I am having trouble hanging onto my thoughts this morning. The round pen is done, except for the gates. My wind is whirling. Every little bit my eyes rest on the trees outside of my window. For a moment there is calm and then I think about how it is hiding some of the clearing I need to do and how, perhaps, it will allow me to not think about it for a while. There is a multitude of greens out there. The green of the grass that I have trimmed against the green of the long grass, waiting to be mowed. The green of the still alive elm against the walnut tree. The yellow green of the hedge trees. Stan's property across the road, an undulation of shades of green, rolling away to the horizon. The scene is a reprieve between thoughts.
I cannot wait to plant something. It is still a bit early. Though we have already had eighty degree weather, we also had a frost last night. So, no playing in the dirt for awhile. My mind won't stop planning though. Where to put the apple trees. Should I try to espalier? Could I get pears as well? How long until I eat a tomato!?
Oh look! a crane!
I cannot have a morning where I don't think about fencing. It is ingrained into me now, I suppose. Get up, run to the necessary room, make coffee.... and I wonder what I should do about fencing today? I am so close to having everything good enough to start work with the horses. It's almost a little frightening that some thing in my head is actually close to reality out there, in the real world. Something done, how could that be? Something done is just a step to the next thing to do. The next thing is exciting though. Working with the horses every day. Making progress, building trust, having calm. It is a good thing that they quiet my mind.
Oh look! there's a bluebird on the crabapple!
I am anxious to start on my hay shed. Not just for storing hay, but to get all of my tools cleaned up from around the yard. Organize my surroundings so I can organize my mind. A place to be on rainy days. A place to work on small tasks and still be able to look out the door and see the horses, to watch my world. A place to set a work bench and to build some things, like shelves. Some chairs for the yard. A few bird houses.
Oh look! There's a turkey in the drive way!
Some mornings I like to think what it will be like when things are ready for guests. I want to sit in the yard and have a glass of wine and pull pizzas out of my outdoor oven. Then start up a fire in the fireplace and watch the sun set. Listen to the owls talk.
Despite my gorgeous morning, I need to stop thinking and start doing. Time to get busy. Daylight's burning.
Oh look! a falcon.... pretty.
Louie
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Potato Soup
It is going to be a busy day today. The day's own to-do list has been begun and to be honest..... it's a bit frightening. I need to finish up the round pen. I have said that a hundred times, but I really think it could happen today. The gate continues to be an issue. The little seven foot entrances, I am not concerned about. Those can be managed. But the twelve foot gate does concern me and I am really wishing that I had the income tax return. Oh well, I can call and see if the tax return deposit has been made, but that is all I can do. Better to shove it to the back of my mind and move on. Worrying about it will only steal my motivation.
But I digress... back to the list. Finish round pen. Then I have to do my phone calls. I really hate making phone calls. I do not know how sales people do it. I would have an ulcer. I need to call our tax preparer lady to find out when the return should come. I need to call Dr. Rice about a blood test for Mac. I need to call around and find someone who can fax some paper work for me. Oh crap, I have to call for car insurance quotes. Almost forgot about that one. Things like this tend to weigh my mind down. Better to get it over with.
But I digress... okay, finish round pen, make calls. Then I have to go to town sometime today. I am out of dog food. Fiona will not be happy with me if I run out of dog food. So, while in town I had better make the expenditure of gas worth while. I need to get some sinus medicine for Mac. Some vitamins, a gallon of milk and I might drop by the library and see if they have a book I was wanting to check for easy ways to build garden fencing. It was kind of a medieval kind of wattle and bentwood method. That would put it in my price range....... free! That reminds me, better take back the cans and bottles. I want to stash that money aside so I have it for my garden bedding plants. In a few days, I am hoping the weather will settle down and I will be able to make it down to Yutzy's greenhouse and start picking up tomatoes. Well, other things too, but tomatoes are my darlings. I love tomatoes! I especially want to get the Mr. Stripeys and the Oxheart. Can't forget the Mortgage Lifters either. I wish they grew the Red Star cherry variety. I suppose I can't have everything. Maybe next year.
