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2022 Frozen Tundra Farm Report

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sKePTiKal:
Well, the farm is now baking in this heat. This afternoon I need to go water my seedlings after the sun starts to move around and plant a couple more herbs. Garden's still not ready. Hol & I managed to get the disc hitched up - then spent 2 hrs troubleshooting the wiring to the PTO and motor. So it's now dead where it sits until B gets here. The backhoe blew another hydraulic hose... I'm beginning to think it's user error. We've replaced 4 so far and since they need to be custom built they ain't cheap.

According to Medicare, my tax returns for subsequent years after 2019 weren't eligible to be considered a "loss of income due to circumstances beyond my control" due to covid, so my appeal on the premium adjustment was denied. It will flluctuate down next year. Then, I got a gigundus, outsized tax payment... that has depleted a lot of my savings. Good thing the metal shop is done though I haven't gotten the bill yet for the insulation. But the steel is ordered for this summer's roof replacement... and this is gonna be an expensive proposition; knew that up front - but it has to be done.

Helga needs a new exhaust before she can be inspected; B's work on it so far has REALLY improved it. Hol's car needs a tuneup and speedometer cable. Their truck had a coolant leak; Steve was able to fix that. Steve's new car supposedly had a transmission issue. Either he imagined it, being a new unfamiliar car, or again perhaps user error; or the issue was minor. And he still has to get the subaru driveable and sold. Mine still needs an oil pressure sensor and an oil change... but B's list is already pretty full. Hol can do her own car; she's pretty good at that and she's not sure about Helga's exhaust - because if it needs welding that's more B's specialty. I was going to trade in my daily jeep for something older and less techno-gizmos on it but given the good mileage it gets I'm hesitating. It'll be 10 years old next year. The rubicon is older than that and doesn't have 30k miles on it yet. But it's hardly fuel efficient.

Long story short... she found a tiller on craigslist; mom had the cash; and she brought it home that afternoon. So as soon as the temp drops to bearable, I'll be donning my overalls and playing dirt farmer - FINALLY. B is bringing 3 tillers; so I guess the kids will get this one.

Still no word on surgery/insurance approvals etc yet. It's almost June and that's stuck right where we were in March.
But he DID have to go get more steroid shots... which promptly caused his feet to erupt again and has upped his pain levels (which the shots are supposed to help) to the point, he finally found a TENS unit on Amazon that's helping as long as he runs it on high, for the maximum allowable time. He's definitely hoping to be here in a couple weeks, but I know he also tends to make sure he has a firm appt during his stay.

I warned ya I was gonna be busy! But I didn't think I would be so stressed & overwhelmed - feeling defeated - by all of it. Hol does her best to help - but both of them are working more now. S is working as much as he can, in case jobs all dry up again. Told him, it'd help if they both be home at the same time - he's developing gardens and permaculture spaces; Hol always has some project or other going on. She did get her trees planted. Their greenhouse kit is here and she just picked up the sheet metal that project needs.

We're just doing one thing at a time, until the "problem list" shrinks. Plugging along as best we can. We are planning a roast ourselves in the sun day with margaritas, though. Maybe more than one - Debbie will be here over the holiday. I'm in menu planning phase now... figure I'm making potato salad and burgers & dogs on the grill or firepit, one day. And then easy meals without a lot of time prepping. I need to pick a day to defrost my freezer, too. It got iced up a few years back - before the generator - when we had no power for 4 days. Exciting, huh?  :D

I kinda miss my pool for "days off". Hol has a big stock tank that she's plumbing with a drain to collect/reuse water on her flower beds. Maybe I'll borrow her truck and get one for up here too.

lighter:
Hey, Amber:

I have to admit your post exhausted me just to read all the parts and pieces and repairs and jobs and planting and murder of moss or not murdering moss....maybe just shovel it up with a layer of whatever it's growing on and place it BACK on top of whatever soil you put down to grow the helpful plants?  just a suggestion as it seems to want to grow where it's at, but lady, you have your hands full and what I wanted to read most from you just wasn't there.

Wasn't there in any way...... the medical stuff set up and under way for B...... just not there and it's a disgrace.... we should do better by our Vets. 

Take care of yourself and your body, while you still can.  I know you're pretty careful, so that's all I'll say about that.

Lighter

sKePTiKal:
Well, I'll get a little R&R next weekend. My friend Debbie is coming out for a change of scenery.

I simply can't fight or think or care about the things I can't control anymore. Like the medicare & tax things; I was ballistic... and then just shut it all down and accepted the situation. It is what it is. As long as I can keep minding "my own garden"... and finding the things I want to do -- or just NOT DO, coz I have that choice too -- then I have nothing to complain about.

Buck will be here; appt or no. We have plans to deal with the possibility there will be no surgery. I don't often let myself pine for him, but I do miss him. And vice versa. We speak frequently. He's busy. I'm busy. And since he's the expert at working through the bureaucratic tangles... I'm only focusing on things I can do to help, in the meantime.

sKePTiKal:
Until it cools off, I get to wash pollen off car & ranger... and play plumber. I have a couple leaky toilets. Joy.

Jack is starting to want to be outside more now.

sKePTiKal:
B will be here next week; needs a blood test and something else minor before surgery on the 24th. Then he's here for a month recuperating, under my watchful eye.

Hol & I got the brassicas planted; it's getting ready to rain - but I'll get tomatos and peppers in next then till more garden for some feed corn, beans, squash... etc.

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