June 21, 2022
The week before last Mike and I worked our butts off! He has continued to clear back the brush around our farm and even though
it creates more work for him, he likes to keep the grounds surrounding our home
looking well-groomed. This requires many
hours on the lawn mower, riding over rough terrain. Our back yard is so steep that he cannot ride
the mower safely any way but up. When he
gets to the top, he takes his foot off the brake and rolls back down the hill
before moving over to cut another swath.
The only other solution would be to use a push mower and it takes the
strength of Samson to do that. (He did
cut it with a push mower the first couple of years we lived here, but
retirement should bring at least a few luxuries, right?) Behind our house, the growth was so bad that
it had taken over a portion of the yard. Mike carefully worked on the steep
slopes cutting up dead trees, using the skid steer to push back the brush,
removing an ancient fence, and creating order to what was threatening to eventually
grow up over our house. Then, further
down the hill where multiflora rose bushes were so thick one could not venture
through, he cleared the thick brush and planted grass. This new space gives us access to the point where
an unnamed stream flows over our land and around our home joining with another stream that
crosses under the road at the edge of our property. Together, they form Rhodes Creek, and this creek borders most of our Eastern to South-East property line. Here, where the two streams join and the water
widens, Mike has created a pleasant area where we can walk to the water.
Originally
when we moved onto this property our cattle could come into the meadow to graze
beside our home, which meant Mike only had to bush hog it on occasion. When we implemented the conservation program
and fenced out the wetlands, the cattle could no longer keep the grasses in
check as they are not allowed to graze within the conservation areas. At first, Mike let the area grow and would
bush hog it only from time to time. However,
that wasn’t good enough for him. He has
begun mowing it every week along with the rest of the areas around the
house. He also keeps in check the high
grasses on the steep bank in front of our home, as well as along the banks of
several streams around our farm. All of
this beautiful, mountain landscape can only be maintained with hours of mowing,
and a weed eater. Usually, this process
is spaced out over several weeks so that it’s not so tiresome. However, knowing we were having family that
would be visiting, he wanted everything to look nice and he wanted to be able
to take a week off from all the maintenance.
Getting around to it in less than seven days was quite an accomplishment.
As
for myself, I wanted to have not only the house but also the guest cabin and
the vintage camper (as well as the flower beds around them) clean and in
order. Of course, the task included washing
windows and making sure there was fresh bedding for everyone who would be staying
with us overnight. Then there’s the
porch! Our porch is an extension of our home
in the summertime and after using it for a sick bay for two senior dogs over
the winter, we have worked hard to clean and freshen everything up this spring. Mike has painted for weeks until every rail
and rafter is once again bright white and the deck a fresh coat of “potato skin
brown”. All the vintage wicker outdoor
furniture has been freshly painted and has newly covered cushions of a daisy
pattern. I even covered the seats on the
iron chairs we use with our round picnic table.
I planted geraniums in vintage buckets and enamel pans, transplanted the
juvenile spider plants I have encouraged to grow all winter, and hooked a
couple of hanging baskets to the old ladder we attached to the porch beams for
such a purpose.
Then
we had to make “a trip to town” to stock up on groceries. We stopped by the orchard and picked up a
gallon of Ranier cherries. Then we got two
gallons of strawberries from the strawberry patch. As if that were not enough fruit, we also
stocked up on grapes, bananas, apples, and cantaloupes! We didn’t want the grandkids to be without
fresh fruit! Of course, we had to get other
supplies as well. I wanted a well-stocked
kitchen while we had guests. With the
house cleaned, the grounds in tip-top shape, and the food purchased, it was time
to get down to business on Sunday afternoon and start prepping food for the
week. I had both the vintage
refrigerator that we use in the kitchen and my backup frig completely full of fresh
fruits, veggies, and food that I had been prepping when I realized that the temperature
in the larger refrigerator was rising. Ugh. It was the hottest day of the season so far
and we do not have air conditioning in our house. I began putting anything I could into the freezers. Almost all
the strawberries went into the freezer.
The meats I had cooked ahead for casseroles went in the freezer. I moved everything else into the small, vintage refrigerator, stacking and squeezing to make it fit. Then we went shopping at Lowes, a 45-minute
drive one way, to buy a new unit. Once
there, I explained quickly to the sales associate that I needed a new
refrigerator, without any fancy gadgets, and I needed it fast. In less than 15 minutes I had gone through the
possibilities and picked one. I explained
to him that some people have a beer frig but I have a milk frig and this
refrigerator didn’t need to be anything fancy as it would just hold my overflow. He asked me when I needed it and I said, “Yesterday”.
