CLEAN-UP AT THE FARM

A Pondful of Water

Mother’s Day is history, and once again I’m glad to get past it. For those of us who miss our mothers, even if you’re used to the fact that your mother is gone, Mother’s Day is not an easy celebration. Don’t get me wrong. As a mother, I’m blessed on Mother’s Day, but I no longer have a role as daughter. All the hype that I should buy, make, and bake in appreciation of my mother is hard to take. And anyway, the best projects are fall / winter, and I’m organizing my Halloween and Christmas projects. (Think Silas!)

As we begin to plan for summer, it’s still chilly, and here at the farm, it’s downright COLD (35 Wednesday morning) and also SOGGY, especially in the low places. The pond is spilling its banks. Wearing his big waterproof boots, Mike set up the clothesline in the middle of a puddle. I won’t be able to use it for several weeks. It’s hard to believe that in another month we’ll be complaining about the heat. Okay, six weeks. Maybe.

Speaking of heat, Mike and I made a trip to the house attic and were surprised to discover that it’s hot up there. Mike opened the windows for ventilation.

One side of the east door of the dilapidated (but historic and picturesque) old barn slipped off its rail during the winter and had to be reattached.

“I’ll climb the ladder, and you lift up on the door at the bottom,” instructed Mike, illustrating what he wanted me to do.

So, we tried that. “It’s hitting something and I can’t budge it,” I said, trying hard to lift the door.

“Well, you climb the ladder and slip it onto the rail while I lift,” said Mike.

So, up the ladder I went, but I couldn’t pull the door high enough to slip over the rail. I needed another inch, but we couldn’t do it.

“Okay. You come back down here, and I’ll go up the ladder,” instructed Mike, but we were still unsuccessful.

I don’t know how many times we traded places, but we finally got that door back on the railing.

So glad that we can still solve our own problems!

A few calliope hummingbirds are visiting the feeders regularly. I watched a bunny sitting among the daffodils in the yard and wished that I could show it to Silas. Deer are everywhere.

Both rhubarb plants are growing and I must feed them. All three young apple trees look good.

Mike’s project has been to clean out the ditches that run beside the lane. The spring run-off causes erosion. I think we need someone with know-how and equipment to help us.

I gave the mechanical room a good cleaning, tossing a lot of junk. We replaced two old vacuums with a new Eureka Mighty Mite. Now I have one upstairs and another downstairs. No more lugging a heavy vacuum up and down the stairs, except or course, to vacuum the stairs. But the Mighty Mite is light.

At any rate, the house is getting cleaner and tidier, and it feels dry and cozy. It’s good to be back. KW