I know, I know. If this blog was my job I’d have been fired a long time ago. You see, though, my calendar has been filled with those Mama spoke about .
I’ve been trying to keep up with the garden. The weeds are whipping my butt this year. I’ve never seen it this bad. One bed (3 1/2′ x 10′) of corn had two wheel barrows worth alone. That’s corn! Easy to pick weeds because the corn plants are so pronounced. It still took a lot of time. That’s one bed out of 28. We’ve had unbearably hot weather sandwiched between unbelievable downpours. A perfect storm so to speak. I couldn’t be outside more than ten minutes without the need to change all my clothes. That was on the non-rainy days!
The “crops” are coming through, however. We had lots of strawberries, turnips, and peas already. The green beans went from flower to flat in a matter of days, but cooked properly they are delicious regardless. As I said, the corn is growing, we have lots of onions just about ready too. It’s time to pick the rutabaga and beets. No one here even eats beets. If you want them, drop me a line. Carrots are prolific and the few squash plants we sowed are looking good. I even have garlic looking good. Not bad for not having planted it until the end of March. You’re supposed to plant it around October.
We are still combatting the weeds. Lots of pulling, mowing, and trimming. We’ve been laying weed block down in places we won’t be planting anything and topping it with mulch for that asthetic. I’m just hoping for another good mulch sale. I never buy enough.
That’s just some of the gardening that has occupied the calendar. I have also been getting ready for some craft shows to sell some 3D prints. Building an inventory takes time. I mean for the printer. When prints can take an hour up to twelve hours, it is a slow process. I won’t print any right now over twelve hours as I hate to get within an hour and something go wrong. It’s wasteful and frustrating. I’ll list the shows on another post.
There has been home remodeling as well. Anyone who knows me knows I move slowly, especially when it comes to home repairs. It gets in my head, not to mention the physicality of it all. While the wife was away visiting grandkids in Germany, I redid the drywall and trim in our living room. The humidity slowed everything down. I tore off the old 1/4″ drywall and put up new 1/2″. The mud took days to cure setting me behind on that. It turned out great (still need some touch ups) for the conditions I was under. It brightened up the room wonderfully.
The girls have been a big help. Well, at least two have been. They have moved weeds, lugged drywall, stacked firewood (I don’t even know why I was splitting wood), and pretty much anything I asked of them. I thought maybe I had bumped my head and was in a dream-filled coma. I treated them to a night out for dinner. That’s something we don’t do often, and now I remember why; it’s expensive. They deserved it though. There’s still lots more to do. The wife leaves for a week soon and I’ll finish it up. Hopefully.
General maintenance and care around the house stays constant. Mowing took a hiatus during the heat. It was a struggle once I was finally able to do it. Cooking never seems to stop. I miss the days of just doing without or having a bowl of cereal for dinner. These kids want meals. The audacity! Cleaning? Well, that’s another matter. I make the biggest messes. However, it’s livable and presentable. Mission accomplished.
We’ve had an HVAC issue lately. Our AC doesn’t stop running and it was getting pretty warm in the house. We had a guy come out, fix a couple issues, charge us $2000, and barely address the problem. We have non-metal duct work and after buying an endoscope, confirmed our awful suspicions that a critter had gotten into the ductwork and chewed holes throughout. The crawlspace is a very comfortable cool while the house is not. I am presently waiting for a second company to come out to give an estimate on replacing all the ductwork with metal. Then we’ll need an exterminator and someone to seal up the walls and floor of the crawlspace. $$$
BTW: I never did get the new garden fully tilled. By the time the weather started cooperating, I broke a shear pin and Amazon has hosed me on delivery of new ones. Soon, I hope.
All of that and I have not addressed the biggest challenge of all; my health. I have the back issues (plate and screws, a spinal cord stimulator), I have two knees that need replaced, bouts of dizziness and slight vertigo. It makes everything happen at a much slower pace. We won’t even go into mood swings and depression. I can usually get one good day of work that amounts to a normal bodied person’s few hours, and then the next day I can barely function. Most of the time the desire is there, but the ability is not. I also like to spend time with my wife which usually consists of a few hours at night having dinner and watching TV together.
You’d think having downtime would make me update this blog more often. It doesn’t. It totally makes me not want to do anything. I become introverted and disinterested in most things I enjoy. But, I stay hopeful.
Let’s talk soon …
The Renaissance Maniac 