survival « Robin Writes

So my husband got his pond cutter thingy and started cutting all the water lilies and dragging them to shore. And he spent a fair amount of time cutting up the giant tree and hauling logs to the pile behind the house that we’ll use this winter in our wood furnace.

And then he hurt his back.

Oh, not too seriously, but he was out for the count last Friday and Saturday, and I suspect he overdid it a bit early this week when he went back to the pond for a while before the temps zoomed into the 90s.

But he’s fine. Just ask him.

The garden is winding down; I’m still getting a few tomatoes and the pepper plants are alive, but I don’t think those melons are ever going to do anything besides show us some pretty yellow flowers. My stepmom suggested we carve them for Halloween. Ha. Probably take that long.

Of course, the asparagus and strawberries are permanent beds, and the garlic still has a few months to go. The second round of garlic will go into the ground in late fall.

But the rest is kaput. Let the cleanup commence!

So I’m planning for next year already . . .

We’ve ordered a small, inexpensive greenhouse to see how well it works this winter. We’ll decide next spring if it’s worth it and whether or not to expand that. The fence, however, will be expanded to include the greenhouse and about half again as much space as we have now.

We’re still debating on whether or not to call the plow guy or just rent one for a day. Probably no point in buying still more tractor implements.

More building projects are on paper: the picnic area, dock, and kitchen shelter (still!). And of course, the rest of the fencing, pasture and perimeter. We still won’t know about purchasing the extra ten acres until sometime next month.

Right now, though, I’m sweating buckets just from giving some minor assistance with the rest of the patio furniture. That ol’ Weather Channel was showing temps in the 70s coming up, until it changed its mind and gave us more 90s.

Bad Weather Channel, bad!

Everyone needs a day off now and again, and yesterday, I took mine.

We started off with breakfast at the local café, and since I’m a creature of habit, I went for the loaded hashbrowns and, of course, bacon. My husband had the biscuits and gravy; I usually have to flip a mental coin to decide between these two . . . we go there at least once a week, or sometimes pick up something for dinner.

Then we headed north to the town of Doolittle. “Town” is kind of a misnomer because all we saw was the antique mall and—wait for it—a Stuckey’s! Bet I haven’t seen one in 30 years, and yes, I got a pecan log roll. Tasted just like I remember . . .

So, this antique mall. Wow. I mean, the place is huge! The outside looks like an old West town, there’s tons of parking, and on a Sunday morning we practically had the place to ourselves—at least until about 11:00. It took us TWO HOURS to walk through the whole thing, and when we checked out, we noticed a few more things outside—furniture and such. There’s a flea market section too; no AC so we hurried through that but it was typical flea market stuff.

We went there looking for a pie safe. I have always wanted one and they’re hard to find—and the ones I do find are either not quite right or super expensive. Even after today, I’m still looking.

We did find two more chairs for our kitchen table, and a dinner gong—the old triangle kind. I was holding out for a dinner bell, and we saw two, but they were HUGE, aka heavy. Really heavy. Cast iron heavy. Also around $300. So, no.

My husband picked up some kind of saw thingy, and of course we got some fudge. And peanut brittle. And chocolate covered cashews.

I can’t wait to go back—I saw a few other things I’d like to pick up one of these days. Particularly a very nice leather shoulder holster. Oh, and the Indian spear . . .

But the best thing I found was Tupperware. Not the used, icky kind, but clean, well-kept vintage stuff that you can’t get from the company anymore: cracker boxes, butter keepers, all kinds of things. Picture your house when you were a child; well, if you were a child in the 50s-70s.

This place is awesome, and unlike a lot of “antique” malls full of plastic junk—Tupperware aside; you know what I mean—this is the real deal.

You should go. Prices are reasonable, and it’s a prepper’s heaven: hand tools, old fashioned, non-electric kitchen gadgets, handmade quilts, and a lot more . . .