But I digress.... Finish round pen, phone calls, go to town, Let's see. then I need to move the horses. The round pen fronts the end of the new lot so it must be done, but once I am home and done with all of my other stuff it will be time to move the horses. I always like to be around once they are moved in case they are uncomfortable with the change and decide to test the fence. It usually turns into a buck/fart event. At least for a few minutes. Weird thing about horses, that when they get all exuberant and buck it tends to cause them to fart. Then you can kind of gauge how much effort went into the buck. You have your little bucks, the crow hops, an occasional corkscrew.... then you have the big old double barrel buck/fart. Once I see that they are settled and eating, then I can come in and start our supper.
Potato soup.... you never know exactly how it will turn out at our house. It is one of those things that varies each time you make it depending on the contents of the refrigerator. The only constants are potatoes, onions and milk. The rest is left to chance. Mac said that he thought he would like bacon in it tonight. Sometimes there is corn. Once, one of Mac's snarkier relatives told me in a superior tone, "YOU don't make potato soup. YOU make CHOWDER. Everyone KNOWS that if it has corn then it's CHOWDER." Inside my head ( where I try to keep my evil self hidden) I thought, "Kiss my ass. It's potato soup that happened to get corn this time." I have some celery for a change. Almost never have celery so that might find it's way into the mix. Possibly a carrot. On occasion even some mushrooms could get stirred in. We will have to see how ambitious I get.
But I digress.... Finish round pen, make phone calls, go to town, potato soup for supper. I can do this.
Louie
But I digress... back to the list. Finish round pen. Then I have to do my phone calls. I really hate making phone calls. I do not know how sales people do it. I would have an ulcer. I need to call our tax preparer lady to find out when the return should come. I need to call Dr. Rice about a blood test for Mac. I need to call around and find someone who can fax some paper work for me. Oh crap, I have to call for car insurance quotes. Almost forgot about that one. Things like this tend to weigh my mind down. Better to get it over with.
But I digress... okay, finish round pen, make calls. Then I have to go to town sometime today. I am out of dog food. Fiona will not be happy with me if I run out of dog food. So, while in town I had better make the expenditure of gas worth while. I need to get some sinus medicine for Mac. Some vitamins, a gallon of milk and I might drop by the library and see if they have a book I was wanting to check for easy ways to build garden fencing. It was kind of a medieval kind of wattle and bentwood method. That would put it in my price range....... free! That reminds me, better take back the cans and bottles. I want to stash that money aside so I have it for my garden bedding plants. In a few days, I am hoping the weather will settle down and I will be able to make it down to Yutzy's greenhouse and start picking up tomatoes. Well, other things too, but tomatoes are my darlings. I love tomatoes! I especially want to get the Mr. Stripeys and the Oxheart. Can't forget the Mortgage Lifters either. I wish they grew the Red Star cherry variety. I suppose I can't have everything. Maybe next year.
But I digress.... Finish round pen, phone calls, go to town, Let's see. then I need to move the horses. The round pen fronts the end of the new lot so it must be done, but once I am home and done with all of my other stuff it will be time to move the horses. I always like to be around once they are moved in case they are uncomfortable with the change and decide to test the fence. It usually turns into a buck/fart event. At least for a few minutes. Weird thing about horses, that when they get all exuberant and buck it tends to cause them to fart. Then you can kind of gauge how much effort went into the buck. You have your little bucks, the crow hops, an occasional corkscrew.... then you have the big old double barrel buck/fart. Once I see that they are settled and eating, then I can come in and start our supper.
Potato soup.... you never know exactly how it will turn out at our house. It is one of those things that varies each time you make it depending on the contents of the refrigerator. The only constants are potatoes, onions and milk. The rest is left to chance. Mac said that he thought he would like bacon in it tonight. Sometimes there is corn. Once, one of Mac's snarkier relatives told me in a superior tone, "YOU don't make potato soup. YOU make CHOWDER. Everyone KNOWS that if it has corn then it's CHOWDER." Inside my head ( where I try to keep my evil self hidden) I thought, "Kiss my ass. It's potato soup that happened to get corn this time." I have some celery for a change. Almost never have celery so that might find it's way into the mix. Possibly a carrot. On occasion even some mushrooms could get stirred in. We will have to see how ambitious I get.
