This and That

As usual our lives are full of adventures, can never understand the people who complain about
being bored. I don't have time to be bored!! Let's see Jim's job hunt continues, we are still
resiting moving and sending up lots of prayers for an answer. He is still working around here fixing things and winterizing. The attic is two steps closer to being weather proof, he replaced
the two smaller windows in the front. Amazing how good windows make a difference, you can raise and lower these with 2 fingers. A couple of weeks after those were installed the next set of windows arrived. Now the North side of the attic has a wonderful pair of crank out windows in place of the jury rigged non working windows. When Jim removed the old windows he found no insulation and lots of gaps. He also found that the solution previous owners had used was to take two old windows and screw them together. We now have one reason for the attic being so uncomfortable. The new windows are energy efficient and tinted, it is wonderful to be able to open them and get fresh air flowing through. There was a persistent musty air which made time spent up there less then lovely.

Which bring me to another development, I will be spend more time in the attic at my desk working!! I finally made it through all the classes and certification, what a stressy time all that was. I received the news yesterday that I had passed and am now officially a member of the AAA team. I even worked one half hour shift last night, now that is a whole other story!!
The very first call I took was an accident! The lady was naturally upset, but also very impatient and cursing all of which made the call a challenge. We need to gather a certain amount of information for dispatch so they know what equipment to send and to locate the member. I made it through mostly intact , at 3:00 am while mentally reviewing the call there were some gaps but none major. The next 2 calls were pretty routine and then my shift was over and boy was I relieved. I work another 2 hours tonight and will spend today going over notes and trying to be more prepared.

The weather is very cool, more so then usual so I am a bit worried about my garden. I am going to dig up a couple of my basil plants to bring in. I read a good article on Basil , both growing inside and ways to preserve. I also have bushels of green tomatoes which I am hoping will get to ripen. I have a nice variety of pumpkins and if we can avoid a frost I should make a few dollars selling them. One picture shows a larger specimen and the second picture shows our pumpkin tree. A few of the vines took off and climbed some of the smaller trees,lol.

Speaking of selling, we are doing well with the eggs, the chickens are self supporting. Jim and I are discussing making a new larger coop with additional nesting boxes. The current coop would then become home for new chickens that we will purchase in the Spring. Our chickens lay only brown eggs which are in demand. For next year the plan is to take them up into MN closer to larger cities where the brown eggs sell for around $4.00 per dozen. We now gather a little over two and a half dozen a day and have calls from people buying 10 and 12 dozen at a time.

So life at the homestead continues, learning new things all the time and finding new adventures. I planted Heirloom roses last Fall and have been enjoying them all Summer, was so grateful I found a spot where they would thrive. Most of what I plant is for zone 4 but some of roses are a 5 which puts them on the edge. The first year over here I planted lots of roses and lost nearly all of them. So bit by bit I have learned the secret of protecting them over the winter.

Be well my friends and enjoy life!!

Barbara