the farm update
May 16, 2008
High Button Shoe
 
..well, so much for looking at my calendar !  While I had a vague idea of what day it was this past week, I obviously didn't check the calendar for DATE, as I had no idea that yesterday was the 15th and I should have been writing to tell you that www.theprimitivegathering.com was released with new items for the 15th of the month. Sheeesssh...
Unfortunately that is a malady I often suffer. Weeks get filled up with things and hours pass swiftly, and I forget what day it is. I am sure some analylist would have a field day with that, but I merely attribute it to overstuffed brain. Or no brain, if that may be the case instead.  I have been really busy. As Beulah hears EVERY day when I talk to her at the end of the work day, "this working is going to kill me...". This being said to most of you who actually DO work, I realize. Donning my work jeans, old paint shirts, and lately reduced to my long underwear again, as our weather has been on the very cool side, and the worst...SOCKs and my work boots, I am off nearly each day to the Gundrum Mercantile building to paint, stain and varnish the beautiful wood trims & doors of this magnificent old buildings. A job I actually love. My body however, tells me after hours of standing on floors with my brushes etc, that I haven't done this type work in a llloooonnnnngggggg time and lets me know it. So after work, coffee on the porch often reflects my memory of not working out. Of course, except for when the shop was a booming business, and required all sorts of physical labor on my part, I never worked in a physically required job before. Well, except for when I worked at the cemetery I guess. That was pretty labor intensive. And again required shoes.  And of course, there is always baling hay, and picking field stones of farm work.  Anyway, I have been more busy than usual. And in different directions than I usually follow. Not a bad thing, to be sure. Just different.
More in tune, I suspect, with what most of you do. GO to work.
 
Today, my agenda involves not working at the Gundrum, but having to go to town for groceries and errands. Oh joy, as Rhetta Mae would say!  You know my fondness for grocery shopping..NOT. Not only that, but I need to clean the refrigerator out before I bring any groceries home. I hate that more than grocery shopping itself!  And now that I have my days figured out, I realize this is Friday!  Not a good day to go to town. Gas, here has jumped to $3.99.9 per gallon. I drive a truck, not a small gas efficient car. That price while it says under $4, STILL is $4 per gallon. I have to fill one gas container for the lawn mower. While I am hoping for a summer with enough rain to give me wonderful plush green grass, it will cost a bundle to keep it mowed.
 
Speaking of grass, where the big timbers of the woods we had cut down had raised havoc with where the loggers stacked the massive piles of logs on our lawn, which was not particularly good grass to begin with, but after that was totally non-existent, we finally got it planted with seed last weekend. Ronnie brought in load after load of black dirt late last summer but we opted to wait until spring to plant the grass seed, as he pushes all the snow from the drive across that particular area with the plow. Thinking perhaps it would not be too good to be plowing non stop, which was the case, on new grass, we have been waiting for the frosts to subside to plant the lawn there. Shortly after the logs killed off the grass, we knowing we would reseed it, bought some expensive grass seed from Texas that was drought resistant. Came to something like $35. But that particular area gets full sun and if not enough rain, would require constant watering which we do not do for lawn. The Old farmer, you know. The water basin is used for crops if need be, and my flowers, but NOT to keep a lawn green. So drought resistant fit right into my lawn theory. Well, planning on this chore for last weekend, as it was scheduled to rain Sunday and Tuesday, we planned to plant on Saturday.
 
So I looked for the seed. That would be the seed that moved with us last summer. I vaguely remember putting the grass seed in a special place where I would remember where it was. My downfall, of course. Yup, haven't got a clue where it is. I have looked as I do for most things, in all the logical places and a few of the illogical places ( a trait I often seem to favor), and have yet to find the precious drought resistant expensive seed. So once again figuring out yardage, we go to Tractor Supply last Saturday and buy grass seed from the big bins. Ron figures 2 pounds ought to do it. But we get 4 pounds just to be on the safe side. In reality, 4 pounds made a very thin throw. We cover it with straw, and I go back on Sunday and buy 11 pounds, so we can add more to that and also other places that could use a boost. Does it rain Sunday or Tuesday? NO, of course not. Are our hoses all out yet? NO, of course, not. It is still getting frost here. Finally Wednesday it rains. However, we had frost 2 mornings this week, so the hoses didn't get hooked up until last night. Today, I will hook up my maze of hoses to that new grass place and will water the straw. Also a trial of new grass seeding is the wild turkey troop that loves to scratch in it and eat my seed. I broadcast their breakfast each day on the lawn by the feeders, for easy picking, but they must scratch in my straw coverings instead. Ah, this may be a long venture getting grass to grow.
 
