

I just finished teaching and now

I'm heading over to Nancy and Reid's house

to have a bowl of tortilla soup.

She's FAMOUS for this soup.

YUM!

And I'll try to get pictures, but EVERYBODY

will be there and it's a little crazy.

Speaking of crazy.

Yesterday, Reid had to go in for

emergency Retina surgery.

He had 2 tears and a slight

detachment to his retina.

So he is doing the whole

face down 24/7 for 30 days

except for bathroom break.

But the doctor was pleased

and he's doing well.

Chris' heart decided to act up

after he was outside in 110 heat

and 57% humidity (which is a LOT

in the desert) and dragging around

trash cans and doing other stuff

to help tidy up.

He may possibly be heading to the

hospital to check and make sure he's good.

It's been a little nuts.

But (as far as I know...)

Sondra's entire clan arrived today.

Some drove, others flew....

Nancy's Jeff and his girlfriend arrived safely.

(And are watching the StarShip launch with

a true insiders commentary!!!!! Wish I 

was there to watch!)

This is us in the jetway.

Sondra took a picture of Mom and I

yesterday, but I haven't gotten it from her.

I'll do better.

The internment is 9:00 tomorrow morning.

The funeral service is AFTER at 11:00.

(NOBODY wants to be outside after about

9:30 in this heat....)

Rod and Greg had the honor of going over

today and dressing Dad.

It was tender and difficult,

but Rod was honored to be asked.

OK.

I'll check in again.

Probably tomorrow afternoon.

And hopefully I'll have pictures.

Nite all!