But I digress.... Finish round pen, make phone calls, go to town, potato soup for supper. I can do this.
Louie
Monday, April 9, 2012
Simplicity, Simplicity
Ahhh, simplicity, simplicity.... that supposedly evocative thought was penned by Thoreau. I started reading Walden's Pond but never got through it. I should feel guilty about that as he is considered one of the great american authors. But the book is incredibly short on plot. Which makes it very hard for me to read. It seemed to me to be an amalgamation of condemnation of the frivolous lifestyle sprinkled liberally with inspirational quotes. I'm telling you, the man would have made a killing working for Hallmark. Despite all the happy thoughts, if you are going to write without plot then you'd better include some pretty nifty instructions on how to do a task properly, or give me a good chicken feed recipe, or give the proper proportions for a fireplace that throws heat well. That is... if you want me to read it.
Thoreau was a bit of a cheat. Granted he had his wee house and few possessions, but I had read from a commentary, that he would walk nearly everyday to town. There, he would sit in the public house and visit with people. Then in the evening he would make the trek back home again. He walked five miles to town and I keep thinking how that would equate in labor. Five miles each way is a LOT of labor! How much firewood would that have cut? How much faster or better could he have built his house? How much food would that have preserved for the winter? Heck! He could have gotten a couple of books written that had a plot, and some characters. Maybe even some descriptive narrative! But his "good life" was built on going to town and sitting around, having a beer and visiting with people. That is the easy way to have people in your life. I did it the hard way. I married one and gave birth to the others.
I crave simplicity, not necessarily austerity. Mac sees simplicity as austerity and craves neither. I have to have my balance. I don't want to take much space. I don't want to steal another's resources but I need to be able to cram my children and grandchildren into this place. I need to have my home contain that bubbling hive of activity which is "family". And when the family isn't around, I want this life I am building to be so rich with their memory, that I feel them with me always. It isn't easy. It is labor intensive. It is immensely satisfying.
If Thoreau were alive today, I wonder if he wouldn't just be perceived as a lonely alcoholic, that couldn't hold a job, that bored strangers with his vain philosophies, that lived off the kindnesses of his few friends. Okay, okay! Now I'm just being mean! I have a mean streak. If a woman built a shack in the woods and walked to town everyday to have beer and talk to people in a pub, You KNOW what she would be called, don't you?! And it sure wouldn't be a great american author!!!!
Oh well, that should be the end of my ponderings for today. For my version of a simpler life I have to do a lot of work and I need to start now. The kitchen is a mess... again!!! I have some more to do in the round pen. Need to haul water to the horses this morning. Then I have to get started on the garden fencing. Simplicity, simplicity.
Louie
Thoreau was a bit of a cheat. Granted he had his wee house and few possessions, but I had read from a commentary, that he would walk nearly everyday to town. There, he would sit in the public house and visit with people. Then in the evening he would make the trek back home again. He walked five miles to town and I keep thinking how that would equate in labor. Five miles each way is a LOT of labor! How much firewood would that have cut? How much faster or better could he have built his house? How much food would that have preserved for the winter? Heck! He could have gotten a couple of books written that had a plot, and some characters. Maybe even some descriptive narrative! But his "good life" was built on going to town and sitting around, having a beer and visiting with people. That is the easy way to have people in your life. I did it the hard way. I married one and gave birth to the others.
I crave simplicity, not necessarily austerity. Mac sees simplicity as austerity and craves neither. I have to have my balance. I don't want to take much space. I don't want to steal another's resources but I need to be able to cram my children and grandchildren into this place. I need to have my home contain that bubbling hive of activity which is "family". And when the family isn't around, I want this life I am building to be so rich with their memory, that I feel them with me always. It isn't easy. It is labor intensive. It is immensely satisfying.
