I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Mean Girl and White Feather
It’s been a very dry summer–at least for us. On radar, we often watch large areas of rain go right past us without hitting us. Because of the lack of rain, I have to go out ever day to water EJ’s vegetable garden and my herb garden. That’s a lot of work because I have to move the sprinkler every 30 minutes or so to cover all the garden areas. Our gardens are not huge, but our sprinkler is small so it takes me several hours. However, we finally got some steady rain last night and this morning. This afternoon we can see some blue among the clouds, but the forecast says that we could get scattered showers this evening. I hope so.
The good thing about this summer is that it’s been mostly pleasantly cool so it’s been comfortable to work and sleep. Now watch: Because I said that, we will now get hit with very hot and humid weather.
Shortly after we got our first flock of chicks seven years ago, I read that chickens make the humans who care for them into an honorary members of their flock. When a chicken–usually a rooster–is “mean,” it’s because it thinks it outranks you and is trying to get you back under its dominance. For that reason, I’ve never put up with sass. If any act a little sassy, I gently but firmly nudge it away so it understands that it is below ME in the pecking order. Because they know their rank, my chickens have always been respectful toward me. Usually my chickens get along with each other as well. They sometimes briefly peck at each other to keep the lower-ranking ones in line, but it doesn’t last long. Since the pecking order is the way their “society” works, I don’t interfere.
Among the little chicks we got last year was a female chick that was a bit more aggressive than usual. Even as a little one she would sometimes leap and flab her wings at me to scare me. I’d flick my finger at her and she remained mostly respectful toward me. I quickly stop her sassiness if she tries. However, she’s grown up to be a bit bossy to the other chickens. I think of her as the stereotypical “mean girl” who bullies others. She recently started bullying one of the other hens. It wasn’t a simple peck and it seemed a prolonged bullying.
All of our chickens are Rhode Island or New Hampshire Reds which pretty much look identical to each other. However, quite a few months ago, one of the hens, the Mean Girl’s victim, has developed white feathers among the red ones. I’m wondering if she’s from our first flock and getting old, and maybe that’s why Mean Girl is bullying her, but none of the others have white feathers, even those from the first flock. I don’t know why this hen does but it’s quite pretty. It makes her unique.
Mean Girl has been bullying White Feather so constantly that White Feather tried to hide from her. I didn’t even know if Mean Girl let White Feather access the food and water. I considered how to solve the problem and I finally decided to build a door for one of the old wooden doghouses inside the coop. I cut a piece of sturdy cattle panel down to door size. We had originally used cattle panels for our dog Danny’s pen (he’s now deceased) when we lived downstate; we brought them with us when we moved and have repurposed them to make gates, trellis, and whatever else we needed. The squares of a cattle panel are big enough that a chicken can get through so I covered the panel with flimsier chicken wire that is much smaller. Then I hammered in large staples for hinges. I twisted a thick wire into a “latch,” and hammered in a nail that I could hook the wire on to keep the door closed.
Once I had the dog house door completed, I put White Feather in it with food, water, and treats of grass that I pull up for her every day. Ideally, Mean Girl should have been the one shut away, but I don’t think White Feather minds being in a protected place. She seemed so terrorized that I wasn’t sure she was going to make it but I check every day and she’s still alive. She’s sitting up although she still seems unusually docile. I hope she makes it.
In the future, I plan to use that dog house for any little chicks we get or raise until they are old enough to join the adult flock. We actually got an incubator this Spring intending to hatch our own eggs, but our chickens are laying so many eggs this year that we have an over-abundance. So I will wait for another year or two before I use the incubator.
Only Us
Ej had 5 days off last week. Three were his normal days off, one was for the July 4th holiday, and one he took off as a vacation day. We spent the five days working around our place, getting several tasks and projects done. EJ got a couple things fixed on the truck and worked in his garden and garage. He also installed additional shelves in my craft closet. I reorganized my craft closet and did my normal tasks of laundry, cleaning, cooking, working in my herb garden, drying herbs, and caring for our animals. I also organized some of the books in our library, pulling mine that I didn’t like or that we have duplicates of. We will donate them to the public library for their used book sales. We didn’t do anything “special” for Independence Day, but we really enjoy quietly puttering around our home and garden. Peace and quiet, in itself, is “special” to us.
This week we are back to our regular routine of EJ working his normal four 10-hour days at his company and then we both working on tasks on Wednesdays and Thursdays, which are his “weekend.”
In theory, our area has had a decent amount of rain this summer. In reality, we, personally, have not had much. We’ve watched on radar as rain moves over large swathes of Michigan. However, most of it goes to the north or south of us or forms beyond us as it moves east. It’s a bit frustrating to watch the rain miss us day after day. I do my best to keep our gardens watered, but the sprinkler is not as effective as an all-day soaking rain. In places where the sprinkler doesn’t reach, our sandy soil is dusty dry and the grass is yellowing.
Last week EJ prayed that God would “please send us rain.” Then God did. Specifically, He sent “us” rain. I was surprised when it started to rain because the sky had been quite sunny that day and the rain seemed sudden. I checked the radar to estimate how long the rain would last–would we get a short period of rain or would it be long-lasting? Would the rain be heavy or light? I was surprised at what I saw because the radar showed just a tiny blob of rain directly over us. I laughed and showed EJ. He said that when he prayed that God would “send us rain,” it never occurred to him that God would send only us rain. In case you doubt me, here’s a small portion of the screenshot of the radar that I captured. As you can see, our house is marked at almost the center of the rain cloud. Except for that blob of rain, the skies were clear for miles and miles. It lasted only a relatively short time but was far better than a sprinkler.
Sometimes God’s gifts are very obvious.
Independence Day
I didn’t write this (H/T @KGenevieve445). It’s being shared on Social Media. I thought it was really good and worth keeping in mind as we in the USA celebrate Independence Day.
