It has rained off and in all day but Rick and I pushed on with the porch covers.
If you’re a new blog reader I’ll explain about the porch covers. We had them custom made of very heavy vinyl after we saw Tom and Becky’s porch covers which are very similar. These turn buckles are how they are attached. Rick builds me a little cage to stand in and he drives from section to section.
It took us about 2 hours start to finish and we’re all set till next spring. The covers don’t keep out all the blowing dirt but I can’t imagine what it would be like without them.
The kids insisted I take the bird feeder apart – maybe a mouse was there?
More exploration….
Sheryl told me her mom likes to keep the cards in the envelopes so she’ll know the state it came from. She also received a Country Threads card from our friend Joanne V. who came from Massachusetts to quilt camp several times years ago. She sent Norma the card she bought while here.
These small acts of kindness really touch my heart. Thank you to everyone who sent a card to Norma. Her daughter said Norma had part of her foot amputated last Monday but I do not know the reason. Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to our next card recipient. I know you’ll like her a lot!
World Series Game 1 is tomorrow night – who’s watching besides me?
Love the pictures of your “kids”. What fun! And that is a good job to have done before the winter winds when all the “snirt” ends up everywhere. I remember you calling the combination of snow and dirt “snirt” years ago and have not forgotten it. Enjoy the World Series.
Hi Mary, l like your wash tub(it’s on its side)in one of the photos, l can see it being used on wash day with a mangle, it was hard work in the old days! The dogs and cat are having a great time together, l wish Bella didn’t chase cats, a kitten would be be a nice addition to the family. Friday night, fish and chips for tea, a great kiwi tradition, l am looking forward to it as l don’t have it every week. Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Sandy – what’s a “kiwi tradition”? I only know kiwi as a fruit. I have several wash tubs and use them all over the farm for different things.
Mary, in this sense, “kiwi” is a New Zealander, like “aussie” is an Australian.
Ruth – ah! I see – had no idea. I live a sheltered life.
When I saw your porch covers I thought it was for the cold. Even though I grew up on a farm, I had forgotten about blowing dirt! I didn’t know anyone who had a screened in porch on a farm….maybe the dirt is why!!! I will be watching the World Series, cheering for Arizona. Always a national league fan. I was so glad they beat Philadelphia. Braves fan here!!
Linda – it keeps cold out to a degree but there’s no sitting on the porch in the winter. It’s a good wind break and also a place to keep firewood and cold beer!
it was interesting to see how you ‘button up’ the porch. teamwork. looks like the black dog (forgot name) seems to be watching out for greta. maybe he wants to make sure she doesn’t fall out of the tree. haha norma looks so happy. good to see. super quiet here. i’ll be following basketball season and our orlando majic (who did win last night against the houston rockets). ever onward and upward. patti in florida
I’ll be cheering for the Diamondbacks, but wishing my Cincinnati Reds were in it. Such an exciting season! The playoffs were great; hope the World Series is, too.
Tomorrow night is OSU night. When I was in school, if the Yankees went to the Worjd Series, they put a TV in the high school gym. The teachers could take us to the gym to watch. It was fun😀. Did anyone else do this?
I love seeing the “ kids” outside playing. That system for your porch is really great! You will be warmer and have less dirt. Great! My husband and I both read the blog. He loved seeing Norma’s cards. I can’t wait to see your next recipient. Fun
Diane – remember Sandy Kofax and the Dodgers? We went to the gym to watch them in the World Series on a tv likely smaller than the one in my sewing room today. Haha!!
Diane – when I was in junior high (1969), our science teacher was an avid Mets fan, We were able to watch afternoon games during his class.
Mary and Diana, Aren’t those fun memories? I especially remember how small the tv ( black and white, of course!)
was now that you mention it, Mary. And, we walked from the elementary school to the big high school gym. Such an adventure😀. We also roller skates in there in the winter!
Diane – they let you roller skate on the basketball floor?
Yes. They did! It would never happen now! I leaned to roller and ice skate at 4 years. We played outside every day of the year. My mom believed it was good for us to play in a ““warm” rain. We were never sick except for Chicken pox. I had many friends who lived on farms so I was around animals and we had a block barn with Arabian horses that we could be around, but only ride the ponies. Fun childhood😀
Diane – it’s my opinion that kids today are sick because they sit inside on their tablets instead of going outside to play. Of course on the farm we had plenty to keep us interested in outside – but no friends to play with like our classmates in town. We would not have been allowed to skate on the polished gym floor however! I still can’t believe you did.
