OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

Hello everyone!

We had a short cold snap where I brought my hanging plants inside, but no frost yet. It warmed back up so my plants are back outside. I've had my windows opened too.  I love airing my house out and letting the breeze blow in the windows along with hanging out the wash on sunny days. I also swing on the porch swing or out on my back swing whenever I can grab a break during the day. The leaves have begun to fall so I stay busy sweeping off the porches and sidewalk each week. Usually by now the birch tree leaves along the driveway  have turned yellow, but they are still mostly green. It seems that autumn is slower coming this year.

My second batch of beans that I planted this summer are ready to harvest.  So happy to have fresh beans to eat again. Otherwise I am mostly gathering seed for next year. I also picked rose petals & pips and lemon mint leaves to dry for tea. I dry them quick using my microwave them store them in one of my many tins that I collect in the pantry.

I planted mums and spring bulbs outside my picket fence to add color to the blooming small white & purple daises, yellow golden rod & black susans, along with my stately row of multicolored marigolds.  Only a few roses bloom here and there.

Something got into my chicken house- I think a snake- and only two of the five baby chicks are left. It made me so mad. I went around plugging up holes. So far the two baby chicks are doing great running all over the chicken yard, scratching in the dirt, and growing.  Right now on my dining room table I have twelve guinea hen eggs that are ready to hatch out. Such fun! The two guinea hens that survived are full grown and are quite at home with the chickens. Hopefully by next year I can let them out to run so they can    eat ticks and other bugs. I cleaned out the duck's little pool and refilled it with clean water that didn't stay clean very long. The two white ducks love diving and splashing in the water. They get quite excited and quack around whenever I fill their pool or water bucket during summer dry spells.

                My biggest project though by far was white washing the hen house/shed.  Dana built it with wafer board several years ago and it is not weather proof and had begun to peel so I knew I had to do something before it all fell apart. So like the old timers I mixed up a brew of white wash with a little white paint began to roll. It was slow going especially when I had to get up on a ladder as I’m not as steady as I used to be. I’d paint one day and be down the next then get back at it again. Inside the chicken pen the crazy birds huddled around my feet so I could barely move.  Both they and I ended up with a fine spray of white wash all over us, but it didn’t deter the chickens for trying to figure out what I was up to. The hen house looks so nice and white. Now I want to get the inside painted before cold weather hits.

            Between all this I took Dana down to Cookeville two times to see different specialists. Physical therapy is coming twice a week along with the home health nurse. One morning we had the physical therapist, a lady from Buckeye to measure Dana for his diabetic shoes, and the home health nurse all the same day. By the time they left Dana was quite worn out.  He scared me the other Sunday morning when I heard something falling in the kitchen when I was back in a bedroom. I ran out to see what was going on and there was Dana flat on the floor passed out. I was beginning to think I’d have to call the ambulance when he finally came too and then after a bit was able to get up and with his walker over to a chair. Dana's oxygen level is staying down in the 80’s or low 90’s even with air.  He has put on 31 lbs, which I'm sure also affects it. So he stays out of breath, dizzy, and not too steady even with is walker.  Dana was able to make it to the homecoming at church this past Sunday, but went to bed as soon as we got back home. I never know from day to day how Dana is going to be.  When I’m working outside I keep running back inside to check on him every little bit along with keeping his insulin shots going and his medication.

 Dawn and I worried.  Last week they went down inside her throat and up her colon. Three days later she was still weak and not picking back up like she should have. Dawn took her to a local clinic and here if Annette didn't have strep throat too. So she is on antibiotics. Dawn is keeping a food diary of the foods Annette is having problems with for when they go back to the specialists in three weeks. He wants to do another test on her gall bladder.  He did find that Annette's esophagus was real irritated and scarred like she was having bad heartburn down lower so he put her on a high dosage of antacids. So we do appreciate prayer for this girl as she is only fifteen.

            Well I need to close my lengthy epistle about life out here on the Walker farm. Time continues to fly by so quickly. I hope this finds you having a good day wherever you are.

            Dorcas