FREEDOM ISN’T FREE
Today we celebrate our Independence which came at a great SACRIFICE to our Founding Fathers.
56 men signed the Declaration of Independence.
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy.
He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians.
They were soft-spoken men of means and education.
They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:
“For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
The Fourth Weekend
We live in a beautiful area in Michigan that attracts many vacationing tourists. We actually have many seasons: the regular Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter seasons as well as Tourist Season, which includes seasons for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, off-road vehicles, and color tours to enjoy the autumn colors. There are also a variety of festivals throughout the year, such as a film festival, a chocolate festival, a beer festival, a trout fest, a big foot festival, an ice man triathlon, a cherry festival–and several others that I’ve probably forgotten.
Each year our July 4th Independence Day weekend and the popular annual National Cherry Festival are held at the same time, which is occurring now. The number of tourists hugely increases at this tie to 50 times the normal population. EJ just checked the number so it’s not a guess.
EJ and I don’t want to deal with the huge crowds and traffic so we always just stay home at our beautiful Enchanted Forest and enjoy the peace and quiet. However, this morning we did dash out to our local library, which was having a used book sale. EJ found a lot of books by Patrick McManus, an author he enjoys. He has several books by McManus, but these are new ones for him.
I didn’t find any books by my favorite authors (I always look) but I found books by unfamiliar authors that I decided to try. I had a dilemma because I found a whole box of a series of historical novels by Patrick O’Brien, an author I had never heard of. I told EJ that if I just buy one and love it, I will have missed out on the chance to get all his other books–around 20 of them, give or take a few. But if I bought all of them and hated them, I would have a bunch of books that I don’t like. EJ said, “Buy them. We can always donate them back to the library if you don’t like them. That’s one of the reasons I love EJ. He understands and shares the love of books. I also bought a series of westerns by William Johnstone, another unfamiliar author. The good thing about used book sales is that I can take a risk on unfamiliar authors. Often I discover new authors that I enjoy.
As we were paying for our two boxes of books (no set price; it’s by donation), we had a wonderful long chat with the librarian in charge of the sale. We all really enjoyed ourselves. When I told her that I had never read any books by Patrick O’Brien, she said he’s a really good author. Tastes in books is subjective, but I still appreciate a good review and look forward to reading them.
Now we are staying home. On July 4th–this year it’s on Tuesday–there are always a lot of fireworks fired off by towns and campgrounds. We live on a hill surrounded by forest so we have always been able to hear the fireworks all around us, but haven’t been able to see any of them. However, over the last year our neighbor-across-the-road has periodically and randomly put on beautiful fireworks shows that are as good as municipal programs we’ve seen. We are able to see them from while sitting in our living room, which is very delightful. I’m hoping he does fireworks on the 4th.
EJ has to work Sunday and Monday, but he gets Tuesday off for the holiday and he took Friday off as a vacation day so with his weird schedule, he has Tuesday through Saturday off. We will putter around. EJ has some maintenance to do on the truck, we will work in our gardens, and we will probably continue to work on organizing the garage. We are making a great deal of progress in the garage.
Several days last week it was very hazy/smoky outside. Official reports were that it was smoke from the many wildfires burning in Canada. However, the smoke didn’t smell like wood fire. It had a plastic smell to it. People throughout the USA Midwest/Northeast were experiencing similar and even worse smoke. Many people on social media said meters indicated that it was very toxic. It made my eyes burn. We shut the windows and stayed inside through the worst of it. It mostly cleared up yesterday.
Chicken Run
It’s been very dry here this summer. Except for areas where the sprinkler hit when I watered the gardens, the grass was turning yellow like straw. When I mowed the lawn last Friday, the mower blew up clouds of sand. I made my own little dust storm. When I finished mowing, I went into the house and blew my nose, and blew out dark dirt into the Kleenex. You probably would prefer not to know that, but that illustrates how dry it was.
Yesterday it began to rain–mostly scattered showers and rumbles of thunder that came and went. Later in the day we came under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning with a possibility of hail. The sky grew very dark so EJ and I went outside–he to cover up his tender vegetable plants and me to try to get the chickens in the coop before the storm broke. It was only an hour or so before they would have gone anyway, and I didn’t want to have to run out in a huge storm with hail to shut them in.
Chickens always go into the coop themselves at twilight. It’s almost impossible to get them into the coop before they are ready. Some of them went willing into the coop, but others refused and we went round the coop several times–them running and me following after them. After EJ covered his plants, he came to help me as the sky grew darker and thunder rumbled. The coop stands three feet from the garage so there’s a sort of alley between. The little chicken door is located on that side of the coop in the alley. EJ stood block one end and me on the other with the chickens in between. We hoped we could steer them through their little door. Some went in but some refused and kept trying to get around us. Finally, finally, all of them went in except the two roosters. We got one rooster in, but the other had disappeared. When it rains, sometimes some of the chickens take refuge in the little shelters we have set around outside. The shelters are dog houses and crates that we don’t use for Hannah Joy–because she’s a pampered house dog, the queen of our home. We wondered if the last rooster had gotten into the coop without us seeing, which seemed very unlikely, but we went into the coop to see if he was there. We didn’t see him. It had begun to rain while we were trying to get the chickens in. By this time it’s a downpour. I didn’t want to leave the rooster outside so I went out and checked all the shelters again. I finally found him way in the back of one shelter. He was hidden in shadow. I used my “staff” to get him out, EJ opened the large coop door, and in he ran. Success!
We were soaked to the skin but they were all safely inside. We ran inside the house, changed into dry clothes, and settled down for the evening.
It’s raining again today. Scattered showers, now and then. Good. We need the rain.
With the rain comes cooler temperatures. Ahhh.
