A lot has gone on at the .172 since last I said anything to you all. Summer is here. Hot days and not so hot days. It can not make up its mind.
The garden is doing well, we have been picking vegetables. I have already canned 12 pints of green beans and still have more to go. We have a ton of tomatoes and am going to be canning tomato juice, sauce, paste, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and some chunky salsa. The plants do not look all that good, never do, but they sure do produce tomatoes. (Darn black walnut tree) A friend also gave us a bunch of tomatoes and they are in the freezer just waiting to be canned. Peppers will go in the freezer as well.
We had a giant snapping turtle stuck in a window well. I went out to water the garden and there he was. Luckily Eric was able to get him out when he got home.
Our corn got blown over in the tornado we had. The wind jumped right over the peppers and the blueberries and got the corn. So, no corn for us this year. Besides that, it was so dry, and we could not keep up with the amount of water corn needs. The carrots are doing great. They have big leafy things on them. We have been getting a few yellow zucchinis.
Most of the sunflowers went down with the storm as well. They still looked pretty. All our flowers did really well. We even have Moon Flowers growing by the compost. Free ranging sunflowers are also growing on that side of the house (the birds planted them). The weeds are crazy too. We are not good at keeping up with the weeds, because we have other things we like to do, like go places, sometimes we just go for rides.
Although this summer we haven’t gone to many places. We vended at PLUR fest (peace, love, understanding, and respect) {I think} at the Concord House. It was alright, but the music wasn’t our cup of tea. The crowd was different. We learned about “rave booty” and “the squid squad.” Yes, they are a thing.
We also vended at Boney Fingers Gathering of the Heads at the Concord House. Now that was a party. The band plays music that we like and there is usually at least two bands (Killer Clowns and Boney Fingers). I always take the money for camping because 1) it helps the band, 2) I get to see all the people even the ones that don’t go in to see the band, 3) because I highly enjoy it. It is the least I can do, after all Boney Fingers puts on a great party. By the end of the night, I just want to lay on the floor and sleep, but it is well worth it. A great party to end the summer with.
At the Boney Finger’s campout some of the kids color a guitar and the band and artist sign it. Then the kids raffle it off. Owen won the guitar this year and I was so happy for him. I was even happier when he gave it to me. He also gave me a DVD so I could learn how to play it.
Remember the tornado I spoke of earlier (the corn), it also dropped a limb out of the maple tree onto the windshield and roof of my Prius.
That same day Dusty Hill from ZZ Top died. She is still “Hot, Blue, and Righteous”. RIP Dusty Hill. Anyway, after about a month of her being at Caliber Collision, she is back home and good as new. I’m worried something else is going to happen to her. I guess that is natural. Now that we have Blue (Prius) back I am ready to go camping in her. We bought a mattress that should fit. Along with the rack and box we should be comfortable. (I will let you know how it goes).
Summer found me with a new job. I no longer work for UW Health; now I am working at SSM Dean, in Stoughton. The hours and pay are better and so far, I like it. Yes, I still work in a lab and still draw blood, but I am not as limited on what I can do as I was before. On the Saturdays, I work I can do even more. The only bad thing is I have to work every 5th Saturday, but it could be worse, I could have to work every weekend. Now I work 4 ten-hour days, so I have a day off during the week to do things that I want and need to do. I think it is a good deal.
Eric has been sick a couple times. The last time he had a fever and got Covid tested, he was negative. Thank the good Lord. He is better now. I’m glad. Being sick in the summer is horrid.
Other than that, we have been making things. Eric did some tie dyeing, rock polishing, and growing oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms. I’ve been making a lot of paper crafts and working on Christmas presents (it always sneaks up on me, so this year I started in July).
I’ve also been painting and learning how to make SVG files. Doing some wire wrapping, among other things. I love to make stuff. It relaxes me. Hopefully soon I will have some more items posted on McCrory Mercantile and Eric will get some stuff tie dyed and put on Must Dye.
An update on the mattress for the Prius, it is great. We slept on it at Ben and Sarah fest. All we have to do now is cut it to size. We do not have to have sleeping bags anymore, just sheets and blankets. It is so nice, because it gives us a little more room.
Summer was pretty good and so is Life on the 172 . No it is great. Our yard is alive, we are alive, so we are one step ahead of the game.
Remember:
!) Life is too short, do what your love
2) In a world you can be anything, be kind
3) Nice matters