Sickies

That's what we are -- a house of sickies. Adam got it first and gave it to me. (I knew I shouldn't have kissed him. Ah well.) Kara and Philip are here too, and she has the most appalling cough. Even puppy dog Charlie is under the weather!

Here's what I'm using to combat the vile bug this time.

Adam drove to the store one evening to buy me my own bottle of saline spray, not something you really want to share. He uses saline spray all winter; I find it utterly repulsive, like drowning in the ocean. But this new bottle design is a wonder! You push a button and it sprays on its own! I must confess, it helps so much. I'm a convert.

What's that bottle on the right, you ask? So old,  so very old. It's Mentholatum, and who knows when we bought it. I'm not sure if they still sell it. The other item, Chloraseptic, is wonderful for a sore throat.

It only expired 10 years ago -- exactly!

Sunday night was our community Thanksgiving service.

 It's at the Catholic church. They always do a beautiful harvest display. The Pamlico Chorale sang.

 The preachers all did their various roles in the service. There's Adam, in a bow tie.

 I played the piano. I'm not used to these high tech keyboards.

 Sunday morning was so beautiful, I took pictures of our church.

 Then I asked Philip and Kara to pose.

 I'm trying to rest as much as I can before Thursday's dinner. Last night we watched this movie because Kara had never seen it. Can you believe that? It's a favorite.

Today Julia comes home.Then it'll get rowdy around here! Oh, did I mention we have 6 dogs here now? P & K brought theirs. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Time for a Catch-Up

Hi, all. I seem to be as spotty and disorganized in my blogging these days as I am in other parts of life! 'Tis the busy season. Tonight is our Community Thanksgiving Service -- ecumenical, crowded, beautiful, liturgical, warm and welcoming, musical. I'll be in the musical part.

Adam is nearly finished installing our new heating/AC system.

 The machine above is the compressor, which is outside. It's mounted on sturdy braces well above the flooding line.

This (below) is the inside unit - there are three of them, so we can zone the house. We operate them with little remotes that have little cradles on the wall.

The lines that run from the inside units to the compressor were all over the side yard as Adam organized them for hooking up.

 

That sad space heater above just died the other day. It's served us well for over 25 years. The house is chillier, and I'm ready for Adam to get our new heating cranked up tomorrow.

I've spent lots of time shipping out copies of "The Thanksgiving Mice." It's sold so well, much better than "Punkin and the Littlest Mouse." I've sold 40 copies so far.

Adam says the more books you have, the better they sell. I'm already working on my next one.

We took our church's OCC shoeboxes to the drop off location across the river. We had 34 boxes, our usual amount.

 The ferry was running on a reduced schedule, so we stayed over there and ate Mexican for lunch.

 

I'm curing gourds this winter outside. A good video I watched said to let them cure in the weather and grow their normal mold. Isn't it cool-looking?
A rosemary plant a friend gave me -- it was not feeling well -- is now recovered and replanted in the garden.

 Adam does the cooking now in our family, but this week I had a yearning to make a pot of spaghetti sauce. I used some of the last of our fresh herbs. Soon they'll be frozen and gone.

 I tidied up that scarf that I thought was so messy. It actually turned out really interesting. I cut the warp yarns that I'd left unwoven, and tied them up in knots, and it gave lovely texture to the scarf.

And I wove that autumn one. Then I pulled out this funny lap loom I bought for $5 at the thrift store, and gave it a try. It worked!

 That rigid heddle (the rectangular piece with all the slits in it) is tricky to handle, but otherwise it worked.

I bought a magazine about using herbs. I love herbs.

 

I like that quote.

My "teenager" hens are now laying. Their eggs are darker brown than my silkie hens', and rounder. 

This will be an evening of Thanksgiving in our community. I'm thankful for my life, for my husband, for the closeness of God in the middle of life's griefs, which are many. I don't tell you my griefs, and I know you don't tell me yours, here on our blogs. But we know they're there. May you find comfort and joy in spite of them, and the strength to keep moving forward. Love to you from our little farm!

It's Been a Week!

 The chickens are chickening. These are the younger birds. They're having a turn in the orchard and loving it! This apple tree branch is a favorite daytime roost.

I made a batch of soap -- lemongrass, coconut mango, and chocolate/coffee.

 This is Ethel. She's two and a half years old. She's never gone broody before, but she is now! I'm allowing her four eggs -- all four from the only other hen in this coop, an Ameracauna (Punkin, remember her?) And Bernie the Roo is also an Ameracauna, so these chicks will be "full-bred" supposedly. (Ethel herself is a Barred Rock.)