Today I ground some of the mint I had harvested and put in the dehydrator yesterday. I also made potato salad. Last year the chickens didn’t lay many eggs–only about 3-4 a day. This year they are laying about a dozen a day which is an over-abundance of eggs. EJ has sold/traded some of the eggs to coworkers, but with his schedule change, he has to work out how to exchange the eggs. We’ve been making recipes that require eggs. We eat eggs every morning for breakfast, and I’ve been making a lot of potato salad. I always make potato salad with Miracle Whip, which we prefer to mayonnaise. This time, however, I made homemade Miracle Whip. This is the first time I’ve ever made it. When EJ gets home from work, I will ask him what he thinks of it. I substituted a different oil than the recipe called for…so we shall see.
One thing I love about EJ is that he is always trying to figure out how to make things ourselves. Like, “We should learn how to make Miracle Whip ourselves” Or butter. Or crackers. I didn’t even realize that we could make all these things ourselves before he came into my life. He also is excellent at repurposing items for other uses so now I think in terms of “What else can I use this item for?” He has inspired me and motivated me to try new things.
When we have too, too many eggs, I put some out on the big rocks for the wildlife. The crows really like them. It’s fun watching them: An interested crow will perch on the power pole to see if there’s any danger. Then he flies over the rocks and perches on a tree on the other side of the rocks. He caws and caws. Finally, when he sees no threat, he lands on an adjacent rock and walks over to the eggs. He grabs one and flies away with it. We’ve heard that sometimes when a person makes friends with crows, the crows will leave them gifts–little treasures that they’ve found. EJ and I wonder when the crows will start leaving us gifts. Money would be nice. LOL.
I suffer from PTSD caused by emotional abuse. One of the symptoms is anxiety. Most days I do fine, and I feel contentment and joy in life. However, some days are more difficult. On one difficult day, I asked God for help and then right after an abuse website sent me an email with a link to her video with some tools–physical and mental exercises–to break the anxiety. I’m finding that it really works!
God takes care of me, always showing His love. I wrote a couple posts ago that I was anxious about how much our year’s propane would cost. EJ called them up and we had such a surplus last year that we had to pay only a little more to prepay for next year.
Several years ago we co-signed a loan to help a relative out. I know. Dumb. And we will NEVER do this again. Lesson learned. But it was a close relative that we care about. We got a notice recently that the relative wasn’t paying the loan and if it didn’t get paid, they’d do a “charge-off” which meant that a thousand terrible things would happen. We paid the installment, but we are already pinching pennies and I wondered how we’d survive if we have to continue making payments. I asked God for help. I had made several crocheted items for my sister-in-law, who wanted them to put in the shoeboxes she packs full of little gifts to send to poor children at Christmas. I charged $35, which included shipping, but she sent me a check for $90!!!! This covers the amount we need to pay to cover the loan installment.
We’ve experienced many situations like this over the years. They reassure me that God loves me, He is faithful, and He will not fail.
When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought me joy.
~ Psalms 94:19 NIV
Mostly Summer Now
It is mostly Summer now. I say “mostly” because we have more warm days than not, but most mornings and some days and nights are cool enough that I still wear a jacket. Actually, Summer seems to stay firmly fixed in place around the Summer Solstice. In other words, about the time it consistently feels like summer, the days are already beginning to shorten.
The cool mornings remind me of summer vacations my family took when I was a child. Sometimes we traveled out-of-state but I think that most of the time we went “Up North” in beautiful Michigan. Going “Up North” is like Heaven to Michiganders. When I was very young we stayed at campgrounds in tents; later we camped in a pickup camper. I remember waking up to my Mom fixing breakfast. Coffee, especially, always had a special aroma when camping that it didn’t have at other times. We were always reluctant to leave our warm sleeping bags in the cool mornings and we shivered as we quickly dressed in jeans, sweatshirts and jackets, changing into t-shirts and shorts a few hours later when it grew hot.
That is probably why, even as an adult, I’ve always packed two or three times the number of clothes I needed for a week’s trip: I’ve packed clothes for every possible type of weather, which sometimes occurred over the course of a single day. Even now I tend to dress in layers, shedding sweatshirts and jackets as the sun warms the day, and putting them back on in the evening when the coolness returns. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to wear because it’s hot in the sunlight but chilly in the shade. I always have a sweatshirt or jacket within reach so I can take it on or off as needed. Years ago, EJ, his friend, and I parked our car and walked a few blocks to attend an event in Lansing. It was a sweltering day with temperatures in the 90s when we left the car. Within 15 minutes the temperature had plunged into the 30s and it began to rain–a cold drizzly rain that chilled the bones. We turned back. EJ and his friend shivered but I was warm because I could put on the jacket I had left in the car. It pays to be prepared.
I actually prefer cooler days to hot, sweltering ones. I cannot comprehend how people can exist in the South in the summer. Years ago, we attended EJ’s nephew’s wedding in Kentucky (or was it Tennessee?). It was fine in the air-conditioned hotel but taking a step outside felt as if we had hit a wall of hellish heat. It sucked my breath away and drained my energy. I’ve asked Southerners “How do you survive the heat?” They tell me they have air-conditioned houses and cars. But what if they want to be outside? Are they prisoners of the heat in the summer, forced to remain in their air-conditioning to survive? I ponder it in puzzlement. In the North there is a quote: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing.” If it gets cold in the North, we can always put on another layer of clothing and be comfortable, but there’s only so much a person can take off in sweltering heat–and even shedding layers doesn’t help.
I suppose people adapt to where they live. Some people have stamina and love for heat and others for cold. Me? I prefer the North, but I envy the South for its long growing seasons. I joke about the South (as they do about the North), but it’s meant to be light-hearted. I actually can appreciate the beauty of their states without wanting to live there. Fact is, some northerners complain about cold winters and flee to the South every year. Just not me.
There is a meme that describes the 12 seasons of Michigan:
Winter
Fool’s Spring
Second Winter
Spring of Deception
The Pollening
Actual Spring
Summer
Hell’s Front Porch
False Fall
Second Summer
Actual Fall
I would add “False Summer” and “Mostly Summer” to the list, positioning them between “Actual Spring” and “Summer.” But overall I think the list accurately describes the seasons in Northern states.
