Seems like it was just the other day

Time really speeds up when you stay busy. It seems like we crammed a lot into two days here. And then the boss took off for a mini vacation and I have been too busy at work to keep up with all my friends online. Sorry all!

Monday night I got home to find the rest of the junk in the basement bagged up and out for the trash and the mulch unloaded but not exactly where I wanted it left. They had also weed sprayed the fence line. The nephew wasn't there yet and I didn't know when he would get there. Ca sara, sara. I had the boys put a few things away and then asked them if they wanted to eat or swim first. They opted for swimming. I loaded them up and we headed for my sister's.

The sis has mini horses , several with tiny babies, full size horses, one bull calf I call T-bone, laying hens and a rooster I call Roaster, 3 yorkies and a new batch of pups that were upstairs to keep the mom calm. She also has a pool and a pond and a cabin they were given that they tore down and rebuilt in the woods. It's a great place for kids. There are always people in and out.

When we got there she and her man were doing strawberries. She freezes them now and makes jam in the winter, smart girl, when it's better to run the stove. I got a spoon and started hulling while the boys changed and went out to the pool. Another family showed up before we were done. Their kids are showing Sis's horses at the fair next month and they were there to practice. One of them is a 15 year old girl. Funny. The boys were out of the pool like ten seconds after the girl walked down to the barn. They are also 15....LOL. The He/She Radar works in all of them.

The kids wandered around a little, watching each other, while the adults confabbed in the kitchen. We had a lot to talk about. When we got the berries done and were all caught up I mentioned we might want to see what everyone was up to and we wandered to the barn. Sis took the boys in the pen with the little horses and their new babies while the other kids were still practicing their cart driving and the girl was putting the big horse through his paces. I went for a ride with one of my boys, he learned to drive the cart. Then he rode the big horse, too. The grand wasn't up for it so he just watched.

I finally remembered the nephew might be waiting for me. I herded mine up to the house, got our suits and the berries Sis was sending with us and headed home. The nephew was there waiting for us.

We got inside and I introduced everyone, planned the next day's chores and added one for the nephew then told them to start winding down. It's hard for me to sleep when people are awake in my home. The kids want to stay up till daylight and sleep all day but I want them up when I am gone to keep an eye on the dogs and sleeping when I do. It doesn't help that I am still having trouble going to bed. It has meant that I lay awake a lot this week and it's starting to wear me down. I fell asleep at work yesterday. I hate that. The phone is no fun to wake up to at all.

Tuesday is supposed to be the Bible Study. Summer's are a little iffy because all of us are so busy. Sis had already canceled because a friend needed her. I had gotten home from work to find the antenna still didn't work, got disgusted with the now fulfilled prediction that if he went first I would never be able to run all the remotes and equipment without him, and took them all outside to help me lay mulch. I can mulch anytime easier than untangling the wiring with no diagram the mate put in.

I set the boys to clearing the dog pen area of hazards to the mower and cutting the tall grass from the fence removal. The nephew fetched my hand trimmers and moved paving stones for me while I killed weeds and spread my mulch.

I had one boy pulling and digging the persistent weed I hate and don't know the name of while we turned on the hose, filled the bird baths and then had one fill the feeder, too. Then we dug and moved some iris that were in the way. When Mom arrived and I sent some iris home with her, too. The poor boy I had been having dig weeds swapped off mowing with the grand to escape me and my slave driving ways. We got to the last bag of mulch and the last paving stone before we got to the end of the garden area. Back to the store tonight for me! But it's going to be nice, like it was when the mate and I first put it in last year. That feels right and good to me.

I think I am going to load up and do the front, too. Then we will tackle the hill weeds and Warf's garden. I want it all done this year so next year it's just spread mulch and add posies. I can do that alone if I have to. It's all the digging, and moving and digging again that leaves me winded. But the mate and I both liked the yard to look nice. With corner gardens and fence climbers I can "walk the flowers" every night and get a walk of just over half a mile and never leave the farm. The dogs and I will all like that. The cats seem to have found their own ways to get around the fence. I haven't noticed that it is keeping them from wandering the neighborhood.

