Down on the Farm – Volume 1, Issue 8

It was a busy and mostly productive week, but I did NOT get all the things I wanted done, done. There was no Kitchen Day, but everyday was Garden Day…for a little while. Everyday was a Building Project Day for a little while as well.

Monday: My sister headed home to Fort Worth on Monday morning, and I got to work on my cabinet build. I got the bottom frame done, which is exactly what I had planned to get done.

I got my “Monday is for Housecleaning” cleaning all done quickly first thing in the morning. I then emailed 4 roofing companies to get estimates on “tarring and pebbling” the herb deck floor. Only one emailed me back.

But I don’t complain.

That’s fine. I made an appointment for him to come out Wednesday afternoon. Then I paid some bills, and handled a pretty big business matter for my Daddy.

Later in the afternoon, I carried a tray of Tomatoes out and got them transplanted out into the garden. I love the garden. I’m pretty sure that’s where God lives. It’s where I’ve always felt his present the strongest.

I’m a terrible photographer, and an even worse videographer…but I try. So, my PLAN was to do a little video each day…nothing big, nothing major, just a little peek into my day each day. So, I made it from Monday to Wednesday, and here it is.

Tuesday: Tuesday was just as busy as Monday. Being me, I decided to change my plan for the cabinet build. I decided with all three sections of the cabinet combined on/in one frame, and built with 2 x 4s and 1 x 4s, it was going to be entirely too heavy for me to move…and movement will/was required. So, I rethought the whole thing, and took my frame apart. Then, I built a top and bottom frame for each side of the cabinet (4 small frames).

So, the plan is to get the two end parts set, put them the correct distance apart, go ahead and install the backing (2 pieces of plywood ripped into 2 pieces, at 2 x 8) That gave me three pieces for the backing, plus the piece I would need for the roof of the thing.

After getting those four smaller frames cut and put together, I went out and planted…you guessed it…more tomatoes.

It sounds like all I do…all I did…was work on the cabinet build and plant tomatoes, but ya’ll…I promise that I do so much more than that each day.

My day starts with my Devotional because everyday should start with God…a message in the form of a printed Devotional, followed by a conversation with Him. Sometimes the conversation is long, sometimes it is short, but it is NEVER rushed. I can’t function in my day without God first.

That is followed by my Italian lesson on DuoLingo. Then, I get out of bed, make the bed, get dressed, take my hair down out of its usual thing, brush it, then put it right back in it’s usual thing. You can’t call it a bun or a ponytail because even though it has a part of each “do” it isn’t actually either of them in the end. I shall call it – The Do That Has No Name – and move on with my day.

Then the personal hygiene, tending my chicks, and tending my plants out on the deck…where I slow back down again. I take the time to look around me, take note of the days weather and look at each plant as I give it water (if needed) and make sure everything is okay in each plants world…I mean pot.

Then, reluctantly, I leave my plants and the view and get on with my day…speeding back up. I have to go downstairs at that point, because I’ve done everything I needed to do upstairs…for the moment, and I need to be down there when my Daddy wakes up.

So, down I go, start the coffee, make sure my Daddy is okay, and bring him his first cup of the day. Then, I take my meds and weigh, at which point I praise the scale or curse it, which makes my Daddy laugh. Then, it’s back to work.

I make Daddy’s bed, clean his bathroom (which I will do multiple times each day), start laundry if needed, and just generally straighten up. On Monday’s, there’s a lot more because that is actually housecleaning day.

I usually spend the rest of the morning doing some writing, email, personal business, business business, make calls, etc until noon. I also make sure my Daddy is clean and in clean clothes…whatever that means on that day at that particular time. I will also answer the same three or four questions at least 50 times each before noon. Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is NOT easy, and some days are much harder than others.

At noon, I get my Daddy his lunch, which we call “dinner” here, and his meds. If you were to ask my Daddy, back when his memory still worked, why he calls it Dinner instead of Lunch, he would tell you that it was always referred to as “Dinner” when he was growing up. Lunch is something city folk do. The meal in the evening is called Supper in case your wondering.

After his lunch, I get him settled with his never ending Price is Right (reruns of reruns that go from the time he wakes up, until he goes to bed), and a jigsaw puzzle on his ipad. That gives me two hours. I always have a plan for those two hours ahead of time because it is precious time when I am able to focus on whatever it is that I’m focusing on at the time…which of course right now is the cabinet build. So, back upstairs I go, with the baby monitor so I can make sure he’s okay at all times.

Sometimes the focus is a craft project, like a quilt. Sometimes it’s repotting plants. Sometimes it’s planning my next garden space. Sometimes it’s writing, sometimes it’s researching…whatever. Those are my 2 hours to focus. It’s important that I come back downstairs at 2 because that’s when he has finished his puzzle and he’s going to want ice cream. Which is fine, except that he forgets he just HAD ice cream…and if you aren’t there to remind him, and refocus his attention, he could easily forget three or four or six times if you aren’t paying attention.

After I’ve successfully refocused his attention and made him happy with peanuts instead of more ice cream, I can go (with the baby monitor) outside to the big garden for about an hour. This is when I either transplant something (tomatoes) or weed, or harvest if there is something to harvest, or direct sow some seeds if there is room, or just sit and swing on my garden swing for another conversation with God.

Then, slowly, reluctantly, I leave my garden and trudge back up the hill to the house, checking the progress of the blackberry vines along the way. It’s not a long way back to the house by anyone’s standards…but I kinda zigzag my way back up, meandering by the berry vines, and I may even pass the house up to go to the road and get the mail, then meander my way back to the house.