If Thoreau were alive today, I wonder if he wouldn't just be perceived as a lonely alcoholic, that couldn't hold a job, that bored strangers with his vain philosophies, that lived off the kindnesses of his few friends. Okay, okay! Now I'm just being mean! I have a mean streak. If a woman built a shack in the woods and walked to town everyday to have beer and talk to people in a pub, You KNOW what she would be called, don't you?! And it sure wouldn't be a great american author!!!!
Oh well, that should be the end of my ponderings for today. For my version of a simpler life I have to do a lot of work and I need to start now. The kitchen is a mess... again!!! I have some more to do in the round pen. Need to haul water to the horses this morning. Then I have to get started on the garden fencing. Simplicity, simplicity.
Louie
Friday, April 6, 2012
My Messy Life
I took a few minutes to read a blog this morning. It is written by a horsey pal of mine. A young woman at the Parelli center in Pagosa Springs and someday when she gets to the right spot in her education, she will be coming here to teach clinics. I'm jazzed about that. My friend's name is Kat Green, so keep your eyes peeled .... you will be seeing more from her.
Anyway, I digress.......
Kat's blog is concise. She is focused. She writes about her horses, horse development and the process she is going through as she learns horsemanship. It's all so CLEAN!, very goal specific. Then I look at my life and I just have to stand back and say , "Holy Shit!!!!" While I try very hard to be focused, I seem to be focused on a really large picture. I'm just all over the place. I am as likely to be concentrating on earthworms as horsemanship... which I actually feel very guilty about. There is just so much that is interesting. I look at the burning I am doing in the woods, and it is absolutely riveting for me. By the way, where I burned two weeks ago, I have false Solomon's Seal coming up... a good shade loving native that I have seen no signs of before. Yet there it is. Taking this new opportunity at life.
New opportunity at life..... I like that. Sometimes I feel like I've come through the fire too. Maybe not, I don't know. Sometimes a person feels like they are on the edge. I have moments when I think it is a bit too much, then this other me seems to take over and she looks around and says, "Really?!! what a bunch of bull shit!" Then She goes and tries to find another heirloom variety of tomato. I think of that side of my personality as my earth mother. Then there is the warrior woman, who has a harder time finding an outlet. Though I did come incredibly close to popping a doctor across the head a couple of years ago. That side of me is not so socially acceptable. There used to be a wife in the mix somewhere but Mac doesn't need a wife anymore, He needs a nurse, a caregiver. I have the logical planner that draws about fifty plans just for a chicken coop! There used to be a person who tidied up and I don't know where the hell she went.
Life is too short.... especially the part where you are really flexible, so you have to go in all directions at once. It's going to get messy, right? That's what the renaissance is about, I think. The rebirth, the learning, the expression. That's the important part. I think I'll just enjoy myself... make my messes, and let some dull person clean up after I'm dead. Yup! that'll work
Louie
Anyway, I digress.......
Kat's blog is concise. She is focused. She writes about her horses, horse development and the process she is going through as she learns horsemanship. It's all so CLEAN!, very goal specific. Then I look at my life and I just have to stand back and say , "Holy Shit!!!!" While I try very hard to be focused, I seem to be focused on a really large picture. I'm just all over the place. I am as likely to be concentrating on earthworms as horsemanship... which I actually feel very guilty about. There is just so much that is interesting. I look at the burning I am doing in the woods, and it is absolutely riveting for me. By the way, where I burned two weeks ago, I have false Solomon's Seal coming up... a good shade loving native that I have seen no signs of before. Yet there it is. Taking this new opportunity at life.
New opportunity at life..... I like that. Sometimes I feel like I've come through the fire too. Maybe not, I don't know. Sometimes a person feels like they are on the edge. I have moments when I think it is a bit too much, then this other me seems to take over and she looks around and says, "Really?!! what a bunch of bull shit!" Then She goes and tries to find another heirloom variety of tomato. I think of that side of my personality as my earth mother. Then there is the warrior woman, who has a harder time finding an outlet. Though I did come incredibly close to popping a doctor across the head a couple of years ago. That side of me is not so socially acceptable. There used to be a wife in the mix somewhere but Mac doesn't need a wife anymore, He needs a nurse, a caregiver. I have the logical planner that draws about fifty plans just for a chicken coop! There used to be a person who tidied up and I don't know where the hell she went.