In Cresco, we got to roller skate on the junior high which was the ‘old’ school after the hs was built. At that time, we didn’t need at least 5 full sized performance gymnasiums at the schools to have enough room for all of the sports and practices! We would have roller skating parties and there were skates we used at the school, a few times we skated for PE, in our extremely ugly bloomers uniforms. They also tried to get our class to dance at dances that were held a couple of times a year…after about a half an hour, we would either drag out the volleyball nets, basketballs or the skates to finish out the dance. We knew what we liked to do!!
Sandy, Peg, andMg. I left info about the pumpkin quilt, pumpkin wall hanging , and table runner. Replied after your comments. Hope you go back and look. Thanks
That’s what I call teamwork, getting the job done!!!!
It’s not a REAL world series if the Cubs are not in it….. lol
We had almost an inch of rain last night and today. We need it so I’m happy for the rain.
Cold – now that’s another issue. Planning on spending some quality time in my sewing room this weekend. I have the fixins for lasagna. Nice and hot and cheesy! yum
The buckles on your window covers remind me of my raincoat when I was a little girl.
Diana – we’ve had about an inch, too – very welcome especially for all that Karl Foerster grass and hydrangeas I transplanted!
Mary – Once the porch covers are up, it looks like a greenhouse!
What a delightful and photogenic group of 4 legged “kids”. Fun!
It was such an honor to send Norma a card. Look forward to sending her another card and a card to the next person. Love the knitted bear!
I’ll be watching game 1.
Have a great Friday and weekend.
Take care everyone.
Such a good feeling I am sure to have the porch buttoned up. Team work!
We are having good weather still and I can see Lake Ontario from my camper dining table window. We walked across the street to a farm market and bought freshly made fried cakes, a bottle of cherry resling wine, cheese curds and a huge head of homegrown cauliflower for $4.50 that will be 4 meals for us after I blanch and freeze it. Two elderly ladies were outside having coffee and fried cakes and started chatting with us so we spent another hour with them hearing of their visit there to a local B and B where the owners sang and played instruments last night after dinner so they felt they attended their own mini concert. They said talking to us reinforces there are good people who share conversations and want to be cordial. We had fun talking to them learning one was recently widowed and both avid volunteers at theatres in their town for when broadway plays come there. Coming home hubby carried the big bag with cauliflower and I got the bag with the wine!
Kathy – you’re going to have such a good time on your new venture!!
Morning Mary, I should have added we have no tv reception nor will it work so by next spring we will need to look into cable access as our tv is only 2 years old. A local man said he uses his antenna to get a couple stations but that didn’t work for us either so this is when we miss our tech smart kiddos. So it’s been a quiet week of reading and hand stitching cause I have a new table to sew at with my Janome but it was too high so back to rethinking my sewing time up here. Every thing is a new adventure. When I think of what I want to plant up here, it will be spring before I know it with all I want to do here! Hope you enjoyed your games. We could have gone to the local bar/restaurant on the bay to watch the Bills play but I wouldn’t like leaving my pets that long.
Kathy, we live in a very tech world. I can’t believe this. We had problems like that when we lived in AK. Thought those days were over. I recommend Firestick through Amazon. I have had it for about 7 yrs and I get all the TV I want or need. Monthy right now for me is below $10 as I only watch TV evenings and it is usually a sappy movie on HallMark. Also there is Hughes Net if you want to go that route with antenna in your yard. I hear StarLink is the way to go but I am not moved in that direction since TV means so little to me. My hubby used to say we can put man on the moon but a simple modem link can’t happen?!
Fran in SW Iowa
Kathy – no tv till spring???? I couldn’t do it. And find a new table or you’ll have a backache.
Fran and Mary, I drove back home this afternoon as I have a tea at church tomorrow to take some shut ins ladies to so luckily our new spot is only an hour away. The water gets shut off in this park Nov 1 for the winter but is turned back on April 1 so we wouldn’t be staying there for the winter anyways when I got a warm cozy home with a TV that works! I need my Hallmark fix! My husband is driving the motor home back Monday as rain is coming and he will park it for the winter inside our barn he built specifically for the 40’ size of it. Fran, would we need to purchase Amazon Prime membership to do Firestick? We don’t order from Amazon as normally our stores around us are pretty well stocked so it’s easy for me to run to them so don’t have to rely on Amazon but if it’s needed to do tv with, we might consider that next spring.
Hi, Mary, Sounds like you had a busy day, and I bet it was better tag teaming the work rather than doing it on your own. There are so many yard work tasks we split up between us but some require two people.
