Ups & Downs

My goodness, so many changes since I posted two weeks ago.

We ended the 2 weeks at the emergency room, texting back and forth about the offer we just got on the house. We bought a truck. Said truck became a victim of a hit and run. We have giant craters in our land right now. Noel is spending his last week at NorthStar before retirement. So many changes in just two weeks.

First, the ER. Poison Ivy. Should have taken a picture of the vines that go 60 feet up a tree, with a woody stem 2″ in diameter and very few leaves. Noel cut down three trees with poison ivy. He already had poison ivy so figured he might as well be careful and get rid of it. Not many options. He has tried every cream, soap, and home treatment out there. Tonight he gave up and went to the ER. He got a shot, pills, and some cream. Our friend who is our pharmacist told him not to take the pills until morning or he’d be up all night playing pickleball (He was wearing a pickleball t-shirt).

We got a truck. It was actually necessary to get something that wasn’t low to the road at least like our Accord. We’re not exactly on a paved road. We had the truck exactly 8 days. I went in to a business, came out, and someone had backed into my new truck. Did I mention I had only had it 8 days? They did not stick around to apologize or tell me who they were. $2000 damage. It will get fixed in 3 weeks. If you don’t have State Farm Insurance, why not? =) They are amazing!

The progress on the land is pretty amazing as well. Pretty slow too. Noel has spent the week taking down trees. He can’t have a stump or the roots, so he and Mini have been working hard together.

Digging up trees by the roots has left huge craters in our yard that Noel has started to fill with rocks. I’m telling you, we grow rocks on this land. I’ve never seen so many rocks! The little guy across the road will be sad to see this hole filled up. He has been having fun in the hole and on the pile of topsoil that Noel and Mini have shaved off the top where it’s not needed so we can use it where it is needed – a location which we fully disagree about!

We are getting a lot of wood already and a lot more still to come. We will be heating our house with wood – free wood. That’s Fuzz checking things out.

I wouldn’t say Noel works tirelessly. He comes home pretty exhausted. But he works so much. Jimmy, the neighbor, can’t believe how much he has gotten done or how his brain works to figure things out. Jimmy is still faithfully helping not every day but many days. Can I stop saying Jimmy, the neighbor? From now on, he is just Jimmy. Probably the best neighbor we have had. He truly spends his days helping others. Noel has been able to return the favor a couple times with some of his projects.

I can’t always go. As our realtor says, “Oh yeah, you are the one that works.” =) Lisa. My friend. =) We both know that Noel works crazy hard or we wouldn’t even joke about it. When he’s done for the night, Fuzz would prefer nibbling on his ears, but Dink is content to curl up on his back or snuggle right beside him.

The puppies have graduated from the kennel for the whole night’s sleep now. They stay in our room so we can’t get up for the bathroom run without stepping on one. We don’t even have to close the door; they just stay there. The realtor is so impressed with these 2. We just leave them in the kennel, and they don’t make a peep when people come through for showings. Last night was a huge thunderstorm – thunder, lightning, wind, and in walks 4 people to look at our house. And they quietly sat in the kennel without a bark. She calls them the Gentlemen. We call them the boys. I’d like to say it’s my superior training ability; in truth, I think we got lucky.

The boys are now allowed on the property for a few hours at a time. They have lots of neighborhood friends. Well at least Dink & Fuzz think they have friends. The German Shepherd, Aries, would agree; the blue healers, Sarge, Joey, and Sophie would not necessarily have the same opinion. They love to run as fast they can but honestly have to spend most of their time on leashes because we can’t watch them constantly. They are a little over 4 months now.

I’m standing in about the middle of the property when taking this picture. This is about where the trailer used to be. I’m actually standing on my “front porch” – some day. You can see Noel in the distance; he is standing in the front part of his shop.

He will be pouring footings for the shop at the end of this coming week! It is to be a perfect week with no rain.

The shop and house are both staked out, so my hard-to-imagine things brain can now imagine again.

We have figured out where the driveways will be – 2 of them. Right now I think we have 4, but eventually we will have a “C” gravel driveway. That is just exciting! I am excited for this to happen because that is when I can start actually growing things. Right now I get my tiller out and discover I am tilling the future driveway. Or I put some flowers in, only to find a large crater there the next day. I don’t really think Noel understands my need to grow something. But he’s not purposely thwarting my gardening needs either.

In fact, one night, when he was tired, after he got home, he went up and built me a stand for my latest gardening endeavor, the 55 gallon barrels. I have 2 rows of green beans in this one. I’m thinking once they are almost producing, I can plant 2 more rows, so when I yank the first two out, I have another batch coming. I have corn planted, but Gloria says the squirrels will enjoy it before I get a chance to do so. She bought me a blueberry plant this week. I need to dig one up from my garden here so they can cross-pollenate.

And then last but definitely not least, we have a full-price offer on our house! It’s got a contingency we aren’t comfortable with so aren’t signing yet, but hopefully we can negotiate that one issue. They already have an offer on their house. We will keep showing it though and see what happens.

And now I have to pack and get ready to leave for the next 4 days. NorthStar has their accreditation visit this week, and that’s kinda my baby. So headed to the office. This is my first time in over a year because of Covid; I am excited to see friends that I have only seen on a computer for such a long time now. So I need to stop this and get packed and get some sleep. Please pray for Noel’s poison ivy if you think of it. It’s pretty nasty and so uncomfortable.