Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Working Hard

 

Saturday:  Woke early, hearing the first pings of rain on the bathroom vent cover.  I prayed about the weather clearing, thinking of the 35,000-egg hunt at church, prayed for a few others and naturally drifted back off to sleep.  At that point I dreamed a very vivid dream of a friend who was very close to me at one time and from whom I've seen or heard little.  I woke as we parted in the dream...

I read Grace Livingston Hill's Blue Ruin <<Amazon Affiliate Link>> after reading the last Harry Potter book.  I felt I needed something less intense.  Honestly?  This is not one of my favorites.  There's a lot of hateful characters and far too little of the good ones.  Plenty of sermons and such given but no, I shall not keep this one.  I kept waiting for the hateful characters to become better folks and they didn't.   I'm going to put this book in the Don't Keep pile.  

I haven't quite decided which book I'll start next.  I have four books by my chair, and I'll sample and then decide from there.    Pizza is in the oven, and I am eagerly awaiting the timer going off.  I'm very hungry!

I printed out blank calendar pages to keep track of blog posts ideas.  I'm trying my best to keep these thoughts captive as they come up.  

Meals:  Bagels/Croissants, Cream Cheese, Maple Baked Turkey 

Hamburger pizza with Mushrooms, peppers and onions

Western Chicken Casserole, Mexican Muffins, Salad with Pico de Gallo and Ranch dressing

Notes to self: As I rummaged for onion and garlic in the fridge, I came across an open jar of Pesto. I need to freeze that in dollop sized portions as I do tomato paste this week. DONE

Organize deep freeze. I have chicken in the vegetable basket and beef in the chicken basket.  DONE

Sunday:  I had a slight headache and a rebellious tummy all day yesterday.  I was convinced it might be a migraine, though I seldom have the deep harsh headaches any longer, but nothing touched it and as the day went on, I just felt ugh.  Kept up last night and continued this morning.  John bought me Ginger Ale on the way home from church.  After getting home, I took an anti-nausea pill.  Lo and behold, the nausea ceased, and the headache eased off this afternoon after the thunderstorm went through.  Makes me think I was right about the migraine.

Yesterday afternoon as Katie and I were texting, she asked what my plans were for Easter...A bit late to ask, agreed?  She had only just realized it was Easter and had been to Target to get Caleb items for a small basket.  She said Target looked like the Grinch had switched over to robbing Easter.  No candy, no cellophane grass, no baskets.  

She asked if the children could have an egg hunt here and I hemmed and hawed and she texted Sam to see if they were busy, though I assured her he disliked last minute plans.  They were busy today already and so Katie said "Never mind.  I'll come to lunch."   

I replanned my menu to be more of a holiday meal.  That part wasn't hard. I just swapped around some side dishes from one meal to another.  My biggest concern was how to manage to get my fat chicken cooked in time for an Easter lunch.  I decided that the best way was to put it in the slow cooker when we got up extra early this morning, leave it cooking on low while we were gone, then move it to the oven when we returned home.  I've never done such a thing before, but I felt the cooking on low would insure it was easily done by luncheon.  

I put it in the crockpot at 6am and took it out to put in the oven at 10am.  I set the oven to 425F and though I had covered the top loosely with foil, that chicken sputtered and spat and made a huge racket in the oven roasting pan.  I added a bit of water to the pan to try and cut down on that noise, but it didn't help for long. 

When I pulled the pan from the oven, the pan was coated with a thick rusty brown coating where the chicken fat had splattered.  I guessed rightly that the same coated the oven walls where the foil hadn't quite covered the chicken.  It was a mess to clear up and will need still more cleaning, but I did try to wipe it out once the oven had cooled down enough to touch inside.  

I keep debating using oven cleaner in my gas stove. I can, so I've read, but I think I'm going to get SOS type pads and try those.  They shouldn't scratch the enamel since the steel wool is so fine, and yet will give me the cleaning power I don't have with a damp cloth and baking soda, and hopefully will be far less messy.