 I did a little pre-natal visit this morning, and all is well. Adam will be putting metal sheeting along the base of the walls in this coop to keep out all the mice and very-scary rats. The barn is full of them. (If you have chicken food, you have rodents.) 

And for the past week our roof has been worked on!

 These fellows are doing a great job. I love the color. The metal roof is the same price as an asphalt would have been. We are thankful. We've had to live under tarps a bit, but they are dryer than our old roof, haha! 

 Lots of nasty old metal lies in the yard. The roof had a manufacturer's date on it: Feb. 2, 1923. Wow!

 Nearly done! I think they are finishing up this morning.

 And earlier this week we learned that our boat had sunk in the slip. It was sitting high two weeks before. But the scuppers plugged up, and it filled with rain water ... 21" of rain in June.

 Adam inquired for someone to help raise it, not wanting to pay too much. He found a very hard-working, responsible young man (14 years old) who lives locally and has been messing about in boats all his life. He came, he diagnosed, he implemented, and the boat was raised. Adam was so impressed he paid him more to clean the outside. It's good to encourage industry in young people these days.

I enjoyed the Croakerfest (July 4th) Festival parade in Oriental on Saturday.

Local sailing camps pulled dinghies around.
They even put a wheel on the tiller so they could be steered!

The "Cooligans"

 That evening we watched the fireworks from the marina where our boat lives.

 This is the little marina store, such a quiet, sweet place. We sat on the porch on the backside of this building. The fireworks were shot from the top of the bridge, which you can barely see far away to the right of the building.

An aged live oak tree shades a patch of grass there, with ferns and Spanish moss dressing it elegantly. The elderly lady who owned and ran this marina for many years, died in early June, and now her son will run it. May it remain a peaceful place that feels more like 1960 than 2018 :)

I'm contemplating my life. I worked at a challenging part-time job for 2 years, and stopped because it was killing my legs and veins. I've now been home for a year, and it's been fun painting and writing and weaving and being a chicken lady. But I confess to sometimes being bored and needing more to DO. I am a doer, not a sitter-and-thinker. So I'm toying again with finding a job nearby. I have neither the patience nor energy to teach full-time now. I cannot stand for hours, but I also should not sit all the time. (Fussy, I know.) I'll get back to you on what I decide to do. I can be irritatingly indecisive at times.

Have a Happy July 4th/Independence Day! I will be inside in the air conditioning!

Giving Thanks

 The photo above shows the Oriental Methodist Church communion table, laden with harvest beauty. Below is the overflowing cornucopia from St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church. They added twinkle lights!!!

 Our community Thanksgiving service was Sunday evening at the Catholic church. Such a lovely service, lots of music and scripture reading. Below are more decorations from that sanctuary.

 

I've been negligent in my autumn journal. Here's a new page. I attempted some lettering in the style of Susan Branch and discovered how very HARD it is. She must have endless patience and amazing skill, not to mention years of practice.

 And this page below is just a silliness I put in my journal. The ink ran a little; it's hard to read.

 I distressed the page to make it look old and tattered, as if from some ancient traveler. It says:

"I swear it is true. I boarded the train, began to read 

this strange book that lay on the seat beside me, fell into sleep, 

and woke in a place and time foreign to me. 

The only object that transported with me is the book."

I showed you the lovely, deep red coverlet and pillow shams I bought at the thrift store. Suddenly, the lamp in that bedroom no longer seemed to suit (on the left).

 

I covered the shade with some fabric samples I've had for a coon's age. Now I think I need to paint the base, yes?

 On Sunday afternoon Adam and I visited a friend nearby who hatches chicks and loves to swap things. A lady wanted chicks from her and offered some raw alpaca fleece. My friend had no need for alpaca, but she likes my soap ... so we had a giant 3-way swap, and in the end, I received 3 bags of fleece -- two bags of white and one bag of gorgeous dark brown.
I long to learn to spin, but I don't have money for a spinning wheel. Spinning can be a pricey hobby. I don't want to buy cards either, but I have two nit combs, the kind you use to remove lice from a child's head. I've been combing small amounts of fleece with them while watching T.V. It's so relaxing!

raw alpace fleece

combed fleece

 Here's a nice ball of alpaca fluff!

Here's a youtube video of a beginner like me, who found cheaper ways to process your fleece.

Last night Philip, Kara, and Julia arrived for Thanksgiving, so we're busy and cooking and playing with dogs and all manner of family things right now, so I'll sign off, wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are spending it, and with whomever you are eating. May you benefit from a thankful heart and contentment in what God has given you!