By then, it’s 4pm, and there’s still a lot to do. It’s time to feed the six dogs, fix supper, eat supper, clean the kitchen, give all the pets a treat, fix the coffee pot for morning, go turn the lamp on in Daddy’s room and fold back his covers, and set out the fresh clothes he will need to put on before going to bed. I put a clothes basket in there for the clothes he will take off. Then go upstairs and tuck my baby birds in for the night.

By then, it’s about 6pm, and he will do his jigsaw puzzles and “watch” the blaring television, which I tune out so I can get some writing done. At 8pm, it’s time for medicine. He’s getting tired and the “sundowning” started, so there are those same three or four questions to answer another 50 times each. Then, about 9, he’s off to bed.

It’s at this time that I am able to turn off the blaring television…which makes my ears ring for just a second or two from the sudden silence. At that time, I usually go and enjoy sitting out on the deck, looking at the stars, talking on the phone to my Jeremy. I can get my shower, finish up my day, feed the three cats, crawl into bed and I usually watch some videos, but it doesn’t take long for my eyes to close.

So, yes, I do more than build and plant. I have a whole exhausting life, which is lived without ever leaving this hill. My Daddy refuses to go anywhere, which means that I am just as homebound as he is. Thank God I have plenty of space to move around here!

Wednesday: So, Wednesday was the day I wrestled the plywood. I had to work so hard to get that plywood from the deck across the very long Hobby Den, then behind my two cabinet frames, with all of the mess of that room surrounding me. The first piece was easy. The second piece was a challenge. The third piece…have I ever mentioned that I’m 4’11”? It had to be lifted THAT piece OVER my head, to cleaer the two top frames…

…and by the way, in that video where I say it’s 8 ft long and 59 inches high…it is actually 70 inches tall. Believe me, that 11 inches makes a big damn differenece. Did I get it in place. Yes. Yes I did…only to discover…

..that it pays to measure before taking on a wrestling match with plywood that you have to lift over your head.


So, I was able to get it clamped into place to consider what to do in order to proceed. It did not take me long to realize that my jigsaw was locked in Jeremy’s shop.

I could use my little Worx saw..but that was dangerous, and having lost the tips of two fingers to a table saw several years ago, it wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.

There was only one thing to do…wait for Jeremy to get home. This officially put an end to working on the cabinet build for the week.

Then, it was off to the garden to plant more tomatoes.

Thursday: Just because I couldn’t work on the cabinet build anymore for the week, I was certainly able to work on a small project Jeremy requested. I made a taller pergola than the ones I made for the shade cloth on the herb deck…taller and longer. This is a “prototype” for the garden, to drape the netting over to keep the deer out of the beans.

Using only scrap wood, I got it done. It’s ugly. It’s got painted and unpainted pieces, it’s leg’s are long and gangly, and it wobbles, which means it is off square somewhere…but in light of what it is being used for, none of that matters.

It rained on Thursday, so there was no playing…I mean planting in the garden.

Friday: I LOVE Fridays. That’s Jeremy’s coming home day. He rolled in about 2pm, and fixed my “Kelley didn’t measure” problem. We had a nice dinner, I planted out more tomatoes and went to bed with the chicks. We were both tired…me from doing stuff, and him because he had been up since 1am.

Saturday: Jeremy was FINALLY able to work on the chicken run, despite some sprinkley weather. At least it was warm sprinkley weather.

Me? I worked on getting the rest of my wood cut…till I ran out of wood and had to make Jeremy a list for a trip to the lumber yard for Saturday. So, I helped Jeremy with the chicken run, and planted out two trays of tomatoes.

If you were to ask Jeremy if he got anything done on that run, he would say no. I, on the other hand, would say he got quite a bit done, considering what he’s working with.


The ground is completely unlevel. He managed – by himself – to get TWO six foot rolls of chicken wires spread out on the ground, where it will sit under the run, and have cement on top of it. He started at the coop, and pushed rolled it out uphill, making sure they overlapped. His other handicap was that I showed up to help about the time he finished that.

Together, we wired the chicken wire together in the middle where it overlaps. Then, I separated all of the parts of the run (kennel), and he started putting the poles in place. Then, he discovered a problem.

The back pole, which sits near, but not against the back of the coop was going to create a gap between the coop and the fencing. Critters would be able to get in and eat my bougie little chicks!

It was lunchtime, so we took a break and considered our options, and decided to build a wood frame on the back of the coop, making it possible to attach the fencing to the wood. After lunch, I cut four pieces of wood, and we carried them down to where the chicks will soon be living.

With those attached to the coop, we continued putting things together. Well, he put things together and I held things together while he made attachments. Finally, we came to the next problem. The “hill” on the front right corner had to be taken down so that everything could properly come together. Out came the shovel…and Jeremy got that done in almost no time at all.

We managed to get the whole frame of the run set up before supper time. It was another night where we practically went to bed with the chicks.

Sunday: It rained. At times it rained hard and at other times it barely drizzled. Jeremy made a run to the lumber yard for the wood I needed and I worked on the cabinet build while he did that.

When he got back, he unloaded wood, and I got to cutting. When I finished cutting, he helped me move all of that wood (and it was a lot) upstairs to the hallway. While I was cutting, he worked on the chicken run…without my help, which he probably appreciated.

We both worked on our projects until supper, then he had to rush around and get ready to leave for work at 6pm. I spent the evening writing (this), and called it a night around 10pm.


As I approach the new week, there is hope that I will manage to get all the things on my Do List done…hope, kinda.

Till Next Week,