I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Warrior Mode
I want to talk a little bit about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which classifies people according to their personality traits. I know that some people take the MBTI very seriously and some not at all. I think the MBTI can be a useful tool to understanding ourselves and others. Sometimes we assume that everyone thinks or feels the same as we do, or we think those who are different are “less”–for example, that someone who is more emotional is weaker–without understanding that people are different, and being different doesn’t mean being less. Learning that people think differently helps us understand and appreciate them.
I am an INFJ, which is one of the rarest, deepest, and most complicated of the personality types. INFJs tend to value the MBTI because it helps us understand and value our gifts. Since we are the most misunderstood Type, the MBTI helps us feel understood.
INFJs are very deep, complicated thinkers who think in metaphors and patterns. We are imaginative with a rich inner life. We are very paradoxical, living in the midst of opposites. For example, we are very introverted but need connection with others, we are logical and very emotional at the same time, we are very protective of those we love but struggle to protect ourselves, we can be very quiet if we don’t feel comfortable but talk a lot when we are comfortable, and so on. We care about others and are observant and intuitive about people. We tend to be very empathetic, gentle, and understanding–to the point of being empaths who feel what others feel and hurt when they do. This makes us good listeners and we tend to be the counselors in relationships. However, because we feel so deeply, the chaos, cruelty, and suffering in the world can drain us, exhaust us, and even make us sick. We despise cruelty, manipulation, and deceit. We have strong principles that we live by and we value integrity and justice. We try to help people reach their potential with no hidden agenda of our own. We tend to be writers. Here are a few memes describing INFJs. It’s easier for me to share them then to try to describe us in words. You can see how my INFJness has resulted in me caring and writing about things like abuse.
As an INFJ, I observe the people I love–especially EJ. I try to figure out when he needs support and encouragement, when he needs a bit of fun or more rest, when he needs my strength. I do things like snowblow the driveway even though it tires me because I know he is more tired after a long day of work and the snowblower hurts his injured back. I am fiercely protective of EJ and even though I hate conflict, I will defend him against toxic, abusive people, including standing against all of my family or all of his.
Many times I am strong, but sometimes my strength gives out and I feel like I can’t be strong anymore. As one INFJ article said, “As much as we cherish the depth of our relationships, these interactions can really drain us. If we don’t find a way to relieve the burdens placed on our heart, soon enough, our legs will start shaking under the weight of them.” I try to be careful who I confide in at these times. I know there are some people who cannot physically handle the stress of others’ problems. I, also, can feel stressed and sick by suffering in the world so I totally understand. When the suffering in the world becomes too heavy I limit my exposure to the news, etc., for a bit. But there are many people who are uncomfortable with “negative” emotions such as sadness, fear, questioning, struggle. They want everyone to be always HaPpY and ♪♫singing♫♪, and never struggle with anything. They say things like “You need more faith,” or “[Non-happy emotion] is sin.” I personally believe God gave us a range of emotions, and appropriate emotions–such as deeply grieving when a loved one dies or feeling anxious when facing a serious illness–is normal and healthy and isn’t necessarily indicative of a lack of faith.
I love Psalms 107: 23-31 because it describes sailors who experienced a terrible storm at sea:
“For at his [God’s] word the storm-wind arose,
lifting up towering waves.
The sailors were raised up to the sky,
then plunged into the depths.
At the danger, their courage failed them,
they reeled and staggered like drunk men,
and all their skill was swallowed up…”
Despite all this stormy terror, the Bible says that the sailors “saw the works of Adonai, his wonders in the deep.” In other words, they didn’t lack faith. They experienced His wonders. I often learn and grow tremendously through difficulty, and I value the freedom to honestly struggle, even though things can get very scary and emotionally messy at times.
People who expect everyone to always be STRONG and HaPpY are extremely unhelpful to me. I rarely confide in them because rather than make me feel connected, they make me feel isolated in the dark. Rather than make me feel strong, they make me feel weak. I prefer to confront my fears (sometimes with shaky sword) than pretend they don’t exist. I prefer raw, honest emotions to a happy mask and advice that says: “Hey, you need more faith! Just praise God! Don’t ever let them see you cry!” I like this Brene Brown video about empathy:
As an INFJ, I can be strong, but sometimes my strength gives out. Anxiety, fear, sadness, exhaustion, can build up and up and up and I need to have a release. Sometimes I do it in writing. Sometimes I spend a day crying. Or ranting. Often I feel emotional and weak when I feel overwhelmed, but “ranting” in order to release inner pressure is one of the INFJ characteristics. One article said this:
INFJs tend to pick up on other people’s emotions and in some cases absorb them…Unfortunately, by focusing on others, we end up neglecting our own problems. When left alone, those problems become a pressure cooker waiting to explode. When it’s time for us to explode, we need someone to unload to. We need to discuss our feelings and work through what’s stressing us out. Otherwise we feel like we are being edged out by others’ problems and that we don’t matter. Take the time to hear us out when we need to rant—even if it’s about a problem that you told us to fix about one hundred times already and we ignored your advice. If you listen to us, we will be forever grateful. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been emotionally distressed over a simple problem because I let that warning light above my head become critical.
One of the many things that I love about EJ is that he understands my need to “rant” in order to release emotion so he listens to me. And listens and listens. And cares. This is invaluable.
I’m writing about all this to lead up to sharing that life is becoming a bit scary and messy right now.
EJ has been really struggling with some health issues that we felt could be side effects of the medications he is on or could be the result of a more serious problem. These issues are affecting EJ’s performance at work, which is very difficult for him because he’s always been a hard-working, skilled, and valued employee and now he feels as if he is not.
The symptoms having been becoming more problematic so yesterday I went with EJ to his doctor’s appointment. I told EJ that I was in “Protective INFJ Warrior Mode” and that I was going to insist that the doctor doesn’t just give him yet another medication to try. It’s time to get to the bottom of this. EJ knows that usually I am quite quiet and nonconfrontational, but my “Protective INFJ Warrior Mode” can be quite fierce at times. He joked to a co-worker when he left work that he was going to his doctor appointment to referee. But I was like, “I’m going to do this.” And my “fierce “Protective INFJ Warrior Mode” isn’t confrontational–unless there’s no other option. Usually it’s just firm and determined. The difference is that in the past I found it difficult to speak up, but now I do.
I was prepared to be forceful if the doctor didn’t listen to me. In fact, I didn’t sleep the night before because I was practicing my beliefs, arguments, and counter-arguments in my head. During the appointment, I just calmly and firmly stated that I know some of EJ’s medications are quite dangerous and could cause serious side effects and I was concerned they were causing his problems so I wanted him off them. I told the doctor that I was also aware that his symptoms could be indicative of a serious illness so we needed to get to the bottom of this. I told her that I know that many doctors are opposed to alternative medicine, but I think that it might be helpful to consider them in order to treat his pain without drugs.
Surprisingly, the doctor listened to me and agreed with me. She said EJ’s meds could cause the systems he is struggling with, so she took him off all his meds because she wants to sort of do a system flush to see if his issues diminish/disappear when he is off them. She said his symptoms could also indicate a more serious health issue so she is ordering an MRI. And she said that rather than calling different treatments “alternative medicine,” she’d prefer to call them “complementary treatments.” She encouraged EJ to try some of them. While the ones I suggested might/might not help him, they certainly wouldn’t hurt him, she said. So EJ and I will be discussing what steps to take and changes to make.
Of course, these health issues dredge up all sorts of anxiety, including intense concern for EJ’s health, worries about how we will survive financially if EJ can’t work, and–worse case scenarios about how I will make it if EJ dies. My body is thrumming with stress, and EJ is struggling too. We used to feel stronger and more resilient, but we both feel battered by years of dealing with abusive people, JJ’s cancer, and other difficulties. We never feel as if we can catch our breath or balance before being hit with another difficulty. So I am having a few meltdowns–crying, ranting, writing, etc.–to release the build-up of emotional stress. I’m trying to do it without being a burden to anyone else.
Sigh.
Start, Stop, and Continue
After breakfast this morning, EJ and I got out our whiteboard and we sat down for a “staff meeting.” He called it a “Start, Stop, and Continue Meeting,” meaning we discussed which new goals and projects we wanted to start, which we were stopping because they had been completed, and which we were continuing to work on. We discussed what we wanted to accomplish today.
We decided to postpone going to TSC today for more poultry, canned cat food, and suet for the wild birds because EJ ordered a sheep–dead, butchered, and packaged–from a guy at work and that will be delivered within the next week or so and we need to make sure we have enough money to pay for it. I’m not really sure how to cook sheep, but I guess I will learn. It will be an adventure. And it will fill our freezer.
