Weekends fly by...

I was outside clearing out volunteer trees and old flower stalks this afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day, yet I'm still dealing with the resulting allergies.

After my son headed back to campus I spent the evening putting plastic on the living room windows. It seemed easier to work there and keep an ear on alert for kids at the door. Seven windows in one room! It's no surprise that it's the coldest room in the house. I could spend a fortune (that I don't have) replacing the windows or a little effort and about $10 every fall.

My mother's cousin died last week from an accident. I want to wrap mom up in cotton wool and keep her safe.

Relationships

I have a tendency to hang onto relationships for far too long, whether it's a flaky friendship or a romance gone bad. It's difficult to let go of something that began with such hope and enjoyment.

What usually happens is the other person has already moved on while I'm doing all the work of the relationship. Then, when I finally stop, I realize that they never even notice the change.

The plus side is that when I have stopped my life improves. When a source of happiness becomes something depressing and stressful, stepping away from it is the best thing I can do for me and everyone around me.

Insulin, insurance and pharmacies

I picked up one of my son's insulin prescriptions today. Only part of it though because the pharmacy only keeps 2 or 3 boxes in stock at a time so they asked me to pick up the rest on Monday. That started off alarm bells in my head - what if there really was an interruption in the supply? How many people in the community don't have a supply at home and would be trying to get their hands on those last 2 boxes?

Fortunately, my son doesn't use as much as is called out on the original prescription so we've been able to acquire a nice stock that would last a long time in an emergency.

Then there's the issue of the cost. If I didn't have insurance, those three boxes would have cost $750! Who can afford those prices???

Wish List

Stuck in a long and exceedingly dull meeting yesterday I dreamed about my wish list for when I'm debt free. None of the items are cheap so will require saving up for - this is after I've got an emergency fund and tuition built up.

Installed generator - connected to the propane tank
Chimney lining - so I can use the wood stove
Privacy fence
Solar panels - big, expensive project

I'm a wimp

I've called the furnace repair man even though it's only down to 57 (14 Celsius) in here. Actually, the basement is warmer because it's not being hit with these strong northwest winds. Brrrr

Huff Puff and Blow

This is what is left of my parent's greenhouse after the winds struck today.

I gave in and turned on the furnace. I'm not sure how cool it was since the thermostat only goes down to 60. Cool enough to give me the chills, although I suspect some of that was caused by hearing the wind howl. Shiver. Imagine if this was January and all the rain from yesterday had been snow!

I'm thankful that the flat tire I had yesterday happened then...today would have been much worse.

Interestingly, even though things aren't all sunshine and good times, I'm in a good mood. I feel like I can handle the everyday stresses better.

Let it rain!

I've been wondering if the rain was waiting for the roof to be finished. ;)

Seriously though, it might have some interesting angles going, but it's up! I was the assistant to my roofing son today and I'm so happy to have this done.


Obviously, I wasn't able to finish the door and trim yet but look at that nice paint job. :))

The temps dropped low enough last night to finally nail the mosquitoes. Yay!!!!!!!

My to-do list is still very long, high now is getting the garlic planted, but for now I'll bask in the glow of finishing another stage of the shed.

Smile days

It's difficult to see them, but the chicks are hiding under the tree. It's only about four feet from the door and hugging the side of the barn, but they are outside!

This is my favorite of the neighbor's kittens. They roam freely and spend a lot of time hanging out at the farm. If I didn't already have FOUR cats I'd be tempted to kidnap this one.

Two days in a row I've managed to get up early and exercise. It's ironic something that makes me feel good is so very difficult to begin....especially when I need the boost the most.

The weathermen are nearly frantic with boredom. Everyone else is loving this.

Evil allergies

Allergies are really kicking my butt tonight. I have to take something for them or continue to feel all tired and sad and woe is me.

On a brighter note, the guys got half the shed shingled today and it looks pretty good. I wanted to get the second coat of paint on but they didn't want any on their clothes! The weather continues fair, so I can tackle my goals later on. It's amazing how a fresh coat of paint can spruce up old buildings; I smile whenever I look at my garage now.

The chicks were treated to their first venture outside today! They've been growing fast and only the litttlest one might be vulnerable during the day. They scurried back to their secure room for the night with surrogate mom.

Flu shot tomorrow; I normally don't react badly so am not worried.

Busy busy

Scored the truck load of wood for my parents this morning. It felt great to catch something so useful that was headed for the dump to rot.

I did some scraping and painting on the garage windows this afternoon. It's incredible how much difference it makes in the appearance to get rid of the peeling paint and bare spots. Unfortunately the north windows need to be replaced completely. Since there is no reason to ever go on that side I simply didn't notice how much these had deteriorated. I will wait until spring to do this though. Since the garage isn't heated, there's no point in rushing out to find new windows now.

I've got the rest of the materials to finish the shed. Monday is a holiday for the schools so that is when my son will do the shingling. If it doesn't rain, I'll be painting tomorrow.

I wish...

Bloggers wouldn't use white text on dark backgrounds.

I can't be the only one who has trouble reading that. The letters blur and if I keep reading my head hurts. It's got to the point that I'll either skip it or copy the text into a document.

Apple harvest

My parents asked me to come help with the apple harvest today. Naturally all the best apples are at the top of the trees, but with some creative balancing of ladders in the pickup bed we got a lot of them down.

Have you ever noticed a yearly trend in apple crops? Last year they were small and sparse, barely worth picking; this year they're large and plentiful and exceptionally delicious. So perfectly crisp and sweet that it's better than eating candy (if you can imagine candy that's healthy)! And we've always seemed to have this annual on/off in the produce. I wonder if other fruit trees do the same.

I brought a box home and feel overpaid. :)

Shameless chicks

The babies are into that gawky teenage stage. A time for declaring their independance and sporting daring fashion and feather choices.

I wish we could let them outside, but at the size of robins it isn't safe. There's an average of 6 to 10 cats hanging out on the farm all day. The ironic thing is that they all come from across the road; none of them actually belong there. I hope the chicks are big enough to go out before winter sets in!

Forecast

Some sunshine that I wish I could share with Tanya. Wouldn't it be great to have this all winter?

Conscripted labor

The first two pictures show my progress on my own, priming, caulking and installing the window.



But where I had to call in the crew was the roof. The crew being my dad and my son. Someone who is very strong and experienced probably could have done the job solo...that would not be me!