Hola, Amigos!

Mexican theme to this post?  Nope.  Just couldn't think of a title.  ;)

So, the biggest, happiest news is the Dosie (the dead cat) is HOME!  She'd been missing for about a week it seemed (probably closer to 5 days), and I'd pretty much given up on her return.  But, with both Bonzi and Jinx sleeping in bed with me this morning at 5 AM, I heard a cat calling to be let in!  We all scrambled downstairs, and there was Dosie, clinging to the window panes of the front door in her normal, everyday manner.  Yayyyy!

The weather has been hot (well, "warm" by any but our standards) and wet.  If we don't get rain, the dew is so thick and heavy that it makes everything wet . . . as it is this morning.  A storm rolled through yesterday afternoon, and - though I'd been watching it on the radar and *thought* it would pass us - I hadn't covered up the chicken pen before I went to work.  As a result, they're in disgusting, fly-ridden slop today . . . so that's a project on the schedule. 

Tuesday was our hottest day so far this summer, and the ladies who live "up over the hill" from work reported that it was already 85 degrees when they left home that morning.  Home on my lunch break, Tucker agreed that he doesn't like the heat:

Hot dog.  And sticking close to his dish, just in case HE gets lunch, too!

I nannied on my last day off, so I'm EXCITED to get to have a day here to Get Things Done.  And, as a result, I'm gonna divide my day into The Hours (which any of you long-time readers already know is a favorite way to tackle my To Do list).  I'm gonna limit myself to 8 hours worth of tasks, 'cause I can take a few of those inside in the evening.  So, in no particular order:

1. Deck & Outside Clean-Up
2. Chicken Chores w/ Extra 
3. Bill Paying/Budgeting (30 Minutes)
4. Client Work / Websites (30 Minutes)
5. Refrigerator
6. New Chicken Yard
7. Woods Clearing/Clean-Up
8. Dishes (Heating water on a day this warm?  Yuck!)
9. (Inside) Cabin Clean-Up

And, DANG!, those hourly tasks get filled up quickly!  What about sorting & hauling the recycling?  The garbage?  Working in the storage units?  The, the . . . ?!  Oooh, wait:  the refrigerator - I *have* to get that in!  (Okay, have just amended the above list to combine two of the tasks into one hour.)  

A blurry pic of Baby Girl last Sunday, but she was chasing bubbles courtesy of Bopee.

At 4 1/2 years old, she wanted to take Tucker's leash when we went on our walk.  And, he has always been SO good with my little ones!  Maybe because he's their size?  Or because he was introduced to the little ones as a puppy?  (Maisy was already full-size but very much a crazy puppy by the time I started nannying.)

We saw lots on our walk, including the new header photo (which is WHAT?  Wild salvia?).  And:

Tiger Swallowtails "puddling".

 

A solitary forest tent caterpillar.  "Solitary"?  We can only hope.  Still, we'd already know if this was the outbreak year we'd been warned might occur.

(A poor picture of) Northern Bluebells.

I *think* this is the flower of Prairie Blue-Eyed Grass, but I'm not sure.  Anyone?

Wild Columbine.

A week or so ago, Papa Pea helped me haul my full-size refrigerator up here to the cabin (no small feat, but it went really well).  I'd prepped a spot for it to sit against the north wall between two windows.  In the haste of the move, it hadn't gotten completely cleaned out, and then it was stored outside, facing the sun, at my folks'.  Closed up.  And that equals a really disgusting mess inside.  Since the warm weather came, I haven't had any cold storage here.  So, meal prep has been limited to no dairy, etc.  Nothing requiring a refrig.  I've stored milk (or beer!) at my folks' on occasion, but, as you can imagine, that's not terribly convenient.  Therefore, one of the big goals today is to get the refrig cleaned out and PLUGGED IN!  Can you just imagine . . . ice cold beer?  Ice cubes!!!  Cheese!  Cream for my coffee!  Hey - SALADS!

My computer connection is slow as molasses this morning, but I'll try (again) to upload some pictures now.

Okay, some images are loaded, but I hear thunder-boomers again . . . AND my good mood has been QUITE ruined by communication from the credit union saying that I owe them $22,000 for some property I removed from Swamp River Ridge?!!!  That was mine/ours BEFORE we ever bought the property!  Thank gawd my lawyer is still at the other end of an e-mail.

Now, trying, trying to recapture my good mood of the morning.  Is it too early to start drinking?  Anyone have a Valium?

ChxMama

P.S.  It's dark out now (from another storm).  Maybe ALL my projects will be inside ones today?  Bah!
 

Back At It

I basically gave myself the day off yesterday.  I hadn't had one solid day alone here at home in an age, and it felt super good.  I tossed and turned last night, though:  despite clean sheets and a shower right before bed . . . the rising tide of anxiety, I expect.  Today I'm so stressed / crazy / nearly out of my mind that I can't even see straight (literally, it feels like).  So, I am going to do The Hours to work my way through the day.  And, once again, I'll use you here as my organization / accountability for those 60 minute chunks of time.

