Saturday, March 7, 2020

A New Tiller, My First Otterbox and a Weed Burner!

Thursday was a happy day for Louis Dean!
He ordered a new tiller from Home Depot and it was in the store and ready to pick up!


I'm assuming they helped him load it in his truck as that thing is HEAVY.
But he knows how to get things done all by himself.


I watched him as he got it from the truck onto the tail gate and down on his handy dandy little cart that he uses all the time.


Then he had to get  the cart down from the cement blocks.....


and finally rolled it to the ground......


and into the back yard.

While Sherry has tilled up a huge garden down at the ranch for him...he still wants a small one here at home. I had set out the onion plants for him and left room for the pepper plants he bought when he picked the tiller up. Plus he's starting a good many plants from seed. He's like a kid over his gardening stuff. He intends to till up the flower bed along the back fence for the plants he's raising from seed.


Friday was a cooler day than Thursday so I made up a fire in the den.
The old dead elm tree has dropped off whole sheets of bark that make perfect kindling.
Love the warm cozy fragrance of a fire!


We had breakfast for lunch!
I have been proud of myself this week for cooking.
We usually only eat two meals a day and I'm trying to use up what we have in the freezer, pantry and fridge. I try hard not to let food go to waste.

I ordered an Otterbox Defender for my iPhone on Thursday night from Amazon Prime and it was delivered Friday afternoon.


I don't know why I haven't bought a good case for my phone before.
Since I couldn't figure out how to put it on - I went to the online link that was printed on the box and watched a video. I got it on all by myself!

I'm getting the hang of shopping on Amazon!


Last week I bought this weed burner.
Sherry told me about it when we were at the ranch.
She bought it as a Christmas present for a family member and then when we were at the bee worker day, the host showed us a flame thrower that used propane. Important to light our bee smokers with!
That will arrive in the next few days.


I had to wait for the propane cylinders to arrive and today (Saturday) Louis Dean attached the two.....
and lit it up! The photo makes  it look like the flame is really close to his foot but it wasn't.
This handy tool is good for getting the weeds that grow in the cracks in the concrete.
I tried it out and it works!
Better than using Round Up.....although Louis Dean has always been fond of Round Up!

We took a package of something out of the freezer the other day and had no idea what it was. 
You would think I would label things but I don't. 


Turned out it was a big bag of stew meat.
I used half of it for a big pot of stew and the other half for beef stroganoff.....which is what we had tonight. I'll be taking some of the stew with me tomorrow evening when I go to Rowlett to spend the night with Summer. She's had a rough few days. Her fibromyalgia has kicked in overtime and put her in bed.

Today marks the 7th day I have been home.
I haven't been out of the house since last Saturday night when we came back from Fort Worth.
I have loved every single minute.
Most days I have spent a little time at the art table.....and time at the sewing machine working on the denim quilt. I have cooked good meals. Organized a few things. Pulled some weeds and done some gardening. I have slept late and read a couple of good books. 
I would love to do this for a month or more but real life starts again tomorrow.
Next week will be more focused on people and that's a good thing.

Tonight is the time change so I went ahead and changed all our clocks at 6:00 pm.
We have so many.
Two in the den, one in the laundry room, four in the kitchen - microwave, stove, above the kitchen sink and over the kitchen door. One in the sewing room, one outside by the gazebo, one in the living room and one on the front porch. One in Louis Dean's bathroom and one in mine. Two in the guest room and one in the bedroom. That's 16 clocks!

For seven mornings I have woken up at my leisure but tomorrow we must get up and get dressed and BE somewhere at 11:00. That's the reason I changed them all tonight.

So I will bid you all a goodnight as I am already in bed as I write this journal entry!



14 comments:

Kathy said...

I love reading about your days. You are always so productive. It is nice to stay home for a week to just get caught up. But it is good to get out and do things also. I will be praying for Summer. She never seems to get a break.

Nancy Chan said...

You and Louis Dean always have something interesting going on. It is good to keep busy. Your breakfast and stewed meat look so delicious.