My herb garden is growing so-so. We are still trying to figure out how to garden here in the north where our soil is sand. We’d like to buy a whole dump-truck load of topsoil to spread in the garden but so far it hasn’t been in the budget. I grow my herbs in garden boxes filled with bags of store-bought dirt. EJ plants some of his veggies in boxes and some in the ground. This year I tried starting seeds in the house for the first time. (EJ has done it for several years.) I carefully labeled the name of the seeds on plastic silverware or thin strips of wood which I stuck in each container. When it grew warmer, I set my–and EJ’s–containers out on the patio table on the deck. When it grew warmer, I also direct sowed some seeds in the garden boxes, as a backup. Then we had a few frosts/freezes with temps in the low 30s. I carefully covered the garden boxes and brought some of the containers back into the house. Others I put on our little garden cart and wheeled into the garage. All the back-and-forth movement resulted in some of the labels falling out of the containers so I now am not sure what is planted in some of them. Some of my plants have done well, but some haven’t. The weather has been very dry so I have to water the containers every day. If I don’t keep the containers watered the baby plants dry up and die, but I have to be careful not to water it so much that they drown. Also, too-cold nights haven’t helped. With our short growing season, if I start the seeds too late–after all danger of frost/freezes– then they don’t mature until fall when it’s getting cooler. I actually do better when I can buy plants from the nursery but since 2020 we are trying to be, need to be, frugal.
Gardening in the North is challenging with our short growing season and sandy soil. But we aren’t giving up. Each year, we tweak and experiment, we learn what works and what doesn’t. Next year I will label my containers better. I will try to figure out how to get the right watering balance. Or maybe I will just direct sow in my garden boxes in mid-May and hope something grows. Gardening is, after all, an act of faith.
Cough, Wheeze, and Sneeze
EJ has finished his first week of working first shift and is now beginning his second week. He is enjoying this shift because he is naturally a morning person and feels less tired and more productive. He enjoys the beautiful early morning drive to work and he now enjoys receiving a warm welcome home rather than having to say goodbye to us. On second shift, he left us in the afternoon and returned long after we were in bed.
I’ve adjusted my schedule so that we go to bed when EJ does. That’s not a particularly hard adjustment because Hannah Joy has always nagged me to go to bed at that time anyway. It was easier just to go to bed when she wanted to (9 pm) and I’d read until EJ messaged me during his 10 pm lunch break. So she’s happier now that we all go to bed at the same time. EJ now gets up earlier than we do (4 a.m. instead of 10 a.m.). I used to get out of bed at around 7 a.m. but now I’m getting up between 5:30 and 6:00 am. I’ve rearranged the order in which I do my morning chores so that I can continue feeding Hannah Joy at about 7:15 a.m. so she’s not begging/nagging to eat earlier in the evening. It’s a little bit of an adjustment for her because she’s now last on my schedule of morning chores rather than first, but I think she’ll get used to it. Like EJ, I am also more of a morning person and feel more productive.
The hardest part of the new schedule is keeping track of the days. EJ works four 10-hour days. Before, he worked Monday through Thursday and got Friday through Sunday for his weekend. But that has shifted. Now he works Sunday through Tuesday, gets Wednesday and Thursday off, works Friday, and gets Saturday off. This makes it difficult to remember which day it is because I think of Sunday as his “Monday” and “the weekend” is in the middle of the week rather than Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is our day of rest–our Shabbat. Give me time and I’m sure I will eventually get it straight in my mind. Maybe.
Two weeks ago the weather was hot. Last week the weather was nice but cool with temperatures in the low 70s. Both weeks it was very dry and we had to water the gardens ourselves. Our “soil” is sand and does not retain moisture like other types of soil. However, today–and for the next couple of days–it is raining, which is nice. I imagine the plants thirstily drinking in the water because rain does better at watering the world than our garden hoses.The rain is turning the dry yellow grass back to green.
Before it started to rain this morning, I went out and harvested a few of my herbs–sage, oregano, and rosemary. When I finish this post, I will prepare them for drying in the dehydrator. (I also picked a few chamomiles, but I put them to dry in a rack hanging in the hallway.) When the herbs are dry–tomorrow– I will grind them with our little electric grinder, and then store them in glass jars. We have one little grinder for herbs and another for spices. Last week I ground dried red peppers with the spice grinder. It set up clouds of spicy dust that made me wheeze and cough and sneeze. I’d grind a quarter cup of peppers then leave the room to wheeze, cough, and sneeze for several minutes. Then I’d pour the ground-up peppers into the glass jar and leave the room to wheeze, cough, and sneeze for several minutes. This was repeated until all the peppers were ground up and put into their glass jar. While I was doing this, EJ took Hannah Joy outside to escape the fumes. It was an ordeal but I’m satisfied with the results.
Friday evening I saw several dark shadows fly across the living room windows and then I heard a bunch of tweets. I went outside to see what was happening. When I saw a couple adult robins on guard, I realized that the dark shadows had their babies leaving the nest on their first flight. I think first flights are always fun to observe.
I keep a shallow bowl of water on the large boulders for the critters during the summer. The robins especially like to take baths in it. They do so several times a day, sometimes lining up to wait their turn. I’ve also seen rose-breasted grosbeaks bathing in the bowl, and last week I saw an indigo bunting. It’s really fun to watch them all happily splashing.
Last week EJ called the propane company to make sure we are on the budget plan for the year. If we are on the budget plan, we can prepay the propane for the year at a reduced price. With inflation driving the cost of everything so high, I was anxious about how much it would cost us, especially since our electricity has almost doubled. I envisioned having to deplete our meager savings. I prayed fervently that God would provide for us. Well, last year EJ prepared extra because we were expecting inflation to hit and we weren’t sure how high it would go. So we still have extra left in our propane account. With what we have left in the account, we only had to pay $101 to bring us up to the amount we actually spent last year on propane. I felt weak with relief and gratitude. God really does take care of us.
