Down on the Farm – Volume 1, Issue 9

As the days get longer…and hotter… it seems like the “To Do” list gets even bigger. It was a busy week, and a lot got done here at Lowe Bridges Farm. But the more we do…the more there seems to be to do!

Monday: So, as you probably know by now, Monday is Housecleaning Day here at Lowe Bridges Farm. I have to muck the place out or burn it down…so I opt to muck it out because I don’t have time to build a new house.

I do talk to my sister on FaceTime because she keeps me motivated to get it done, and she helps the time to go fast and the chores to not seem so tedious. I love my Sister…I mean, I have three of them, but only one that I call my best friend. She knows who she is.

With the housework out of the way, it was time to get out in the garden where there is always something needs doing. On Monday, I had more tomatoes to plant. I thought it was the last tray..but as I would find out the next day, it wasn’t. But at least it gave me more opportunities to shoot some video for this weeks update.

I also needed to get netting over the peas…over that monstrosity that I built for that purpose. I thought Jeremy had forgotten to leave it out for me, but I found it when I was getting ready to leave the garden for the day…it was in the garden shed. Imagine that!

I knew my peas were in danger…I could feel the deer stalking me and the peas from the woods. I never saw them…but I knew they were there, waiting. Just waiting for dark to come eat my peas.

Despite how hot it was, and how tired I felt, I went ahead and got that netting over my precious peas, and made sure the deer would never figure out my highly sophisticated clothespin security system.

With the peas safe and the garden secured, I headed back to headquarters to fill out my report…um, I mean I came in the house and worked on this website, cooked supper, fed dogs, etc, etc. Finally, I helped my daughter finish up her taxes and get them efiled before i collapsed in the bed.

Tuesday was more laid back. I did get out and water the garden, but I had a lot of work to get done inside, so I just quickly watered everything and then got back inside where I did A LOT of site work and content. I did my usual daily stuff, and I even managed to work on my cabinet for about an hour. Tuesday may not have been as active as Monday was, but I still felt just as accomplished when I went to bed on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday, a good friend of mine came out and cut my Daddy’s hair for me. He needed it! It was nice to gossip and catch up for a few minutes. Like me, she is a busy girl. After that, I got outside and worked in the garden. I had fairly limited time, so I started by planting the peppers I had found stashed under a table, then I watered what needed watering and finally I started hilling up the potatoes, but I didn’t have long because I had supper in the oven and I had to get back in to get that out.

That evening, I started outlining a personal day planner. I’ve purchased many, many day planners over the years and all of them were lacking the features I need, so I decided that for next year, and moving forward in general, I’m going to make my own planner, and have it professionally binded, then just have it updated each year. There are many companies who will do this for you, for a price of course, but it really doesn’t cost that much more than purchasing a planner that someone else designed (probably for themselves).

So, just having a clear plan for the planner was a giant step forward for that endeavor. Now, I just have to get it all laid out and go from there.

Thursday I did my nails. Yes, I took a little “me time.” I mainly did it because so much of the polish had peeled off that covering my nails with a hardener was essential. They are thin, brittle and split and crack so easily! For me, doing my nails is not a luxury as much as it is a necessity.

I used to go to the nail salon every other week, but it had gotten very expensive, but even more importantly…my Daddy doesn’t leave the house, so I don’t leave the property. So, I ordered everything I need to do my nails just like they do at the salon…and yes it was expensive, but only about the cost of 2 manicures, so I felt I had made a good decision. It was a little rough at first, took lots of instructional videos and lots of practice using my left hand to do the right hand, but I’ve got it down now, and I couldn’t be happier….

…because the first time I did my nails, and I cleaned up the bits I had used with alcohol it occurred to me that I had never not one single time seen the nail techs at the salon clean ANY bits or little nippers or … ANYTHING.

Hmmm.

OH. MY. GOD. YUUUUCK!

This means that someone’s TOE CHEESE probably got on my feet!!!! That is DISGUSTING! I seriously will never go to another nail salon again. I was a teenager in the 80’s for God’s Sake. I can paint my OWN fingernails and NOT get a fungus or worse from someone else!