This current hour is being spent blogging and then General Clean Up / Organization.  The following hours of my day will switch between 60 minutes of work on the Electrical Disaster (?) in Office and Business Work.  Until the day is over.  But, somehow, I have to stop my head from spinning uncontrollably before I'll be able to concentrate on ANYTHING.  A walk outside with the dogs may be in order.  It's a lovely, blowsy day, so I don't think I'll even need to take my bug jacket (yes, they are beginning to abate).  I may need to do some - ohmmmmm - deep breathing, too, before beginning each hour's assigned work.  Yep, that's what I'll do!  See, talking to you about it IS having the desired affect I'd hoped it would!  Maybe I should lay off the coffee, too, and switch to water or herbal tea.  (Just for the day, mind you!)

Duh, in writing, trying to figure out WHY I'm so scattered . . . I just realized I've not taken my meds in a few days, too.  So, hang on, I'll be right back.  Okay, down the hatch they've gone.  What a brainiac I am (to have forgotten)!  Better living clearer thinking through pharmaceuticals?


The weather has finally broken, and we've all uttered a sigh of relief, I think.  The smoke isn't so bad with the cooler temps and higher winds, either.  (Over one million acres are burning just north of us in Ontario.)


I've missed the window of opportunity to transport some of Papa Pea's bees to Swamp River Ridge for the summer.  Even though it's only the end of July (an ACK! in itself), the growth and transitions of the trees, shrubs, and plants has been fast and furious due to the excess of water and high temps of late.  Already, many of the blooming plants (that the bees would need) are already going to seed.  Besides, Papa Pea told me that such deluges of rain actually wash the pollen OFF of flowers!  So, despite our wishes (Papa Pea's and mine), no beehives for me this year.  Case in point, I saw these goldenrod yesterday, already gone to seed:

The biggest struggle for apiaries up here is still over-wintering them.  Maybe, come fall, my instructor will let me transport a hive here to try overwintering them in the garage - opening up the carriage doors on lovely, warm days for their required cleansing flights.  I'd like to have a go at that (finding a successful way to over-winter).

Also noticed yesterday, the Brown-Eyed Susans are blooming - although closer to the end of their life cycle than the beginning now.

I'm happy with the appearance of this southwest hillside of my property although I rarely see it in the summertime as it's along the wintertime driveway (which I see enough of in the winter!).  Several years ago, the state bought the triangle of land I owned across the road from this hillside in order to perform a small redirection of the road here (not so sharp a curve).  When they'd finished, the hillside was bare, and so I seeded it with this wildflower mix that I'm tickled to say seems to be flourishing now!

Although you can't seem to see the flowers very well in this picture!

And, this is just the west end of the beautiful lake I drive by each day I go out in the winter, but I have few pictures of it in the summer as I almost always drive the shorter / more scenic way!

And, with that, I'll sign off for now.  Even tho it may not seem significant to YOU, I do feel better and a titch more grounded after having gotten these few thoughts rattling around my brain out and down on paper.


Thanks for listening to the ramblings of a 40-year old homesteader who's about to get a new job "off the farm" . . . to support the farm!

Shoulds & Wants / Wants & Shoulds

My life seems to be made up of Shoulds and Wants. They are in constant combat with each other, but Shoulds generally win.

But, this morning, the Wants got the upper hand. After chores, what did I do? Nuthin'! I took my coffee, a Poptart and banana, and went upstairs to the library where I plugged in my laptop, and played. I read some blogs, I diddled on Facebook. That was it. And, I enjoyed it! And, better yet, I don't feel guilt about it! Yayy for me!

Now, though, I need to Get To It. And, I've found that I'm more accountable and able to stay on-task if I lay out those plans. Even tho I didn't accomplish everything on the list, detailing my To Dos in this previous post, really did help!

So, I'm gonna do it again today. The Hours, that is. Here are today's Must Do Hours:

• Graphic & web design work for client(s) *
• Dishes
• Make pasta salad (leftover time to be spent on kitchen clean-up).
  
• Vacuum **
• Iron
  
• Prep for big ULINE order I'll place tomorrow.

* I limit my business work @ the computer to 99-minute increments. Why? Well, it's two-fold. #1, my timer only goes up to 99 minutes. #2, if I don't limit myself, the neck & back pain from concentration & the poor posture I inevitably slip into in front of the computer gets the better of me if I don't limit it.

** Do I have enough rugs to vacuum that it could take an hour? Yes. Besides, I'm a bit of a fastidious vacuumer.

So, those tasks above will take me over 6 1/2 hours, and that doesn't allow for all the things that pop up in between. It's nearly 12:30 now. So, ready? Set . . . GO! I'll check in with you after 7:00 PM! Thanks for providing my incentive!