Ok…time to go work on preparing my herbs for drying. Preparation involves separating the leaves from the stems so they dry more quickly in the dehydrator.
Rhythm Shift
For most of our married life, EJ has worked second shift. It has worked well for us. I get up earlier than him in the mornings and he stays up later than I do at night but we are able to spend mid-morning to mid-afternoon together. But now EJ has been moved to first shift. His first day on the new shift is today.
It’s easy to write “EJ has been moved to first shift,” but the move actually has shifted the rhythm of our life. EJ still works four 10-hour shifts but now instead of getting Friday through Sunday off, he works Sunday through Tuesday, gets Wednesday and Thursday off, works Friday, and has Saturday off. It’s messing up my days a bit. Today is Sunday, but because he’s working, I keep thinking it’s Monday.
Traffic patterns will probably change and affect his drive to and from work. Before, he drove to work at 3 pm and drove home at 3 a.m, missing the worst of the traffic. Now he might be affected by morning and evening rush hours. It’s especially bad during tourist season.
EJ will now wake up and go to bed earlier than I do. Also, we won’t have breakfast together and our biggest meal will move to dinner rather than lunch. I never like to eat breakfast right when I get up, so I’m going to try to have a very late breakfast and then eat our main meal together. We shall see how it goes.
Hannah Joy’s schedule might change a bit too. I’m tempted to start getting up earlier to get more in sync with EJ’s schedule. Going to bed earlier is no problem because Hannah and I usually go to bed at 8:30 or 9 pm because that’s when SHE wants to go to bed. She doesn’t like to go to bed alone so she nags me until I go with her; it’s easier that way. I usually read in bed until EJ’s lunch break at 10 pm, when we message each other to catch up on our days. Hannah is used to eating her breakfast as soon as we get up. If I feed her earlier in the morning, she will get hungry earlier in the evening–so do I keep her on the same schedule? When he’s home in the evening, EJ enjoys feeding Hannah. He’ll be home every evening now and would like to feed her, but he won’t get home until 5:30 pm and she likes (nags) to eat earlier. So we will have to figure that out, one way or another. We can’t have our beloved dog feeling hungry.
EJ actually enjoys getting up early in the morning. He texted me this morning that he had a beautiful drive to work. Before, I would study Hebrew, read my Bible, and catch up on my news in the morning. Then EJ would wake up, we’d spend time together, then I’d have to start fixing lunch, then we’d spend a little time together before he left for work. I couldn’t do any noisy chores in the morning (like vacuuming or mowing the lawn) because I didn’t want to wake him up. I work best in the morning and by afternoon it’s too hot to work outside. This morning, I did my morning activities and then went out and worked in my garden in the cool of the day. That was very nice.
Another huge advantage to this new shift is that EJ can stop at the grocery store on his drive home if we need anything. That saves time and gas. Also, he will get home in the late afternoon so I won’t have to stay awake to make sure he made it safely home in winter storms.
There are disadvantages and advantages to every shift and adjustments to be made when moved from one to another. All it takes is a shift in our daily rhythm.
Eight Years Ago Today
Last week we had three nights of frost/freeze warnings with temperatures that dipped into the low 30s. Each evening we had to cover up our tender garden plants. We do this every year. The temperatures have risen into the 80s, even touching 90 degrees this week. Despite the pain of having to cover up the plants, I think I prefer the cooler temperatures. May is just right–not too cold and not too hot, neither shivering nor sweltering, except occasionally. It makes it pleasant to work so we get a lot done.
When the seasons become warmer, I always put a large shallow bowl out on the large rocks for the critters. The Robins especially enjoy it. They often take baths in it. The other day, one Robin was taking a bath and another very politely waited its turn.
It looks as if there are two sets of bluebirds nesting in our birdhouses. Today I heard a bunch of tweeting when a father went to one of the houses so I think the babies are getting bid. It probably won’t be long before they fly off. I love that the bluebirds nest where we can enjoy them.
EJ’s been working very hard in his garden. His vegetable garden takes more work than my herb garden.
Last week we got notified that our monthly electrical bill was almost doubling. This means that we will have to become even more frugal–absolutely no extras. We put all the eggs in the regular fridge and turned off the egg fridge to conserve energy. Even that might not be enough. We are trusting God to provide for us. I’m holding on to verses like Matt 6:31-33:
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Exactly eight years ago today we moved from southern to northern Michigan. EJ drove the truck with our dog Danny (now deceased). Our son and I drove our car with seven singing cats. I had put them all in cat carriers–the more active cats in heavy-duty carriers and the more passive cats in cardboard carriers. They sang almost the whole way–several hours–which was quite interesting because they each sang differently. It was like 7-part harmony. We were given the keys early so I could drive straight to our new house to could let the cats out. Meanwhile, EJ drove to the realtor’s for the closing. He had to sign both our names on everything and write his initials after writing my name. His hand was throbbing by the time he was done.. We brought up only enough stuff to see us through the week, basically camping out in our house. The next weekend we drove back to our old house and had help moving everything up.
Even after eight years, I still can’t believe that we live in such a beautiful place and area.
Unwanted Stuff
May has been a very busy month.
In early May, we began starting seeds in the house. EJ started the plants he wanted in his garden and I planted mine. A few days later, the weather turned warm and the forecast showed that it would remain warm so we took the plats of seeds outside and put them on the deck. We also began working in our gardens. Of course, then there were frost warnings so we brought the seeds all back inside. We do this every year. I swear that Nature is like Lucy with the football in the Peanuts comic. She tempts us with warm weather and then yanks it back. Still, we are getting more warm weather than cold.