Life is too short.... especially the part where you are really flexible, so you have to go in all directions at once. It's going to get messy, right? That's what the renaissance is about, I think. The rebirth, the learning, the expression. That's the important part. I think I'll just enjoy myself... make my messes, and let some dull person clean up after I'm dead. Yup! that'll work
Louie
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Morning After
It is the morning after Mac's most recent trip to Iowa City. He has more medications to take. He is back on prednisone. A very high dose for awhile. His liver showed problems in the blood tests. I am not surprised as his eyes looked jaundiced this last week and I started him on milk thistle. The whites of his eyes went back to white but the DR. did not seem happy with my actions. Too bad, I had to do something and it apparently helped. It was the same with asking questions and just getting comments. I need a conversation. At least I know enough to get more proactive. I will keep Mac on the milk thistle and we will try to push some clear fluids. He has a real problem with clear fluids. For one ..... they are clear. They have no bubbles. If it is going to be clear and have no bubbles then the fluid should at least be, well, intoxicating.
Too bad.
I am exhausted this morning. Feel like I have been run through the wringer. The only thought that buoys my spirits is the idea of going to the greenhouse and looking at tomato plants. I am thinking about bordering the vegetable garden with marigolds this year. It would be costly. It would be a LOT of marigolds, but it's a happy thought. Marigolds have nothing in common with Dr. coats. They don't have the smell of antiseptic hanging on them. Though it is hard to define that weird marigold smell. Tomatoes also have a singular smell when you brush up against the plant. To me it is the smell of GREEN!!!
Smells are important.
Green seems like a good place to hide. It is a restful color. It is a good place to retreat to when you have to think for too long of the graft vs. host. It is spreading over the bottoms of Mac's feet. It looks like eczema from hell. It appears that this might be a lifetime condition. Mac might need to see the transplant specialist forever.... eternal follow up. I have to wonder if there are enough tomatoes and marigolds to hold me up through this process, stretching out in front of us. I will hope that he comes to some place in his own mind where he can find the thing that gives him.... I don't know how to describe it.... gusto? Excitement in life? He doesn't seem happy very often. He should be happy.... he's alive. I cling to the idea that this will be 'OUR YEAR". The year that Mac finds his joy. The year I get a handle on the money issue. The year where our course runs true.
It is the morning after a visit to the Dr. in Iowa City. I am exhausted. But I am not having rage. I am not having fear. That is a real head start over most morning afters. There is nothing wrong with me that some tomatoes, some marigolds and some horsey time won't fix.
Louie
Too bad.
I am exhausted this morning. Feel like I have been run through the wringer. The only thought that buoys my spirits is the idea of going to the greenhouse and looking at tomato plants. I am thinking about bordering the vegetable garden with marigolds this year. It would be costly. It would be a LOT of marigolds, but it's a happy thought. Marigolds have nothing in common with Dr. coats. They don't have the smell of antiseptic hanging on them. Though it is hard to define that weird marigold smell. Tomatoes also have a singular smell when you brush up against the plant. To me it is the smell of GREEN!!!
Smells are important.
Green seems like a good place to hide. It is a restful color. It is a good place to retreat to when you have to think for too long of the graft vs. host. It is spreading over the bottoms of Mac's feet. It looks like eczema from hell. It appears that this might be a lifetime condition. Mac might need to see the transplant specialist forever.... eternal follow up. I have to wonder if there are enough tomatoes and marigolds to hold me up through this process, stretching out in front of us. I will hope that he comes to some place in his own mind where he can find the thing that gives him.... I don't know how to describe it.... gusto? Excitement in life? He doesn't seem happy very often. He should be happy.... he's alive. I cling to the idea that this will be 'OUR YEAR". The year that Mac finds his joy. The year I get a handle on the money issue. The year where our course runs true.