Today I worked alone. Up north/east, here in Buffalo NY, we get a kind of green mossy growth on the north sides of our house. I have no idea what it really is, I hear it’s related to acid rain, so that explains why it’s more notable now than when we built the house in the 70s. Anyway, the remedy is called Wet and Forget and that is the last fall duty, and it’s all mine. Not sure how I got the job but, do it, I must.
It just involves attaching a hose to s container of Wet and Forget and spraying the sides of the house and then just leaving it there. It activates on rainy days and I swear by it. Some of the white houses in our neighborhood look terrible, like someone sprayed their house with algae!
The must do when you use the product is spray all your foliage with water before AND after you spray the house. We have a lot of foliage! I walked 5,000 steps rinsing bushes and trees and clematis and hydrangeas, then spraying the house, then rinsing the bushes again.
If you have a little breeze, it feels like you’re in a car wash with the convertible top down. As soon as I was done, I ran into the house and showered and washed my hair, as I’m not sure if my hair was wet and forgotten… would it turn blue? Or fall out? Taking no chances with my crown of glory, ha ha!
It was 70 degrees and sunny here, blue skies, glorious. Tomorrow is the last hurrah… fall and wintry weather is on the way, possible snow next week. We took advantage of the afternoon and went to a nearby town to do a little stocking stuffer Christmas shopping (yes, I’m one of those, done before Thanksgiving). We decided to have an early dinner at our favorite restaurant… WHAT?? They close at 4:00 every day now! We were so disappointed, tomorrow is the absolute last day we will be able to enjoy eating outside until at least May. Our winters are very long, very cold, and you might remember last year, the photos I sent of our shed looking like a giant gingerbread house with seven feet of snow on the roof. I’m not looking forward to a repeat of that!
So that’s MY nothing day! I am always grateful for ordinary days.
Carol – I see this type of green algae on the back side of my garage. Hmmm – I should look for this product – although nobody sees it but me so maybe I won’t bother.
We just picked up next year’s container at an ACE hardware store. I like to be ahead on things! Actually, once I like a product, it invariably vanishes from the market. I used to use MEX but of course… no longer available.
If you decide you can’t look at the green business and want to wash, be sure to water the leaves on anything you value. Wet and Forget is plant safe but the leaves will brown if you don’t spray before and after.
We also bought the wire that goes in a edger/weed whacker, we are all set for spring. I’ll close my eyes and it’ll be here, plus a few snow storms thrown in to drive us crazy.
I am even though I have no idea who is playing! I only know they are not in my home state—California.
I will and probably do handwork while I watch!
We’ll be watching the World Series. I like to have some hand work to do while watching TV. Since I don’t have a quilt to bind and my cross stitch magnifying light glares on the TV, I will be making pumpkins. I don’t need more, but they are fun to make and give away.
So pleased to see Norma enjoyed my card! What a great idea sending cards. Yes I will be watching world series. The starting pitcher for the Rangers was a former Red Sox pitcher! That stings for me as they were terrible this year. Love reading about your daily life on the farm Joanne
Joanne – she did love your card – especially “you have a friend in Massachusetts”. I should make some more of those cards – I’ve always loved that picture.
I am wanting the Texas Rangers – I was hoping the Phillies would be in as my sons best friend is a scout for them. Looks like you are set for winter and as it sounds we may get a dusting of snow this weekend.
Mareen – I’m not sure I even have a favorite to win – but I become a baseball fan in the fall. I’m such a fair weather fan. I’m glad the Astros aren’t in it this year – somebody else’s turn.
I will be cheering my Rangers on!! First two games are just down the road from me. If the tickets weren’t so DARNED EXPENSIVE, I’d go. Just hoping our wins this time are at home rather than at the opposition’s ballpark (like when we beat the ‘stros). LET’S GO RANGERS!
Made my heart sing! This kindness shown is so wonderful! Look at her smiles.
Love the outside pics of the yard, porch and dogs and cat.
37 here this morning. We got rain yesterday. We might get rain snow mix tomorrow thru. Sunday. Bet it goes around us!
Fran – 28 here this morning – so glad we worked outside yesterday!
I love that knitted bear Norma received! I’m a teddy bear fan. I also think your porch covers are amazing. I’ve never seen reusable vinyl covers. And your little cage is brilliant, too. As usual, your blog has made my day!
I will be watching the series and cheering for the AZ Diamondbacks! Our Mariners management traded Paul Sewald, our closer, away in August and fans here were devastated. He was a great community man and we miss him! Happy that he gets the World Series Experience! I have two quilts ready to hand bind while I watch!