To his credit, he did not look at me
like I had two heads. He expedited the
purchase and except for a slight hang-up at the front desk when we tried to
pay, we were out of the store and on our way home in record time. We did have to stop a couple of times on the
way home to readjust the straps holding the refrigerator upright that kept
slipping down and causing the box to rock back and forth. At one point, I actually opened the sliding rear window and grabbed the strap pulling it and holding it to keep the frig from rocking back and forth so much as we went around the mountain curves. An hour after leaving Lowes, when we got the refrigerator home,
it would not fit through the door.
Joy. After removing some hardware,
the frig slipped through the space, but barely!
With the temperature outdoors being so hot and our not having AC, the room
where we put the new frig was unseasonably warm, and we couldn’t get the frig
to cool down. We thought perhaps it was
not operating correctly but the next morning, it had finally cooled and was
working well.
When
the grandkids arrived on Monday, our quiet piece of paradise became full of kid
energy and noise! It was wonderful! Our house is small, less than half the size
of the house we sold in Staunton. This means when we have company, we all spend
plenty of time in proximity to one another!
That’s where the front porch comes in handy! We overflowed onto the porch to visit and eat. Mike found some window unit air
conditioners and put them in the bedrooms upstairs for the grandkids who are not used to roughing it the way we do. (One
of the AC units had been left here by the previous owners and the other had
been in my milk kitchen in Staunton.) With the temps reaching over 90 outside
and seven extra people in the house, our indoor temps still rose to over 80
degrees which is not typical for us.
Usually, when the evening temps drop here in the mountains, I open the
windows and let in the night air which cools the house down to around 65 degrees or even less. In the morning when the temps outside begin
to rise, I shut all the windows, trapping the cool air inside. In this manner, we rarely get more than 73-75
degrees in the house even when the outdoor temperature exceeds 90 degrees.
One day we took the kids to the park behind the local fire station which is always like having one’s own private playground. Behind the park, cattle are grazing and it’s such a lovely and serene environment. The kids had a great time. Mike had bought baby chickens for the kids and they enjoyed those as well. They did not realize how quickly the babies grow and were expecting our six-week-old juvenile birds to be little. Mike didn’t want to disappoint, so he bought some peeps for them. They also enjoyed hunting for the kittens in the barn who would not come out at all while the children were here. The kids did get to use flashlights and peek at them hiding between the barn walls. Of course, Princess, our senior cow, and Patience, another of our old cows got their turn to be petted and the dogs had a blast with the kids. One evening we built a campfire by the vintage camper and cooked hamburgers and hot dogs over the open flame. Buddy came up to join us but never once tried to take food from the children or get on the table while we were eating. When we were finished, I gathered up all the scraps and rewarded him by placing them in his food dish for him to eat. He followed me happily down the hill, wagging his tail, knowing he was getting a treat. He’s such a good boy!
On the final night when everyone was here, Mike and I left our bedroom to his mother
who was visiting, and took the guest cabin.
We don’t want Mike’s mom to have to go up the stairs to sleep and since
our bedroom is on ground level, we let her use it. We enjoy having a chance to use the guest
cabin which overlooks the barnyard and sits under the large, old Maple
trees. Two of our grandkids (the twins)
spent the night with us in the guest cabin which gave us some extra time alone
with them while their three-year-old sister stayed at the main house with her
mom. It was a lovely week and at the end
of it, I was exhausted of course.
Saturday
evening, the house was back in order and Mike and I were alone once again, and the
electricity went out. I checked and it
was an area-wide power outage affecting 88 customers. The estimated time of restorations was 48
hours away. We hated to run our whole
house generator the entire time and use up high-dollar propane, but we had the baby birds that needed a heat
lamp. Over the weekend, the temperatures
had dropped and we were back to the mid-40s at night and the low 70s during
the day. We did run the generator throughout the night
to keep the birds warm. When the sun rose, Mike gathered up the peeps and
put them in a small box, bringing them into our house and placing them in our
bedroom under an east-facing window where the sun shone bright and warm. The birds were happy, running around in the
box, chirping, eating their feed, and drinking water. We left them there while we went to church
and as we were leaving, the power was restored.
Even though it was Father’s Day, when we returned home from church, I
simply warmed up leftovers from the abundance in our frig and after the dishes
were done, declared I was laying down for a few minutes. I suddenly felt completely drained. When I awoke, I realized that I had been
sleeping for three hours.
