Today was canning day. Gina and I canned 12 jars of apple pie filling; 7 quarts and 5 pints worth. We have a bushel of Granny Smith apples and did just a little less than half. Gina's Mom gave us a great recipe for the pie filling, so we got started about 3 pm. At the same time the ceiling in the front room was being painted, the guys were watching football in the family room and David, Jon and Norm were working on the rental, so it was a busy, rather hectic day. At least things are getting done!
The ceiling is finally painted, the painter came in today and set the baseboard in, patched the walls and sprayed the whole thing in one day. With everything else going on, it's sure nice to have it finished and be able to get the furniture back in the house. Right now it's piled up on the covered front porch, stacked up on top of the couch.
I have to admit we look like a bunch of rednecks- furniture on the porch, dogs running around, chickens scratching in the yard. I have to be careful about the animals going into the front yard, just because I'm trying to coordinate between the chicken's and the dog's time there. I don't dare let them out together- the chickens would be lunch! I usually let the chickens out in the afternoon for a few hours, and the dogs out there in the mornings. The other day as I was putting the dogs back in the back yard, I saw some rustling in the garden, and saw a black chicken picking around the tomatoes. Somehow she'd managed to survive being in the same yard as the dogs for hours without getting killed! I think she hid in the garden while they were out front romping around, but if they'd seen her, well.... I have to double check that all the chickens are back in their yard before I let the dogs into the front again.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Late summer sliding by
Today is beautiful! It's in the 90's here, I sat on the back porch this morning in a comfy recliner and watched the hummingbirds and finches buzzing around. The garden is in decline, but I'm still getting peppers, green beans and cucumbers. There are a couple cantaloupe on the vine, I hope they ripen before it gets cold. The sunflowers have faded, leaving tons of seeds for the birds to forage. They flock to the garden, and then drop into the chicken pen for scraps of corn and other leftovers. The tomatoes are pretty done- although there are a few stragglers in there. I gave up picking fennel seeds- I'm hoping to have a bumper crop of free fennel next year from it as the seeds scatter about. I've let the chickens back into the garden- grasshoppers had taken up residence in the tomatoes, and the best bug killers are those fluffy little hens! I figure if they want to eat old vegies that have fallen under the plants, it's a small price to pay for their efficient hunting skills.
Yesterday we watched Dakota play soccer- it's so fun to watch little kids play! They know they're supposed to follow the ball, but don't always know what to do with it when they get it. She's doing well and having fun, and I love watching her activities.
The past 2 weeks have been spent painting and working at the rental. The kitchen was in need of a new paint job, and the bathrooms have never been painted. They still sported the original paneling. The kitchen had a very 70's wall paper- orange baskets full of flowers and greenery, and took a primer and regular coat to cover them. While it was lovely in the 70's, it is pretty weathered now. We are painting everything with a semi-gloss 'decorator white'. I know it's bland, but it works well in a rental; the new people benefit from the brighter look, and it fits any color scheme they may have. Unless it's all beige- hopefully they're not beige people....
I painted all the cupboard doors from the kitchen and bathrooms, and worked myself right into a cold. It didn't help that my helper Norm came down with it first, and I was picking him up for work. But I know it's mostly from doing too much. My immune system leaves much to be desired. It doesn't seem to matter that I take supplements, vitamins, etc to strengthen it, when I overdo things it kicks my butt.
Now that the painting is done, I turn everything over to the men- there's still toilets to replace, David is building a wall in the master bathroom in order to install a shower. It's a nice room with a garden bathtub, but the lack of a shower in there is a problem, so we're fixing that. Norm will lay the tile, and the carpet layers can come hopefully in 10 days. Man! What a lot of work, and I know we can't rent it for any more than we did before. But, the house is in need of repair, and we're not slumlords, so the work will be done. I'll sure be happy when it's done and the place is rented.
Yesterday we watched Dakota play soccer- it's so fun to watch little kids play! They know they're supposed to follow the ball, but don't always know what to do with it when they get it. She's doing well and having fun, and I love watching her activities.
The past 2 weeks have been spent painting and working at the rental. The kitchen was in need of a new paint job, and the bathrooms have never been painted. They still sported the original paneling. The kitchen had a very 70's wall paper- orange baskets full of flowers and greenery, and took a primer and regular coat to cover them. While it was lovely in the 70's, it is pretty weathered now. We are painting everything with a semi-gloss 'decorator white'. I know it's bland, but it works well in a rental; the new people benefit from the brighter look, and it fits any color scheme they may have. Unless it's all beige- hopefully they're not beige people....
I painted all the cupboard doors from the kitchen and bathrooms, and worked myself right into a cold. It didn't help that my helper Norm came down with it first, and I was picking him up for work. But I know it's mostly from doing too much. My immune system leaves much to be desired. It doesn't seem to matter that I take supplements, vitamins, etc to strengthen it, when I overdo things it kicks my butt.
Now that the painting is done, I turn everything over to the men- there's still toilets to replace, David is building a wall in the master bathroom in order to install a shower. It's a nice room with a garden bathtub, but the lack of a shower in there is a problem, so we're fixing that. Norm will lay the tile, and the carpet layers can come hopefully in 10 days. Man! What a lot of work, and I know we can't rent it for any more than we did before. But, the house is in need of repair, and we're not slumlords, so the work will be done. I'll sure be happy when it's done and the place is rented.
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