A Quiet Thanksgiving

Shelley, Lissa and her girls came by for a short visit on Wednesday. We hadn't seen the little ones for several months and they have grown so much. What a nice gift of family.

Richard and I spent a very quiet Thanksgiving alone. Rick and his crew were scheduled to be here over night  and have breakfast, but he is sick. That meant his family was split up for the holiday and he spent it in bed. We are grateful he didn't try to make the long journey and that he has a few days to recover.

Both Rick and Amy called. We got updates on what all the grand kids are up to. "Things" are going well. We all have much to be thankful for.

I fixed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner using glutin free ingredients. Not exactly the same, but not too bad either.  Clean up was short, since there were just the two of us. We have lots of left overs for soup, turkey enchaladas, pot pie & ect.

Today I will also need to do laundry. There is a lot more of that than you would expect. I will also go to gleaners and start wrapping Christmas gifts. Christmas gifts will consist of family trees, dried fruit from our trees, and closet pillows made from a cedar we had removed. Most of it low cost (copy paper and ink are spendy) and on hand. But a lot of love and time put into it. More of what Christmas is supposed to be, I think.

Another month has come and gone. Not a whole lot happening around here that is new. We have been wrapping up the harvest (grape juice, dried apples, etc.) and I have been spending a lot of time working on geneology for Christmas gifts.

Since my tree is so dense, I am dividing it into two volumes of four sections each.  Two sections a year will be distributed to each of our children and to my three living siblings. Most of my family has been in America since the beginning. The last set of great grand parents arrived just after the Civil War. So this first 1/4 of Volume one (14 generations) is more than an inch thick. It will take about 8 years to put all of this one tree together.

In addition to a segment of my own family tree, I have completed a tree for one son-in-law and his parents, a segment of a tree for a granddaughter's husband, a tree for a daughter-in-law, a tree for one grandson (his mother's side), and a potion of trees for several other grandchildren. Yes, I have spent a lot of time at the computer doing research. It may pay off in an unexpected way.

Seems some of the grandkids may qualify for free or nearly free college due to their being of Indian heritage. It is something worth looking into, at least.

But I must put away my research for a bit now and prepare for the holidays. It will be good to see friends and family and to "catch up" face to face. Shelley spent several hours here yesterday. It is the first we had talked since she returned from her global travels. Rick and most of his crew will be here for a few days next week. We haven't seen him for since mid-September, his family since April.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Even though there have been some very real negetive aspects to 2012, it is no effort at all to count our blessings. May our God in heaven reign in your life throughout 2013.

are we there yet?

It has been a journey. There have been many twists and turns along the way, but we are "almost" there. Jack has been such a blessing. I just have to pinch myself to beleive a total stranger, a non-christian, would volunteer to do all this work for us. It has been about six weeks since my last post. Much has been done.

We hired a professional crew to take down a huge incence cedar and prune out our massive black walnut. Jack cut up and hauled away the larger pieces of wood to be used as fuel and to dry for lumber. Then he ran all the rest of the smallar stuff, along with the tree prunings piled up before, through a chipper and spread the chips where needed.

Rick and Doug came down and replaced the portion of the shop roof that was leaking and dug the fire pit bay the back patio. Rick also cleaned moss off the house roof, down moss prevention granules, and cleaned the gutters.

Eric and Shelley delivered a load of really nice compost for Richard's birthday, so I cleaned out the planting beds in the back garden and Jack turned the beds (Chris had previously turned one of them) and put new compost in them.

Jack also prepared the area around the back planting beds and a pathway to them from the front walkway and laid down about 3-4 inches of crushed stone so that Richard's wheelchair could have access.

Jack has also replaced the end posts for the rassberries and grapes, using the old well pipe that was laying along the back of the garden. I planted garlic, separated and cleaned up strawberry plants, then moved them to a larger bed. The old strawberry bed now holds three new blueberry bushes. I have pulled up tomato plants that were spent and put protective plastic around the rest. We may get several more nice tomatoes from them. The summer squash has about had it. A few green beans still are growing and a couple small cucumbers remain on the vines. I need to harvest and dry the herbs.

The rest of this week will see sucker starts from the base of our large fig moved to the back garden, the rest of the compost placed around existing flower beds, bricks around the fire pit reset in crushed stone, what's left of the apples picked (most have already been processed), and outdoor furniture (at least the cushions) stored for winter. Jack has alraedy stated that when the rain comes (due on Friday), he is done. I am amazed at what he has accomplished.

I also have been working on Harry's couch. The bottom of the legs have been cut off and will need to be replaced (spliced). I have filled and/or re-glued several areas. But since rain is imminent, I will mearly put a coat of protectiive paint on it now and finish the work next spring. Yes, it is worth saving.