Caleb had been ill Friday and still didn't' feel very well on Saturday.  He fell going out of the door busting his lip and bloodying his nose yesterday afternoon.   Sounds like a crummy weekend, doesn't it? Today he wasn't bruised from his fall, but his lip was a little sore looking.   Perky as a chipmunk though, and obviously not feeling bad any longer.  Katie said he'd eaten two breakfasts this morning.   He didn't miss a moment passing his plate to us if he saw us serving ourselves salad or Deviled Eggs at lunch time.  He ate very well indeed and seemed to especially enjoy the Deviled Egg though he doesn't like eating plain boiled eggs at all.

I brought out the resin bunny rabbits with their dinged ears for him to play with today.  Taylor played with them last weekend. Tomorrow, I'll bring them out for Millie to play with and then they shall be put up for next year.  Two rabbits were the worse for wear after Caleb's play today but not because he was rough with them.  He dropped a heavier tree house piece trying to put it into the box and it knocked the ears off a baby rabbit.   These rabbits were collected for Amie years ago.  Amie no longer wanted them when she left home.  Katie played with them every Easter of her childhood and Josh and Isaac have, too.  I told John after Caleb left today that I suppose I should add to the collection now so many are chipped and broken, since the children seem to enjoy them so.

Fingers crossed.  John put a special treatment agent in Katie's car, following a YouTube recommendation a few weeks ago. He's been running it a little here and there.  She drove it into town after dinner today.  She came back and told her dad that it appeared to be working just fine.  She drove it back home this afternoon and then over to a friend's tonight.  She texted me to say there seemed to be nothing wrong with it.  It just may be that treatment saved a whole lot of money.  We'll see how it goes for her this week as her weekday driving is typically stop and go town driving.

John and I didn't do much after they left. I started a load of dishes in the dishwasher.  Caleb hadn't made a mess of things so no big clean-up was necessary after he left.  Then I caught up on watching vlogs I hadn't watched last week, snoozed in my chair and when I woke John asked if we might have sandwiches for supper.  Just what I was thinking.

Bess asked if I could take Millie for a couple of hours this week.  I told her I'd be happy to have her tomorrow morning.  I think, since we got up at 5am this morning, I'm going to head to bed early tonight so I can be fresh for the week ahead.

After sampling a few books, I've settled back into Jan Karon's Mitford series, These High Green Hills. <<Amazon Affiliate Link>>  John put on the Oslo Symphony Orchestra this afternoon and later showed me a  rather ridiculous but oh so peaceful video of chickens in a coop.  Goodness but they make the most soothing sounds don't they?  It reminds me of how comforted I was to go to the outhouse at Grandmother Stewart's as the chicken coop shared a wall with the outhouse and the gentle sound of chickens was quite nice as you sat there in the semi darkness.

Meals:  Cheese Toast

Roasted Chicken, Onion Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus, Mayonnaise Muffins, 24 hour Salad, Deviled Eggs.  When Katie asked if I'd made a rabbit cake for dessert, I laughed and told her I hadn't had time to since we'd made our plans late yesterday.  John sent her into town to buy ice cream sandwiches.  

Chicken Sandwiches, Dill Pickles, Chips, Grapes

Monday:  I set my alarm to get up extra early this morning, but was up earlier than that even.  I think it's the change of light that is working with me at the moment and waking me nearer 6:30.  That's okay.  Last summer, I was often up by 6:15 every morning just because the room had become light enough to wake me.    This morning, I wanted to be sure and have coffee time before Millie arrived to spend a couple of hours with me.

Millie was as happy to play with the resin bunnies as Caleb was yesterday. They kept her occupied for most of her time here.  She ran to show John each one and ran back to me.  Accidents will happen...In this instance it was a little girl who just had to take her fingernail and rake across the remaining ear on Grampa Rabbit's head.  When the ear fell off, I simply said "Oh look! Now he's bald."  Millie on the other hand is a wee bit of a drama queen.  "No! Oh No!" with hands on her cheeks and the most horrified look on her face, lol.  Each time she came across Grampa Rabbit she'd repeat that performance.  

After Millie left, I did a few minor tasks and started a pot of chili.  Why chili?  Today and tomorrow are probably our last cool-ish days until November or December. I just felt a pot of chili or stew would be nice and when asked, John opted for the chili. 