I finally called a halt to feed us. We washed up and had sandwiches again. It's been too hot to cook. Mom had brought chips and cottage cheese, I added the fixings for the sandwiches and pineapple for the cottage cheese. The boys had already eaten their ice cream that day for breakfast. (Made me proud! I am a firm believer in "Eat dessert first") I get over that by giving them cereal and milk for bedtime snacks.

While we ate the Mom decided she wanted to go home, too. So we canceled the study session and after dinner we started after the antenna problem. If you remember, back in April I finally got the satellite TV turned off. The mate was the TV person. I am a music and listen to the birds person. TV is ok for breaking national/international events or local weather alerts but I don't watch it much for anything else. I do, however, like it to work for the kids.

I had bought a new antenna, inspite of the fact that the mate had put one up about a week before he decided to get sat. TV, because there was a technical difficulty during the installation. (The mate had a problem, lost his temper, yanked the cable and broke the end off that goes into the antenna. His eldest had been there and reminded me so I knew I may as well just get a new one.) The boys have a TV upstairs and I have one down. The install was the nephew's job.

It seemed to be all wired right but it was not working. No power to the rotation device and no signal to the TV at all. I got the instructions out and decided it was the ground or the VCR giving us fits. The boys all went out to swap to the old antenna with the new wire to see if that worked. Nope. So what is wrong with the cable? Hmm. The nephew, up top, took the splitter out that let us run to both TV's and - POOF! - all better! We had 22 channels of free TV! 25 when I got done adding a couple manually. Way better than the two I get with out anything.

I had them rewire it through the VCR and now we are cooking with gas! It all works but I have to track two remotes and a rotator button. All you men know what a job that will be for a mere woman to handle. I will just have to do my best. (HA!) Then they put the entertainment unit back where it went, reassembled the contents and went to get beverages and take a break. It was well deserved. I had had them running since I got home to keep up with me. We are way more efficient than the fence crew!

The boys decided to evade further chores with me there by going over to the grand's friend's house for a couple days. There was the possibility of farm employment, supposedly. I paid them off, loaded them up and took them over about eleven.

When I got back the nephew and I dissected his possible futures. I plan to keep him so busy that he sees the army as a break from toil and joins while the sign up bonuses are high. It really is just what he needs to be the man he can be. A little more self disciplined, a little more educated and a lot more experienced in the ways of the world, not just our little corner.

I took time to get my email and then had a snack before bed. Oh. The bedroom. ICK. It's like a raw wound in there right now. I want a new bed and, to encourage me to find one, I have torn the sheets and such off the old bed. I have piles of stuff to be bagged up, I have piles to move and I have piles to wash. It's a mess. I have to get on it and get re settled in it with it redone as "my" room. The gun rack has to go, the shelves have to go, the clothes that are not mine have to go, the dresser has to go upstairs for the visitors and the desk and music have to be moved in after I get a bed in and lose one more dresser. It's small so I am watching for someone with a baby coming.

I reorganized the piles, straightened my temporary bedding and finally laid down about one this morning. I was restless and had things on my mind. I didn't realize we had a front going through. I get really antsy when the weather changes; kind of edgy and jittery. It makes it hard to sleep. I finally did but I was up a couple times. Then I let the dogs out about seven. The storm must have broken about a half hour later. I slept right through it - and through the alarms, if they even went off, the power went out. I was only an hour late to work. I do hate that but I haven't dozed off at the desk today so I must have needed the extra hour.

The nephew just called. Seems we forgot to discuss house keys. Luckily I have one locked in the garage. I told him how to get it out so he can get in out of the weather. I will be getting paving stones and mulch tonight along with yet another gallon of milk and some lunch items. That means I will be late getting home again. But if the rain holds off I might get the rest of the mulch down. And the hedge shrubs might get trimmed, the fence might get pegged down at the bottom, too. The darn sneak, my black dog, was out again when the nephew got home just now.

Bored? Lonely? Nothing to do? Email me for the address, I can put you to work....LOL!