Weekly Update: 8.23.25
This week started slowly, with both Bonnie-Jean and Grace fighting a cold. A heat advisory was issued for the weekend, halting any big ideas for outdoor projects. So instead of working on exterior siding like we planned, we spent the day inside cooking, cleaning, and getting organized.
Due to the heat and sickness, we opted for more inside projects most of the week. We finally sorted through all the totes of keepsakes we brought here from our storage unit a couple weeks ago. We transferred everything into new totes that will fit and stack nicely in our storage loft. We sisters had fun reminiscing. We organized favorite toys from childhood, opting to pass some on to our nieces and nephew. We flipped through old 4H workbooks and college papers. Bonnie-Jean had a laugh at an old Reserve Champion fair ribbon marked “goat” with a question mark. The ribbon was dirty and partially chewed. We enjoyed remembering stories connected with sentimental clothing pieces. We collected all our old handmade historical clothing into a family costume box. Our niece Chloe had fun trying on several Victorian and Regency costumes.
I came across a rain bonnet that my grandma used to keep in her purse when I was very small. She used to let me play with it. Years later, she gave it to me. Sadly, it has become so brittle it is falling apart. Still, it was a laugh to look at it one last time. I was surprised to see a Springfield address on the tag. While my grandma has Ozark roots, she lived in California for most of her life. My mom recognized it as coming from my great-aunt, whose husband had a Springfield based advertising company.
Despite the heat, those of us who weren’t sick spent a couple hours in the garden each morning. We harvested our first round of pumpkins, as a number of our Lady Godiva variety were ready. We also picked a few butternut and honeynut squash.
Grace and I tried a method recommended by the Old Farmer’s Almanac for making pumpkins last longer. Grace scrubbed them with soapy water, then I dipped them in a bleach solution. After the squash was totally dry, my niece Eilley and I rubbed them all with vegetable oil. They look beautiful, and I’m hoping they will stay that way long into autumn.
We really weren’t prepared for storing our winter squash when its still so hot outside. After we cure them in the tent for a few days, we are going to try putting them in our storm shelter. It’s not as cool in there as it is in the fall, but it’s better than anywhere else we can think of. Hopefully they will still be viable when it’s time to decorate for fall.
Along with harvesting pumpkins, we hoped to be getting some corn this week. Sadly, the racoons beat us to it. They have been in the corn several nights this week, and we are at a loss about how to stop it. After the second day of decimation, our brother did some reading. It turns out that it is racoon season. Hopefully we can lower our varmint population in the next couple weeks.
When our dad was home, he spent a day working on our tractor. Our cute little 1952 Ferguson T-30 seems to have one problem after another. We haven’t been able to brush hog all year, and our land is positively overgrown. Our brother Jeremiah joined the project, and they figured out that the starter is messed up. Now we just have to find a starter somewhere — hopefully it will get us up and running again.
On Thursday, the weather finally cooled down to comfortable summery temperature. After we finished work for the day, we ladies took some books down to the spring. We stuck our feet in the water and read aloud. The moment felt like a gift after so much sickness and oppressive weather. It’s been a hard summer, and we’ve spent very few moments actually enjoying the season. According to the calendar, we still have nearly a month left — and I plan to relish every day of it.