Glad you have your porch all ready for the rest of the year, Mary! Have a great weekend, everyone. 🏈🏈🏈🎃🎃🎃⚾️⚾️⚾️
I am watching the World Series!!!!
Here we go RANGERS! Here we go!!!….chant sung at every game over and over…..so fun.
Mary,
I’ve learned so much about seasons on the farm from you. The pictures are so reflective of that. thanks for sharing. It’s obvious you love your place as you tend to chores. It’s fabulous exercise – no gym required.
GO DIAMONDBACKS! Yes, I will be watching every game. My brother bought a commemorative brick in memory of our father when the stadium was being built. Dad coached little league, was an umpire for little league, even at regional tournaments leading to the Little League World Series. (By the way, my parents graduated from ISTC, now Northern Iowa.) On Sunday home games the kids are allowed to “run” the bases after the game. I’ve done it four times – the last time Mother’s Day this spring. (I’m petite and could pass for a kid . . . until you look at my face. 🙂 ) My son-in-law is on the graphic design staff for the team. How can I not root for them?
Jan in Arizona
Janet – my mom also graduated from ISTC. Loved the story about your dad and graphic design employee – wow! Yes, I understand why you’d be cheering for them. So fun!
I’ll be watching the game! The Diamondbacks will be my team to root for since we lived in Arizona for a few years. Everyone there seems so excited that they made it to the World Series.
Fall is really advancing here in our part of Michigan; we are suddenly surrounded by golden yellow and orange leaves on the trees around our home. Occasionally a shower of them rains down on us and it’s so beautiful. But it’s also putting me in mind to think about how I will spend the winter months – what projects to work on in the sewing room, a list of books to read, maybe some closet decluttering? I know you will be busy and we will all enjoy hearing about what you are up to. You and Rick are quite the team with the porch cover installation! Have a good weekend, Mary!
Mary,
Had a big snow thru night….it is still hanging on tree branches and covers our acreage here in Idaho! Tis 24o out near noon! Looks to be clearing!
So nice Norma received a gift bear 🐻and enjoys her cards.
Looking forward to the weekend Football games!
We will watch World Series, but disappointed our Atlanta Braves aren’t in it.
Also UGA football Saturday. Go Dawg!!
Wanda – but you’ve been there so many times – I like that somebody else is playing. But then I’m not from Atlanta so I’m sorry you’re disappointed.
I hope to watch it but I am at Sulfer Springs at a Craft Show for 2 days and not sure if we can get the game. I have watched every Ranger game since I moved to Texas. It is exciting!!⚾️⚾️⚾️
Liz – oh, you just can’t miss it!! Go to a bar where you can find a tv!
The local high school is in the play offs so we will listen to that.
28 degrees this morning and 33 for a high. But the sun came out about noon. Tomorrow we could get 3 inches of snow!
I cleaned in my hobby cave today! Wow! I still need to do some more. Sure looks better already! Yeeks!
Otherwise, the hubby is pretty laid back after his busy season of farming.
Mary we only had about a tenth and a half for rain! The grass is greener tho than it’s been all summer!
Have a good night!
Joy – we got about an inch! The grass is now completely covered with leaves so I can’t even see if it’s green! Ha!
Love your porch covers. They seem very nice. I am watching the World Series and a true D-backs fan since I live in Arizona. Go Diamond Backs.
Mary,
The comments about watching the World Series games in school reminded me of a great memory from my childhood. I just turned 10 when the Detroit Tigers were in the 1968 World Series. My 11 year old sister had her tonsils out during the series and got to stay home from school and could watch the games. I was SO jealous! But one of our teachers let us watch one of the games on a small, small black and white television during class. Thanks for reminding me!
Sunflower – oh, what a cute story!
Hi Mary! I’m watching the World Series too. Tonight’s game sure was exciting. Who are you pulling for? I don’t really care who wins.
Sue – now that was a game, wasn’t it? I don’t have a favorite team, I guess, but have many friends in Texas so probably lean that way. I loved seeing George Bush again but his throwing skills could be better – ha!
I’m so glad you got the porch covers on. Love the cat and dog pictures. That picture of Hazel’s rear end as she investigates the bucket is a good one.
I love catching up and reading the comments to your blog. It’s fun to hear what’s going on with everybody.
Susan – I,too, look forward to hearing from as many readers who are willing to leave a comment. I think I should start asking for pet pictures again – what do you think? I don’t get many quilt pictures.
Yes to more pet pictures!