We’ve lived here almost 8 years (June 1st is the anniversary of our move) and we still haven’t gotten the garage organized. Every year I say that we will organize it and we don’t–but I’m determined that THIS year we will do it. It is an overwhelming task for EJ who is a bit of a hoarder. He is awesome at repurposing items and sees a possible use for everything so hates to throw anything away. I don’t think he needs to get rid of useful things, but there is a lot of stuff he can get rid of. Things like cardboard boxes, jars, broken fans, multiple radios, exercise equipment we will never use, and so on. These things take space, pile up, and get lost or broken. If EJ’s garage is organized, he will be able to find tools and other items he needs and he will have space to putter, work on things, and so forth.
I told EJ that we are getting older and each year that passes, organizing the garage becomes more physically difficult–especially with EJ bad back. If we ever decide to move again, trying to take all that stuff with us will be backbreaking. And whichever one of us dies first, the other will be left with a horrendous task–or we will leave it behind for our son. We need to sort through this stuff now.
I’m relatively good at organizing so I’m helping EJ. He hates being away from me and Hannah so we set up our long folding table in the kitchen so he can sort nails, screws, and other doodads by type and size into jars and cans. when they are sorted, we will take them out to the garage. With a sorting table set up in the kitchen, EJ–and sometimes me–is able to work on sorting now and then when he has a moment or two. In the garage, we are sorting bigger items to keep, recycle, donate, sell, give away, or throw out. The last couple of weekends we’ve taken many items to the local recycling place. As he sees the useable space in his garage expanding, he says he is feeling happier.
We also both decided to go through our closets and cupboards for unwanted or unused items. No matter how much we like something, if we haven’t worn or used it in several years then it’s just taking up space.
I grew up going to garage sales. EJ grew up going to auctions. After we married, I took him to garage sales and he took me to auctions. I considered the difference between the two: People tend to have garage sales to get rid of items they no longer want. Auctions tend to be to get rid of a deceased person’s items. I observed that at an auction, the lifelong accumulation of a person’s treasured possessions are hauled out onto their lawn, strangers paw through them, and they are sold for very little money. Auctions kind of make me sad because the possessions look shabby and worn out on the lawn. But auctions taught me that stuff is just stuff that is left behind when we die. Sort of a melancholy thought but still true.
While we’ve been sorting, I’ve been pondering that holding on to useless things is a burden. It clutters up space so there’s no room for good stuff. We’ve got to be able to stop hanging on to junk. We’ve got to let it go. These thoughts led me to thinking about all the emotional junk we hang onto. We’ve got to sort through all that too, getting rid of false guilt, regret, loss, painful memories, forgotten dreams, broken relationships. Holding on to those is also a burden. I have fought hard to overcome abuse, but I am determined to expand my efforts and let more things go.
Happy Spr-inter
Today is May 1st.
Today it is Spring.
Today it is Winter
I guess you could say that it’s Spr-inter.
A few years ago, I was amazed to learn that people in southern states are planting their gardens in February. February is winter here in Northern Michigan–although we do start dreaming of planting gardens in February. In reality, I am not surprised if we get snow in May–and I’ve read that typically there is a slight chance (10%) of frost until the middle of June. So when winter re-emerges or lingers, I simply shrug my shoulders and go about my day.
I do like the overlap of seasons: flowers, green grass/trees, and snow in the Spring or colorful leaves and snow in the Autumn. The clash of seasons is beautiful.
As soon as we have another warm-ish day, I’m going to go out and clean out my herb garden.
Several days ago, I wondered aloud, “I wonder when the bluebirds will return?” Two days later I noticed a pair of bluebirds building their nest in one of the birdhouses we provided for them. I wonder when the hummingbirds will return?
Saturday was our township’s “Clean-Up Days,” which is a day when residents can get rid of unwanted items for free. In preparation, on Friday EJ and I loaded up the pickup with the old dishwasher we had replaced with our little egg fridge and a few other unwanted items. In previous years, we dumped off our unwanted items in large bins at a recycling place. The area wasn’t very big so there was a long line of cars on the road waiting to turn in. Last year we were told to haul our items out to the road and big garbage trucks (which EJ calls “packer trucks”) hauled it away. EJ heard that that was a nightmarish 13-hour workday for the workers. I could have told them that. When we lived downstate, our village used to haul away curbside items on Clean-Up Day, but they stopped it because residents’ friends and relatives from other areas would haul their junk in so there were mountains of junk to clear away. The Village finally had residents drop their items off at a drop-off point and checked their ID to make sure they actually were residents.
This year, our Clean-Up Day was held at a local park. There were maybe 5-6 large garbage trucks parked next to each other. Residents drove up to them and workers helped them throw their items in. The process went smoothly with no long lines or wait times.
Nesting
We’ve had alternating warm/cold weather. Saturday morning it snowed quite hard but by the afternoon it warmed up enough that it melted all the snow and I didn’t button my coat when I went outside. This week the temperatures are in the 70s. It looks as if the temperature will fall into the 50s and 40s starting Sunday, but we get to enjoy the warm temperatures for a few days. The warm days are a solid promise that Spring is here.
Today for the first time this year, I wore only a T-shirt outside. EJ washed his wool socks and hung them out on the clothesline for the first time. Usually, I do the laundry but he washed and hung his socks while I fixed lunch. We each help each other out and do whatever we find that needs doing. He likes to cook and he knows how to do laundry. Sometimes I put up posts and fencing.
This morning, I moved the bird feeder post to the edge of the forest. I took down the bird feeders and replaced them with a little birdhouse. I saw a couple of chickadees checking out some of the other birdhouses this morning. We put up a few new birdhouses last autumn and I can’t wait to see who moves in.
While I was working on the post, I heard a familiar putt-putt-putt sound. I quickly and quietly went inside the house so I wouldn’t disturb the female turkey emerging from the forest not far from the post. She wandered right past the house and back into the forest again. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen her over the last week so I know she either has a nest nearby or is looking for a good site to build one.