It is the morning after a visit to the Dr. in Iowa City. I am exhausted. But I am not having rage. I am not having fear. That is a real head start over most morning afters. There is nothing wrong with me that some tomatoes, some marigolds and some horsey time won't fix.
Louie
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Carbon Footprint
Yesterday was interesting. While in the house to cool down and get a drink, I read an article on Facebook. It had been written by a republican who was wondering why global warming wasn't being recognized by his political party. Does this mean that FINALLY we as a nation can get more proactive about cutting down on fossil fuels and start healing and nurturing our planet? I suppose we will see.
The other point of interest was that Mac had downloaded an app for his iPod that would figure a person's carbon footprint. He entered our data. I don't know how accurate this app is, but it said that we have a carbon footprint of 8.8. The average american household has a carbon footprint of 23. The average european household has a carbon footprint of 11...... or so this app professes. I don't think we do without much. Mac would like satellite TV but that isn't going to happen. It is simply too expensive. If the garden comes in better we will have a better diet. Food, like satellite TV, has gotten pretty expensive. Once the house is actually finished, we can make use of our entire space and we will not be lacking in much.
I'm torn between being proud of our carbon score and being ashamed. If we have a score of 8.8 without putting forth much effort towards that goal, what could we do if we tried? Last year I had a clothesline that I just strung over the tops of some fenceposts. It did the job but really didn't hold a great deal. This year I need to get up a serious clothesline. That is an EASY addition to reducing that footprint. Our house was designed on a passive solar idea. A good sunny day in the winter and the house takes almost no heat. It also cools quite easily just with cross flow ventilation. The only thing lacking is adequate shelter from the sun on the west side. I planted a maple there last year but that is going to take some time. We hope that we can build a roofed deck out there this summer. It will shade in the summer and give a good wind buffer in the winter. Hopefully we will cut down our utility usage all the way around.
It is a one-two punch though. It isn't just that I have to stop taking away from the environment, but what can I give back? I will try harder to get more trees planted this year. I need to control the water/run off in the woods better. I think I can induce more percolation and less washing away of soil. I don't know.... there is more I can do. I will need to give it more thought. I suppose finding a way to go electric with our vehicle will be the biggest thing. We need to be as energy independent as we can manage. I am as serious as the grave about converting a car to electric. Mac thinks I am ridiculous. But I have a strategy. First I will have to come up with a way for the car to look cool. Something like the sports car from the mini series, "The Prisoner". Mac has always LOVED that car. Then I will have to get his older brother to tell him that the idea could work. I could research the idea for two years and he would give me no credence but if Jim makes an off hand comment that it could work THEN it will be a wonderful idea! It will be my project..... Operation "Convince Jim". I don't do it for myself..... I do it for the planet.
Louie
The other point of interest was that Mac had downloaded an app for his iPod that would figure a person's carbon footprint. He entered our data. I don't know how accurate this app is, but it said that we have a carbon footprint of 8.8. The average american household has a carbon footprint of 23. The average european household has a carbon footprint of 11...... or so this app professes. I don't think we do without much. Mac would like satellite TV but that isn't going to happen. It is simply too expensive. If the garden comes in better we will have a better diet. Food, like satellite TV, has gotten pretty expensive. Once the house is actually finished, we can make use of our entire space and we will not be lacking in much.
I'm torn between being proud of our carbon score and being ashamed. If we have a score of 8.8 without putting forth much effort towards that goal, what could we do if we tried? Last year I had a clothesline that I just strung over the tops of some fenceposts. It did the job but really didn't hold a great deal. This year I need to get up a serious clothesline. That is an EASY addition to reducing that footprint. Our house was designed on a passive solar idea. A good sunny day in the winter and the house takes almost no heat. It also cools quite easily just with cross flow ventilation. The only thing lacking is adequate shelter from the sun on the west side. I planted a maple there last year but that is going to take some time. We hope that we can build a roofed deck out there this summer. It will shade in the summer and give a good wind buffer in the winter. Hopefully we will cut down our utility usage all the way around.
