I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
First and Second Saturday
I love EJ’s work schedule at this new company–four 10-hour days with a three-day weekend. I must admit, though, that it’s difficult to keep track of the days of the weekend. It’s like having two Saturdays, and I’m never quite certain if it’s first Saturday or second Saturday. I’m sure I’ll adjust over time. 🙂 I love having EJ at home for an extra day.
For the last couple of days the weather has been sunny and quite warm–nearing 40 degrees (Fahrenheit). Yesterday I opened the chickens’ little private entrance to bring some fresh air into the coop. My chickens could go outside if they wanted, although they never leave their cozy coop when there is snow on the ground. Apparently, they hate northern winters and would rather spend the season in Florida like other less hardy Michiganders.
EJ and I spent yesterday morning–our first Saturday–running a few errands in Traverse City. Mostly we just wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Plus, we really enjoy hanging out together. Hannah Joy wanted to come with us, but we placated her with a rawhide bone before we left.
When we returned home, I found a message at Facebook from the woman who has ordered six crocheted baby outfits from me. She wanted me to call her back as soon as I had time. I anxiously thought, “Oh, no! She has decided she doesn’t want the outfits and is canceling her order!” But that wasn’t it at all. She told me her daughter wanted me to make three outfits for her soon-to-be-born baby–a dress and two sweaters. Her Mom sent me pictures of the items her daughter likes. I have to see if I can find patterns.
These are the baby outfits I’ve completed thus far. They all have matching booties. I try to use the colors the woman said she liked, but vary the combinations and styles. Eventually, I’ll get these dresses available at my Etsy store.
After lunch, while I sat and crocheted, EJ drove our trash to the American Waste facility. At his previous job, the company let employees bring their household garbage to their dumpster so we didn’t have to pay for waste removal. When he lost the job, we had to figure out what to do with our garbage. We didn’t want an additional bill so when we had accumulated enough bags to make it worthwhile, EJ drove to the facility to drop them off. It’s much, MUCH cheaper that way and we decided to just continue doing it from now on. If we had waste pickup, EJ would have had to put the bags in the Suburban to drive them to the bin at the bottom of the driveway; it’s not much more of a bother to actually drive it to the facility, especially since he has Fridays off.
Today–our second Saturday of the weekend–is the opposite of our first Saturday. We are expecting a storm this weekend, starting this afternoon. The National Weather Service for our area says “A strong storm system will bring rain and a messy wintry mix to the area today and tomorrow. Rain and freezing rain this evening will change over to snow Sunday. Winds will rapidly increase Sunday, with gusts of 50+ mph possible, creating near whiteout conditions and drifting snow over roadways.”
The snow won’t be as much of a problem as the ice and the high winds. Ice will make our driveway treacherous. It can also weigh down the trees, making them easier for the high wind to knock over.
This morning EJ filled up both vehicles with gas, made sure we had enough propane in case we lose power, and parked the Suburban at the bottom of the driveway so that we can get out if the driveway gets icy or the trees fall across our driveway. A chainsaw has been on our “to buy” list since we moved here, but we don’t have one yet so it would be disastrous if a tree blocks our driveway. Hopefully no trees will fall in our driveway or on our house, chicken coop, or fenced garden. Since we live in a forest, falling trees are a concern in high winds.
With our storm preparations complete, we are hunkering down in our cozy house. Hopefully we won’t lose our power–or Internet. But if we do, we will be ok.
I Love To Go A Gardening 