Just a small fraction of the elephant ears I pulled up yesterday.
Yes, it’s getting pretty darned cold in West Virginia the next few days. The bad news is…the furnace is not fixed. We’ve tried everything. We went to town yesterday…Mr. FixIt riding shotgun with a mask. (It was a clever Halloween costume!) We went to the furnace parts store and the lady at the desk said not to waste our money buying more parts. The Furnace Doctor diagnosed the problem as a bad heat exchanger. NOT a cheap fix. However, the good news is, the repairman will be here on Thursday morning!!! We did our best. It’s time to call in the pros!
We are about a week late in getting the winter preparations done here at Marshmallow Ranch. Yesterday was the last day to get the Elephant Ear bulbs up out of the ground before it freezes and kills them. Mr. FixIt has always done this particular job. He cuts down the green tops of the plant then digs up the bulbs. There’s always a lot of dirt left on them. Then he puts them in bins and puts them in the basement to dry and keep safe over the winter.
I am always looking for an easier, simpler way to do things. Not that I’m afraid of hard work or that I want to take the easy way. It’s more like a “work smarter, not harder” mentality. So, I stood there looking at the long row of plants with a machete in my hand. I cogitated a bit, then the light bulb went on. I got a bucket and filled it with water. Then I went along the row and pulled each plant up by the tough green stems.
We’ve been improving this particular section of the yard yearly by adding a bag or two of loose, rich top soil. Since it rained this week and the soil is more porous, The bulbs came up quite easily. Once they were all up and laying on the ground, I swished each of them one at a time in the water, removing all the dirt from the roots. Then I chopped off the green part with the machete and threw the bulb into the plastic bin. Voila! While it was still a lot of work, it was MUCH easier than taking the shovel to them. Mr. FixIt was impressed and said from now on, we’ll pull them up!
Cleaned, trimmed, and ready to go to the basement to store over the winter. This is one of three bins!
When we were finished with the bulbs, I cleaned some of the black walnuts. I am NOT going to clean and shell three bushels of nuts. The squirrels are having a big time hiding them in the woodpile. I did get a bucket full and that might give me enough nuts to bake a batch of Grandma’s Raisin Filled Cookies that I can take to my Uncle Bud. He loved those and Grandma always had a batch ready for him when he came for a visit.
As soon as we were done, we had to run into town to pick up prescriptions. I have decided “adulting” consists of two things: going to town to pick up prescriptions and cleaning up after cooking a meal so you can cook another meal and do the dishes so you can cook another meal and do the dishes so you can cook another meal….ad infinitum till you’re dead. And I SO clearly remember saying I couldn’t WAIT to grow up then I could do what I wanted! lol
November is NaNoWriMo. In case you don’t know what that is, it’s really a thing. National Novel Writing Month was initiated in 1999 as a way for writers to encourage each other to finish all those WIP’s…works in progress. The book I wrote after Mr. Virgo died has been simmering on the back burner for at least six or seven years. It’s time to actually DO something with it. My daughter-in-law is a writer and she always does something for NaNoWriMo. She knows I’ve been sitting on this particular fence for a long time and contacted me a week or so ago. She wanted to know if I’d like to be writing buddies….a sort of accountability partner to keep each other motivated. I was all over it! So, I’ve informed Mr. FixIt this is it…I’ve committed to writing every day in November and he’s behind me 100%.
It’s the perfect week to hole up in the office and get creative. Keep the tea kettle on!!!
👩🏼💻
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17 ESV
Legend has it that when a cardinal appears, an angel is visiting their loved one. I’ve always loved the sentiment of that and think of my loved ones who’ve gone before me every time I see that flash of red in the snow.
