Little Steps

 We do a little something EVERY day

to move this forward.

It's not always earth shattering

(or picture worthy)

but it's always something!

And today it was stuff I was

REALLY happy about!

Like......

Rod flipped the little metal stick

that comes out of the wall and goes

to the shower head.

It was upside down and that caused

the shower water to hit me right in

the FACE!

(And since I have a "bench" in the

shower, I couldn't just step back...)

So that meant I had to stand up at the

front of the shower and duck.

Not ideal.

But today he fixed it!

What a WONDERFUL shower I had!

(And, of course, the internet guy called

while I was in there so I had to cut

it short. Darn.)

But... we also got the internet box moved

from the laundry room on the floor

(where I was concerned it might get

a} stepped on

b} wet)

and put it behind my desk.

Eventually it will go ON the desk,

but we have to build the official desk first.

It's good where it is for now.

ALSO they put an extender on the outside

of the house, pointing down the little road

so WE HAVE INTERNET IN THE GARDEN!!!!

I'm not excited at all.

I can finally listen to books or podcasts while

working in the garden!

And make / receive phone calls!

Whew!

Also, Rod put up a little cattle panel 

fence / yard in the back so Beau can

go in/out his doggie door and not wander

off into the 160 acres and get lost or 

EATEN by a coyote!

Which means if he needs to potty in the

middle of the night he can without

waking Rod and making him take him out.

WHAT a relief!

So it's been a really good day.

But the only thing I could really take

a picture of was the fence.

And I forgot.

And it's dark now.

I also baked some of

Ardith's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

But, after they were all done and

not as good as usual,

I remembered there was NO EGG in them.

Sheesh.

We'll still eat them.

I also vacuumed and mopped all the

floors in the house.

And Rod fixed a leak under the

kitchen sink that sprung up today.

ANNNND I made us some really yummy

breakfast burritos that were very similar

to Sonic breakfast burritos.

(My favorite breakfast of all times...)

And now I'm done teaching.

I need to get the peaches and cantaloupe out

of the freeze dryer and get it bagged up.

And make something for dinner.

And Kyle brought 4 buckets of produce

up from the garden I should at least 

look at.

(But I won't.... I'll take care of it in the morning.)

So,

all in all, a very good, very productive

day... but no pictures.

Cuz... who wants a picture of a 

shower head?

Or an eggless cookie.

Or laundry.

Oh yeah, I did that too... better

get it out of the dryer.

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.

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!