As we were finishing up supper, Katie called to say she was on her way to pick up the Honda once again.  The 'fix' on the car did well enough for the first driving but on her way home it just wasn't working right.   Oh well.  We did try and for 24 hours we were a two car family once more.  

And that was pretty much the day.  I felt I did little or nothing but I did do lots of light things after Millie left.  

Meals:  Breakfast sandwiches

Leftovers.  John chose pizza and salad, I had pot stickers and potatoes.

Chili, Muffins, fruit

Tuesday:  If I'd known...but I didn't.  That's the key phrase for this day.

We slept a wee bit later.  It was chilly out.  There was a light film of frosty condensation on the windshield of Katie's car that didn't melt off until about 9am.  It got downright cool last night here in the house.  John kept tugging at the cover and I finally woke enough to toss it all to him and told him I'd just use the quilt that I keep on the foot of the bed.  I slept nice and warm and there was no more tugging of covers to wake me up.   When I made the bed this morning, John had half the spread on the floor on his side of the bed.  I've no clue how on earth he got out of bed without stumbling over it!

As we went to bed last night, he'd told me we'd go clear up the backyard in town today.  Immediately my anxiety shot sky high.  I'd seen the backyard and knew what shape it was in two weeks ago.  John had avoided going over ever since I brought it up.  We'd had heavy rains at least three times meaning there was going to be even more growth.  When I asked what time he was planning to head over, he answered his usual, "Well we'll see how it goes..."  That meant I might not get breakfast made or it might be lunchtime before we ever left home.  That also meant any plans I might have for the day were pretty much over, done, finished.

This morning, I went straight to the kitchen for coffee.  I typically dress before I go to the kitchen.  This morning, I felt I needed coffee and quiet time to read my devotional and book a bit before getting started on a day that promised at best to be hard.  I figured seeing me in a nightgown would give John the idea that leaving before breakfast was out.  I needn't have worried.  I'm thinking more and more there's some arthritis in his hip because it was bothering him with the cold air this morning.

After breakfast, I dressed then started my household work and got our bedroom dusted and vacuumed.  John was making no moves to get anything started so I went on to the guest room.  I'd started that task when John came in and said he was going to load up the car.  He assured me he had quite a bit to do outdoors before we left so I told him to let me know when he was ready to go.  I got that entire guest room sorted out before he had things together.

I was sitting in the kitchen waiting on him when he came in from outdoors.  He was fussing about how frustrating getting things ready had been.  It was almost noon at that point.  My tummy growled and I was thinking I was ready for lunch, but John won't eat before he goes out to work.  I'd kept breakfast light on purpose just because of that.   I grabbed a packet of crackers and two bottles of water.  After a bit he announced he was ready to leave.  

We started work right away when we got there.  Two and a half hours later, I was hungry enough to chew rusty nails.  I'd worked my bottom off, and John had worked steadily.   No offense to John.  He was doing a bigger job overall.  I was just picking things up and hauling them from one spot to another. The backyard, deck, and carport area looked loads better.  Katie had done a good bit of work, but we did a lot today, too.  I gathered up bags of things to toss at the dumpsters.  

I bemoaned to myself the choice I'd made to work on the guest room and not spending any time figuring out a quick meal for our return or at the least starting dinner in the slow cooker before we left.  I grumbled once more over the lack of places to eat in our small town (the diner had already closed).  I convinced John that nothing at home could possibly be ready for twenty or even thirty minutes which was truth.  I hadn't baked bread, so no sandwich bread.  

I offered to download the app for a sandwich shop in the next town and order online.  I got it downloaded, account set up and order placed before we arrived.  John went in to sit and wait on the order to be ready.  After twenty minutes, with my tummy growling loudly, I could somehow sense John's increasing frustration at how long it was taking. Perhaps because it was a mirror of how I was feeling.  He came out empty handed, handed me the cash I'd given him and said shortly "It never went through.  We're going home."   I wanted to ask why he hadn't just ordered while he was inside, but it seemed best to be quiet.  By that point we were both very tired, very hungry and very quick tempered.  We rode in silence back to our little town and I wracked my brains trying to figure out what I could make in a hurry once we arrived home.

