Posts

The Big Storm

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 On September 2 2026, we got hit by a bad storm.  It's been really stressful, and now that it's been more than a week, I would like nothing more than to forget about the whole thing.  But Chad and I like to keep records of these things, so that we can look back and remember what happened in our lives.  So here's a story of what happened. I had heard early in the day that we would possibly have bad storms, so I made sure to get the laundry done, get dinner made, go pick all of the veggies in the garden, get loose things out of the yard like the plastic chairs and such.  And for extra precaution, we got our cat carriers out of storage and had them sitting in the dining room.  Doing this made them easy to get to if we needed them, but it also helps the cats get used to them a little better so they're not instantly afraid when the carriers come out.  We made it through most of the storm with nothing very interesting happening.  A little drizzle, a lit...

Produce Progress

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One reason I haven't been writing much lately, is because of my garden.  It has been one fantastic garden year, which has kept me busy almost every day for at least since the beginning of August, slicing and blanching and freezing and pickling, harvesting and cooking and weeding.   I've never gotten so many vegetables in my life, and it's been a real education for me in being steadfast and showing up every day to do the work whether I feel like it or not.  It has been so rewarding in so many ways, and I'm so glad I've been able to put up so much good food for the winter.  However, I'm so glad it's coming to a close! My garden was hit by a bad storm about a week ago (that's a future post!), and so many plants are finally done producing.  What's left won't requite so much work to put up.  Cabbage and carrots and rutabagas will happily sit in the fridge for months, staying fresh and delicious.  Ground cherries just need to be picked and frozen, pret...

The Storms and the Floods

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Hey everyone, it's guest author Chad here today.  At the end of July, we had quite the rainstorm come through the area.  Apple Weather figured it was about a quarter inch (haw haw), local news eventually settled on 4.5", but this is what our rain gauge had to say about the portion that came down on overnight: There was a lot of runoff.  Following our creek downstream, it came up into the field, around our cabin. And it pushed up over the walkway leading to the cabin. In the aftermath, there was a bit of mud on the plants around the back of the cabin, so it may have gotten under there a bit.  But we couldn't get in there to observe it first hand.  Thankfully, the cabin is raised about a foot and a half off the ground, so it had no trouble itself.  Downstream, it came up over the banks and into our neighbor's yard quite a bit. More water was being problematic elsewhere.  Across the street, it couldn't all fit through the culvert under the driveway int...