We went outside to get a few tasks done. It was “snaining,”–my newest invented word combining the words “snow” and “rain” to describe a snowy rain or rainy snow. With the seasons changing, EJ moved the lawn mower to the back of the garage and moved the snowblower to the front of the garage.
I forgot to mention yesterday that before we headed off to the feed store, EJ loaded the old living room carpet into the Suburban. It had been lying next to the garage ever since we tore it out last summer in preparation to getting new flooring. We’ve wanted to get rid of it since we tore it out, but we’ve been busy the last few months and other tasks had higher priority. We drove the carpet to EJ’s company and threw it in the dumpster. His company lets employees discard personal stuff in the dumpsters for free. Today EJ put a small dingy in the Sub and we took that to the company dumpster as well.
Before EJ started his tasks, we consulted each other about the best location for my new snow measuring stick that I had made last week. We put it at the edge of the forest where we can see it from the windows of our house. I used the post hole digger to dig a hole and put up a post. After EJ finished his other tasks, he fastened my snow measuring stick to the post. We now have one in the back yard and one in the front yard. It will be interesting to see how much snow we get this year. My snow sticks measure up to seven feet.
We enjoy observing weather and look forward to measuring the amount of snow we get. We’ve heard reports that we could have a warmer-than-normal winter this year. We expect that means that we will get a lot of Lake Effect Snow dumped on us. It is my understanding that regular snow is caused by a storm system. Lake Effect Snow is not a result of a storm system but of moisture being scooped up from Lake Michigan and dumped on us as a lot of snow. Once Lake Michigan freezes over, moisture is no longer scooped up and Lake Effect Snow stops. If we get a warmer-than-normal winter, Lake Michigan won’t freeze over, and we are likely to get snow and snow and snow all winter long. And if we get warmer weather, I expect there will be melting and freezing of snow into treacherous ice, which is not good. If our long steep driveway becomes impossible to drive up, we might have to park our vehicles at the bottom and walk up and down the hill. It would be better for us to have a cold winter than a warm one.
After I got the post up, I pushed the wheelbarrow over to the Suburban and unloaded the five straw bales we bought yesterday at the feed store. I could take two at a time in my wheelbarrow. I wheeled the bales over into the coop. I spread half of the last bale on the raised beds and then put the other half in the coop with the other bales we bought a couple weeks ago. Some of the straw fell out of the wheelbarrow while I was spreading it out in the garden beds and the chickens had to come check it out. The chickens all come running when they see me and they follow me around, curious about what I’m doing. I really like chickens.
Last night I came across a posting in a local Buy/Sell/Trade group on Facebook in which a woman was selling coasters. They had images of Michigan and the Great Lakes on them. Did I mention that I’m totally Michi-centric? I love my state. I’ve been looking for coasters, and these weren’t very expensive, so I messaged the seller that I would like to buy a set. We were already planning to go to town to discard the dingy in the dumpster at EJ’s company so we arranged to meet at a township hall parking lot.
This is where our day took a humorous misadventureous turn.
We usually pay for items with our debit card but we needed cash to pay the woman for her coasters. We decided to stop at the local grocery store, buy an inexpensive item, and get “cash back.” For the benefit of those in other countries where this might not happen, “cash back” is when, for example, a customer buys a $10 item but pays the cashier $20 with a check, debit card, or credit card. Ten dollars goes for the purchase of the item and ten dollars is given back to the customer in cash as change. In just about every store we go to, a cashier asks us if we want “cash back.” We almost always say no, but this time we needed actual cash to pay for the coasters. Only today the computers were down at our grocery store so we couldn’t get cash back. Bummer.
Since the Suburban needed gas, we decided to go to a gas station. EJ stopped at a station along the way. He pumped the gas and went into the station to pay for it. He came out with no cash. He said that this particular gas station doesn’t do “cash back.” Bummer.
So we decided to stop at Culvers, a favorite fast food restaurant, for some coffee. It was cold and “snainy” all morning and besides being delicious, the hot coffee in the cup would warm my cold hands. I stayed in Suburban because the front passenger door doesn’t open–it’s on our list of things to get fixed–and whenever we take the Suburban, I have to enter through the driver’s door and climb over into my seat, and exit the same way in reverse. Many times I knock the GPS off its holder trying to climb out, or I knock over our water/tea cups (so EJ now removes them first), or I get “stuck” in an uncomfortable position because some days I’m less flexible than others. It’s rather funny. Since we were making quick stops, I just stayed in the Sub. EJ came out of the restaurant with coffee but no cash. The restaurant didn’t do “cash back.” Seriously? Every cashier in every store we go to always asks us if we want “cash back.” But today we couldn’t find any store that would give it to us.
So we decided to try a grocery store further down the street. EJ went into the store and bought a container of almonds and–success!–he was able to get cash back!!! Only when he got back to the Suburban, he realized that it was a $20 bill and if the woman selling the coasters didn’t have change, we’d be in a bind. So he went back into the store and bought another can of almonds and got the $20 bill changed into four $5 bills. We now had cash to pay the woman.
Fortunately, we had left our house early, but with all these stops, it was getting closer and closer to the time we were supposed to meet the woman with the coasters. We were several miles from the meeting place but we still had plenty of time to get there. Only EJ seemed to hit every red traffic light on the route. There was also road construction along the way, and heavy traffic, and we had to wait through several red lights at an intersection before we could finally continue on our way. We finally reached our destination only a few minutes late. We were able to meet the woman and buy her coasters. Whew.
It’s a good thing we both have a sense of humor. It was actually very funny and we laughed about it.
After we bought the coasters, that’s when we drove to EJ’s company and dumped the dingy in the dumpster. It felt like such a HUGE thing to have gotten rid of both the old carpet and the old dingy this weekend.
One of the knee supports EJ bought yesterday wasn’t the right kind. The boxes looked very similar but they weren’t. So our next stop was at Meijers to exchange the wrong knee support for the right one. This time I climbed out of the Suburban and went into the store with him. That transaction went amazingly well with no snafus of any kind.
On the way home, we saw several flocks of geese flying overhead. One of the flocks flew rather low, but I didn’t get my camera out in time. I did get a photo of one of the high-flying flocks. EJ and I love watching geese and we always pause to watch them flying overhead. Unless we are driving somewhere. Then EJ glances out the window and I try to take photos. The geese are gathering together to make the long journey south. They know winter is quickly approaching.
At home again, EJ went out to burn some stuff in the burning barrel (we can still do that in the rural areas) while I gathered eggs. I found only two eggs today. Soon the hens will probably stop laying until Spring. That’s ok. They need a vacation too.
I fixed us a quick late lunch. We relaxed for a bit, and then we drove to an auto parts store in a different town where EJ bought a thermostat thingy for the Suburban. This time we took Hannah Joy with us. She loves going on drives with us, but we couldn’t take her on our other errands this weekend because with the carpet and then the dingy, there wasn’t room for her. But on this latest errand there was room. Even though it was cold outside, EJ rolled down the back window for her so she could enjoy the scents.
We got a lot accomplished this weekend. We checked a lot of tasks off our list. We feel very good about that.
Wild, Wacky Weather of Michigan
Wintumn–a word I invented to describe a mix of autumn and winter–continues with crazy weather. In the last week, we’ve had a day or two of sunshine and blue skies, but also days of rain and Lake Effect snow, and a slushy combination of the two. Most days it’s been windy and the leaves are flying off the trees. It won’t be long until the trees are bare. This was our snow on Wednesday:
Crazy, huh? Snow hasn’t yet stuck to the ground in our area, but that’s a’coming…I’ve heard that north of us in the Upper Peninsula they are an inch or so of snow today while downstate is getting thunderstorms.
Thursday I drove to TSC to buy poultry feed, dog food, and canned cat food. I put as many on the flat shopping cart as I could manage, which amounted to four 50 pound bags of poultry feed, two 55 pound bags of dog food, and three 32-can boxes of cat food. It was quite a workout loading it all onto the cart, then into the Xterra, and then unloading everything at home. I carried the dog food and cat food into the house and then I pulled all the bags of poultry feed into the wheelbarrow and pushed it over to the coop where I lugged it inside. Friday I scooped the poultry feed from the bags into the kitty litter buckets to keep the feed safe from hungry mice.
We are now all set on the dog food, but we need about two more boxes of canned cat food, a few more bags of poultry feed, and some bags of cracked corn for the chickens. If we stock up now, we won’t have to worry about running out in terrible winter weather. I’ve read that the corn raises the chickens’ body temperature and helps them keep warm. Plus, they really enjoy their cracked corn treat. EJ and I will run to TSC for these additional items tomorrow.
