stubbed toes and mud pies

[flowerbug]

they all fit!

 

[digitS']

DW does the same thing .

Opening the top door on the fridge to access the ice cream and popsicles can be dangerous.

I have learned to stand to one side because something frozen and very hard just might fall on my foot - it's happened before!

 

[flowerbug]

DW does the same thing .

Opening the top door on the fridge to access the ice cream and popsicles can be dangerous.

I have learned to stand to one side because something frozen and very hard just might fall on my foot - it's happened before!

yeah! we're doing pretty good the past few years, quart jars don't usually move much - it's all the other stuff that gets dangerous...

 

[flowerbug]

staining project is coming along. one more nice weather day tomorrow and then rains and chances of rain return for a few days and then cooler weather for bit. not sure how much more i can get done but we'll see.

i should be able to make a fair amount of progress in the back where there are three patio doors and two windows which means a lot less that i have to actually stain, but i don't know what kind of prep work up high i'll need to do as i've not had the ladder up along there much. i didn't have to go up there with the drill and the wire brush to take off anything like i've had to do in other spots so that is good. just don't quite know what i'm getting into until i get going tomorrow.

considering we started a bit late and i had to spend a lot of time caulking it's going pretty well. Mom is ok if we don't get it all done this fall and we can finish up next spring/summer. the worst parts are done and look much nicer, but i did screw up a bit on one wall to the south and am not sure how i'll fix it - i'm hoping rains and winter weather will just take care of it and call it good enough but if i get sick of looking at it next summer and it isn't much better i'll have to strip some of areas and redo them from scratch. yeah, more projects...

i'm hoping seven more days will do it, but realistically it is probably double that to finish everything as i'm not counting the eaves that also need to be redone (but that will go fairly quick i think as it is all flat surface rolling and as not much needs to be cut in with a brush) and i'm not counting some other things too - they're just going to have to be projects that get done when i can get to them whenever...

one thing for sure, five hours a day of up and down ladders gives my legs a good work out.

 

[digitS']

Those rungs ..

. have given my Hush Puppies too much of a workout.

Take care. Remember, gravity.

 

[Jane23]

but really i should call this hermit's rest or something like that.

some years ago i contemplated joining a monastery - except there's a few problems with that for me. i don't much like rules, i absolutely am not a morning person and i'm not very religious.

http://www.societystjohn.com/index.php

they were recruiting though and i spent a lot of time visiting them and helping out when i could. still though, i just could not see myself being "under someone else's discipline". i first met them when they were getting started and were in the small place they had and they were getting ready to expand the place so they could have more than just the two of them. i also got to know them more as they were learning Tai Chi and we would go and practice with them on the beach.

they had some rules back then, called vows. one i liked was the vow of stability. being a homebody that fits well. so i've adopted it here for myself along with some of the other things i do like about the monastic life. i live simple. i stick to my tasks at hand. i don't go out and around much.

at first it was just the two of them there. so at least one of them had to go out from time to time to get supplies and do other things as needed. it was very rare that both of them would go out together but they made the decision that learning Tai Chi was important enough that they would come to attend the class on campus.

now i'm not sure how many there are in residence. it has changed a great deal in the many years since i first met them.

at present my job is here in helping out in the gardens and whatever else needs to be done. retrofitting, reengineering what i can, making this an easier place to be, growing food, fondling beans, protection... it is all part of the whole. i am a support person. Mom is the reason and i'll be here as long as she needs me. she took care of me as a kid, i can return the favors.

longer term, i'm never really sure what i will do next. i may end up just staying here. i may not.

at present Mom is back to her sewing/winter routine. she makes lap quilts for veterans and hospice (last year almost 400 of them) and quilts for people. on nice days we putter around outside. after the ground freezes we'll try to walk more up and down the road. i am doing more reading and writing.

sometime i may get back to working on programs or computer stuff, but that is not a major priority in my life any longer. if i ever get stuck inside someplace with nothing to read i may break out again. i need a new computer first. this one is creaking along...

