Catch up

Here's a video of the grain rye blowing in the wind yesterday (Thursday) It wasn't long after this it turned into a sand storm where you would have barely been able to see the house.


4/9/08 Wednesday
Not doing good this morning. Have a headache and when I went out to make some more tree stakes my hands were so weak I could barely cut the wire. It’s cold out and there is a chance we will have rain. It sprinkled for about ten seconds this morning but that’s it so far. I’ve been staying busy and not having too many slowdowns during the day. Still having a hard time figuring things out but I suppose I should get used to it. I borrowed Chuck’s trailer and with the help of Jamie went and got several rolls of fencing at the landfill. There was lots of lumber discarded from some construction site there so I got a truck load for use around this farm. Our Wi-Fi access in Stanton doesn’t seem to be working anymore. I forgot to take my laptop with me when I went to Midland yesterday so wasn’t able to post on the blog or check email. I’m not real motivated to write or do much in that arena. It’s probably depression. I get so tired of struggling.

I went to the Mennonites who own the house on the corner of our property and let them know I would now be willing to sell up to three acres to them. I had told him no when he asked last year. He wasn’t happy with the price but said he would get back to me. We talked about possibly doing a trade for a tractor. Right now I’m not real inclined to go that way. The only reason I am considering selling is to raise capital for this farm. I’d rather shop for my tractor than let someone else find it for me. Regardless we need cash to buy needed supplies and build a farm.
===========
4/10/08 Thursday
Yesterday wasn’t a good day. I was depressed and frustrated and then was very angry. The depression stems from my inability to get things done. The anger was related to that and small things like hoses breaking after I spent a couple of hours fixing a sprinkler. Then I got something in the mail that really grated. I won’t talk about that here till we see our lawyer. I’ve been going back a few years in this journal to research some stuff related to what I got in the mail and that brings lots of memories of Toledo, the friends we left and the early days of Cherie and I renewing our relationship. Lots of emotion there.

Last night we had the first rain for the year. It was only a quarter inch or so but very welcome. There was some hail, about marble size for us though the weather had a report of tennis ball size hail. Hearing that I pulled the cars as close to the garage as I could get to provide some kind of protection.
making stakes by splitting wood I found at the landfill

Today there is a thirty mile per hour wind with sixty mph gusts. It’s too much for me to do much outside. Despite all the rain and everything being wet it’s blowing sand out there. I’m going to have to redo the stakes on some of the Afghan pines as the strings I used on the first ones aren’t working well in the wind. Unfortunately many will be damaged before it’s over.

The compost is finished. It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago it was all freshly mowed green stuff. Now I’ll start a fresh batch. With the rain the weeds will be springing up with a vengeance so as I mow and hoe them down they will go into the compost bin. Now that it has rained tilling will be much easier. There is lots of that to do. Cherie made a list of all the seeds we have to help me map out what will go where.
==========
4/11/08 Friday
Can’t believe it’s Friday already. We went to see Patrick Duffy, our attorney, this morning. He could see how the math didn’t add up on the issue we are concerned about and agreed that we have a clear right for an accounting for it. I’ll explain this at some future point. I guess I’m finally learning a thing called prudence, or something like that. The biggest problem with this issue is simply a lack of communication.
Here is some of the fencing I recovered from the landfill. Still don't have stakes to hold it all up but will do it some way. You know I'm resourceful. It will go a long way in keeping rabbits and puppies out of the plants.

It will hopefully be a busy day. As long as I’m in good shape it will be for there is much to do. Today I plan on getting the tiller out but the first thing is to get those last thirty trees planted. I haven’t surveyed what the fifty five mph wind gust did to them yet.

Just got done poop scooping at S&J’s. Put ninety one dollars in the gas tank. The truck is making a ticking noise now and not running as smooth as it used to. It’s not really bad, just something I notice. The miles per gallon seem to be ok but I will have to check with the next fill up. It’s got 170,000 plus miles on it so I need to start babying it. I drive it pretty easy most of the time just to save on gas but still get in a hurry sometimes.

There is lots of other things that I am sure have gone on but I don’t keep up with this journal as well now that I can’t get online unless I come to Midland. We had Alltel turn off the phone line we had for the PC card. No sense in paying for something that doesn’t work. Cherie did the math and if we kept the line it would cost us $480 till the contract was up so it’s cheaper to incur the two hundred dollar disconnect fee. Plus how quickly I wear out when I am working outside doesn’t help me keep up with the journal. I come in and lay down to relieve the pain and often snooze. It’s a frustrating thing to feel old at 51 on top of a beaten up body. I just want to run and can’t. I keep trying though. But I’m doing much better today than I was two days ago. It feels good to be positive about things again. These bouts of depression don’t last long but can be intense.

There is much to do so I must post this, check my emails, and get moving. There is lots of other things I need or would like to do online but can’t afford to waste any of this “prime time” when my brain is working and the weather is cooperating.