This was the month that the Andersons and Holly came for a visit. I joined them in Oak Ridge for a good old work-in-the-yard-day at the Whites on the 7th. I visit best when there is something to do, so these are my favorite ways to visit. Debby was pretty sickly during that entire week so she wasn’t able to go with me. In fact, Bryce and family had been in for several days and she hadn’t even been able to see Baylor and Kyndal. After a few days Leah, the kids, and Holly came over our way and spent a week or so with us. It was nice to be with them in their comings and goings and see Ally and Jayce in their somewhat normal routines. Of course the good-byes at the airport pulled at the heart strings but I was glad to see them going to their homes and the good husbands who love and care for them.
Debby perked up a little and we finally had the Bryce family over for a while. Baylor and Kyndal are lively kids to have around. Bryce has several job possibilities he is exploring. In the mean time I think he is keeping everyone supplied with fish for the table.
My old buddy Arthur Hale continues to have problems with his heart. One night Adrian called me and asked me to meet him at his dad’s house. He wanted me to join him to give Art a blessing. His fluid retention (congestive heart failure) is so bad that he gains and looses 5 pounds of fluid each day. The diuretic that he takes to remove the fluids also drains his body of needed potassium. That puts him back in the hospital for that problem. Each time his defibrillator kicks in it actually damages his heart a little more. It is only working at about 15% capacity at its best. Gretchen has written a nice tribute to her dad at her blog.
We are now into a dry spell at Shangri La Farm. It is hard to believe that only a month ago we received 7 inches of rain in less than a week. During the biggest downpour, we spent the night at Rocky River. Debby wanted to be there if the house floated away. We watched it rise steadily. Eric had called early that morning to tell me that he had gone by Little House on his way home from work, about 8 a.m., to see how high the water was. He was concerned that I might want to move my tractor that was parked in its usual location (I thought safely above the water level). When we arrived, I did move the tractor as an extra safety precaution. Good thing! A little before dark the water got over that spot. The river is usually about 30’ below the level of the house. During the night it got to only about 10’ below. The water was into the edge of the field across the river from us.
I found some Bermuda grass sod at a local sod farm for $65 per pallet. One pallet covers 240 square feet. When I went to pick up my one pallet, the weight of the sod nearly flattened my rear tires on the ¾ ton pickup. So, we had to take half of it off and I made two trips. It was still a lot of weight. Bermuda is a soft, fine bladed grass. It spreads by underground rhizomes. Leah helped us unload the truck and lay the sod. It has really done well -- except that the moles have discovered how easily they can navigate underneath it. There is such deep shade at the back of the house. The sod farmer told me that the Bermuda grass would do OK there. I hope he’s right.
Our little garden has produced spinach, onions, broccoli, cabbage, and English peas. The corn has not come up because it hasn’t rained in two weeks. There are green beans coming on—both Kentucky Wonders and Cut Shorts. There are also some Lima Beans that will be blooming soon. The tomatoes look good, but they always do at this point, only to disappoint later on. I am just not good at growing those things. We also have an assortment of pepper plants growing. It looks like we will have a good grape crop and a few wineberries. My few little peaches have dropped off the trees and my two cherry trees have died. I received an email from the local nursery specialist from the University of Tennessee Extension Service stating that a lot of cherry trees had died in the nurseries due to excessive spring rains. I didn’t know that could happen, but it must be what got my two young trees.
We got to go to the Katie dance recital. She was the star of the show! The program lasted for nearly three hours. I don’t know why they didn’t just let the Katie troupe do their two acts at the beginning and then dismiss! She was sure cute!
We had our first paying visitors to Little House. Friends of Betsy’s, the Cupps from Knoxville, came to stay a few days. They were such nice people. We are really enjoying our little retreat at Rocky River.
No comments:
Post a Comment