A Day That Wouldn't Slow Down

Today started a little earlier than I would have liked.

Actually, a lot earlier.

At 5:30 this morning, I woke up to Wyatt vomiting.

Wyatt has developed a new bad habit of digging through the fire pit. Before we headed downstate last week, he had gotten sick, but we didn't know what he had eaten. This morning, when I cleaned up after him, I found charcoal from the fire pit.

Mystery solved.

Now I am going to have to be very diligent about keeping him out of there.

I tried going back to sleep and stayed in bed for another two hours, but by 7:30 I decided I might as well get up and get to work.

I headed outside and decided to install an Extend-A-Stay adapter on the motorhome's propane line. The Extend-A-Stay allows us to connect a portable propane tank instead of using the motorhome's onboard tank.

We're down to about 25% in the onboard tank, and as the temperatures continue to drop, I'm worried I may need that propane for heat.

It was only 45 degrees this morning, so I was glad the installation took less than 15 minutes. I added Teflon tape to the threads, tightened everything with a wrench, and tested all of the connections with soapy water.

No leaks.

I also have an electronic propane sniffer that I completely forgot about, so tomorrow I'll check everything again with that just to be safe.

With that project finished, I threw the ball for Wyatt for a few minutes before walking down to the workshop to get the tractor.

I wanted to clean up the scrap metal I had pushed out of the weeds near the old camper the other day.

When I started going through it today, I finally understood why it had been so difficult to push everything out of the weeds.

Apparently, I had discovered the previous owner's old scrap metal pile.

I must have loaded more than 10 tractor buckets full of scrap and moved all of it to my ever-growing scrap pile in the Quonset hut.

When I finally finished that, I went through the other pile I had pushed out from behind the barn.

Now both areas are cleaned up.

You know you're working hard when you wear through the fingers of your gloves...

And that's exactly what I did today.

Now I really need to find my other gloves.

By the time I finished, I was sure it had to be 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon.

Nope.

10:00 a.m.

So I headed back to camp for a break.

I was exhausted and wanted to take a nap, but my mind just doesn't work like that. Instead, I took a shower and rested on the couch for a while.

Eventually, of course, I headed back outside.

This time I started rounding up all of the old 20-pound propane tanks scattered around the property. Since I had just installed the Extend-A-Stay, I figured I would probably need to exchange one for a full tank.

I found eight.

And one of them actually felt full.

I moved the other seven into their own section of the Quonset hut, took the full one back to camp, and connected it to the Extend-A-Stay valve I installed.

Then I decided to try removing the garage door from the barn.

Just like the garage, it's only screwed into the joists, so I grabbed my driver and started unscrewing it.

Then I noticed something flying around.

Yellow jackets.

They had made a nest inside a piece of foam leaning against the door.

I honestly don't know how none of us have been stung. We were all over that area cleaning it out several times this summer and apparently had no idea they were there.

I backed away.

My plan is to deal with them when it's darker and colder and they're less active.

With the barn door project temporarily canceled, I headed over to the garden.

I picked the rest of the corn, two strawberries, a couple of peppers, and a few tomatoes.

The spaghetti squash is still growing, and the zucchinis are huge. Some of the tomatoes are finally starting to turn red, but I have a feeling that's going to slow down now that the temperatures are getting much cooler.

After dropping the vegetables off at camp, I remembered I still had yesterday's free find sitting in the back of the truck. So I unloaded the lawn sweeper I picked up on the side of the road and found a spot for it.

Another free piece of equipment officially added to the farm.

Then I put the back blade on the tractor and headed over to the garage to start scraping it out.

I got a lot done, but I'm still going to have to get in there with a shovel to really clean around the sides.

While I was working over there, I decided to see if I could check for power.

I think I know where the power feed is, so I grabbed my hot wire tester, turned on the breaker, and checked the wires.

Unfortunately, there was no power.

That's another project I'll have to tackle another way on another day.

While I was over by the garage, our neighbor was on her way home and stopped to say hello.

Believe it or not, this was actually our first time meeting in person. We've chatted online but never had the opportunity to meet.

That was a nice surprise.

After that, Wyatt and I headed up to the mailbox. I had received a notification that a package had been delivered.

On the way back, I was sure it had to be 4:00 or 5:00.

Nope.

1:15 p.m.

I was doing so much, and somehow the day was going so slowly.

Since apparently there were still plenty of hours left in the day, I decided to pull all of the hose back from the garden and leave it by the barn so I can wrap it up and store it.

Then I headed over to the spring, disassembled the water barrels, and moved them to the barn for storage too.

I was tired and ready to be done, but I knew there were still things I wanted to accomplish.

So I went over to the pavilion and opened the box containing the new garage door I brought back from downstate.

I took out one panel and carried it over to the garage to check the fit.

Perfect.

It's going to work and look great once I finish removing more of the dirt from the garage floor.

I carried the panel back to the pavilion and opened the package I had picked up from the mailbox earlier.

Inside were 100 tulip bulbs that we'll plant before the first frost.

We also have a few other things we haven't planted yet. I don't know if they're still good, but we're going to plant them anyway.

Garlic.

Wildflowers.

Dahlias.

We'll see what happens.

At this point, I was seriously contemplating going inside and calling it a day.

Then I received a message that my prescription was ready.

So much for that.

I headed into town, picked it up along with a few other things, filled the truck, and got gas for the lawn mower and diesel for the tractor.

On the way, I noticed something else.

The leaves are really starting to change colors.

Yesterday I wrote about how quickly summer seems to be disappearing. Today, the mountain decided to provide a little more evidence.

When I finally got back to camp, I started a fire.

And this time I actually sat down.

After about an hour, I headed inside and put dinner in the oven. Chicken enchiladas that my partner left for me.

And yes, the oven was running from the portable propane tank connected through the Extend-A-Stay I installed first thing this morning.

So at least I know that project works.

I made a Shepherd's Salad with a tomato from the garden to go with dinner and jumped in the shower.

Now, as I finish writing this, I'm thinking tonight might actually be an early night.

Considering Wyatt started my day at 5:30 this morning and I somehow managed to squeeze what felt like three days of work into one...

I think I've earned it.

~ Making Memories