I'd just decided snacking on crackers, apple slices and cheese was the fastest meal I might prepare and then making an early supper would work best and was trying to figure out what 'supper' might be, when John pulled into our local Dollar General.  I had mentioned we were out of dog food and wanting to go in for it very early this morning.  The idea of getting out of that car to do anything was not pleasant but needs must.  John said, "Just sit right there and I'll get it."  "Dog food, that's all I need is dog food."  "I was going into the chicken place next door.  I'll go get dog food too, though."

We haven't ordered from the chicken place in town in nearly three years for the good reasons that service and management had always been lousy.  Do you know John was coming out of the door with fresh hot food within 10 minutes?   I was amazed.  Then he went in to get dog food after telling me to start eating something, anything, just eat.  He came back out to the car with dog food (which took longer than ordering and receiving food) and we sat right there in the parking lot and ate our snack meals.  My goodness that was the BEST food!  It restored spirits.  It restored energy somewhat.  It made the drive home possible.  

John looked at me before he pulled out of the parking space and said "I had no idea I was so hungry!  Gosh but that was good!"  I agreed and am seriously rethinking our avoiding that place in the future.  It's apparent that a change in management has occurred.  

Home to shower the dust of the day off us and restored further by a cup of coffee, I looked at the sandwich shop app again and discovered the order still on my phone, with screens coming up that I'd never seen while we were in town that would have completed the order.  I'd obviously lost internet as soon as we came to the city limits.  I cancelled out the order.

Here's the end of day summation.  If I'd known...that John was going to take so long to get ready today I'd have made a heavier breakfast.  I'd have carried more than a packet of crackers with us.   I'd have started supper in the crockpot and set out something to thaw that we might make quickly when we returned.  If I'd known how the afternoon would go, I wouldn't have taken the time to clean the guest room today, at all.  I'd have waited.   I needed that extra energy I'd have saved from the morning's work to get through the afternoon.  If I'd known that I'd lose internet service we'd never have driven that extra mileage to wait outside a sandwich shop and return to our own hometown empty handed.  If I'd known that the backyard really only needed about two hours work, I'd have pushed John to get it knocked out last week instead of postponing it and letting it get worse than it had been.  If I'd known we'd manage so well today, I might have saved that whole stretch of anxiety that plagued me last night.    

But I didn't.  So, the day was what it was. 

Katie's coming home tonight to a rather decent looking back yard and a bit of improvement in how the whole back side of the house looks overall.  She was planning to mow the backyard tonight if we were able to get the weeds down enough for the mower to run.  I'm so glad John bought that heavy duty Weed eater I thought was so unnecessary last year.  I watched him cut through a dandelion stalk that was at least an inch and a half around.  Unless we have tons of summer rain, the yard should be far easier to maintain.  

I have the guest room cleaned and sorted out.  I only need to take the things out to the shed that are leaving the room.  

I think one thing really saved this day, for all of our frustrations and mistakes and general weariness.  Before we set out today to do anything, we stopped and prayed over it all.  It didn't lighten the body of work one bit, but it sure helped us keep our tempers in control and our tongues well bridled.  Praise God for that!

Meals:  Banana Muffins, cheese cubes, boiled egg

2 pc chicken snack, Lemonade 

Corn dogs, Applesauce

Wednesday:  Goodness!  It's a good thing I've got a day out of the house coming up tomorrow because I am about to work myself too hard!   This morning, I went out after breakfast and weeded that corner flower bed one more time.  Regretted deeply having left the weed mat at Katie's. I saw it yesterday and meant to pick it up but didn't.

After I'd rested a few minutes on the back porch, Maddie came up and I managed to convince her to let me trim some of her knots out.  I could do what I did this morning, all day long and she'd still have knots and matted fur because she has three layers of fur, and each is different.  There is a long coarse outer coat and a second finer layer and then an almost spongy layer in the bottom.  It's when she sheds that bottom layer that the two outer layers of fur gets so very tangled and knotted and matted.  And she is about stubborn as a mule about letting me do anything to her.  In fact, to see how she acts around me most of the time you'd think I called her names, kicked and abused her.  John is everything in her world, but he will not trim her because she whines if he starts to touch her, and she sees that he has scissors.  Yes, she manipulates him, lol.   I do what I can.

