Weekly Update: 4.19.26
Of Rainstorms and Allergies
April showers were real this week, as we were pelted by thunderstorm after thunderstorm. By the end of the week, our wet weather creek was running, and the leaky pond back in the woods was full. Our spring creek was even running deep — up to our knees. The dogs couldn’t get enough of swimming in it, even though it was downright cool on Saturday.
The storms all tended to roll in late, making for some late nights as are phones and weather radios kept alerting us to severe storms in the area. The late nights led to later, sleepy mornings. Coupled with the seasonal allergies that hit this week, none of us felt like our best selves physically most days. Bonnie-Jean and I both dealt with rounds of migraines.
Along with springtime comes turkey season. Our brother Jeremiah got his blind set up in his favorite hunting spot on our property. The guys in our family got a couple turkeys last year, and they are hoping this year is even better.
Even though we weren’t our best selves, we made progress every day. It was too wet to work in the garden as much as last week, but we made a little headway. I continued to work on repairing trellises. My sisters and nieces continued weeding rows and last year’s herb bed. We were tickled to see that both the oregano and mint are growing back. I reseeded our start trays, filling in any squares that hadn’t grown. We bought seed potatoes and intended to plant them Friday, but the ground was so wet we decided to wait until next week.
Grace and our brother Levi have both spent hours every day running the weed trimmer and brush cutter, trying to keep the grass down around the bunkhouse and clear brush around the garden. They’ve also been trimming around wild edibles we have on our homestead, including wild plum, elderberry, and blackberry. To the same end, Levi and our dad worked on the tractor yesterday. They are still working on replacing the seals on our ‘52 Ferguson TO-30.
On Thursday, we remembered our Memaw with a sugarplum cake. Our grandma always asked for a prune cake on her birthday, and we always made her one if she was visiting around this time of year.
Yesterday, Grace and I helped our brother Jeremiah work on siding, almost finishing the remainder of our bunkhouse. The weather was cool and sunny — you couldn’t ask for better.
The rest of our time this week was spent on spring cleaning and bookwork. It felt less productive than some weeks, but we still worked hard daily and made our homestead better. When I wasn’t feeling well one day, I got caught up on some computer work I’ve been putting off. The Baboni dog door we installed last summer is falling apart — the flaps are falling off, and it’s rusting inside and out. It was an expensive metal door (costing nearly 300 dollars), so I contacted the company and told them what was going on. We don’t even let the dogs use the door all the time, as it lets in heat, cold, and flies. Often, we just keep it closed. To my surprise, the company apologized and offered to send a new door. So, that was a win.
Despite it not being the best week health-wise, I’m thankful for what we accomplished. We have lots of mild weather to look forward to next week, and I’m hoping we can take advantage of it. I hope we can plant our root vegetables and maybe our green beans. I’d like to finish siding the bunkhouse. We have all the parts for our outdoor shower now, so we can install the plumbing for that this week. And of course, if weather allows, I’d love to start spraying the urethane on our kitchen shelving. There is so much to do — which is always oddly exhilarating.