It is a one-two punch though. It isn't just that I have to stop taking away from the environment, but what can I give back? I will try harder to get more trees planted this year. I need to control the water/run off in the woods better. I think I can induce more percolation and less washing away of soil. I don't know.... there is more I can do. I will need to give it more thought. I suppose finding a way to go electric with our vehicle will be the biggest thing. We need to be as energy independent as we can manage. I am as serious as the grave about converting a car to electric. Mac thinks I am ridiculous. But I have a strategy. First I will have to come up with a way for the car to look cool. Something like the sports car from the mini series, "The Prisoner". Mac has always LOVED that car. Then I will have to get his older brother to tell him that the idea could work. I could research the idea for two years and he would give me no credence but if Jim makes an off hand comment that it could work THEN it will be a wonderful idea! It will be my project..... Operation "Convince Jim". I don't do it for myself..... I do it for the planet.
Louie
Monday, April 2, 2012
Fretful days
It finally happened. The recycling people FINALLY showed up and got the old ranger. They had scheduled to come either Tuesday or Wednesday. After I called they opted to show up on Thursday. Of course it had to rain that morning. The truck from the recycler got stuck on the wet grass and made a huge mess of my lawn. I know it can be remedied, but I have other things to do. I have more important tasks. It is bad enough that it will have to be done before I can mow. It just makes me sick to look at it. I will need to haul dirt down there. A task that would be made easier if my wheelbarrow actually had a round wheel. Damn thing couldn't hold air if my life depended on it. It also didn't help that I had to hook up my four wheel drive ranger to pull the damn recycling truck out. Then pulled the old ranger out. This used up the rest of my gas. I had just enough to get to town and because I had to rescue this guy, I was going no where. To say I was pissed off would have been an understatement. I pretty much spent the day pacing. I couldn't settle my mind on anything. By after noon I was exhausted. I made a couple of calls to see if I could squeeze everything into some sort of a schedule on Friday. It wasn't looking good.
But the day was shining and bright on Friday morning. I left with Mac in order to have a vehicle with gas. Got him to school, then turned around and drove back towards home, back to the recyclers to pick up the check. Put the check with my hay check, that I had been hanging onto, then turned back around and drove back into town. Went to the post office and got stamps. Went to the bank. It wouldn't open for at least a half hour so I sat in the car and wrote the checks for this months bills. Mac's paycheck would not be deposited until noon so waited to drop off the local checks but the ones that would be mailed were finished up. Only two bills left to pay when the bank opened. Got inside with what was left with my birthday/chicken money, the hay check and the recycler's check. I opened a farm checking account. A safe place to stash extra bits of cash when we come upon it so we have it when it came time to pay insurance, taxes etc. When money gets put into the everyday checking account, it tends to put gas in the car and buy groceries. So, we will try this new strategy.
Once the new checking account was opened, I drove forty minutes to Creston to meet with our tax preparer. It is a good thing that somebody else does this. I couldn't watch. I had to keep looking away. Had to fight the urge to pace. Hoped we wouldn't owe anything. I had written down all of the receipt totals, brought all the forms and interest statements. Thank goodness, there wasn't any need for explanation or conversation. Sandy just went through the program. Putting in numbers, clicking on boxes. Finally she said, "Looks like you'll be getting a thousand from Federal and about five hundred from State." I breathed.
Then I gave her the deposit slip for the new checking account. This money would go into the farm account. It will hopefully pay for insurance. I gave Sandy a postdated check to pay for her services. She has saved me once again. By now it was noon and I had to get to the Leon courthouse. I left Creston and drove the forty minutes back to Osceola, turned right and drove another twenty five minutes to get to Leon. Sorted through the paperwork found the property tax papers. I went inside and wrote the check for the taxes. There was now just thirty dollars left in the new account..... how depressing. I got back in the car and wrote out the last two checks of this months bills from our everyday account, dropped them in the mail. Headed back to Osceola. Now that it was after noon and the paycheck was "officially" deposited I went back to the bank, paid the mortgage and got a little cash.
