Day: July 11, 2015

It’s going to be a hot one tomorrow. Temps are supposed to be in the middle 90’s with quite a high humidity.
We are preparing. The house is generally 10* cooler than the outside. It’s even cooler than that in the basement. So, tonight, we need to put the fan in the basement window, and two fans in the upstairs windows. One fan upstairs will be blowing air out, the others will be blowing air in.
Hopefully throughout the day we can keep the house cooler.
Meanwhile, I goofed on my salad recipe. I put too much vinegar in it. I forgot to water it down. Damn, I don’t like screwing things up.
Brother and his buddy were here, and they helped with a week’s worth of work for me. They hauled downstairs ever so many loads of stuff and saved my knee a bit more stress. My right knee is killing me again. We also got a tarp over the chicken coop, which will save the chickens in the heat tomorrow. They went hunting for the racoons that were into our coop. They didn’t get any, but my main hope is that those buggers all just move off… But, they won’t. We’re going to have to just put them down.
He has hopes and plans for the future of those chickens, and plans for a safer coop in the near future. The good news is that the next flock will be much safer than the last.
That’s all for now, I’m going to just take it easy for awhile. Uncle Ed is watching the news, and Dad is taking a nap.
I’m going to be busy once the sun goes down, getting the housework done.

 Oh well, life gets teejious.
Louise Ann Benjamin

The garden walk. Ed and I went down to the garden for a quick walk. While we were down there, I picked beets, swiss chard, dill and rhubarb.
I have two salads going at this time. In one, I have melon that was on sale. I also have a few pears, diced up that also were on sale, but had bruised a bit. I put some of the rhubarb in today, as well as some frozen apples from our orchard. The dressing for this salad is a little brown sugar that I heat up, add vanilla and nutmeg to. I also added some grapefruit that I didn’t catch before it was almost too late.
In the other salad. I have beet greens, swiss chard, fresh dill and vinegar. I’m going to ask Dad to bring up some onions as well. Ed can’t carry anything, and my arms were full so the onions got left behind. All the produce has been dealt with, and I’m sitting down for a short break before I do anything else. Soon, I’ve got to get the dishes from last night washed. I was more worried about Uncle than getting chores done. Slowly, I’m getting caught up.
I’m still doing the work a bit, take a break method.
As Uncle needs things, I grab them, do a few things, and get back to the laptop. Currently, we are watching tv. As needed we do what he needs done. It works.
Meanwhile, we are under heat warnings for tomorrow. I’m worried about the temp and my family’s medical conditions. Thank God it is going to be Sunday, and Dad won’t be working in the garden.
All is well here at Fertile Acres Farm. Take care,
Louise Ann Benjamin

Good morning,
It’s almost 10AM here on Fertile Acres Farm. Dad is down in the garden already, and Uncle Ed, our ailing relative is up and has had his coffee. Tim is downstairs still asleep, and I need to get my work started for the day.
We weren’t expecting Ed to come yesterday. I called the hospital in the morning, and they said not yet. So, I went about my day. However, Tim and I had to run to town for his medical supplies. We stopped first at the tobacconist, and picked up our supplies there for the month. Then, we went to the hospital, where we had the best option for his medical supplies. I was planning on stopping and seeing Ed before we left the hospital, but got a change of plans phone call while we were picking up Tim’s things.
Ed was on the phone, and they were releasing him. This was just a few short hours since the call which said that he was staying the night. He was shocked that we were already at the hospital, and we were shocked at the “God nudge”. We gathered him up, and headed to the pharmacy. We then headed to his home for some clothes and such for him to stay on Fertile Acres Farm for as long as he needs.
Meanwhile, I had called Dad and my sister. Tina met us at Uncle Ed’s and he showed her what needs to be done while he is laid up here. We headed directly to the farm afterwards, and got settled in.
Supper was a stew with a little ham, carrots, spuds, hominy, and noodles. For seasoning, there was a little cumin, paprika, and some chicken boullion.
Other than that, we are taking things one hour at a time. As I said, Dad is down in the garden, and Tim is still asleep. Ed is mischievous, and that’s a good thing.
I’ve got to get to work, so I’ll pester you again soon.
Take care,
Louise Ann Benjamin