Friday happenings in Day to day life from a woman that turned 60 in Oct 2014 and who lives on a farm and Retired on January 2, 2016. I plan to do more sewing, work outside in the yard and just enjoy my retirement.

Starting this at 6:23 am Friday this morning. Having a major pain spell right now and trying to distract. It isn’t easy. Whoa that didn’t work. Had to stop writing and firmly pat my chest. It is going away now, but crap it is painful not to mention very ANNOYING!! I had one earlier this morning and took some gas relief chewables. BUT it thankfully isn’t my heart or anything from ALL the medical testing I went through. However, now the bills are pouring in. I am met my yearly deductible. Hump! No kidding!! I don’t know the total I’ll have to pay yet, but it will be over $1000. :( I’ll make payments. Not going to dip into my savings for this, and the medical field will be fine if I just make monthly payments. Well they will have to be fine.

I was busy Thursday in cleaning up the debris from the previous nights storm and upon closer inspection, I didn’t lose any flowers or veg plants. A few weeks ago I had screwed two stakes together to make about a 7 1/2 ft clothes line pole. If you ever had a clothes line you or your mom may have used a long pole to keep the line from sagging when it was hung with the wet clothes. Well I made one for my little clothes line and now it is a tomato stake for my 7 ft tomato plant that had been blown over the tomato cage it was in and the smaller/shorter stake. I was lucky in that I could push it down the center of the tub and since that particular tub does not have a bottom and we received a lot of rain, I got it in the ground to then tie the drooping branches to. Not one branch broke so I’m extremely happy about that. I have several tomatoes now turning red. I suspect by the end of the weekend I’ll get to slice into my first Beef Steak tomato!! Can’t wait!

Picked a few more blackberries yesterday but all total I’ve only gotten about a quart of tame blackberries. It looks like I’m not going to pick any wild blackberries this summer. With all the rain, Dude can’t brush hog around the big patch below the house. It’s all good as when I think about picking the wild blackberries I automatically start itching from the chigger bites that come with it.

Cucumbers are letting me eat a cucumber every evening for supper. I picked 3 or 4 yesterday so am even now getting extra. Not many extra but just having some to eat is wonderful. If it was just me, my supper would only consist of cucumbers and fresh picked tomatoes in the summer. But it isn’t just me, so I attempt to fixed a balanced (somewhat) supper for J.

With the tomatoes beginning to start turning, I will be getting my canning stuff ready. I’ll do an inventory to make sure I have everything I need to can some tomatoes and make some spaghetti sauce with the tomatoes that I don’t give to the kids or neighbors. Mom always made chili sauce but I don’t care for it, so not doing that with any bounty. I will use the tomatoes in chili but not make the chili sauce canned.

I was able to mow yesterday afternoon and with the weed eating I accomplished earlier in the week my yards looks wonderful. As I was on the front porch this morning with my coffee and taking in the view, I was so in awe at the green expanse and it is JULY! The areas of both yard that looked so dead just a week ago is lush and green again. Nature truly is a miracle!! And a huge blessing.

With A and O gone, Polka Dot is staying down here at night as opposed to sleeping up at A’s on her back porch. I heard him bark a couple of times last night so I suspect he’s keeping the critters away. He doesn’t care a thing about the rabbits or the squirrels, so I wonder if it is a possum, raccoon or armadillo. Which ever, I’m glad he is staying down here now. He’ll return when they do at staying up there at night and they are heading back home tomorrow. I’ll be glad when they get all the way home safe and sound.

I am already thinking about what I’ll do different, if I’m still around, next spring when it is time to start planting. I think I’ll make a blueprint of sorts so I don’t forget. I plan to have more green beans and more corn. That is all I think I’m going to expand now, and where to expand to could be some thought provoking time for me, but all is good.

I couldn’t get the AC to kick on late yesterday afternoon and almost panicked. Instead I checked the circuit breaker and then turned the temperature down a couple more degrees. Nothing. Uh Oh. I ended calling the repair people and they are coming sometime this morning, even though a few minutes later, it kicked on. I called to cancel, then changed my mind again, and going to have them check it out. The temperatures aren’t as hot right now as they have been or will be again, so why wait until it’s 100 again and have it go out and not come back on. They will check the freon and whatever else they know to check. I also hope they check the temp of the air when it is on coming out of the ceiling vents. My AC is in my ceiling since I have a Berm home. It will cost me a service call but if there is anything that needs tweaked it shouldn’t quit on me.

When I checked on J this morning he had on his mask and was asleep!! YaY!

Will continue this entry later and update on any other news.

1:37 PM-I did some dusting and cleaning earlier and then cut out a new bib pattern from terry cloth and flannel. The flannel looked so plain that I embroidered a teddy bear on the front of it with my embroidery machine. Hadn’t used it for awhile so had to get the ol instructions back out. I’m STILL waiting for the AC service guy(s) to show up. I called the main office at 1 and asked if they were still coming since I’d been told they would be here late morning. One PM is beyond late morning and I have errands I want to run. *sigh The lady that answered the phone, claimed she didn’t know anything, she just answered the phone. Not sure what the point of her answering the phone really if she knows nothing and can’t find out anything. An answering machine would be less expensive! Everyone (and especially business owners and their workers have a cell phone so she just is full of it!! If I hear nothing back by 2, I’m going to cancel the service call since the AC is working wonderfully anyway. I was just wanting them to do a check since it hesitated a long time before it finally kicked on yesterday.

Ok. Back to sewing and waiting.

Saturday AM 5:24 - The AC folks didn’t show by 2 so I called them and told the lady I had to leave. The appointment is rescheduled for Monday AM. Ok.

Went to run some errands but didn’t go to as many places as I had planned to. Too late in the afternoon and Dad had a list of stuff he wanted me to get. Did go to Lowe’s and got a small water pump to make a small fountain or birdbath. I think I have everything else I need, it will just be the umpf to get it made now.

Going to save and post this public now as it is longer than I expected.
Take care and God Bless. Have a great weekend!

Last updated July 16, 2016