EJ’s friend had a meeting at our area of the state Thursday evening. After his meeting, he came over here and spent the night. It saved him from making the long-ish trip home. Hannah Joy was very excited about seeing her “favorite uncle.” When he visits, she sits as closely to him as she can get on the couch with a proud grin on her face, and she brings him her favorite balls so he can play with her.
Last night EJ, Hannah, and I all had a quiet evening watching The Closer on Amazon. I love this photo of Hannah fast asleep on EJ’s lap:
The sunrise was very beautiful this morning. I grabbed my camera and went outside to capture it. I love how the sun makes the trees blaze with color.
After EJ and I had slowly emptied a pot of coffee this morning, we got busy. We would prefer to have quiet, relaxing Saturdays, but we needed to buy another 40 pound bag of dry cat food and some more bales of straw from a feed store that is closed on Sundays. Usually we just buy four bales of straw, but I wanted to get as many as we could fit in the Suburban as we could so we don’t have to make any return trips. We weren’t sure if we could fit five or six in the Sub so I waited in the store while an EJ and an employee loaded in as many as they could. Then the employee came in and told the clerk how many we were buying–five–and I paid for our purchases. EJ said that they probably could have fit six in the Sub, but it was raining so they just threw the bales in as quickly as they could. The weather was so crazy today with downpours of rain that periodically became slushy snow.
On the way home, we stopped at Meijers to buy EJ knee braces to support his knees. They are giving him a bit of trouble. We also wanted to buy a variety of nuts because they make healthy treats. That’s it. I had a coupon. I also had a coupon for a bag of rawhide bones for Hannah Joy. Going from one side of the store to the other, we came across a large jug of peanut oil for 50% off. I need peanut oil. A few more things found their way into our cart. I hate going to Meijers because we always seem to buy more than we intended. It’s all things I was intending to buy, but I wasn’t going to buy it NOW. This is why I prefer to shop at our little local grocery store.
It was still slushy rain-snowing when we arrived home so we grabbed the bags of groceries and left the cat food and straw bales in the Suburban to be unloaded tomorrow. I don’t want to risk getting the straw wet.
Last night I opened the door between the two halves of the chicken coop to let the old and new chickens mingle. I felt as if I was putting the new chickens into the general population of a prison where they would be bullied. I keep telling myself that it is normal for there to be bit of bullying when new chickens are added to a flock as their place in the pecking order is established. It is part of chicken society. But still. I saw the new chickens outside this morning. Later in the afternoon when I went out to gather eggs, I saw the new chickens in “their” side of the coop while all the others were outside, but they didn’t look beat up so I think they will be ok.
Wintumn
I currently have many different coats in our laundry room, ranging from light to heavy. I have a hoodie jacket, a warm lined hoodie jacket, a warmer lined windbreaker, and two winter coats–one for every day and one that is nicer. Oh, I also have my winter chore coat. I need all those coats because I never know what the weather is going to be: warm or cool or cold. Yesterday I wore my warm hoodie until it warmed up enough that I took it off and wore just my sweatshirt. Today it was downright cold so I wore my everyday winter coat when I took Hannah outside and my chore coat when I went out to care for the chickens. Once the weather is consistently winter cold, I will put away all the lighter jackets.
I am calling today “Wintumn” because we experienced a combination of autumn and winter weather. I suppose I could have called it Autumnter. Take your pick: Autumnter or Wintumn. Both are appropriately descriptive.
We started out with rain. We could hear it tapping on the roof when we woke. The rain stopped about mid-morning or so, but then we had snow. Yes, snow. Sometimes it came straight down and sometimes the strong wind blew it sideways. None stayed on the ground–it was just a warning shot that winter is moving in. In between the episodes of snow, we had periods where sunlight that broke through the clouds and vividly lit up the colorful trees. Then dramatic dark clouds moved back in, lumbering through the blue sky like huge ships in a sea. The sky would grow gray and dark and snow would fall again. Accompanying all this variety of weather, we had strong winds that tore the leaves off the trees. At times the whole sky was filled with leaves. Sadly, I didn’t get a photo/video of it. Sometimes there was both snow and leaves falling from the sky, as if Winter and Autumn were dancing together. Rain, snow, leaves, sunshine, clouds, wind: It was wildly beautiful.
Early this morning when I took Hannah Joy outside, I smelled the strong smell of skunk. Ugh.
When I took Hannah Joy outside this afternoon, I noticed a small hole in the ground near the deck. I thought at first that maybe Madeline, our sweet serial killer cat, had tried to dig out a mouse, vole, or shrew. But then I noticed another hole, and another, and another–some deeper and some more shallow. A very large area was churned up. I thought, “Hmmm, I wonder if bucks had maybe been fighting during the night?” They would have been just outside our windows. When EJ arrived home from work, I showed him the churned up area. He didn’t believe it was deer because some of the holes were rather deep. He thinks that maybe it was the skunk we smelled digging for grubs. Every now and then throughout the day, I got a whiff of skunk, and we both smelled it this evening. We are hoping the skunk isn’t making its home under the deck.
The new chickens are settling in ok. They are still separated from the rest of the flock; I’ll keep them separated for about a week so they can adjust to each other before they mingle. The new hens are roosting on the straw bales in their half of the coop, as I suspected they would. In fact, I had deliberately made sure the straw bales were clear of feed buckets and egg baskets because I know chickens like to roost high up. It’s very comforting to go into the coop when the chickens are settling down at night. They have soft coos and clucks that are as comforting as a cat’s purring. I think I could fall asleep listening to their them.
EJ’s Autumn Birthday
Yesterday was EJ’s birthday. Well, not exactly. His birthday is actually in early Spring when the trees are still bare and there is often snow on the ground, but he declared that yesterday was his birthday because autumn is such a beautiful season with lots to enjoy.
Originally we were going to drive through the Tunnel of Trees, which is very beautiful in any season but especially in autumn. But EJ fell at work and hurt his knee last week, so we decided not to take any long drives. We heard today (from JJ’s girlfriend) that the traffic was bumper to bumper through the Tunnel of Trees yesterday because it’s such a beautiful scenic drive and the weather was awesome. We are quite glad we took roads less traveled.
We were going to just stay at home yesterday but then EJ saw at Facebook that a nearby ski resort was offering chair lift rides to see the autumn colors from higher up. We thought, hey, it’s close by and won’t take long so let’s just go and do it. So after looking up the location on Google Maps, we hopped in the Xterra and made our way there. We knew we were in the right place when we saw a long, long line of people stretched back, back, and out of sight toward the parking lot. I exclaimed “Oh my goodness! Look at all the people!” Then we saw that the line of people went under the bridge we drove across and stretched forward, forward, out of sight toward wherever the chair left was. We couldn’t see where the line began or where it ended. EJ said, “By the time we got on the chair lift, the leaves will all be gone from the trees!” So we both agreed to keep driving. We are both very flexible and don’t mind if we discard Plan A and go to Plan B, or C…or even K.
We meandered on winding roads through vividly colored forests to the town of Gaylord. The trees seemed especially vivid and beautiful this year. Since it was EJ’s sort of birthday, we stopped at Jay’s Sporting Goods. After EJ looked at the items he was interested in, we stopped to look at game/trail cameras. We’d love to have some for security and to see what wildlife goes through our property. We know very little about such cameras, but the salesman was very knowledgeable, and after we explained what we wanted, he helped us choose the best camera for us. We didn’t buy it yesterday. We will buy it when we have some extra money.
A Cops & Donuts bakery was next door to Jays–in fact, you can enter the bakery through Jays–so we went in and ordered pasties, coffee, and a donut each. This “precinct” isn’t as wonderful as the original bakery in Clare. The one in Clare has a lot of character, and a feeling of excitement, and the employees look like they really have fun and enjoy their jobs. The one in Gaylord is smaller, nondescript, and the employees didn’t look like they particularly enjoyed their jobs. I think when we go to Cops & Donuts, we will head for the one in Clare, even though that’s further. But we enjoyed our treat.
This morning–well, actually more like noon because we had a leisurely morning drinking coffee– EJ and I went outside and fenced in our six apple trees to protect them from the deer. We have three t-posts around each of tree. We measured how much fencing we needed, rolled out the fencing and cut it with wire-cutters, and then fastened the fencing to the posts. We didn’t fix the fencing to the posts permanently so we can take it down in the summer months. I think that when the fences are covered in ice and snow this winter, it will make an interesting landscape.
