I’m posting today in avoidance of all other tasks I need to do. It is 102 outside so that leaves me inside to muddle about. Yesterday I started painting in the house and I am avoiding it today at all cost.
Mrs. Roper was quite the decorator. All other visual offences aside, she had some sort of weird attraction to bead board. Not the paneling kind they put up on HGTV; I’m talking about the individual tongue and groove boards nailed up with 14,000 finish nails. At some point she decided that one wall of the living room, both sides of the staircase, and the entire upstairs landing should be covered with said boards and stained and clear coated. I should mention that this was all done after the wood was up so all of the boards are also stuck together. Each time I go up the stairs I am reminded of the kitchens in those fishing boats you see on Deadliest Catch. It has a nautical/torture chamber feel to it. It didn’t take long to notice a few things:
1. There are lots of finish nails holding it together. None of these were put in with the use of a punch, just a hammer. This can be noted by the imprints that the head of the hammer left in the wood around each nail. Incidentally, she had one of those expensive hammers with the waffle design on the head of it. Don’t ask me how I can tell.
2. When in doubt, simply put a piece of trim over the issue in the appropriate size. It does not matter that this piece is a different size than all of the other pieces or at a different height. Or in the middle of the wall.
3. Those corner rosette blocks make everything pretty. Some corners even have the benefit of two of them. I’m not sure what they cost (as they are too hideous for me to have priced) but in the downstairs and stairwell there are over 30 of them. That’s got to be pricey. When this drought breaks they will make a spectacular fire in the burning barrel. Maybe I will invite the neighbors over for a weenie roast.
4. Cheap yellow pine 1x4 boards can easily be turned into a snazzy trim piece with a heavy dose of redwood stain and ultra-high gloss polyurethane. I’m not sure where you find a coating this pretty and glossy, but it must come from some sort of marine supply company. I’ll bet the Titanic would still be wandering the oceans aimlessly if they would have slathered this on her.
After realizing that there was not drywall or plaster under quite a bit of it we just decided to prime and paint it in the wall color we were going to use anyway. I did the downstairs wall in the winter and it has grown on me. I think the fact that it is done helps me live with it. With the heat wave I decided to prime and paint the rest of this mess and get it over with. I worked all day yesterday and got one more wall downstairs done and part of the stairway. When I started today I decided to get rid of some of the extra trim before I started. You know how that works. It’s like trimming your own bangs. You are really happy with the first part that you take off and the next thing you know you have a forehead the size of Texas. Coincidentally, that happens to be the size of some of the gaps between the boards.
I now have all of the trim off and need to sit here and think about what I am going to do to correct the multiple messes that I found. On a positive note you can’t see the outside world from the inside of the house. This is simply because the house is covered with siding. It ain’t pretty. Realistically I am looking at a week of fine carpentry work with lots of details to end up with something that I can live with.
So I just cleaned up and sat on the couch. I’m not admitting defeat. I’m just admitting this speed bump is something I’d rather not deal with and it has caused me to adjust the length of this project to “indefinite”. It may go onto the list with “clean out closets” and “take old clothes to charity”.
The whole reason for this post was to say that I have chicks hatching! They aren’t due to hatch until Friday but a couple of the eggs have cracks and movement. Early birds, no doubt. They will get the worms.
I was sitting at the table eating my breakfast when I thought I heard a chirp coming from behind me. I decided it was way too soon to have babies chirping so I convinced myself it was outside. When I heard it again at noon I looked and discovered the cracked eggs. Yippee! I dyed some of these eggs on Sunday, so there is the potential for multi-colored chicks. If they all hatch I will have blue, green, red, and “natural” chicks. This is a continuation of my food coloring experiment. I will have to update you on that when we have some chicks around here and I see what colors I end up with. Interesting stuff there.
I guess I should probably go ahead and paint some primer on at least part of the bead board. Ugh. I’d rather not but I don’t want it to look like I spent my day eating chocolates.
Enjoy the heat!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Finally!
Good grief it has been a long time since I have posted an update! Without internet here on the farm I have to depend on my cell phone tethered to my computer to be able to be on the internet. This only happens with a functioning cell phone (which mine has not been). I have been able to use it for a phone but most of the other functions just caused it to shut itself off. I was pretty sure I could make it until the September renewal date to get a new phone. I finally had enough and got a new one. I am connected with the real world again!
It would be nearly impossible to try to fill in all of the pieces since the last time I posted. I’ll try to give a short synopsis but I am sure things will come up in the future. Really, one statement could really sum it all up. It’s dry.
I thought it was dry back at the beginning of June during wheat harvest but it has gotten so much worse since then. I helped one of the neighbors during harvest by driving wheat trucks for her. I remember thinking that we really needed some rain way back then. We’ve only had just a bit over an inch since. As I sit inside and look at the thermometer hit 102 outdoors all I can do it wonder what will happen next. I had heard that our June was the second driest on record since 1911. That’s pretty scary considering the dust bowl lasted longer than one year. Yikes.
One thing that seems to be doing well is the garden. Right now I have a batch of tomato soup boiling on the stove to can in a bit. It is the third batch I have canned this year which should just about do it for the winter. I have also canned vegetable relish, pasta sauce, salsa, and plain tomatoes. I have been picking 30-40 tomatoes a day, so I have to do something to use these things up! The blackberry bushes produced well and I have about 25 gallons frozen for making jelly and crisps this winter. I have been watering the garden by hand each night from the cistern. It has held up well so far but the water level is dropping steadily. The last I measured there was 15 feet of water left in it (it’s 23 feet deep). I am going to measure it tonight again if I can force myself to do it. Not knowing almost makes it better. I'm not sure what will happen when that runs dry. Legend has it that it has not been dry since it was dug in 1936. This could be the year.
