Oh my, the pages have turned from days to weeks into over a
month since I’ve posted. Been busy AND lazy on the One Woman Homestead (OWH).
The most exciting thing that’s happened on top of this
mountain is the return of Mae, running like a little filly, and purring like a tomcat.
When she pulled up, I didn’t know whether to kiss the mechanic or the truck. I
kissed neither, but danced and whooped.
That to-do list from the May 5th posting has
dwindled, but of course, there’s another. I’ll not bore you but suffice it to
say, there are things still from a year ago.
There Are Things
2006 (so fitting in 2012)
There are things
Zippers hanging
Buttons missing
Things unseen in clear view
Weeds overgrown on fences
That must be tended
Fences, slacked and holed
Out of sight but not forgotten
Things that must be tended
Or they will explode
Rusted, crusted pennies
Between cushions
Bury us beneath the mass
Of enormous triviality
Suffocate the tiny
Cobwebs in the corner
There are things
However, there are accomplishments. I stood behind a massive tiller, rumbling in my weak-but-strong-now hands, and turned a weed and dirt yard into a flourishing garden. Watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, corn, runner beans and bush beans, peas, radishes, mustard and turnips, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers-green, yellow, and hot, cucumbers, and okra, surrounded by marigolds. The herb garden isn’t all that I’d hoped but dill, basil, Japanese basil, chamomile, oregano, rosemary, garlic, and Echinacea is all aromatic and delicious.
The chickens are huge; alas, I’ve been informed they will not lay until 9 or 10 months. So be it, the coop is complete, with flower boxes and plaque. Nesting boxes built and mounted and ready whenever the little girls are. It’s difficult to name them since most look exactly alike, however the rooster is Foghorn, the two black girls are Dottie and Dottie Brown, I have a Tiny, and a Blacktail. That leaves four look-a-likes for the grandsons to figure out.
I decided to lay pine shavings on the floor of the coop to
keep down the odor and the flies because the plastic bags of water hanging on
the back porch are no match for coop-poop flies. Yuck! It makes the cleaning
process a lot simpler also, just rake and scatter more shavings. The chickens
scratch and turn it all into marvelous fertilizer.
In between the “mans” work, I managed to go strawberry and
peach picking at Mercier Orchards. DEEE-licious. As you can see, jars of strawberry and peach
preserves. Strawberries in the freezer waiting for the kids, and blueberries
this weekend.
Busy also with planning for the Fannin County Democrats
float in the Old Timer’s Parade on June 30th, social media and grant writing for Feed Fannin, political campaigns for Fannin County Post 1 Commissioner and the 9th District, GA US Congressional seat. Hope the kids are here
for the parade. Lucky that Mae’s all refreshed because she may be pulling
the float.
Finances still suck, altho there is 'stuff' on the horizon, but depression kind of slithers away
when surrounded by mountain laurel, honeysuckle, lots of growing life, good new
friends, and hopes to see some of the old. No complaining here down here on
OWH. Least none in this post. 