JJ’s girlfriend stopped in this afternoon with her daughter and a friend to give us her two chickens. JJ had originally planned to come with her, but he had to work and isn’t feeling well. K was sad to give up her pets, but we told her she can come visit any time she wants.
Our coop is divided into two sections. The chickens are in the back section and the poultry supplies are in the front section. We are keeping the new chickens in the front section for a few days. The old and new chickens can see each other through the dividing fence, but can’t intermingle. This can help them all adjust to each other. Even so, I read that there will be some pecking and bullying when they are all put together as the chickens work out the pecking order, but it might be less severe to ease them into the flock.
After JJ’s girlfriend left, we went to the store. EJ put gas in the Suburban while I went into the store to buy a couple of items. We then went on to the hardware store because I can’t find my little paint roller so I needed to get another.
Once at home, we banded the new hens with different colored bans, but we will need K. to tell us which one is Agnes and which is Inez (or is it Ines?). I gave the chickens fresh water and gathered eggs while EJ put the other hinge on the large garden gate, made out of a dog pen. I came into the house to do a few tasks while EJ did a little maintenance on the Suburban.
Finally, our tasks done, I made popcorn and hot cider. Hannah saw an opportunity and shoved her nose into EJ’s bowl. She got banished to the bedroom while we finish our popcorn in peace.
The Irritated Spider and Other Stuff
It’s been rainy all week. I think we’ve had more rain thus far in October than we had all summer! The first three days of this week were warm with temperatures in the 70s, but I think . Each day the leaves on the trees are noticeably more colorful. I think we are now nearing the peak autumn color.
Despite the rain, I was able to get several tasks done this week.
Monday morning I scooped the wild bird seed from their bags into kitty litter buckets to keep them safe from rodents. Timmy helped me.
We had ordered a few things from Amazon, trying to get ready for winter. It’s always a bit of a chore to order anything in the winter because the delivery guys won’t drive up our long steep driveway to the house. Instead, they place packages in the Magic Box–a large wooden box we have at the bottom of our driveway for packages. I call it the “Magic Box” because packages suddenly appear in it! 🙂
One of the items that arrived on Monday was a string of Christmas lights. Our coop is not wired for electricity so I hang Christmas lights in the coop, which makes it quite festive. We have them plugged into an extension cord running out through a garage window and in through the coop window. The garage and coop are only a few feet from each other. Half of my old Christmas lights were no longer working and the chickens kept knocking parts of them down, which didn’t help matters. So I bought rope lights which I thought would be less fragile and more easy to secure on the nails I hang them on. The lights are a brighter, harsher light than the previous ones and not as cozy, but I wanted a brighter light to encourage the chickens to lay eggs for as long as possible, even though right now we have an over-abundance of eggs. Another few weeks and they’ll stop laying until Spring.
In our Amazon order, I also got an outdoor thermometer. I fastened it to our North Post weather station. Later, I had EJ stand at our bedroom window to direct me in adjusting it so we could see the red line indicating the temperature from inside the house.
There wasn’t a good place on the North Post for the rain gauge so after consulting with EJ, I fastened the rain gauge to one of the fence posts so that we could see it from the house.
JJ’s girlfriend needs to rehome her chickens, so we agreed to take two of them that are hens of the same breed we have. JJ and his girlfriend just have to find time in their busy schedules to bring them to us. I’ve been reading about how to introduce new chickens to a flock. I’ve read that there can be a bit of a fuss as they fight to establish a new pecking order. An article suggested keeping the old and new chickens separated for about a week to help them adjust to each other so I’m going to put them in the front part of our coop where we had kept the ducks, and which we now use for storage for the chickens’ food, straw, etc.
Only one side of the coop’s double doors has an inside latch and I want to be able to keep the new chickens contained so on Monday I hammered a large staple on each side of the door, and then twisted a sturdy wire on one staple and bent the other end so I can latch it onto the other door and hold them closed. I didn’t even know these large staples existed until we moved to our new home. Now they are my “best friend”–I use them to attach fencing to posts and to make latches for doors and gates.
While I was hammering the staple in, I apparently irritated a large wolf spider. People always say that spiders are “more scared of you than you are of them” but this spider wasn’t scared of me. He (or she?) rushed toward my hand. I leaped away with a “Ahhhhhh!” of fear, barely escaping its attack. I found a long stick and brushed the wolf spider off the door. It jumped into the mud and I finished my tasks while trying to watch for the spider.
Tuesday morning EJ tripped on a wooden box at work and fell hard on his knee. His company sent him to the hospital to have it looked at. Fortunately, he didn’t break anything. The doctor x-rayed EJ’s knee and said he “just” bruised a bone and that it would be really painful for a few days. EJ came home after his exam to ice his knee. Ouch. EJ has been struggling with some health issues. I’m a bit concerned for him. I don’t know if his symptoms are due to stress, his medication, or some other problem. I hope to accompany him to his doctor on his next checkup later this month.
EJ had wanted to put fencing around the apple trees this week to protect them from the deer. The plan was to get one tree fenced each night after work. Instead, it looks as if that will be our weekend project.
I worked a bit in the garage yesterday. A month or two ago, EJ brought home some old four-drawer file cabinets that his work was discarding. He is planning to put tools and such in them. I moved the cabinets against the wall with the others. I also began painting another long thin board to make another snow measuring stick for the front yard.
The temperature has been in the 70s for the last few days. While the weather was warm I opened the windows to let the fresh air in before I had to close them for the winter. I finally took the screens off today and washed all the windows because a cold front came through last night and it’s been much colder, with high temperatures not reaching 50 degrees. There was a blustery wind that made it feel much colder. I wore a heavier jacket today, which was barely adequate–any colder and I’ll switch to my winter coat. I also wore a winter hat; unless I wear a hat, my ears ache painfully in cold weather. I can well believe that winter is quickly approaching. It has snowed in the UP and in western states. We are running out of time to get things done.
Hannah Joy is a real character. She doesn’t have much patience. When she wants me to do something, she wants it NOW. I thought you’d enjoy this video I took of Hannah yesterday when she was trying to get my attention. She growls and whines, gets up in my face, and nudges aside my laptop. My laptop has a touch screen so in nudging it aside, she often touches the screen and messes up what I’m doing. Sometimes she deliberately wraps my laptop cord around her nose and pulls it out. Hannah is impossible to ignore. She’s funny.
Ambush at Barker Creek
Today we needed to get fencing so we can protect our apple trees from hungry deer this winter. We decided to go to a different TSC in a different town than we usually go to so we could stop at the Cops & Donuts bakery so we could get yummy donuts for my birthday “cake.” EJ also wanted to stop in at Jay’s Sporting Goods which is right next to the bakery.
But our plans changed.
EJ woke up in a lot of pain so we decided to go to Meijers to buy the heating blanket for back pain that we had seen in the pharmacy yesterday when we stopped in to pick up EJ’s prescriptions. We though it might be worth a try. On the way to Meijers, we stopped in at our regular TSC store to buy the roll of fencing. EJ said that after we can maybe fence in one of the trees each evening after work until they are all done.
Our favorite nursery and landscaping place was having a Customer Appreciation Day today, and since we have bought most of our fruit trees and plants there, we decided to stop in. They had tables set up in an autumn-decorated greenhouse with lots of seasonal food–chili, soups, sandwiches, and such–so we filled up our bowls and plates and enjoyed a delicious lunch for free. For dessert I had a cookie and, yes, I was finally able to enjoy a pumpkin donut and glass of cider. While we ate, a lady played American folk music on a concertina, which added to the fun harvest atmosphere. I told her that I really enjoyed her music, and her face lit up with pleasure.
After we ate, EJ and I wandered through the nursery grounds, drinking in the autumn colors. Barker Creek is huge–about 90 acres. It stretches back and back and back almost to the lake. It has little ponds and a stream running through it. It is a beautiful, magic place that always makes me think of an enchanted land like Narnia.
There is danger in every enchanted land, and we faced terrible danger today at Barker Creek. We were able to resist (barely) buying any trees or plants that were on sale. We have too many other things we need to get before winter. However, we almost were overcome by the dogs. We were unaware that a local animal shelter would be there with multiple adoptable dogs needing homes so we weren’t able to strengthen and prepare ourselves. As soon as we arrived, we were ambushed by a volunteer with a beautiful five-year-old lab/retriever mix. The dog’s owner was seriously ill and didn’t think he could care for his beloved dog, so he had just sadly given him up that morning. The dog was very sweet and loving, and EJ fell totally in love with him. I really think EJ would have adopted him even though just yesterday he was saying that he only ever wanted one dog at a time. Fortunately, just before we left, a man and his daughter were preparing to adopt the dog. Whew. We barely escaped unscathed.