I came indoors and looked at the counter and saw two ripe bananas that I'd meant to do something with today.  I'd started bread earlier in the morning and it was almost ready to come out of the machine and be set to rise in the loaf pan.   So, I hurried and made up a loaf of Banana Nut Bread.  I'd come across a portion of caramel icing drizzle I'd used on cinnamon rolls in the freezer when I was organizing it on Monday and set it in the fridge.  I brought that out to come to room temperature.  That's when I saw the apples and orange and handful of grapes that were just past prime looking but still edible place conspicuously at the front of the fridge, so I'd remember they needed to be used.

I knew John would never touch the apples, because the skin was a wee bit wrinkly and that's a complete "No" for him.  I decided he'd say "Yes" to apple pie readily enough.   I quartered and sliced the apples and made cheddar crusts.  I had to let the pastry rest for a half hour in the fridge after it was mixed.  That sent me to go ahead and work on the chicken pot pie I'd planned for supper.  I have a recipe that calls for a savory topping that is like the cobbler mixture I make (meaning it has no sugar).  Since the apple pie has a butter and cheddar crust, I figured the light biscuity type of topping for the Chicken Pot Pie would work best.  

I didn't get all of this done as quick as anything.  It took time.  There were vegetables to dice and sweat off, and gravy base to make, and chicken to bone and skin and chop.  I put the skin and bones in the freezer.  I'd thought about starting the slow cooker with broth, but I was wearing down about lunch time and still had pie crusts to roll out, finish the Chicken Pot Pie, and making lunch.  There was a LOAD of dishes to clean, even with loading roughly half of them into the dishwasher.

After lunch, I'd cleared up more dishes and leftovers and brought out the pastry dough.  By this point, the banana bread came out of the oven and I drizzled it with caramel glaze while it was warm.  I'd planned to roll out the pastry dough and pop it right in the oven behind that banana bread, but John wanted to go into town.  

He wanted to refill the mower and gas can there and to check oil in the push mower.  Katie had mowed all but one little square area of her backyard and it looked so nice.  John had promised we wouldn't linger there but we did.  I wanted to move an old set of metal poles I'd stumbled across yesterday to a more out of the way spot.   And then I spied an empty flower pot that I thought I'd bring home to use, and then another big pot with an Abraham Lincoln rose that has been struggling in that pot for years upon, along with far too many iris.  Katie had urged me to take that home last year and I hadn't, but I loaded it up today.

When we were all done puttering around, we sat in the car and just looked at that yard a long time.  I noted some tree branches that need to be trimmed from a Japanese maple and told John my plans to attend to this and that and he told me the plans he has to do a few tasks.  We looked at each other and said "It's not bad...It's not overwhelming any longer.  This is something we can do easily.  It's labor work that is required and not money at this point.  

I noted that I felt very peaceful sitting there with the house beside me.  I've said before it's a peaceful house and it's makes me feel 'at home', not a stranger.  It's not the home I grew up in, and though Mama lived there about 20 years it was never my home in any sense of the word.  Five years ago, when I was clearing up the mess Mama had left behind,

 I felt it was a peaceful house to be in.  I often wonder how it affected Mama.  She's not the peaceful sort but that house has not in the least taken an atmosphere of strife or anger.  

We came home.  After unloading and setting stuff where we want it to be at present, I came back in to make my pies and do more dishes and then sort of fell into my chair and wanted to call it quits.  You know I had to keep getting up to check on those pies though, so I was up and down every ten minutes or so.  I did at least get a hot cup of coffee while I was sitting down.

I've done the last dish, put away all that was washed earlier today, helped John fold the laundry that air dried and am glad that this day is done.  I made good use of this day. 

Thursday:  I had an eye appointment for today.  I have been having trouble seeing the print on the tv clearly from across the room and road signs have to be a touch nearer for me to make them out with my glasses on.  I knew it was time to get an eye exam and likely past time.  Does anyone else just go along without bothering to get exams as long as they can see clearly?  

After we got ready to leave the house, we took outgoing mail and trash with us when we left home, as we always do.  We had a short list of things to pick up while we were in Walmart.  I told John no matter what I say, I ONLY need these few items and ticked them off on my fingers.  He had a short list and his too was easily ticked on a few fingers.