The day was over. An entire day of crazy running.... dealing with money.... trying to retain composure... not always succeeding. In one day, the income is gone and we are back to broke. But the bills are paid. I reveled in the idea that we would have a bit of a buffer. We would have the tax return and I did some number crunching. How far would this take us? Could I get my grass seed? my chickens? How much money would I need to have the farm raise in order to be able to pay the next round of property taxes? I felt some momentary relief, then remembered that from this money I had to pay back the loan to my mother. The five hundred borrowed to pay for Mac's share of his mother's funeral. So, I have more money to raise then I thought. More to do. Not as much breathing room as I had hoped for.
The worst of it is that to add insult to injury, I look across the lawn and see this great gash of black in the green of my lawn. I need to fix that and I still can't justify the expense of buying a damn tire for the wheelbarrow, not when I still have to worry about buying groceries. Stupid damn truck getting stuck. Causing me work that I don't need! Well, I'm going to get a cup of coffee, then I had better get at it. The one thing about work that I have noticed..... it doesn't do itself.
Louie
But the day was shining and bright on Friday morning. I left with Mac in order to have a vehicle with gas. Got him to school, then turned around and drove back towards home, back to the recyclers to pick up the check. Put the check with my hay check, that I had been hanging onto, then turned back around and drove back into town. Went to the post office and got stamps. Went to the bank. It wouldn't open for at least a half hour so I sat in the car and wrote the checks for this months bills. Mac's paycheck would not be deposited until noon so waited to drop off the local checks but the ones that would be mailed were finished up. Only two bills left to pay when the bank opened. Got inside with what was left with my birthday/chicken money, the hay check and the recycler's check. I opened a farm checking account. A safe place to stash extra bits of cash when we come upon it so we have it when it came time to pay insurance, taxes etc. When money gets put into the everyday checking account, it tends to put gas in the car and buy groceries. So, we will try this new strategy.
Once the new checking account was opened, I drove forty minutes to Creston to meet with our tax preparer. It is a good thing that somebody else does this. I couldn't watch. I had to keep looking away. Had to fight the urge to pace. Hoped we wouldn't owe anything. I had written down all of the receipt totals, brought all the forms and interest statements. Thank goodness, there wasn't any need for explanation or conversation. Sandy just went through the program. Putting in numbers, clicking on boxes. Finally she said, "Looks like you'll be getting a thousand from Federal and about five hundred from State." I breathed.
Then I gave her the deposit slip for the new checking account. This money would go into the farm account. It will hopefully pay for insurance. I gave Sandy a postdated check to pay for her services. She has saved me once again. By now it was noon and I had to get to the Leon courthouse. I left Creston and drove the forty minutes back to Osceola, turned right and drove another twenty five minutes to get to Leon. Sorted through the paperwork found the property tax papers. I went inside and wrote the check for the taxes. There was now just thirty dollars left in the new account..... how depressing. I got back in the car and wrote out the last two checks of this months bills from our everyday account, dropped them in the mail. Headed back to Osceola. Now that it was after noon and the paycheck was "officially" deposited I went back to the bank, paid the mortgage and got a little cash.
The day was over. An entire day of crazy running.... dealing with money.... trying to retain composure... not always succeeding. In one day, the income is gone and we are back to broke. But the bills are paid. I reveled in the idea that we would have a bit of a buffer. We would have the tax return and I did some number crunching. How far would this take us? Could I get my grass seed? my chickens? How much money would I need to have the farm raise in order to be able to pay the next round of property taxes? I felt some momentary relief, then remembered that from this money I had to pay back the loan to my mother. The five hundred borrowed to pay for Mac's share of his mother's funeral. So, I have more money to raise then I thought. More to do. Not as much breathing room as I had hoped for.
The worst of it is that to add insult to injury, I look across the lawn and see this great gash of black in the green of my lawn. I need to fix that and I still can't justify the expense of buying a damn tire for the wheelbarrow, not when I still have to worry about buying groceries. Stupid damn truck getting stuck. Causing me work that I don't need! Well, I'm going to get a cup of coffee, then I had better get at it. The one thing about work that I have noticed..... it doesn't do itself.
Louie
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