We escaped adopting another dog, but we didn’t escape the chickens. A couple of days ago I shared the video of Sassy crowing in our garden, and JJ’s girlfriend commented that she was sad that she had to rehome her two chickens. I don’t really want more chickens–we already have too many eggs–but these were the same breed we have, they were hens, and I thought it would be nice to help out JJ’s girlfriend. The chickens are practically her pets, and she’s been having trouble finding them good homes. Soft-hearted and soft-headed me, I asked EJ what he thought about taking them, and he said to go ahead. So now I have gone from 8 chickens to 10–or I will as soon as she brings them over. By the way, adding more chickens than expected is humorously called Chicken Math. Often people start out intending to buy only 2-4 chickens, but they end up with a huge flock of chickens–and also ducks, turkeys, geese, etc.
I’m glad our plans for today changed. We had a lot of fun wandering through Barker Creek. We weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the day. Look who we saw. LOL.
Birthday Adventure
Today is my birthday. I think that my birthday occurs in the most beautiful month of the year, and my annual gift of taking a long drive to enjoy the autumn color is the most awesome gift imaginable.
We left home at 9 a.m. We had discussed whether or not to take Hannah Joy with us, but we decided to leave her home because Hannah can be headstrong and we wanted a relaxing day. Before we left home, we shut the cats in the entrance hall/pantry so Hannah would leave them alone. She likes to chase some of the cats. We closed the pet door so she couldn’t get into the pantry because there is a lot of things in there that she could get into. We put away anything in the rest of the house that Hannah might get into and gave her a rawhide bone to keep her occupied for a while. Although we were gone all day, she really did quite well. Nothing chewed up, no messes to clean up. However, she misbehaved quite a bit after we returned home–chasing cats, trying to eat our food, and so forth.
Since it was on the way, our first stop was at a feed store in Traverse City to buy a winter’s supply (we hope) of cat food, wild bird seed, and a big box of treats for Hannah.
Our morning started out rainy. The rain stopped later on but there were dark clouds in the sky all day. We didn’t mind. We actually enjoy all the “moods” of autumn. We had worn “layers” of clothes–t-shirts, sweatshirts, and windbreakers–so we could put on/take off layers as needed according to the weather. We had also brought along warm winter hats because we knew it would be especially chilly and windy near the coast of Lake Michigan. It’s a good thing we did: we would have frozen without our hats and warm clothing.
Since we moved to Northern Michigan, my birthday drives tend to take us either north on M-119 through the Tunnel of Trees up to the Mackinac Bridge or south along Lake Michigan on M-22. Sometimes we do both, traveling north one weekend and south another. Today we traveled on M-22, pretty much following the route marked out on the map at the top of this post–only we turned west at Sutton’s Bay and went only as far south as Frankfort before turning around and working our way toward home. Although EJ’s birthday is in late March, he declared that next weekend is his birthday and he wants to go north.
From Traverse City, we traveled north along the coast of Grand Traverse Bay. The rain and thick clouds shrouded everything in a mysterious fog. The sky and water seemed to blend into each other. It was difficult to take good photos as we drove along because our windshield was dirty and the raindrops blurred everything, but I liked this photo of the boats on the bay.
At the picturesque town of Sutton’s Bay, we turned west to the coast and meandered our way down to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We went on a very beautiful scenic drive through the area called the “Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.” The rangers at the entrance to the drive gave us a map with places of special interest marked. We stopped at the overlooks and walked along the dunes, taking in the gorgeous views. At one overlook, we saw birds soaring overhead. It was difficult to see what they were, but we are sure that at least one of them was a bald eagle. I took many, many photos at the dunes. Here are some of them:
Here are a couple short videos that I took of two different areas at the dunes:
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 1
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 2
We were very hungry when we finally left the dunes, so we drove south to Frankfort hoping to find a restaurant. We parked the Xterra and walked through the cute town. Surprisingly, most of the restaurants didn’t open until 3 p.m., but we finally found L’Chayim Delicatessen, which was open until 3 p.m. EJ ordered us two sandwiches–a Reuben and a Berg–and we each had half of both sandwiches. They were very good.
We drove to the shore at Frankfort to take a photo of its lighthouse, and then we headed back north. We stopped at Point Betsy Lighthouse to go rockhounding. At Sleeping Bear Dunes we were high above Lake Michigan, on top of very steep dunes, but at Point Betsy we were able to walk along the shore at the water’s edge. We’ve been to Point Betsy several times before, but only on calm, sunny days. It was fun being there on a day when the waves were higher and came crashing to shore. I thought they were beautiful, and very mesmerizing. As we were crossing around some large boulders to continue down the beach, we got caught by some higher waves. My shoes and pant legs were drenched. We found a few pretty rocks, but didn’t want to get too close to the water to find more. We both agreed we would like to visit Lake Michigan on a stormy day to watch even higher waves.
As we left Point Betsie, we suddenly realized how very tired we were. We had had a very full day of fun. We headed home. I took my soaking wet shoes and socks off in the car. We stopped at Meijers on the way home to pick up a prescription for EJ, and I grabbed a gallon jug of cider. We hadn’t found any donuts or cider on our trip. We had planned to stop at a farmer’s market in Frankfort after we ate, and we might have found some there, but we forgot to stop. We have a few errands to run tomorrow and may go to Cops & Donuts.
When we got home, I took Hannah outside and then went out to gather chicken eggs and give them fresh water. Meanwhile EJ unloaded our cat and bird food. He also heated up enough cider for a cup for each of us. He sprinkled in some spices–I think cinnamon and cloves. I made popcorn. Hot cider and popcorn was just perfect after a day spent along windy Lake Michigan.
The Gift
Today is a rainy day, and once again I’m not sure what tasks to work on. Most of my tasks are outdoor ones that require a sunny day–or, at least, a rainless one. I probably could find something to do inside the house, but rainy days make me feel cozy so I’m sitting in my chair with my laptop and Hannah Joy, wrapped in a blanket, with a cup of coffee next to me.
Saturday–tomorrow–is my birthday. I’m only telling you this because I’m excited about my birthday adventure. Long ago I decided that the gift I’d like most is to spend the day on a long drive enjoying the beautiful autumn scenery. So every year we take a long drive and make memories together. We usually choose a general route, but part of the fun of my birthday adventure is being spontaneous so we are willing to change direction or stop to visit whatever seems interesting along the way. For example, two years ago we headed north on the Tunnel of Trees and came upon a sign for free autumn chair lift rides at a ski resort. We followed the sign and went on our first chair lift ride ever. It was fun to see autumn foliage from high in the air. We were going to go to the ski resort again last year, but the resort had been damaged by a fire a few months before so we continued north to the Mackinac Bridge.
Over the last month or so, I have been pondering and pondering where to go for my birthday drive. There is really no wrong answer because here in Northern Michigan every road is beautiful. I seriously considered going to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The UP is very beautiful (Paradise is located there), and I’d love to visit Crisp Point and Whitefish Point Lighthouses and go rockhounding along Lake Superior. We could also maybe visit beautiful Tahquamenon Falls or drive through Seney Wildlife Refuge. But I finally decided that it would be better to go to the UP during the summer when the days are longer and there is less risk of the Mackinac Bridge closing because of high winds. I wouldn’t mind getting “stuck” on the other side of the bridge because the UP is awesome, but it could be a problem if we couldn’t get home to care for the pets. Even taking Hannah with us could be a problem because many motels don’t allow pitbulls–she’s a mix–so we’d have no place to stay overnight.
I finally chose to drive along a scenic road through the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Several years ago the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes was voted the Most Beautiful Place in America by viewers of the morning talk show, Good Morning America. Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes is located on the coast of Lake Michigan, not too far away from home. It is forecasted to rain on Saturday, but I have only ever seen Lake Michigan on sunny days and I think it would be fun to witness its stormy wildness so I don’t mind if it rains. In fact, I sort of hope it does. If it’s not too stormy, we can walk the trails and go rockhounding along the shore. The best time to search for Petoskey Stones is after a storm because the waves wash more rocks to shore. But if the Lake is too wild, we will stay far from shore so we don’t get washed away.