A couple of days ago, I saw a crow fly overhead carrying a stick so I know it is building its nest. Spring is such an exciting time of year.
Over the weekend, EJ and I set up the patio table and chairs on the deck. We still could get cold weather and snow; typically there’s a small chance of frost into mid-June. However, nice Spring weather makes us feel like being outside. Yesterday I washed the windows and this morning EJ put the screens in. We are beginning to actively plan garden tasks.
The previous owners of our house left behind two wooden dog houses. Hannah Joy never used them because she is a pampered inside dog. About 6 years ago when we got the 10 x 12 shed we use as the coop, I put one of the dog houses in there along with a fancy coop we had bought at the farm store when we first got chickens. So there were two houses inside THE coop. The chickens like to roost on top of them and sometimes lay their eggs in them, although their favorite nesting areas are kitty litter boxes. A week or so ago, on a nice Spring day, I moved the second wooden dog house into the coop with the others. It was in the garden to provide shelter for the chickens, but they didn’t use it all that much–and there are still a couple other shelters available for them. The dog house is very sturdily built and very heavy. I removed the roof, which easily comes off, and pushed/pulled one side of the main part of the doghouse and then the other, moving it a couple inches at a time. After moving bales of straw out of the way, I positioned the doghouse in the coop. Then I went back to the garden and “walked” the heavy roof in and lifted it into place. I repositioned the straw bales and I was finished. Now the chickens have THREE little houses to roost on. I tried to take a photo showing the houses in the coop, but I couldn’t get a good angle. Oh, well.
Sometimes Hannah Joy gets “the zoomies.” That’s when she goes slightly wild and runs from the couch in the living room to the bed in the master bedroom and back again several times. We sometimes call it “going Taz”–wild like the Tasmanian devil in the old cartoons. She went Taz a week ago and slightly injured her back leg so that she walks with a limp. She’s done this before and eventually is ok. She’s limping less and less.
Qapla’!
We have spent the last week trying to set up EJ’s new phone. He really hates to be bothered with it. He’d prefer to just turn on his phone and start to use it. So I try to help him as much as I can. We’ve got most of the essentials set up, I think. There are just a couple more things to do.
EJ woke me up when he arrived home from work at about 4 a.m. because he saw the Northern Lights. We both love celestial events and he has standing orders to wake me if he sees something cool in the night sky. We went outside for a while to watch the northern lights flicker and pulsate. Ej said that the Northern Lights were much more vibrant as he drove home, but they were strong enough here at home that we could enjoy them. The sky was clear and it wasn’t terribly cold, so it was pleasant to be out there. I’ve only seen the Northern a few times in my life. I would have thought that moving to a house on a hill several hours north of where we used to live would enable us to see the Northern Lights more often, but we are surrounded by hills and forests that prevent us from seeing anything that is not high overhead.
Earlier in the week–Monday, I think–I walked down to the mailbox and saw a couple American Robins. Michiganders are always excited when they spy Robins at this time of year. The birds migrate south for the winter and their return is one of the first signs that Spring is approaching.
Today is very pleasant. It’s relatively warm and a lot of the snow has melted. However, the forecast for tomorrow is for several inches of snow. Some reports say 4-6 inches and one said 6-10. We probably won’t get much, but even if we do, it doesn’t matter. I saw the Robins so Spring can’t be too far away!
I’ve been using a phone app to learn Hebrew. Hebrew might seem like a strange language to want to learn, but I want to be able to read the Bible in Hebrew. Also, I often say that when the Son of God returns, I want to be able to greet Him in His native language.
The app I use to learn Hebrew offers a lot of different languages to learn, one of which, surprisingly, is Klingon. I decided this week to begin learning Klingon, as well as Hebrew, just for a laugh. I think it would be funny to say that I speak Klingon. LOL. Also, Klingons are an aggressive (fictional) people and so is their language. I’d like to be able to exclaim “That’s CRAZY, STUPID, HORRIBLE” when I read something crazy, stupid, or horrible that is happening in the world and have it sound fiercely expressive without swearing. So far I only know a handful of Klingon words. I’ve been going around saying “Qapla’!” (Success!) and “NugneH?” (WHAT DO YOU WANT??).
Hannah Joy was barking commands at me earlier today. I exclaimed, “Nugneh!” She wanted outside. EJ said, “She already understands some Hebrew and now you are going to confuse her with Klingon?” I’ve taught her a few commands in Hebrew. I think the only thing funnier than me speaking English, Hebrew, and Klingon is having a dog who understands it. LOL. But I won’t really teach her Klingon. Probably. But she sounds so fiercely bossy when she is giving me orders that I suspect she might already know a dog version of Klingon.
Lost and Found
Last week was a bit tough. Well, perhaps not really as tough as much as inconvenient and annoying. EJ got up early on Thursday morning after only a few hours of sleep to run an important errand. While he was out, he dropped his phone and he believes someone stole it. We had to order him a new phone. EJ felt bad about losing his phone (and all his photos) as well as the expense of getting a new one. He also hates trying to set up a new phone. However, I reminded him that losing his phone is a relatively small problem. I can think of far worse problems: our house being destroyed by a tornado, flood, earthquake, or the effects of a toxic train derailment, and so on.
EJ received his new phone in the mail on Friday–the day after he lost his old one. We were told by our cell phone company that after he received his new phone he could easily switch back to his old phone number, but when his new phone arrived, the person he talked to tried to tell him that he needed to take the sim card out of his old phone, which he had already told her he LOST, and then said that “We will have to send you a new sim card with your old number on it.” So why couldn’t they have put the sim card with his old phone number on the new phone BEFORE they sent it in the first place? That’s problem too much common sense. Sometimes I think people in companies don’t talk to each other so they give conflicting information. I hate dealing with companies.
