Weekly Update: 9.6.25
This was one of those weeks where the living of life took up most of our time and mental energy. Starting on Tuesday, several family members had unexpected health issues — an ER visit, an outpatient procedure, some debilitating headaches, and finally, a health scare followed by a CT scan. Thankfully, as of right now, all tests and scans came back clear — but we are all shook up. We also had a car in the shop. Each day seemed to start with some promise, only for things to crumble as unexpected health issues and transportation issues appeared. We tried to maintain a level of positivity and productivity by the grace of God, but it wasn’t easy.
The biggest project we tackled this week was deep cleaning our storm shelter. Bonnie-Jean and Grace headed up this task, which turned out to be a much bigger job than any of us thought it would be. We had noticed it smelling like mildew the last couple times we went in to get a homemade beer or cider, which we keep in boxes down there. We don’t drink it often, though. Plus, thanks to the dry weather we’ve had during the latter part of our summer, we haven’t needed to use the storm shelter for its intended purpose. After I found a black widow last time I was down there, we decided it was time to deep clean the shelter.
Because it’s fairly dark in the shelter, and because we so rarely go in there, we hadn’t realized how bad the mold problem was. When Bonnie-Jean investigated with a flashlight, she realized mildew covered the walls and wood benches we had built. It was all over the cushions and boxes holding canned goods. So, armed with buckets of vinegar solution and pine-sol, my sisters tackled the mess. Our sister-in-law, Erin, and our nieces helped a lot as well — especially cleaning the musty items we had been storing in the shelter.
Grace tackled the bench cushions, using a fabric mildew remover at first, then vinegar when she ran out.
While toting up the boxes of canned food and beer, Bonnie-Jean found what could have been one of the mold sources — two broken bottles of cider which had soaked the box they were in, causing a nasty moldy mess. We wondered if the yeasts in the cider could have promoted the mold growth, as we never have had that problem before. From now on, we will be storing the brews in a plastic tote.
After the shelter was cleaned out, my sisters scrubbed the walls and benches, spraying down cracks they couldn’t reach with cloths or brushes. The transformation was incredible, as the shelter went from stinking to smelling like a mix of pine-sol and peppermint oil, which they had added to their vinegar water.
Once the shelter was clean and dry, we moved our canned food and home brews back down there.
We also took down a large load of pumpkins after they had finished curing in the tent. Hopefully they will stay cool and fresh until we are ready to decorate with them later this fall.
Aside from working on the shelter, we did some tweaking of our regular menu. We have been working on adding more protein to our diet, to see if that will help with various health issues around here. We changed up a few family recipes, incorporating more high protein ingredients where possible. The new version of baked oatmeal, a household staple, was a hit. I can’t wait to try the low-sugar eggnog Grace mixed up.
We also finally used some of our wild blackberries to make a gluten-free, low-sugar berry crisp. It turned out delicious.
It was an exhausting seven days. We all definitely feel a bit worse for wear. Still, there is much to be thankful for. We are all relieved that, as of right now, it seems we are all healthy. Going into the weekend, everyone is feeling a bit better physically. We have some fun weekend plans that have been in place for awhile. We are all looking forward to the opportunity to shake off some stress and enjoy being alive. A healthy life truly is a gift.
