UP! -- AND RUNNING!!

A view to the south at evening

The drywaller called Sunday night and said he’d be at the farmhouse at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Since we were still in town, we were relieved that we didn’t have to be at the farm by 7:00 Monday morning. We were at the farm by 10:00. It was 44 outside and 55 in the house, but we had too much to do to worry about the temperature.

When it comes to set-up, Mike is my hero. First, he installed the new pump on the fridge, another casualty of the cold winter. Seems like the new part didn’t fit as well as the previous one, but he fiddled with it and got it to work. The fridge is now cold and making ice. Besides unloading the Dakota and taking care of the 4-wheeler and trailer, he worked through a plethora of tasks, including re-attaching the ceiling light in the kitchen. The internet is up and running (obviously) and so is satellite tv – all thanks to Mike.

Another southern evening view

Cleaning was the order of the day for me, and I have a hard time staying on task. Nothing new there – I’ve always been that way. “Can I go play now?” I would ask Mother. “Can I call Christine now?” As I worked away this morning, I would ask myself, “What would Hallie do next” because she’s better at it than I am. I remembered that Hallie would disinfect the table and the counters, so I did that. I also washed many things that sit on the counter, and they needed it. And I “Swiffered” away. I don’t know what a purist would think of those dusters, but they’re easy to use and good enough for a place that isn’t going to stay dust-free for long. It’s just that they get dirty  fast. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

It’s really wet here. Water stands in the fields and it’s too wet to plant. Remember it was also wet last spring (2016), and our land was fallow all season. However, our fields were planted in rapeseed last August, and we're glad to see something growing. Mike says the grass will be a foot high before he can mow. Despite the wet ground we planted our baby trees, and I also planted a dozen raspberry starts that Ken gave us. I think it was too wet, but we had to go for it.

Last night we watched five whitetail deer in the lane at the apple trees. Four of them crossed the road into June’s field where they proceeded to enjoy a hearty meal of rapeseed greens. The fifth headed on down the lane into the burned pines. They were undisturbed by our presence in the yard.

So – the drywaller appeared this morning shortly after 7:00 as agreed. I admit we expected he was coming to do the work today, but he looked it over and said he’d be back tomorrow with drywall. After he left, Mike said, “Well, maybe someday it will be fixed.” KW