There is a touching legend connected to the dunes, told in this video which also shows the beautiful area:
For the last couple of years we have bought pasties for our birthday lunches. Pasties are a traditional Northern Michigan treat–especially in the UP. It’s a delicious meat pie that had been brought here by Cornish miners who immigrated to the UP to work in the mines. I would love to have pasties on as a traditional birthday meal, but we really should head north for those. I told EJ that for my “cake and ice cream,” I would like to have donuts and cider which is a Michigan autumn tradition. I would really like to buy the donuts at a Cops & Donuts bakery because they are so very yummy. And, yes, the bakery is run by cops. There is a story behind its history: There was a doughnut shop and bakery in Clare, Michigan, that had been in constant operation since 1896. The business was within weeks of closing when the members of the Clare Police Department came to the rescue. All nine members of the local police department banded together to save this historic business. They have since opened several other “precinct” bakeries throughout Michigan, and one of them isn’t all that far away. However, the bakeries are all in the wrong direction from where we are headed so we will just eat at wherever we happen to find along the way.
I recharged my camera batteries yesterday so I can take lots of photos. 🙂
In today’s mail I received a gift from a very dear friend of mine. I totally loved it and I plan to wear it for my birthday tomorrow. I took a photo of it to share with you and Hannah Joy insisted on being in the photo as well. The t-shirt says, “Beware of Pitbulls ~ They will steal your heart.”
Winners
Yesterday (Wednesday) the temperature was in the mid-70s. It was so warm that I opened the windows when it stopped raining. More rain moved in towards evening, but we didn’t get the severe storms that were predicted. I think they were all north of us. Today the high temperature is back down to about 50 degrees. I’m wearing a jacket whenever I go outside although I took it off when I raked the gravel in the driveway because I got too warm. We really need to have a grader of some sort to smooth out the driveway, but since we don’t, I got out with a shovel to level out the bumps that form.
After I found Thor’s hammer when I was out mowing the lawn last week, EJ called the gravel company to let them know that we had found it. They had said that someone would be out to pick it up last Saturday, but no one came. The guy who had delivered the gravel had told me that he was starting his own company, so this morning I went to his website, found his email, and let him know that we had found his hammer. He dropped by this afternoon to pick it up. He seemed touched that we were returning it. He told me that he had said to his nephew, “See? There ARE a few honest people in the world.” 🙂 It’s a good feeling to help others and make their lives easier.
Today was payday so this morning I paid our bills. I was also able to order a few things from Amazon. We are trying to place our Amazon orders before the snow falls because the trucks won’t drive up our steep driveway in the winter, and it’s always doubtful whether they will leave items safely in the “magic box” which we have at the bottom of the driveway for package deliveries.
Our local grocery store has a canned goods sale every year. I placed an order for several cases of tomatoes, chili beans, kidney beans, and mushrooms last weekend. The store called me this morning to tell me the order was in, so I drove there to picked it up. When I got home, I arranged the cases on our pantry shelves. Someday I hope to learn to can so I don’t have to buy canned goods from the store, but until then it feels good to have a winter’s supply on our shelves.
I read that the temperature is supposed to dip down to the low 30s tonight. I decided I ought to put straw on the raised beds, but I wanted to wait until it was just dark enough for the chickens to go into their coop, but still light enough to see. The chickens have been getting into some of the raised beds and I didn’t want them to scratch the straw off the plants. I didn’t remember about the straw until I went out to shut the chickens in their coop. I was later than usual going out so I barely had enough light to cover the plants. But I got it done.
When I came back into the house, I told EJ that I wanted to ask him a question. He asked, “Is it the same question I am thinking about asking you? Whether we should turn on the heat?” I said, “Yes!” because 31 degrees is a bit cold to have no heat on in the house. With EJ’s agreement, I turned the thermostat up to 65 degrees. Usually I’m the one who gives in first, but since we both were going to ask each other if we should turn on the heat this year, I said that we should consider our autumn “game” to be a draw. He disagreed, saying that we both won because our house will be warm. LOL.
Autumn Rains & The North Post
It’s been a bit rainy this week. Most of the rain has occurred at night, but the days have been cloudy and damp. It stormed quite a bit this morning with some thunder and lightning. At the moment it’s quite pleasant outside–warm, humid, breezy, patches of blue among the clouds, not raining–but we have an “Enhanced” chance of storms later with a possibility of heavy rain, damaging wind, large hail, and an isolated tornado.
With the days so rainy-ish, I haven’t quite known what to do with myself. I have tasks that I want to get done, but not many that I can get done now. For example, I want to wash the windows, but first I want to take the screens out for the winter, and I don’t want to take the screens out until we don’t have any more warm days in which I want to open the windows to let in fresh air. And I need to fence in the apple trees, but first we have to buy more fencing. I want to cover the raised garden beds with straw, but I want to harvest as many herbs as I can. Plus, I need more straw. Plus, if I do it too early, the chickens will get into it and scratch it away. They are still getting into the strawberries and the beets so I have to fence them in better. So, you see, everything that I want to do needs to wait.
I did do a few tasks over the last couple of days. In addition to my regular chores–cleaning the house, laundry, cooking–I finished up the herbs I’ve been drying. Yesterday I straightened up the pantry, just a little bit. Today I carried the park benches up to the porch for the winter.
When I took Hannah Joy out at around noon, I noticed that the storm had knocked a small tree down onto my clothesline. Actually, it was a very large branch that had split off from a larger tree. The branch was too large and heavy to heave out of the way, so I got out a saw and pruning loppers and cut it into smaller sections that I threw into the woods. I was thankful the branch fell on the ropes, not the posts, so it didn’t do any damage. And I’m very thankful that it didn’t fall on the house or anything. Falling trees are always a concern when living in a forest full of woodpeckers.
Oh, and I hung up the North Post sign. The post marks the place where the septic tank lid is located so we don’t have to dig a bunch of holes trying to find it the next time we have the tank pumped out. We thought we’d have some fun with it, so I painted a “North” sign and we call it our “North Post”–because it’s on the north side of the house in Northern Michigan. We can’t call it the “North Pole” because it’s a post, not a pole.
I also painted a long stick with numbers to measure the amount of snow (up to 7 feet) that we get and EJ attached it to the post. All we need to do now is order a thermometer and rain gauge which I will attach to the post as soon as I buy them and we will have a weather station. I’d like to get a wind speed/direction gauge, but they all seem to be digital and I just want a simple inexpensive one. I do not think our North Post is in an optimal place for a weather station, but its primary function is to mark our septic tank lid. I might make another snow “ruler” for the front yard, but first I have to get more brushes.
I think the North Post looks pretty good.
The Heater Challenge
Every now and then, I read about a “Challenge” that is going around. Some Challenges are downright dangerous, such as the “Dancing Outside a Moving Car Challenge” or the “Tide Pod Challenge.” Others are fun, silly, creative, or raise money or awareness–such as the “Ice-Bucket Challenge” or the “Police Lip-Sync Challenge.” While I can appreciate that some people might find them fun, I never participate in any Challenges myself. I’ve never been one to care about fads of any sort. If a cause is good, I will support it without the hoopla of a group Challenge. If I want to engage in a Challenge, it will be to challenge myself, not others.
I kind of wonder if Extroverts enjoy group challenges more while Introverts enjoy individual Challenges more? As an Introvert, I don’t get the appeal of things like the Ice Bucket Challenge, but I do understand individual challenges such as one of my readers is doing–setting herself a goal of walking more than 1,000 miles in a year.
There is a Challenge EJ and I participate in every year. I think many people in the North participate in it. I call it the “Heater Challenge.” It involves seeing how long we can endure as the days and nights get chillier and colder until we finally turn on the furnace. Turning on the furnace means higher heating bills so we try not to turn it on until absolutely necessary. Turning the heater on in September is out of the question, no matter how chilly it is. We have to last until at least October 1–but we try to endure until mid-October. I always lose the Challenge because I give in before EJ does.
Today’s weather is a repeat of yesterday’s weather–with overnight lows in the low 40s and highs in the mid-50s. That makes for a chilly house. It’s in the low- to mid-60s in the house. I don’t know why 60 degrees feel so warm in the Spring but so chilly in the autumn. I’ve put our Korean blanket on the bed to keep warm at night. My brother met his South Korean wife when he was stationed in her country years ago. When she came with him to the USA, she brought along a very beautiful thick, heavy blanket which she gave to my parents as a gift. It’s wonderfully warm, but my Mom felt it was too warm so she let me borrow it when I moved into my first apartment, and then later she gave it to me. I consider it an heirloom. We love it.
