Hiking the dunes on the Outer Banks with Mr. FixIt.
Mr. FixIt continues to improve. He has a good appetite again. I was working on the computer in the afternoon and he called me to see if I would go to the store and get him some hotdogs and baked beans. He’s eating a lot of fruit and, of course, his Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It’s good to see that smile and his sunny disposition coming back. It’s hard not to give him a hug and a kiss, but I really don’t want to get sick and he would feel terrible if he gave me Covid. So we give a lot of “air kisses” as we pass each other.
You know, for not doin’ much a nuthin’, the day sure got away from me. I basically piddled doing one thing or another without accomplishing a lot. I did move the black walnuts over to the garden. The hulls need to rot off and if I leave them in the buckets, they’ll just mold. Grandma used to take them to the basement and spread them out on old newspapers to dry. But to be honest, I don’t have the square footage available here to do that…in the basement or in the building. I spread them out in a single layer and shut all the gates. I can see the garden from the bedroom so if something gets into them, I should hear/see the nut snatchers. I don’t think a bear would scale the tall fence for walnuts when there are plenty down by the creek. The deer can’t get in with the gates closed. So, if anything gets into them, it’s got to be something small.
Well, something got into the bucket of black walnuts I left in the driveway. When I went out to check the mail yesterday, the evidence was left in a neat little pile along the edge of the concrete. No scat that I could find to identify the critter. I didn’t catch anything on the security camera that would identify the culprit either. So…no bear on the camera as of yet. Maybe Santa will bring me a couple really great trail cams for Christmas!
They worked! Mr. FixIt felt MUCH better yesterday. He still didn’t eat a lot, but I got plenty of fluids in him and he had a big bowl of homemade Jewish penicillin (chicken soup) last night with a piece of cornbread hot out of the oven. He’s far from well, but he’s SO much better! I’m telling you, he scared me to death Wednesday night. He could hardly walk and I had to half carry him to the bedroom. He only kept the anti-viral down an hour, but I think enough got in him, along with the prayers, to help him turn the corner, so I am in your debt.
This monstrous sycamore is right across the dirt road from the near field.
I feel like the ant…busy, busy, busy getting things ready for winter. Putting things to bed for the year. Clearing out the old and unusable stuff out of the pantry and the freezer. Today is trash day and I throw the old foodstuffs out the night before so as to keep the neighborhood wildlife at bay.
I decided yesterday that I had better pick up the walnuts from out in the field. Maybe that will discourage the bear from taking up residence here. I found an old cat litter bucket and took that out. I filled it up in five minutes and didn’t make a dent in the number of walnuts. Mr. FixIt found me a 7.5 gallon bucket. I filled it up and hadn’t left the first tree yet. I rummaged around in the building and came up with an old enamel canner and a plastic washtub. I got about three bushels! I got all the walnuts picked up that were in the mowing area of the field but there are still plenty on the trees and in the underbrush of the hedgerow. Copperheads look exactly like fallen leaves so I did NOT mess around in there. We’ll leave those to the wildlife and hope for the best. I will say, the cat was hissing all around the first tree. She went cautiously to the edge of the creek bank and looked over, but whatever she was smelling wasn’t there at the moment. That being said, I found three or four big piles of bear scat so they are frequenting our fields, for sure.
Well, I was going to lead this with the second photo, but didn’t want to gross y’all out too bad right from the get go before coffee and all. Mr. FixIt went to town to chat with his buddies last evening and I worked on getting the camper ready for winter. I was thinking of camping one more weekend, but I just don’t think I have it in me. I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m about camped out for the year! Crazy, right?!
This cat always looks ticked off…bless her little Pumpkin head.
It’s been almost four years since Pumpkin Kitty graced us with her presence. It’s been a bit of a rocky road between her and me. She’s definitely a Daddy’s girl, but when he’s not around, she loves to mark me as her own with lots of head bumps and rubs against my legs. She’s still finicky about touch. If she’s in the mood, she wants you to pet her…but she kinda wants to bite you, too. I really don’t get cats. Now dogs? They speak my language. “Love me, love me, love me!” Cats are more like, “Oh, look. The can opener is back.”
A sesame seed brioche bun is the perfect canvas for this savory pulled pork topped with Duke’s Moonshine Barbecue Sauce.
There’s something so cozy about a chilly, rainy day in West Virginia. The clouds are grey and heavy with rain. Periodic downpours plink-plink-plink on the exhaust pipes stick out of the roof. I spent the morning on the computer in the office. I didn’t accomplish much other than cleaning and organizing so I can work more easily. I brought some more things in from the camper…my knitting, primarily. But I didn’t take the time to work on it. I will soon.
I’m sure you have heard many sayings about the weather. “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” Here in the hills of West Virginia, we put a lot of stock in some of this lore. My grandma used to say if the leaves of a tree turn upside down, rain is coming. There’s some scientific truth to that. When a cold front moves in, hot air rises and the current upward shows the undersides of certain leaves before the rain comes.