I’ve also been watering the 20 trees I planted this spring each day. It is lots of carrying water and dragging hoses but I am determined not to lose those, too! I will post a picture of those soon (I took one a few days ago but they are growing quickly). They appear to be 4-5 feet tall now. They were suppose to grow 12-15 feet the first year but that probably does not take this heat and drought into account. We need all of the shade we can get around here as some of the mature tree are dying due to drought. We lost one of the big shade trees beside the house and four in the shelter belt behind the silo. The pear tree and peach trees are loaded with fruit so I have been pouring water to those so that they don’t drop their fruit. It really is amazing to me that I spend so much time thinking about rain. We have been so careful around the yard for fear of fire. The yard is so dry that it would burn like paper and the pasture is even worse. A neighbor is coming over tomorrow to cut and bale the pasture so it at least won’t be so tall. Each day I worry that some dork will drive down the road and throw out a cigarette. This whole place would be gone in no time with three sides bordered by dry pasture or wheat stubble.
My soup is about ready to can so I have to post this and run back to the kitchen. You better check back often as I will probably have to post frequently to catch you all up. I am putting a few goodies below - the recipe for the tomato soup I have on the stove and a picture of the project from the end of June. The old manure spreader either needed to be scrapped or overhauled so I chose the latter. She’s an oldie but looks much better with new wood and a coat of paint. After lots of greasing and adjusting it works as good as it did 60 years ago! I have a "before" picture on the old phone but I am not so sure that I can get it off of there. I can't recall when I took this picture but the yard still looked kind of green (sad to say!).
This tomato soup is a recipe that I put together several years ago. There’s not much in it but is a really good simple soup. It cans well and makes about five quarts. I just put all of the vegetables in the food processor and chop them. I don’t like tomato soup that is thin liquid like the stuff in the can. This is more of a bisque. I probably boil it an hour and a half or so.
It would be nearly impossible to try to fill in all of the pieces since the last time I posted. I’ll try to give a short synopsis but I am sure things will come up in the future. Really, one statement could really sum it all up. It’s dry.
I thought it was dry back at the beginning of June during wheat harvest but it has gotten so much worse since then. I helped one of the neighbors during harvest by driving wheat trucks for her. I remember thinking that we really needed some rain way back then. We’ve only had just a bit over an inch since. As I sit inside and look at the thermometer hit 102 outdoors all I can do it wonder what will happen next. I had heard that our June was the second driest on record since 1911. That’s pretty scary considering the dust bowl lasted longer than one year. Yikes.
One thing that seems to be doing well is the garden. Right now I have a batch of tomato soup boiling on the stove to can in a bit. It is the third batch I have canned this year which should just about do it for the winter. I have also canned vegetable relish, pasta sauce, salsa, and plain tomatoes. I have been picking 30-40 tomatoes a day, so I have to do something to use these things up! The blackberry bushes produced well and I have about 25 gallons frozen for making jelly and crisps this winter. I have been watering the garden by hand each night from the cistern. It has held up well so far but the water level is dropping steadily. The last I measured there was 15 feet of water left in it (it’s 23 feet deep). I am going to measure it tonight again if I can force myself to do it. Not knowing almost makes it better. I'm not sure what will happen when that runs dry. Legend has it that it has not been dry since it was dug in 1936. This could be the year.
I’ve also been watering the 20 trees I planted this spring each day. It is lots of carrying water and dragging hoses but I am determined not to lose those, too! I will post a picture of those soon (I took one a few days ago but they are growing quickly). They appear to be 4-5 feet tall now. They were suppose to grow 12-15 feet the first year but that probably does not take this heat and drought into account. We need all of the shade we can get around here as some of the mature tree are dying due to drought. We lost one of the big shade trees beside the house and four in the shelter belt behind the silo. The pear tree and peach trees are loaded with fruit so I have been pouring water to those so that they don’t drop their fruit. It really is amazing to me that I spend so much time thinking about rain. We have been so careful around the yard for fear of fire. The yard is so dry that it would burn like paper and the pasture is even worse. A neighbor is coming over tomorrow to cut and bale the pasture so it at least won’t be so tall. Each day I worry that some dork will drive down the road and throw out a cigarette. This whole place would be gone in no time with three sides bordered by dry pasture or wheat stubble.
My soup is about ready to can so I have to post this and run back to the kitchen. You better check back often as I will probably have to post frequently to catch you all up. I am putting a few goodies below - the recipe for the tomato soup I have on the stove and a picture of the project from the end of June. The old manure spreader either needed to be scrapped or overhauled so I chose the latter. She’s an oldie but looks much better with new wood and a coat of paint. After lots of greasing and adjusting it works as good as it did 60 years ago! I have a "before" picture on the old phone but I am not so sure that I can get it off of there. I can't recall when I took this picture but the yard still looked kind of green (sad to say!).
This tomato soup is a recipe that I put together several years ago. There’s not much in it but is a really good simple soup. It cans well and makes about five quarts. I just put all of the vegetables in the food processor and chop them. I don’t like tomato soup that is thin liquid like the stuff in the can. This is more of a bisque. I probably boil it an hour and a half or so.
Tomato Soup
4 quarts tomatoes
3 cups onion
2 cups celery
2 cups red peppers
½ cup carrot
2 T. salt
2 T. basil
4 t. pepper (I like it spicy)
2 T. sugar
1 bay leaf
Pray for rain!
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