During the day I’ve been wearing sweaters, I wrapped myself in a comforter, I soaked in Hannah’s body heat as she lies on my lap, and I’ve been drinking hot coffee or tea to keep warm. I’ve been a trifle tempted to turn on the heat, but nope, not yet. The forecast says the temperature will reach 74 degrees on Wednesday, which is too warm for the heat to be on. My goal is to wait until the lows at night are in the 30s and the highs during the day is consistently in the 50s. I can endure.
Yesterday EJ did some maintenance on the Xterra. Hannah really wanted outside so I took her out and she rushed over to see what EJ was doing. She looked so cute:
While EJ was working on the Xterra, I took dried herbs out of the dehydrator and stored them in glass canning jars. Then I went out to the garden and harvested more herbs. I brought them into the house, washed them, arranged them on the trays, and stuck them in the dehydrator. I confessed to EJ later that one of my reasons for drying the herbs–besides the fact that I won’t have many more opportunities to harvest herbs this year–is that the dehydrator pumps out a little heat and might take the chill out of the house. He laughed at me. But, hey, every little bit helps.
After EJ finished the Xterra, he nailed the cross-piece on our North Post. We had a bit of a snafu when he went to hang up the sign I had painted. I had pounded two large staples into the side of the sign as hooks to hang the sign. I was careful when I pounded them in because I didn’t want to risk them coming through the front of the sign. However, I had not pounded in the staples far enough so they came out and the sign fell to the ground. When EJ pounded in the staples further, the paint was marred and the staple came through the side. Sigh. I can’t do anything about the staple, but I repainted the marred bits. I have to wait for it to completely dry before I hang it. Once it’s hung, I will take photos to share.
Our little grocery store is having it’s annual canned goods sale so people can stock up for the winter. We can get cases of canned goods for a reduced price. I picked up an order form on Friday afternoon and filled it out, then returned it to the store. This is the first year we’ve been able to participate in the annual sale because we didn’t have extra money the first couple of years after we moved here. Mostly we are just getting canned tomatoes, chili beans, and mushrooms. One day I would like to learn how to can so I can do my own tomatoes, but until then, we buy canned.
Many of the Michigan pages and groups at Facebook have been sharing a recent Saturday Night Live segment in which Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren in some Star Wars movies, said that “Ewoks are real” and that they can be found in Traverse City, Michigan. Traverse City is the biggest town in Northwest Lower Michigan.
This Saturday Night Live segment stirred up memories from years ago when EJ, JJ, and I used to play Star Wars PlayStation games together. We could play as Clone Troopers or Rebels on various planets in the Star Wars universe, one of which was Endor, the planet of the Ewoks. We usually played as the Rebels when we went to Endor. The Ewoks kept following my character around, constantly yipping. It was annoying. I often exclaimed, “Hush! Be quiet!” because they were giving me a headache and I accused them of “giving away my position.” One day I got so annoyed that I shot an Ewok. Once I shot one, it was easier to shoot others. Bam! Bam! JJ got so upset with me. He said that I was shooting teddy bears and that each time I shot one, our side lost points. I tried to be good, but then a yapping Ewok would annoy me and I would shoot him. Bam! Bam! After awhile, JJ wouldn’t let me go to Endor any more. Those are good memories. LOL. So the Saturday Night Live segment reminded me of hunting Ewoks. I shared the video on my FB page and tagged JJ, asking if he thought I’d need a hunting license to shoot Ewoks in Traverse City? He told me I was a monster. LOL.
Another memory: We had gotten JJ a NASCAR racing game for his Playstation. He never played it the “correct” way. Instead, from the very first time he played it, he always drove the wrong way around the track, smashing into cars like it was a demolition derby. We sometimes played it with him and, like him, we always drove the wrong way and crashed into the other cars. Although we had nothing against Jeff Gordon, we always especially sought out his car to hit. LOL.
Weathered Work
I am aware that I often begin my posts with a description of our weather. That’s because the weather greatly affects what we do that day. Sunny and cool means more outside tasks, warm and humid is torturous, rain equals coziness, heavy snow means I’ll be outside snowblowing the driveway. Weather also affects what we wear: t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, or winter coats. You get the idea, I’m sure. Rain was forecasted for every day this week–and into this weekend–with percentages that kept changing downward. However, although we had some cloudy days, mostly the rain did not appear–either going around us or dissipating altogether. It did rain lightly during a night or two, and it is raining now, which means a cozy day of indoor tasks.
I heard that southern Michigan had severe storms on Tuesday with a possible tornado or two. When that storm moved through, the temperature turned much cooler, even for us in the north, with highs in the 50s or 60s (F) and overnight lows in the 40s. Definitely jacket weather.
Autumn seemed to have taken forever to arrive, but suddenly it is here, and now I feel as if winter will arrive before we get all out projects completed. Every year we never seem to finish everything we hope to get done, but we just shrug and say “We get done what we get done.” Every year we complete a few more projects than we did the year before.
The chickens leaped into our strawberry patch, which is in an old unusable hot tub that the previous owners of our house left behind. They scratched some of the straw out, exposing the plants, so I put wire fencing around the hot tub. I did it quickly in the evening and actually need to go out and do it more thoroughly but it was enough that the chickens aren’t going into the hot tub anymore. When I cover the other plants, I will put more straw on the strawberries. I also need to put fencing around the raised garden bed with the beets in it. They ate the tops. The chickens seemed to leave every planter alone that is surrounded by the fencing.
We still have to buy another roll of 7ft wire fencing to put around the apple trees to protect them from the deer. We hope to buy it after next payday.
On Tuesday the gravel guy arrived with a dump truck-load of gravel for our driveway. Two years ago the gravel was dumped out in piles–I think because our driveway was in such rough shape that we had to shovel the gravel along the edges where we needed it. This time the guy simply opened the tailgate and elevate the truck bed so it slowly dumped out the gravel as he drove down the driveway. It was done so skillfully that I didn’t have to shovel the gravel. I just had to rake it out a little. I’m really glad I didn’t have to shovel it since that would be tons of work. It would be even better if we had a grader to smooth it out, but we don’t, and it’s not bad the way it is. I think we could use another truckload for the bottom half of the driveway. Maybe we can still do it, but it’s not terrible if we can’t.
Kyle, the guy who brought the gravel is the son of the guy who owns the company. He had delivered most of our gravel two years ago. I was surprised that he remembered us. He said that when he heard we were ordering gravel again, he eagerly volunteered to bring it to us. “Most of our customers are not very pleasant,” he said, “but not you. You are good people. You are very good people.” That was a spirit-lifter. Kyle had brought us our potato stones two years ago at a reduced price. Those are the stones I’m using for my dams. He told me to let him know if we needed any more. He said he was starting his own business–delivering landscape stones. He orders some of his stones through his father’s company so he isn’t in competition to him. He said he bought his own truck, but dump trucks are expensive so he bought a used one and has been fixing it up. It was interesting chatting with Kyle.
Yesterday was a pleasant enough day that I decided to mow the lawn–possibly for the last time this year. It was chilly enough that I started out wearing my jacket, but I quickly warmed up enough that I took it off. It is much more enjoyable mowing the lawn when it’s not sweltering hot. Because we have fenced in most of the back yard for our garden, I have less to mow and I’m able do the whole lawn–the little that we mow–with just one tank of gas.
While I was mowing, I came across Thor’s Hammer lying at the edge of the driveway. It was very heavy, but I was able to pick it up. I believe that means that I have been deemed worthy to wield it. Ok, ok, it actually probably fell from Kyle’s truck rather than Valhalla because it was located near where he had parked. EJ called the company last night to let them know we had found it and they said someone would be out–probably on Saturday–to pick it up. I prefer the imaginative version of the story and I am hoping Thor will stop by to claim it. LOL.
Earlier this week I cut a bunch of herbs and I’ve been dehydrating them in our Magic Mills food dehydrator. I’m trying to get as many herbs cut and dried before I have to cover the plants with straw.
Before the people came to clean out our septic tank earlier in the summer, we had to dig down and uncover the lid to the septic tank. This is the first time we’ve done this since we’ve moved here, and while EJ knew the general area, we weren’t sure exactly where it was located. We dug quite a few holes in searching for it. To prevent digging a bunch of holes in the future, we planted a wooden post where the lid is. Rather than have a random post sticking up out of the ground, we decided to have fun with it. Since the post is on the north side of the house in Northern Michigan, we call it “the North Post.” We would call it “the North pole” but it’s a post, not a pole.