Heck fire, it’s even EASIER now than it was back then…I don’t have to wait for the polish to dry because it’s gel and I have one of those light thingys. Also, I now have a nail file thingy that plugs in and even thought it looks like a pretty purple Dremel, with very similar bits, it does an excellent job of filing edges, whacking off cuticles, and even takes care of the dry skin on my heels. My manicure lasts for 10 to 14 days even though I am VERY hard on my hands. Yep, happy to do my own nails when they need doing.

My nails wasn’t the only thing I did on Thursday. I also finished hilling up the taters, planted out more peppers and worked on my cabinet a bit.

And before I knew it, Friday had rolled back around. My FAVORITE day of the week. It’s the day my man comes home to me! Lots of times he gets home early during the day, which is like having a bonus day. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those Fridays, but he was home in time for supper…and I had things to do to help pass the time.

I finished one of the ends of my cabinets…well, the interior anyway. I worked in the garden in the morning, and again in the evening after supper with Jeremy. I built two roosts for my chickens, and I worked on the website. Then my J was home! I LOVE Fridays!!

Saturday was surprisingly cold! a brief rain storm blew through (didn’t stop Jeremy from working on the kennel or me from going out on the deck to saw wood for my cabinet). But that little bit of rain brought some very cold wind with it! While the rain moved off, the wind did not.

I was able to finish the interior of my cabinet…which for me is very exciting! All that’s left is the slow, hard parts. Sanding it all down. Sanding down and hanging the facings, building the doors, gray-washing the whole thing, and finally hanging the doors. So…yeah, finished doesn’t mean finished. It means that Tomorrow ladies, we gonna start the hard stuff!

I think I’ll divide it out into weeks. This coming week, I’ll get the entire body sanded, including the facing pieces. If all goes well, I will even get the facings hung. The next week, I’ll build the doors.

The doors are kinda complex for me, so that may take the whole week…maybe more. I’ve got to cut the backings perfectly…on a table saw. The same table saw that ate the tips of my fingers about five years ago.

Yeah. That happened. The saw crushed the distal bones in both of those fingers, and I’m reminded of that every time it rains.

They took forever to heal, and neither of those finger tips/nails looks normal anymore. Also, the nerve endings still feel very raw or sensitive some days.

So, yeah, finishing the cabinet is exciting. But using that table saw is NOT. I may need to get Jeremy to help me do it, or stand there for emotional support…or possibly do it for me. I’ll figure that out when I get there.

Once those boards are cut…perfectly, I will build the frames and attatch them to the backing. This will help me to keep things nice and square, and exact. Then, I will be filling in the frame with one cross board, and then 1 x 2 diaganol slats…like this picture I drew on the left. As you can see, there will be four doors. One on each end, and two in the middle.

The slats will be glued in from the front. But, before I put it together, each of those pieces must be sanded, then gray washed, then resanded a bit anywhere the glue will need to be…so the interior edge of the entire frame…X4. And before you ask…yes, I did consider painters tape…but it would leave too much unpainted surfaces showing, so just resanding a bit is easier and more effective in the long run. Additionally, the slats can be glued to the backing for extra security.

Anywho, after working on the cabinet, I went out to see how Jeremy was coming along on the chicken run. He’s really doing good, and although it sounds like a lot, he doesn’t have anything hard left to do…He has to put in the electric door, finish getting the top on the run, cement all around the bottom of the fence inside and out, place 50 cinder blocks along the outside edges of the fence, fix the feeder and the waterers, move the nesting boxes and roosts in, and spread bedding throughout the coop and run. Okay..yes, it’s a lot. But none of it is hard! It will be finished next weekend…the weather this weekend conspires against him.

Anyway, here is a video of my week.

That brings us to Sunday. The day of rest. The day I dread on all the other days of the week. Jeremy had to go back to work…Except he didn’t, cause he has his last dentist appointment in the morning! One more night with my Jeremy Lowe!


Till next week,