We arrived early and I suggested we get a head start on the shopping we meant to do.  I wanted to see if they had 25-pound bags of flour and what they were priced.  They had it in stock, but no price listed.  I looked at prices overall and goodness, but they want a LOT less for flour there than any place I've been in the past few weeks.  I suggested we go on and get the 25-pound bag, because based on prices, I felt safe in choosing to purchase it. ($9.24 for the bag.  Glad I went on and put it in the buggy!) I only had cat food and an over-the-counter medicine on my list after that.  John wanted t-shirts.   We got half our shopping done prior to my eye appointment.

Now I'm going to whine a bit.  I went in to get my eye exam expecting I'd get a changed prescription.  What I didn't expect was the complete and total fuss (he was calm and he was polite but he fussed just the same) about diabetes and being 'out of control'.  I explained that while I had failed to check my blood sugar that morning, I take my medicine, manage my diet and that my last A1c was at the low end of the pre-diabetes level.  I told him I take only 1 1000mg Metformin daily because I manage this condition well.   There was a LOT more from this doctor. I felt like a total and complete chump when he was done with me.

No matter.  This is going to end being a post here in the weeks ahead.  I've already started working on it.  Just expect to hear more of this story, soon!

After the visit, I finished my shopping.  John's leg started hurting and he said about four times that he just wanted to go, and I said, "Fine, let's go."  Forget that we haven't had lunch and it's 2pm, forget that he wanted to go by the credit union, forget that my list still had two items not ticked off and that I'd wanted to make one more stop to pick up two other items.   Let's go home.  I was not in a mood. I just wanted to regain shelter after what felt like being...I don't know what to call it.  It just made me feel lousy and that's the best way to say it without being overly dramatic.

He asked, as we were 1 mile from home, "Did you want to go somewhere and get lunch?"  "Home will do just fine.  We're nearly there," is what I replied.  I told him we'd have a snack and eat supper.  And I guess, I'd better hush up and go put some supper before him!

Meals:  Pancakes, Chicken Sausage (turned out pretty good)

None, we had a small plate of nacho chips with melted cheese and salsa when we came in.

Mongolian Beef, Brown Rice, Stir fried zucchini and peppers, Apple Pie.

Friday:  I am running behind today but not just due to work, though there's been plenty of that, too.  

We were up early and had breakfast before 9am which is always a big bonus here.  John washed the sheets and towels.  I puttered around doing basic household things and then tackled remaking our bed and sorting out my closet.  I came up with an armful of sweaters and heavy shirts that I'd worn once or twice for a short period but which I didn't want to put away unwashed.  I put those in to wash on delicate.

For the past year I have periodically said to him that the washing machine hoses are not working properly.  No matter what setting I use for the water temperature, it all comes out HOT and it never deviates.  Nor does it rinse in cold water.  I've mentioned this to him multiples of times and he keeps saying "No, No it's all fine.  The pipes are connected correctly."  This morning I was not happy about washing delicate items in boiling hot water.  

I told John, "I know you're tired of my saying this, but there is NOT a single cold setting to use on that machine that comes out cold.  Everything pours out boiling hot water and nothing but hot water.  I know you tell me there's nothing wrong but there most certainly is!"  The fact that if we use the washer, we can't take a shower right away because there is NO hot water left to shower in says plainly that the thing is using hot water and hot water only.    At some point, before we use the washer again, I've asked him to swap the hoses.  I don't CARE if the hot water hose is hooked up to the hot water pipe and the cold is hooked up to the cold.  Something is definitely not right.  I am curious if we can use cold water just how much we can lower our electric bill.  Surely by a bit?

I went outdoors after I'd finished in the bedroom.  I was not feeling so happy after yesterday's episode. It had opened some old emotional wounds, I'd had a difficult conversation on the phone, I'd dreamed really hard dreams last night, my knee was aching something chronic...It just all added up.  So, I was more than a bit livid when I stepped out on the back porch and discovered the edges were covered with piles of dirt.  Both dogs got a little bit of fussing from me as I went around to the front of the porch to try and repair what I thought was their damage.  