We considered many different ways of creating our North Post. We discovered that a decorative porch post is much, much too expensive for a whimsical project. We can’t paint the post because paint won’t work on a treated post. We decided to hang the sign. I searched for decorative brackets on the Internet, but the cheapest was almost $30 for one that was big enough and I didn’t want to spend that much money. So we are going to make a cross post and hang the sign from that. I’ve been painting a sign that says “North” on it. Wooden letters don’t stand up to our weather, so I ordered a few letters from a company and traced the letters, which I then painted. I also painted a thinner board with numbers to measure the snow. I am going to order an inexpensive thermometer and rain gauge from Amazon and turn our North Post into a weather station. I’ll take photos of the post when we get it set up.
At this time of year, when the weather is getting cooler and the days shorter, the wolf spiders tend to linger on the porch. They scared me, so I scan the porch before I take Hannah outside in the early mornings and evenings. EJ sometimes goes out with us in the evenings. I make him go first so he will be eaten first. Just kidding! He goes first so he can “shoo” away any spiders that might be lurking. He saw me checking the porch the other morning before I took Hannah out and he asked, “Looking for spiders?” I replied, “Of course.” He said, “It’s not spiders you have to watch for. It’s bears. Bears are much more dangerous than spiders.” Thanks a lot, EJ. Well, I haven’t seen any bears lurking on the porch like the spiders do…but I took along a flashlight, just in case I heard a noise. I like to see what’s going to kill me. LOL.
I think it’s funny that whenever I go out into the garden, the chickens follow me around. I’ve read that the chickens consider their human to be the leader of their flock. I thought I’d leave you with this video I took this morning:
Autumn Tasks
EJ and I have a large-ish white board on which we list our debts/bills, home improvement/maintenance projects we want to get done,, money-making ideas, and other such things. We keep the board in our laundry room and get it out when we want to check off our progress or add to the list. Sunday we got out our whiteboard and wrote a list of the tasks we would like to get done before winter. Then we prioritized them according to which things we needed to buy now and which can wait. All the tasks need to be done before it snows, but some need to get accomplished while the weather is still warm and some can wait for a few weeks or even a month or two. After we finished our list and had a good idea of our priority and timeline, we went shopping. Hannah wanted to go with us, but we told her, “Not this time, Hannah-Banana!”
Our first stop was Meijers, where we bought auto maintenance items.. EJ will work on the vehicles in the next week or so before it gets cold. EJ also bought his tags for deer hunting. We bought a few other items as well, some of which were not on our list, but they were on sale. Meijers has a lot of good sales, but I usually do my grocery shopping at our little local store because I end up spending too much money at Meijers.
Our next stop was TSC. We need to get both t-posts and fencing up to protect our fruit trees from the deer before the ground freezes, but we bought the t-posts yesterday and have to wait until our next paycheck to get the fencing. We’ve got a little time. Probably next payday we will buy a winter’s supply of cat, dog, chicken, and wild bird food/seed at TSC and another feed store. We like to have enough so we don’t have to worry about getting low or running out during winter storms.
We drove home, unloaded our purchases, ate lunch, and then drove to the hardware store and bought four bales of straw. We need more straw for the garden and for the chicken coop, but we could only fit four in the suburban. We will get more bales later.
When we got home, I took the bales of straw into the coop, keeping one out to spread on our strawberry plants in the old hot tub. The weather is cooling with temps sometimes dipping in the low 40s overnight and I especially want the strawberries to be protected from unexpected frost. I’ll cover the other plants in the garden soon. Later I brought in my house plants for the winter. I keep them out on the deck all summer long and bring them in when the temperature cools in the autumn. Some of the plants I have had for years, and I don’t want to risk them getting killed by frost.
Meanwhile, EJ did a few auto maintenance things and then we put away the hoses in the front yard. I don’t think I’ll be watering the trees or flowers anymore. We haven’t yet put away the back yard hose, but we will do that soon. I’d like to mow the lawn at least one more time, and also wash the windows after I take the screens out. I don’t want to take the screens out until I have to. We have a lot to do!
After we had all our tasks done, we relaxed. Well, sort of. I did several more practice tests in preparation for getting my driver’s license renewed. This morning I did a couple more, and then I drove to the Secretary of State office–what other states call their DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles). I was a bit nervous, but I figured I was prepared as I could be and I just wanted to get it all over with. The clerk took my money, input my eye color, height, and weight into her computer, and then gave me a simple vision test in which I just had to read the top line of letters and state where I saw a blinking light. I passed that test! Then I had to stand in front of a screen and get my photo taken. The clerk said that I had a “deer in the headlights look” for my first photo so she retook it, and it looked better–but only slightly. Ugh. My license photo never, ever looks good–not ever. I always shudder and say, “whatever.” I was expecting the clerk to tell me to sit down and taken my written test, but instead she said, “That’s it. You’re good. Have a nice day.” I was tempted to exclaim, “B-b-but I thought I had to take a written test! I studied for it!” but I shut my mouth and left with a sigh of relief. It feels like forever since I had to renew my license in person, and I couldn’t remember if I had to take a test or not. I’m sure there were times when we’ve had to take the test. Well, I guess I’d rather be over-prepared than under-prepared and I think it doesn’t hurt to review all the driving rules just to refresh my memory. But, whew, in four years I can simply renew by mail.
After I returned home, I started washing clothes and hung each basket of wet clothes on the clothesline. There is a chance of rain for the rest of the week so today is the best day to do laundry. It was breezy and a cool outside this morning. Definitely sweatshirt weather.
During his lunch hour, EJ called the gravel guy to order a load of gravel. They will deliver it on Wednesday or Thursday and then we will be very busy shoveling and raking it into ruts in our driveway. It’s a lot of work, but I just tell myself it’s my exercise program! It will be more pleasant to work during the autumn coolness than summer heat.
The Wind and Sunset Red
It rained yesterday–sometimes lightly and sometimes a heavy downpour. It rained through the night. I woke once to heavy drumming on the skylight. It rained a little this morning, but it ended by mid-day, although there is still a slight chance of rain through the evening.
I was surprised at how warm it was this morning when I went out to let the chickens out of their coop. I checked the thermometer: It was 70. Later the temperature fell and it grew cool enough that I needed a jacket when I went out to gather eggs. The highs tonight are only supposed to be in the low 40s. It feels very autumn-ish.
Through the day the clouds came and went. Sometimes the sky looked gray instead of blue. Sometimes big fluffy sheep-like clouds wandered across the blue sky. Then low blue-black clouds lumbered in. It was quite breezy this morning but the winds strengthened through the day. The National Weather Service had issued a “wind advisory” with gale force winds of 40-50 mph today. The winds tossed the trees and ripped green leaves off them, as if it were late autumn. It tipped over our garbage can and an old file cabinet EJ had set out to take to the dumpster at work. I was surprised that the chickens came out of their coop. I half expected the wind to pick them up and propel them through the air.
I enjoyed a slow morning as I drank cups of coffee until the pot was empty. EJ and I drink coffee together in the mornings, then he fills his thermos to take to work, and I get the remainder. Enough is left for me to be satisfying.
Once the coffee was gone, I dressed in my oldest clothes: a pair of loose-fitting sweat pants that are ripped and my once-favorite Lord of the Rings t-shirt that is ragged and holy. I set up the boards I’m painting for my project, and opened a small can of paint called “Sunset Red.” I’m sure there’s a group of people somewhere who sit down and decide on the names for different colored paint to make them appealing to customers. Sometimes I think the names are silly–like “Jamaica Bay” or “Baroness.” But I confess that when given the choice between two similar shades of red paint, I chose “Sunset Red” because of the name.
I painted my boards and left them to dry. I was anticipating them drying quickly and being able to get them finished today, but they dried very slowly–maybe because of the humidity. Now I suspect it will take me several days to get it finished.
While waiting for my paint to dry, I changed back into nicer clothes and started some laundry, and then I went to our local grocery store to do some shopping for the next couple of weeks. Home again, I got everything put away rather quickly despite Hannah poking her head in the bags to see what I had bought. I called a friend to chat while I folded the newly washed clothes and then took a few practice tests for my license renewal. That’s pretty much how my day went.
Oh, yesterday I got a call from the dentist office. The receptionist said that they resubmitted my dental work to the (correct) insurance company, and it looks as if the insurance is going to pay for more than they thought. They refunded half of what I had paid. That’s super news! Usually it happens the other way around and we have to pay more than expected. This will be enough to mostly pay for gravel for our driveway. Whoo hoo!
I asked the dental receptionist if she could give me an estimate of the cost for the crown on my tooth so I know what to expect and can plan ahead. She said that if I waited until after a new insurance year begins, I will only have to pay about $400. That’s not bad! Whew! So my “coronation day”–you know, the day I get my crown–will probably be in January. 🙂
I Love To Go A Gardening 