Welcome to our family blog to keep you updated on all the happenings around the Walker cottage and "farm". Even though we live in a rural section of the Tennessee Mountains life is far from boring as you will see.

Saturday, September 17, 2022

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER WALKER NEWSLETTER

Hello!

Two months have already passed by again, but I am still alive and kicking.

If I don't get something out, I soon will have a book.

You can feel autumn in the air with the cooler nights breaking up the humidity- a welcome relief. Even though the leaves haven't turned yet, some are falling to the ground. August and September are the months where not a lot of flowers are blooming as the summer ones are all about gone and the fall ones are getting ready to start. I'm still picking some green beans and tomatoes from the garden.  The raspberries, blackberries, and grapes are over.

 I've canned 13 quarts of pickled beets, 28 quarts of green beans, 18 quarts of tomato juice, and froze 14 quarts of corn. I made 7 pints of grape jelly, 3 pints of plum jelly, and 3 pints of three berry (raspberry, blackberry, & grape) jelly.

In July, I checked my beehives later in the day as I forgot to earlier due to when we'd finally would have a sunny day, I'd be busy hanging out wash, harvesting veggies in the garden, working outside etc. I got swarmed and some bees managed to get under my hat & netting stinging me six times on my throat, which immediately began swelling.  I took Benadryl and put ice on my throat.  It was quite the painful experience and part of the hazard of keeping bees.  Thankfully, by the next day the swelling was under control.

My duck house large water barrel level kept going way down despite all the rain, so checking things out, I realized the gutter to catch the water that Dana had put up years ago was draining the other way. All it needed was a post put underneath to raise the sloping side up.  A fifteen-minute job surely.  I found my wooden post, but it needed cut and was too long for me to handle so I asked Dwight for help. That's when I had a hand on experience of how differently guys and girls think. Instead of simply cutting the top off, Dwight got the "brainstorm" of cutting it part way through so the gutter could rest on part of it- to stabilize it was what I was told. No problem. I had carefully measured the correct height with a tape measure, but of course Dwight didn't take my word for it. Instead, he made a mark on the wooden post. Lo and behold, the post with its nifty cut- out spot ended up about three inches short. So, while Dwight worked on raising the gutter and positioning the post, I scrambled around to find some large flat rocks to put underneath the post. An hour and a half later the job was finally done.

After two years, Dwight was finally able to finish putting on the rest of the metal roof. I am very thankful as now I don't have to worry about any leaks when it rains, and the dark blue metal looks so lovely with my yellow house. It really took it out of Dwight- it was amazing that he was able to do it all by himself- so he was down for some weeks afterwards as he really pushed it. So, my sink and the rest of the countertop still need to get installed. Dwight plans on working on it this next week. I got my lilac floral kitchen border up and painted my kitchen stools a lovely purple to match. I even was debating on painting the large black coffee machine- I’m a tea drinker- purple too when Dwight got the “inspiration” of building a mini coffee station right inside the pantry door wall.

I finally finished trimming all my hedges and overgrown enclosed garden but keep having a left hand/thumb bleeds off and on now for over two months now whenever I use my hand much.

I rode down to Nashville to the Hemophilia center with Dwight the other week, who was having a knee bleed, and stayed with my granddaughter, Annette, while Dwight was at his yearly comprehensive clinic. It was great getting to visit with her and Curtis for part of a day.  We also took wrapped Christmas presents- nothing like trying to buy and wrap Christmas presents in the middle of August- so that everything could get sent out by the end of August in order to reach Dawn and Randy by Christmas.  I packed some Christmas decorations- that I scrounged around for up in the hot attic- as it’s hard to say what will even be available over there in the Philippines. This grandma wants to make sure that they can celebrate Christmas no matter how hot it is outside when the Christmas season arrives.

My niece, Stacy, and her family, whose husband is in the Air Force and being transferred from CA to NC, is coming by to visit us on their move East sometime towards the end of the month.  So, I’m trying to get some projects accomplished before then. I’ve been painting the hallway and hope to get all the trim painted and finished this week.

Dawn and her family have gotten moved and settled into their house by the ocean.  Each Sunday they are going up to a mountain village to hold services where there is no church.  The people there had never heard the gospel until Dawn and Randy found them. Recently, William’s finger got swollen and infected and he had to go on antibiotics.  It didn’t get better so after a week he was put on double antibiotics and had to go every day to the hospital to get it treated and wrapped. Finally, after two weeks, his finger is now getting back to normal again.  Each Sunday evening, I call and usually am able to talk with Dawn for about fifteen minutes.  It helps so much hearing her voice and catching up on how her life is going as the mail still hasn’t gotten through that I have been sending for over two months now. At the rate things are going the stuff we ship by boat will get their first.  Mail from my house can get to Manila within two to three weeks, but from there until it gets flown down to the island and then makes its way down further to their village, things slow way down as there is no regular postal service. Dawn says that from week to week you never know what will be available when you go to buy food and supplies.

Next week will make one year since Dana died. Although it is hard to fathom that a year has passed already, God has been good to us. All the prayer support keeps us going each day.

I shall close for now on my end and get this out in the mail.

Until next time~

Dorcas