Happy Saturday!!!

 Despite being Rod's birthday yesterday,

we still were hard at  work.

We now have an OFFICIAL office!

Yippeeeeeeeeee!

We still need to install real blinds

on the windows, but I haven't even

ordered them yet, so in the meantime,

sheets and blankets work.

We weren't the only ones hard at

work though.

Sabrina was baking her heart out!

She sent Jim to the farmers market

and when she woke up from her nap.....

They sold EVERYTHING except one

lone little chocolate chip pumpkin loaf.

WOW!!!!!

Congrats guys!

She's an amazing baker,

and he's an amazing salesman.

What a great team.

Today I'm teaching, and Rod and Kyle

headed to WaKeeney to work on

Kyle's ..... (something mechanical on his truck).

There's a concrete driveway,

which is more fun than working on

the dirt here in our yards.

Last night I pulled another 10 dozen

eggs out of the freeze dryer,

let it thaw over night,

and this morning before I started

class, I popped in 3 trays of cubed

cantaloupe and 2 trays of peaches.

They are happily drying.

I haven't started up the new machine yet.

It's been over 100 here lately,

so the AC is struggling to keep up.

But the next week should be in the

more reasonable high 80's.

So we'll give the new one a go then.

Meanwhile... I'm "done" for the day.

Happy Birthday My Darling!

 Today we celebrate the birth of

my darling husband, Rod.

It's been quite the year!

Might have even been touch and go

for a minute there!

From here......

To here....

To here....

To here....

To here!

He is a walking miracle!

Literally.

And from there it has continued to be

quite the journey.

He worked hard.

And before long he was back on

the stand, serving the members

of our ward.

He was feeling pretty good about the

doctor telling him that at 60 days he

was doing AMAZING!

Had a great visit with his brother

Scott and Janis, his wife.

He continues to support us in everything

we want to do.

From building our house,

to growing food in our garden,

to raising and butchering hogs,

and everything imaginable in between.

Through it all, he loves his family

more than anything.

He works HARD.

And deserves a nap.

I love you my darling.

Thank you for sticking around

and making our life together amazing.

Happy Birthday!

So Grown UP!

 I'm 66 years old.

And I'm FINALLY feeling

like an actual grown up.

I have a REAL bedspread!

I have a thingie to split my cabinet shelves.

I wouldn't need one if they actually included

TWO shelves in these cupboards.

I had the guy at Home Depot call the cabinet

vendor and they sent me an extra one for

my corner cabinet and one for this

cabinet.

The one for the corner was perfect.

The one for this cabinet fit Kyle's perfectly.

Haha.

But it was free, so I guess I can't complain.

Yes, the clock is on the counter.

It was hung over the window using a

command strip, and in the middle of the

night, it fell off the wall and landed

in the sink and then "someone" turned

the water on and filled it with water.

It is slowly drying.

And, so far, still working........

I have a spice riser like all the big girls!

It doesn't really help me see them all,

but looks better.

And I only BUY spices.

Don't actually USE them, so it's all good.

The ones I use are on the handy shelf

Rod built me above the stove.

And did I show you my actual

laundry room?

It's so exciting!

I did laundry!

And folded and hung it all as soon

as the dryer stopped.

And there were no wrinkles!

(OK, less wrinkles...)

There are still a GAZILLION boxes,

but little nooks and crannies are

coming together!

It's SUPER EXCITING!

Should Have Taken More Pictures!!!

 But we all know I'm NOT great

at remembering to do that...

Rod was BUSY BUSY today!

(I helped some...)

He put up the big Back 40 Beef

picture on the longest wall.

And our hairy cow on the shorter wall.

And the Welcome he and the boys

made for me for Christmas a gazillion

years ago...

But instead of emptying boxes,

we are just bringing MORE into the house!

You know what they say.

It has to get worse before it gets better.

Right?

Right???

It's going to get better..

Right???????

Hahahahaha.

We are making a trip into town tomorrow.

We will swing by the dump first and drop

off some of the empties.

That should help some.

And then pick up MORE STUFF from

the WaKeeney house.

(Or maybe wait and do that Wed?)

We need some wood from Home Depot

so we can get the second counter up in

the prep room so I can move stuff off

my pantry shelves and then move stuff

out of boxes onto the shelves.

And then get the shelves from my old

office and put stuff on those.

That will help.

A LOT.

But it's been less than 2 weeks.

And we have a lot of stuff.

And it's that old domino thing.

Can't do this until we do that.

And can't do that until we do this

other thing....

It will all get done.

Meanwhile, it's also harvest season.

So I'm also processing 5 or so 

cantaloupe, and all those peaches,

and okra, and green beans.

So it's fair to say we are busy.

Oh, and the day started with a lovely

rain shower. (We got about 0.16 last

night, with a little hail, and then a little

more rain this morning so I didn't

start the sprinklers until after lunch.)

Anyhow.

There's lots of do.

And we are doing it.

And we are HAPPY to be here!!!!!

It's so fun to look out the windows and

see the beautiful property and know

that it belongs to us.

YEA!!!!!

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.