Although EJ lost his phone, he also found a few things: A week or two ago he found an excellent little used garden cart that a person was selling cheaply. I’ve wanted a cart for quite some time so I don’t have to lug baskets of wet clothes across the drive to the clothesline in warmer months. Also, I’ve often wished for a cart to carry bulky packages from the Magic Box up the driveway. (The Magic Box is what I call the wooden box at the end of the driveway where delivery people put our packages.) A cart also would be handy for hauling bales of straw or bags of poultry feed to the coop in the backyard. So the garden cart was an awesome find.
I found butter paddles and molds on the internet. The paddles are made to squeeze the liquid from homemade butter. The molds will let us make butter the same size as the sticks you buy at the store, which means they will fit in our covered butter dish. We are going to make more butter today.
Our snow had mostly melted again, but Friday night through Saturday we got several more inches of snow so our landscape is white again. Late yesterday afternoon eight deer trotted into our yard. They briefly paused at the big rocks and then moved on into the forest. They must have returned during the night because this morning the snow in our yard was crisscrossed with many deer tracks. Some tracks come up to our deck and flower garden. I love living in the country.
Homestead Magic
Yesterday morning I woke up to heavy fog. As the sun rose, it tinted the fog with a sort of pastel pinkish-orange color. I went out to take a few photos and saw that raindrops had frozen on the bare branches of trees. It was gorgeous. I love fog. I think that it makes the world mysterious.
When I opened the curtains this morning, I was surprised to see a very snow-covered world. It, too, was very beautiful. Throughout the morning, I watched the snow fall from the trees, power lines, and fences in small avalanches.
With our mild winter and Spring approaching, I’ve been trying to remember to bring in the suet feeder every evening so the raccoons–and possibly bears–don’t get into it. Often I forgot. I forgot last night and about 10:30 pm EJ heard raccoons fighting over it. We chased the ‘coons away and I went out and retrieved the suet feeder.
Yesterday EJ and I made homemade butter for the first–but not last–time. EJ had done the research so he was the job boss, but I want to learn how to make it too so I watched him closely.
When I told my friend that we were going to make homemade butter, she said she imagined me on my front porch using an old-fashioned butter churn. It’s a quaint image, but these are modern times. All we had to do is pour a quart of heavy cream into a food processor and puree it for about 5 minutes. We watched in awe as the heavy cream thickened through various stages until it turned into butter! It was like alchemy. Like magic.
When the butter was finished, we poured out the buttermilk, which I later used to make homemade biscuits–with homemade butter on it. EJ took the butter out of the processor and used paddles to squeeze more buttermilk out of the butter. We actually don’t have real butter paddles so we used what we had: two holey spoons. Later he tried a small breadboard and a flat wooden spoon to see which worked better. After EJ squeezed all the liquid out that he could, he rinsed the butter in cold water until the water running out was not cloudy. Then he had to squeeze the butter again to remove excess water. Next, he put the butter into a butter mold. We don’t actually have any butter molds so we used very small loaf pans.
We are going to buy, make, or improvise better butter paddles and molds. We also want to find a local farm to buy the heavy cream from (as well as other dairy items) that doesn’t have a bunch of unpronounceable additives in it. Until then, we just bought heavy cream from the grocery store. We’d also like to buy meat from local farms as well as vegetables that we can’t grow ourselves. We’d like to get away from the grocery stores as much as possible, although realistically we also have to take price into consideration.
EJ also made homemade baloney yesterday. He started with ground top sirloin, added suet he had made a few months ago, and mixed in a few spices and quick cure. He is baking it now as I write this post.
Meanwhile, I baked egg shells, which can be broken up and given to chickens as a source of calcium. I divided up the egg shells and tried various methods to bake them: I put some in the oven on low heat, some in our little toaster oven, and some in the dehydrator. We don’t just use our dehydrator to dry herbs. We also thaw ground beef in it when we forget to take the meat out of the freezer, we raise bread dough in it with a bowl of water so the dough doesn’t dry out, and we use it as a bread box when it’s not otherwise in use. We often like to try different methods and products to learn which is the best. As a result of my test of eggshell drying methods, I decided to start eggshells in the dehydrator to dry the shells because otherwise they stick on surfaces. I then put them in the toaster oven to finish up. The stove oven would work well except it takes a long time and uses propane. We try to be frugal about our propane usage since it’s expensive and we have to have it delivered.
EJ and I really enjoy trying new things and working together in the kitchen.
On Friday I got an email about Chick Days from one of the local farm stores. Chick Days are when people can buy chicks through the farm stores. We plan to incubate our own eggs so we aren’t interested in Chick Days…but then I saw that the email said there are 190 different breeds of chickens. Seriously? Curious, I opened it to look through the list. Big mistake. I saw something called a Black Jersey Giant which is an intriguing name. I look it up on the Internet and ended up reading about huge chicken breeds. We have New Hampshire and Rhode Island Reds, but it would be so cool to get a few giant chickens like Black Jerseys. The minimum we could buy at this particular store is five. At other stores the minimum is 10. EJ and I keep telling ourselves how cool it would be…but then reminding ourselves that we already have good chickens, and plan to incubate more, and we really don’t need giants. We are a little tempted. We don’t need giant chickens.
Have you heard of chicken math? Chicken math is like 410. It’s when you plan to get a few chickens–say, four–but then end up buying 10, 20, 30, and sometimes even adding a few ducks, turkeys, guinea hens, etc. It’s extremely difficult to resist the temptation of adding more than you intended or planned. I should never have opened the email from the farm store.
At least we aren’t buying an elephant.
A few years ago, I kept kidding EJ that we needed to get a cow, or goat, or horse, or donkey, or sheep…After I listed each animal, he would say, “No! We don’t need it!” So then I said, “We need an elephant.” He surprised me when he exclaimed, “That would be so COOL!” So now sometimes we sometimes joke about how cool it would be to own an elephant. We aren’t serious. Where would we put it?
Giant chickens are smaller than elephants.
I Love To Go A Gardening 