Here it is January already- the tenth! Tom and I made a trip to see Miss Katie and the West Texas bunch over New Year's weekend. She is certainly a bundle of cute, only just beginning to plump up. (If I had better internet access, I would certainly share pictures!)
The Bolt Internet company was out this week, taking measurements to lay the fiber optic lines, to get us a super-fast internet speed. They won't even be started until February, we are told, and it could be June before we actually have it out to our house. Meanwhile, we growl in frustration at the poor "hot spot"- both for its slow speed and unreliability, as much as for its expense.
I have an application in for desk clerk at a new Holiday Inn Express being built in Siloam Springs. Meanwhile, I was asked to come back to the Spoon as a part time Culinary Utensil Sanitation Specialist, on Friday mornings. I am going to TRY. It is a very physical job.
The last week or more seems to have been run, run, run! Errands almost every day, even the days I intended to stay put. Yesterday, Tom and I split the running. He went for groceries, I accompanied The Individuals to a surgical evaluation . They are both having wisdom teeth removed next week. We got home and got busy on a few chores, only to remember at the last instant, it was the day of the Mennonite School Blood Drive. I made a really fast supper, and we were off to donate blood. Getting home after 7:00, the boys opted for a second supper. I got the clothes washed earlier into the dryer... (at least I was TRYING to. I got the load from the dryer, and returned to find Sam putting the wet clothes in. When I thanked him, he said: "I'm always right here to serve my own interests!, Uh, I mean, You're welcome, Mom". I laughed.
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On the homestead chores lately, I decided it wasn't terribly imperative to clean out the martin houses. Instead, I cut down the dead flower canes from the hibiscus and other standing flower stalks. Tom and Sam worked on clearing deadfall, rocks, dead leaves, and errant weeds from a non- yard section adjacent to the designated garden plot. This was to be the bee area. After an entire afternoon of work, Tom and Sam decided on an entirely different place for the bees. That's just how things go when you are figuring out a new place. Sam will be ordering his hive kits and bee "nucs" in the next couple of days. (A "nuc" is a nucleus of bees. A queen and a start of workers. Sam is getting two.) (We have to go GET the nucs, in late May. But they have to be ordered now, before they sell out. Sam found a supplier about an hour and a half from here.)
The weather has been cold and windy, overcast and just a touch unpleasant outside. Too "blowy" to try and remove a tin roof from the last dog pen. It warmed up enough to take off one layer of coats as I worked.
The winds have now changed directions, blowing in warm from the south. Today is supposed to be in the upper 60*s! I have a pot of beans on to cook/ soak. The library to get to, as well as the inevitable return trip to the grocery store. It seems like, without fail, the moment we get back from the grocery store, a new list starts. Items we run out of right that day, which no one realized was running low. Items we REALLY needed, but failed to be written on the list. It was amusing to me yesterday, after we divided lists, and got home- Tom and I had duplicated items! One list was for our small, local health food store. None of us were going in that direction yesterday, not even close. However, the boys and I made much better time getting all the way to Bentonville than we had anticipated. With a solid 45 minutes to spare, I was less than a mile from the large health food store. I got the items I remembered from that list. I got home to find these items already on the shelf. Tom had gone out of his way to go to the more local place.
The boys have an "after-holiday" party this evening... a late Christmas party, if you will. (The Spoon was far too busy during the holidays to have their annual employee shindig!) The theme this year is "Retro". We stopped and shopped for gifts for them to trade. While shopping, I actually picked up another item Tom and I had mentioned getting for the homestead- and then put it back down. A peeve of mine is not being able to find a marked price on items, nor on the shelf! So I walked out without getting a mineral block to put in the woods for attracting wildlife.... and just as well. Tom came home with one himself!
If the weather co-operates this coming weekend, we have several trees to fell. A large branch from one fell across the neighbor's fence on Christmas Day. This tree, and its nearby companions are not only hazarding the fence, but would make the garden spot a bit too shady. Tom got the materials to repair the fence, which we will have to take down for a section, to drop the trees. Once the trees are removed... (more than just cut down- also cut and split and MOVED) we need to start tilling the garden spots. Give the roots a chance to die off, the ground cover a chance to compost before planting time.
I am LOVING the path the boys have been working on. It really is like hiking one of the beautiful State Parks. I can hardly wait for it to have complete loops. The leaf blower was a great idea. (Sam invested in a leaf blower. A pretty smart thing when you live on 30 acres of trees.)
(I have mentioned Sam working the property several times... Dan does too. But he has been off gallivanting the country during several of the most recent projects. :) )
That's my update. Have a blessed day!