to return to monastic thoughts for the moment, this past spring one of the founder's passed away up there and i wonder how everyone else is doing, yet i know they'll keep going. they have a pretty nice location there and a good business for what they do. that aspect was also appealing to me (cooking jams, breads, goodies, etc.). that was a great time for mid-winter quiet when the shop was closed for the season, but we'd try out new recipes and sit around and talk and listen to good music. once in a while they had their religious duties to attend to. i was not interested in those much so did not participate. they were really good about not pressuring me and just accepted me for who i was. but yes, they were also trying to recruit me. they wanted anyone who'd join them.

now i'm in a different place and i'm glad i can do much the same thing here. yet up there, on the shore of Lake Superior, it was quite a remote world. one so very remote now i've moved away, but many fond memories. i carry a lot of that peace with me still.

um, this isn't very organised, but i'll leave it as this for an introduction...

for more details of this place i'm hermiting about you can find them at:

http://www.anthive.com/

I considered the same. I do not have much use for society, and they have never tried to do anything for me, but use me. My garden is where I go to relax. It is also a constant study and challenge. I have no problems being alone for hours and prefer solitude to all the city fun.

Looking back, I think I was planning on a hermit life myself. I blame my husband openly for ruining my plans. I was going to be the crazy cat lady in the middle of nowhere. Now I am just crazy in the middle of nowhere with a man that I have joined, and he has joined me.

We are trying to live a completely self-sufficient life. We are already 100% off-grid and plan to build, not buy, our future day-by-day with what we do to live. It is an experience we both want and prefer. We will appreciate what we build more and care for it as it is the work of our two hands.

and no, I am not living in a shack.

 

[flowerbug]

Those rungs ..

. have given my Hush Puppies too much of a workout.

Take care. Remember, gravity.

my feet take the worse of it. on a few windy days doing things up higher has been "interesting" but i've been being careful.

 

[flowerbug]

I considered the same. I do not have much use for society, and they have never tried to do anything for me, but use me. My garden is where I go to relax. It is also a constant study and challenge. I have no problems being alone for hours and prefer solitude to all the city fun.

Looking back, I think I was planning on a hermit life myself. I blame my husband openly for ruining my plans. I was going to be the crazy cat lady in the middle of nowhere. Now I am just crazy in the middle of nowhere with a man that I have joined, and he has joined me.

We are trying to live a completely self-sufficient life. We are already 100% off-grid and plan to build, not buy, our future day-by-day with what we do to live. It is an experience we both want and prefer. We will appreciate what we build more and care for it as it is the work of our two hands.

and no, I am not living in a shack.

it sounds like a good hermit life for sure. but still at times we all have to go out for some supplies. i'm now older enough that the idea of living completely out in the middle of nowhere is probably not possible. injuries and other limitations now have become more normal and while i have made progress on working around the results of those injuries i'm still not likely ever to fully recover.

gardening is both mental and physical therapy - in the winter snow shovelling is the same to be able to be outside and have some fresh air and good exercise. the other point though is that it is meaningful exercise and so that makes it more enjoyable than walking on a treadmill or going up and down the road walking (which in the winter and summer can be a hazard).

where i'm at now is not in the middle of nowhere and it is still far enough to be ok. the buffer i'd like around us is more for the agricultural spraying and noise from people that i'd rather not hear, but there's not much chance now i'll be able to afford anything different so we cope and it's ok enough. i'm still not sure where i'll end up - if i stay here or not. mysteries continue.

you're lucky to have a compatible partner and the place to be. i consider myself also lucky to be here with Mom and that we're compatible enough to get along. it's not much fun to live with people who won't get along.

 

[flowerbug]

we might get some rain today or tonight and the temperatures are heading lower - i finished up the last of the first five gallons of stain on the house today. i will need a few gallons more to finish.

tired kitty, going up and down ladder... done for today until next weekend, weather doesn't look like it will be warm enough and i also need a few days off to rest up again.

hopefully can get back to shelling more beans and need to plant garlic sometime before this weekend. not sure there are any beans i can pick that are going to be in good condition but i'll take a look some day...

 

[digitS']

Hey FlowerBug!

What’s red and smells like blue paint?

Red paint.