Ginny Hartzler said...

I am sorry about Summer. When will she be having the second surgery? Your stew looks so good!

MadSnapper said...

I did not know there is a weed burner, wow, what will they think of next. daddy always wanted a tiller like this one, he had a manual one, that he pushed by hand. yay for fresh veggies in your yard. sorry to hear Summer is having a bad time again. hope she feels better soon. it is good you are staying home, think coronavirus and stay out of crowds and nursing homes.. stayin home is good for you

Arlene G said...

Time at home is good but like you say, sometimes we just need to be out and about too. That weed burner looks very interesting. Hope you will show us what you were working on at your art table. I loved the pictures of the dogs you are working on! Not much going on here ...I too have been fluffing my house for spring. We head to Grimmwood on Thursday. Hoping it will be warmer and sunny!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hope that Summer's pain will be relieved when she has the surgery. She has had such a rough time, but always looks so cheerful in your photo posts.

I know how happy Louis Dean is to get new equipment as it's always been the same way with my husband. It still is whenever he gets something new for his ham radio equipment! Amazon is great for finding things that you can't get in a regular store, but I've also learned that sometimes prices can be cheaper elsewhere online, like the ink cartridges I ordered this week (Staples online beat Amazon by $5).

I know what you mean about not wanting to waste food and it's the same here, why is "why" I had to make that pumpkin pie yesterday to use up the can of pumpkin and the pie crust in the fridge.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Even though you didn't leave the house you have been busy. I guess your knee must be good now. How wonderful you can do so much without pain. I only have a regular phone cover and need to get one of those otter boxes. The really do a good job of protecting our phones. I had one on my old phone, but the new one I got at Christmas is a different size. How wonderful to be gardening. We won't do planting until the middle of May. There is still a chance of frost up till then. I live in northern Ohio. Today is supposed to be sunny and close to 60 degrees which is the warmest yet for this season. Will be praying for Summer. The stroganoff sounds good and I'm sure will be appreciated.

Carol said...

Not leaving home can be a blessing. I also feel as though I need contact with people as well. I am thankful that I am able to be home most days but with the grand doll here, I don't accomplish nearly as much as I want.
I hate to hear that Summer is suffering. I will add her to my prayer list today. I hope you have a good visit with her.

Changes in the wind said...

Nice to have the new things that make work so much easier and yes you can learn to do most anything on google:) It has rescued me many times with knitting. I think it is important to stay and home and enjoy our blessings and not always be in a rush. For those of us who are not longer working it is a luxury for sure. Sending good thought for Summer...

Vee said...

Do be careful with the weed burner. I have one and that’s all I’m saying. 🙂

You folks stay so busy and planting a garden is busy to the 10th power. The way Louis Dean works is just plain smart. I like it!

Saying a prayer for Summer. She will appreciate your coming to spend some time with her.

Susie said...

Linda, So fun to see LD getting that tiller off the truck. A man of physics. Glad you both are doing so well. Oh I hate wasting food also. We usually make it all count here. Labeling is good. So sorry to read about Summer suffering. Poor girl could use a break. Blessings to all of you, love you, xoxo, Susie
p.s. thank you for the card , it means so much to me.

photowannabe said...

It sounds like you have had a week of Bliss at your home. I am looking forward to doing it this next week too.
So sorry that Summer is in so much pain, praying right now for relief.
I just love LD's drive and passion he has for all things mechanical. Your garden is going to be fantastic for sure.
I reset some of our clocks this morning...by the time bedtime rolls around I will probably have them all rest but ,
My goodness that's a lot of clocks..I believe we have 8 that don't reset themselves automatically. I'm glad the computer and phones do it themselves.
Have a wonderful week.
Sue

Wanda said...

What a busy week. So much always going on at your home. Love the looks of that beef stew....without salt, things like stew just aren't the same. Sorry Summer is still in pain.

Love and Hugs

Carole said...

Boy,my better half would be dangerous with one of those weed burners - and everything is really dry here at the moment - I won't tell him about them... Cheers and all the best to Summer, too.