Fall is coming. You can feel it in the morning air. Soon the rain will be here, as well. The forcast calls for a strong possibility of rain early next week. Our potting shed has been cleaned out and the old storage boxes under the holly torn down. Now I am charged with sorting and getting rid of stuff. What's left needs to be under cover.

Last week Jack (our neighbor's ex) hauled two large loads of junk to the dump. This week he is cutting wood for winter (for his use). I am going through boxes of old papers and other stuff. Yesterday Richard and I prepared 2x4s for hanging as shelf braces in the potting shed. Today I will hopefully get them hung. The drill is heavy and hard to hold in our artheitic hands and wrists. Getting old is not so bad except that your body no longer co-operates.

We have scheduled a tree crew to cut down a large diseased incense ceder and prune out our big black walnut on September 7. When that is done, Jack will run all the trimmings through a chipper. He is also going to rebuild the portion of our raised beds in the vegetable garden that need repair and do some work on the walk ways. That will still leave some small construction projects that really need to be done. Anyone interested in replacing a portion of the shop roof (the skylight has leaked and ruined the roof from there down), replacing a rotted out sill in a basement window, repairing the back door jam, or putting new glass in a small window that got broken? Jack is not interested in doing construction and these projects really need to be done soon.

Another project that I would love to have done is to build a green house out of a collection of old single-pane sliding glass doors we have out back. It needs to be large enough to allow for Richard's power wheel chair. I invision this green house as being built with pressure treated lumber on a base of concrete block (2 courses high) with a roof of corrigated fiberglass panels. The floor would be of concrete pavers or brick so that the wheels of his chair would not get stuck. Most of the materials are on hand. We would need some block, concrete mortar, and lumber, but not much. Having  something to do besides watching TV would do Richard a world of good, physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Anyone interested?

Blessings

We have a new neighbor who is happy as a clam to work on our yard instead of paying to go to the gym. What a blessing!! He has cut unwanted trees, pruned others, and removed a plot of blackberries that was encrouching on our garden. This patch of blackberries was actually on someone else's property, but they had placed their back fence about 10 feet in from the property line. The blackberries were growing in kind of a no mans land. It really opens up the space.

My blog has changed to the point that it no longer gives me an option to insert photos, sorry. It is amazing that now the vegies are getting sun, you can distinguish one tree from another, and this neighbor is actually making a priority list of more work he wants to do. When the Lord blesses you, he doesn't go half way.

progress

Last week our daughter, son-in-law and grandson came over and did some sorting of "stuff" they had stored in our driveway. It had been there for two years, much of it ruined by the elements. So a big blue dumpster was filled twice and there is still a lot to get rid of. But that is progress.

On Saturday, two strong young men from church weed eated and placed in the dumpster, a ton of blackberries. There is still so very much work to accomplish in order to get the yard in managable shape. But that too is progress.

I have been working on both house and yard. I had much looked forward to family visit last week. We had a really nice time catching up after 35 years.The house was clean, but not immaculate and the front yard at least looked as if someone lives here. Progress.

Last year niether my husband or I were in any shape to have a garden. This year, our grandson till one of our vegetable beds and got it ready for starts. I have now planted some summer vegies. Again, progress.

Thank you to everyone who contributed time and efforts so far. Our son will be here next week end to do some major home repair and hopefully catch up on face to face visit time. So much progress.

scramble

Wow, has it really been nearly a month since my last post? That is some indication of just how tired I have been. That won't (the tired part) change any time soon. I did finally get caught up on "things" around the house that were negected for what time we were gone. Things like bills, laundry, cleaning, ect. But the yard was over grown and our grandson, who was keeping the worst of it at bay, has started a new job. We are extremely glad for him, but that leaves a ton of work for me.

Blackberries threaten to take over the place both in the back vegetable garden and in the flower beds. More common weeds join in to add to to the disaster. I have spent the last several days cutting down (not digging up) johnson grass in the front mound and weed eating around the front beds. Seems the more I do, the more those blackberries and weeds stand out.

I am expecting company next Tuesday, a cousin I have not seen in 35 years. I don't expect perfection of my yard or house, but it would be nice if the place at least looked like someone actually lives here. So I continue to pull weeds, prune hedges, and ect. I ordered a blue dumpster to be delivered on Friday. Our daughter has promised to dispose of her rain soaked junk that has been sitting in the driveway. That alone will make a whole lot of difference.

It won't get done before my company comes, but a group from church who are earning money for a missions trip will be coming on the 16th to do some cleanup, as well. I will have them tackle the blackberry problem. We will make a nice contribution to their cause in return.

The Lord has provided even for this need. We received a letter from the airline we used on our trip to Europe. They will be sending a sustantial refund to compensate for some issues I won't go in to. It will cover both the missions contribution and pay for replacing a broken water heater and the bathroom floor it ruined. Thank you Jesus. You really do meet ALL our needs and your timing is flawless.