It was a big burrow.  And nope it wasn't the dogs doing, it was obvious that a stupid armadillo was burrowing under the back porch.  As near as I could tell it hadn't made it through to the other side and actually gotten under the porch.  I filled it in, put a big rock on top of the soft spot and then came indoors to get the Repels All and sprayed all around the whole outside of the house.  The dogs followed me around and both of them rolled around in the stuff and took deep long snorts and I kept telling them "This is supposed to be a repellent, not an attractant!"  

John came out to see what I was doing and I was hot and bothered by that point.  I don't like critters attempting to dig holes under my house!  I want them to stay OUT. Period.  

I set to work repotting the tomato plants which have grown by inches since John brought them home a week ago.  I told him "We don't NEED ten tomato plants!  I'm going to reset half these and give them to Bess to plant out."  Then I texted Bess to ask her if she wanted them.  I also reminded her that we'd planned to go into town to visit the new Mercantile store.  She decided to put Millie down for a nap and then came over for us to run into town.

I took her down a back roads way into town.   I also wanted to show her the wild blueberry bushes. She's a quick study.  Once she recognized how they looked (and I explained how they bloom, about when they fruit, what color they turn in Fall) she was soon pointing out loads of them to me!  She has a good eye for them and I think in future she'll be happy to know where to go look for wild blueberries.  Mind you, most are up steep banks, but we saw a few that were falling down the bank and barely hanging on that I'd love to go back and try to transplant here.

We had a nice long talk on our way into town.  Which is great because The Mercantile didn't open until late afternoon, so we missed out on visiting that store.  Instead, we went into a boutique next door which has some CUTE things.  I'll be going back to get a couple of items. I think my next clothes purchases will be made there this next quarter.

When we came home, we sat in the car to continue our conversation.  It was cool under the carport, and we were both tying up loose ends to several conversations at once.  Maddie kept coming up to whine at my door and then would run back to the porch.  Finally, she ran up to whine and then ran to the porch and started barking.  I fussed at her to hush up and she turned to look at me and then started barking again when she turned back to the porch.  Bess gasped.  "I'll bet that durn Armadillo is back!  You run on in the house and tell John to get the gun!"

Sure enough the darned thing had dug another huge burrow behind the same flower pot on the other side.  Bess, looking down in the hole, said, "Oh my Gosh!  This thing is BIG!"  John came out with his gun  (Rifle, shot gun?  I don't know, I couldn't tell you) and fired at the thing.   Maddie left and hid somewhere around the car port at the first shot.  Poor little Rufus who knows he is not allowed indoors walked right in, laid down on the rug and shivered and shook.  He was not going back outside until that noise ceased.  And then he was not real sure he trusted it to have stopped.  

When Bess was sure the critter was dead, she told John "Give me some gloves, I'm taking that thing out of that hole!  I want to see how big it really is."  From tip of tail to nose the thing was about 30-32 inches. It was fat too, as large as a good-sized young pig.  And obviously considered the Repels All as pleasant as the dogs had done!  This time it had almost managed to get under the back porch.  I'm so glad that Maddie was on the job this afternoon and alerted us to its being there.

John and I sat and talked a bit with Bess, then sent her home with her new tomato plants.  I asked John if he wanted leftovers for supper tonight and he didn't answer me.  "Or would you prefer to run over to get a Sub sandwich?"  "I need to get some wheels for the mower deck...I know they have them over in Roberta.  Would you order from there?" 

We went off to Roberta, did our two errands there and had a long talk of our own on the way there and back.  We talked about everything and nothing.  One question asked today was how we each felt about being a one car household.  We both agree that it doesn't bother us much at all. I don't like to leave John for hours one end here alone and he's not crazy about leaving me alone for hours and hours but for the average trip away either of us might make it's a doable thing.   We both agreed we'd prefer at this stage to be a two-car household, but in the future when we are a bit older, we see that we could manage fine with just one.

I've just set up a Sunday dinner with Sam and family. I know Taylor is coming this weekend and I can expect Katie and the children will enjoy playing together.  I'll need to go get some Gramma's Fried Chicken and determine the rest of the menu.

It's been a good week for hard work this week.  How was your week?