Today another chapter ended. The retail produce cooler is ready for a new home. This hinged on reducing the poultry population to a manageable size – and reducing egg production. I have stopped selling pots and produce – except eggs – since May. Time to clear it out! So, where do I put the surplus eggs? Thanks to Charlie and Karen we have a little “beer fridge” in the basement. I …
Odd. In the midst of loss there is an opening of possibilities – do I stay here? Do I garden? Do I keep tractors or sell them? Do I learn things Ken did? Do I hire them out? My life has changed. I have many decisions to make. I have started by sorting through stuff. Mine first. This was the rags a couple weeks ago. I am down to a few coats. …
When I met Ken I had LOTS of house plants. And some came with me to Turtle Lake. Ken took over the houseplant tasks. And he had great success with all the plants I brought EXCEPT the peace lily or spathiphyllum I brought. It likes filtered light and Ken was of a more light the better philosophy. That spath fried and died. When Ken died, his aunts and an uncle on …
After posts of my progress on clearing the main floor – some IS getting pitched; some is getting sorted, labeled and moved out to a shed – I am seeing that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel! I am down to two boxes of garments and two boxes of knits on the main floor ( there may be more lurking upstairs ). Currently I am trimming off seams and disassembling by …
Years ago, Ken’s sister Anna gave us this cactus. And when it blooms it has beautiful flowers for a very short time. Ken LOVED it. And so, now, as it blooms I think of him and with deep gratitude I say thank you, Anna!
There are few people who understand my priorities at present. Instead of spending my summer outside weeding and planting and growing, I am inside clearing the main floor. I am making myself a refuge, a home instead of a retail space I live in. First I am sorting through things that are mostly mine, mostly rags for rugs. I never stored them outside because I did not have rodent proof containers. Since there are no …
As I have worked clearing the main floor I have saved the “three handed” jobs as Ken and I called them – more than one person can handle or those tasks that go so much easier with two people. Yesterday I had help and we went through all the tasks I wanted to do in beastly hot weather. There are some cool weather ones that remain. First we moved the shelving components out of the …
I am moving through piles of my stuff. From this to this. and I have been working along that east wall . the boards and tiles Ken intended for the floor remain. There are still three boxes of rags to take off seams and buttons. and four boxes of brewing and beading supplies to sort. Then …
Since I did not move the mobile hoop, I wanted to plant green manure. A friend – a saint really – tilled the open area in the heat when the soil was dry and hard. Then before planting I wheel hoed the area again. And once I finished I planted some buckwheat Ken wanted for animal feed, but when it arrived it was not clean enough to sprout for the animals. So, I sowed it …
I cannot do what two people used to do. Although that may be obvious, the fact becomes clear once again. Last fall Ken planted garlic. I had problems with timing of moving the greenhouse. The garlic got tall and weeds took over. I could not find the irrigation pump or the hoses so irrigating became problematic once the snow melted. Today I checked. This year’s crop is small, but the flavor strong. Here …