While at Tractor Supply on Saturday, with Mother's Day being the next day.. I got my Mother's Day gift. I see that smirk. A gift from Tractor Supply??  Ron had been smiling for days, when commercials on TV showed diamonds and such, and would always comment 'my diamonds were on back order'. I am not really a diamond person, probably much to your surprise.. But while TC doesn't sell diamonds they do sell rotatilers! We already have a large old one of course, as most farms do. But I can't handle it ( more brain induced misfunction, rather than actual physically could not handle it), and it is difficult to do my flower/herb garden with the big one due to the space involved and the gardens being so full. They had a 6/10" one. So I got a rotatiler that I can handle. Could NOT be happier with it. I dug paths for new planting and dug up weeds that would have taken much longer to do with a hoe... And the gardens will be better for it. Last night, I even dug around my' 9 bricks' path, weeded out the cracks, and thought about adding a few bricks while the earth was open and easy to work with. But my day of painting caught up with me, and besides we had fresh rhubarb pie to eat. Pie won out. As rain is forecasted for all weekend, I plan to get out today and plant some flowers and some flower/herb seeds and hope the frost is over with. And I must cut lawn. If indeed, it does rain, I want the lawns all manicured for our farmhouse open house on Sunday.
The Olde Farmhouse Open House, Sunday May 18th noon-6PM.  Nothing for sale, just a tour of the farmhouse. We have been showing the house quite a lot this spring. People who have known it before as a shop are interested in how we transformed it into a living dwelling. A group of 8 women were here Tuesday. And the week before 2 women.  I had cleaned EVERYTHING of course. And I still have a lot of things, in spite of the space factor and that a great deal of my collections are boxed in basements and barns! So when the two women were coming, I had the house spotless. It was one of those warmer days we had, and it got rather humid. 10 minutes before their scheduled arrival, I decided to turn the ceiling fan on, on low speed to give some air flow, and it wouldn't be so 'close' in the house. We have had the fan on, on low speed all winter to keep the air flowing. Contrary to low being the first speed with faster speeds following as you move the control, which fell off last year in the move and I merely stuck it back on... which I now see could have been done faulty....the fan started out on high speed, and I reduced it down to a slow speed with a nice air flow.
It is now 5 minutes before schedule arrival of women to see my spotless house. Walking thru again, (this would be probably the 10th check...) I am appalled to find the entire dining room FULL of huge dust bits. Huge! Full!  That drated fan that had run all winter on low, now had deposited killer dust bunnies everywhere. The women coming have immaculate old stately homes that probably NEVER see a dust bunny let alone a whole room full. With no time to get out the vacuum and have them find me with only my butt sticking out of some corner or from under the harvest table between the chairs, I opted for a wet paper towel bunch and worked faster than I have EVER dusted before and got it at least off the most visible surfaces, just in the knick of time. By this time, my shower was probably null and void. Panic tends to do that. I later told them what happened and we had a great laugh over it. Neither of them would ever have told me had it been them. I LOVE showing this house. But the fan will NOT be on again until I get the 12' ladder out, move the harvest table, and scale the ladder to the top to clean those fan blades. In the meantime, now the blade edges are heavy with dust that looks like 'fringe'.  What we don't go thru to impress people!!!
 
OK, I have to get myself ready to go to town. I have put it off as long as I can. Check out PrimitiveGatherings when you get a chance for the new things up yesterday. And keep remembering web owner Deena in your prayers as she continues her cancer journey. When I come home after a few hours of my 'construction' work, aching from one end to the other, I think of people who actually do have major physical problems, and realize maybe I should be thankful for only the aches I have. And I am.
 
Each day continues to be a joy to live here. I am content. Our kids are around each day, we spend too much time just having coffee. Although not. Whether it be an hour on the porch or a quick cup, and a quick conversation, I love having the kids back to share the farm. This summer while busy won't be as hectic as last summer was when we all moved. At least that is the plan. But then you know my plans... often Plan A goes to Plan Q with lightning speed, and me left wondering what happened to plans?
Thanks for asking to be a part of our farm and life.
Should you decide not, let me know and you will be removed.
in fond regard,
Tilda,  keeper of the rosemary
paint in my hair
on constant vigil for Fritz the Anaconda
builder of garden brick paths (well..eventually..)
www.highbuttonshoe.net