The garden scene: I'm battling squash bugs beyond belief! I wish they'd die, but probably won't before my squash does. :( The weeds in my garden are several feet tall (the areas that didn't get weed fabric covering), and I was working way too much and too hard, so I was too tired to do anything about it. Not to mention the fact that in the past month we've only gotten about an inch of rain. UGH! I've been watering twice daily in the garden, early morning and late evening. The 5 gallon buckets work wonderful for planting in, and my peppers are going CRAZY, but the downside is that they do tend to dry out quickly. Next year I have some better ideas, including drip line irrigation, and hopefully prevent early blight that way.
The yellow squash and zucchini are pretty much done in, thanks to the squash bugs, and I've seen them trying to infest my winter squash and pumpkins. I really have no way to get rid of them easily, and I'm not real big on using pesticides in my garden...but I'm about ready to give in. These things are SOOOO nasty and destructive! I'll keep looking for more info on natural prevention. One guy at the Farmers Market mentioned that he plants radishes in with his squash and that keeps them away...but do the bugs then head for his cucumbers? Hmmm....
I do know that diatomaceous earth and insecticidal soaps don't do a thing for them.
Home Life: Our cabin has been a mess for weeks now, and I am looking forward to having some time to get it all put back to neat & tidy. The dog is shedding and his hair has found it's way into every nook & cranny...so will have to really put some muscle into getting it cleaned behind & under furniture, thankfully I don't have a LOT of furniture in here. The laundry has been piling up, the food shelves are overflowing (literally, Shannon & I hit Big Lots twice this past month, so there are TONS of snacks and nowhere to put them...but school starts next week, so I expect the overflow will quickly be replaced with emptiness. And I've had a hard time keeping up with the dishes, especially with the kids working so many hours in July, they were never home to unload the dishwasher, but sure enjoyed loading up the sink!
Thankfully Tim's overnight job is over and done with. He can now focus on college again, which starts in two weeks. Michael's overnight job is over, but he was offered a FT position during the day...getting him back & forth to work is going to kill me until he gets his own car. 7am! :( Shannon is finishing her last year of HS this year and starts back next week. Jason has taken some time off to work on the house, and then returns to his regular FT job and also his teaching job at the same college Tim is at on the 19th. And what am I doing??? I quit my job the other day. BIG disagreement with an assistant manager. Apparently I have an attitude towards management...um...only when you're WRONG or treating others like the dirt under your shoes. But since I get upset every time I think about it, I am trying to put it in the past and focus on my family & home. I am also thinking of taking herbalist classes, but will have to decide if it's in the budget or not.
On a more positive note...all that time that my husband took off from work has been put to good use, the 2nd story on our house is up! The roof is on! And now we can begin putting the walls up, the windows in, and running electric upstairs. After that I believe the insulators will be coming out. We are using spray foam insulation, which is not only a great vapor & R value product, but also aids in structural stability. We hope our home is almost tornado proof, well, at least the normal range of tornadoes that pass through here, but probably would not withstand the force of a Joplin tornado. Hopefully a storm shelter will be in our future plans.
Here are some pictures. I'm just sooooo excited & happy to see the progress. It's taken three years, almost to the date, to get this far. We couldn't have done it without the help from our kids, my husband's parents, wonderful friends, and the local bank who decided to take us on with our unconventional building practices. That's my 1st floor bathroom tub and my 2nd story bathroom shower on the trailer to the right! :)
Those were taken after the 1st day's work. We had a BIG chance of rain that night, so we tarped the deck again as best we could. Thankfully Jason was awake and able to bail water out of the stairwell in the middle of the night. Other than a few other puddles, we were okay. We got an inch of rain that night.
Great Progress! Once you get the insulation in you will be able to work inside much easier and not get too cold or too hot. May even be able to put some of the things from the cabin inside for storage and have more room. This is going to be a beautiful home.
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