Well, there's bad news then there's good news...

~ 8 inches of snow on top of 3 inches of snow + extremely cold temps ~

Food, shelter, clothing are, or should be, everyone's concerns and once those three needs have been met, we're ready to move to wants. Lately, my concerns have revolved solely around needs; specifically around water...even more specifically, frozen water. Last month, the horse trough froze (several times) and this month, the heating pipes froze, burst, thawed and the resulting mess is epic...I'm sorry to say.

As the insurance adjuster and I are standing in my bedroom, he said, "I just don't see how the pipes could have frozen. Did you have the heat on?" It's a fair question and although the dogs and I sleep together, I still require need heat. My answer was, "Yes, but when the temps are below freezing (-5 degrees F) with a wind chill taking temps into minus double digits...and when the wind is coming from the west, clashing against the west corner of the house (my bedroom), Mother Nature will have her way with mere wood and copper".

~ Sadie, carries her chew treat to keep it from Sam

eventually, Sam returns the favor ~

When we first moved here, we were told the coldest recorded temperature in this county was on the hill to the northeast; a distance of a few hundred feet. In January 1996, Dave and I saw the back porch thermostat at 35 below zero but with no wind chill, thank God!

The bedroom, where the damage originated, had two or three inches of standing water. I began throwing down blankets, towels, washcloths...I managed to retain a modicum of sense and not throw down my red flannel nightgown...lol. As I was able, I threw things on top the bed, atop the stairs the dogs use to get into bed...Lord only knows what all I did...I can't remember.

To return to the beginning but making this a quick post...Sunday temps and weather were horrible for a lot of the country, including Thistle Cove Farm. The day began normally but as it wore, I noticed it began to get cooler in my bedroom. I raised the thermostat setting but cool became cold and the pipes eventually froze so using a heat gun and hair dryers, I attempted to thaw the pipes but it was a losing battle.

Due to my now complete and utter exhaustion, memory fades and confusion reigns but a vivid memory is of a crashing sound that turned out to be dry wall falling from the ceiling into the dining room. The frozen bedroom pipes had thawed and boiling water was being spewed forth like a geyzer and, yes, it did hurt burn when, using bath towels, I tried to stem the flow.

Immediately, I began running into the dining room, gathering up sewing/quilting supplies, machines, spinning wheels and taking them to safety. The winter after Dave died, I began using the dining room as a place to quilt, spin, weave, etc. as it was safer than going outside to the small building behind the house.

Twice, as I retrieved "something" and turned to run, the ceiling crashed down where I'd been standing perhaps two seconds before. Needless to say, there are no photos of events as they happened, only after the fact. As the ceiling crashed, in order to retrieve belongings, I had to take time to haul wet sheet rock and insulation to the porch...not a pretty mess, eh?

When it all began to overwhelm me, I grabbed the phone, dialed Mary and cradled the phone against my shoulder as I kept hauling stuff out of the room. When she answered, I'm rather sure I wasn't all that coherent but managed to say, "This is the worst it's been since Dave died; I can't cope. I'm afraid I'm at the point where I'll do something stupid." We both knew what that meant. She said, "I'll get Eddie and we'll be there as soon as we can."

Now this is the point where it needs be said what that entailed. Mary (and her son Dustin) had to leave their home in Burkes Garden, drive across a rather treacherous mountain, to Bluefield, WV, pick up Eddie, then drive to my home. That's a distance of about fifty miles...and in the night time low temps, snow and ice and it took them about two and a half hours when normally, it would have taken an hour, thereabouts.

The outside wall is a sheet of brown ice, colored by the floor stain and, yes, the wall will need to be painted in the spring. This process will take the house, and me, months to recover.

As soon as they got here, Eddie took over and Mary took me aside saying, "You need to stop, stand still and let's pray" and that's exactly what we did. Mary and I are both Bible reading, Bible believing Christians and, in the name of Jesus, she prayed for any and all evil (Satan) to leave this house immediately. She prayed for the peace and grace of Jesus to prevail, for any doubts in my mind to be gone.

You may know what the Bible says..."where two or three are gathered together" and for Mary praying I am eternally grateful. Actually, we'll probably never know, until we get to heaven, the full impact of her prayer.

When we couldn't get the water stopped, I called Daniel Miller who came and used rubber inner tube to slow the flow of boiling water. Both Daniel and Eddie are handier than pockets on a shirt and what they've forgotten isn't worth knowing!

Sunday wore on into Monday before things were to the point we could collapse and I'm pretty sure I may have passed out before folks were down the driveway. Even so, that didn't happen until the wee hours.

~ ServPro's heating mats ~

I would have thought exhaustion would cause me to pass out, and it did but only for a few hours. I woke early, sent an e-mail to my insurance company to get things going and, as soon as it was "working hours", I called ServPro and Jeff and Taylor came that afternoon. In the meantime, Mary, her children and Eddie returned and clean up began in ernest. By that I mean, Eddie started tearing down remaining wet sheet rock, moving furniture, etc.

So, what's the good news? Well, God is faithful and this is part of His plan. Other good news...once again, I can see how beautifully and well made is this old house. In the above photo, the mortise and tenon brace is evident and this is only one in the room, there are others along with knee braces and supports. In the attic, the joists are numbered in the Roman Numeral style...the way things were done by Master Builder Thomas Hawkins back in the 1800-1900's. I've always said living on this farm has been the best one-third of my life and nothing that's happened changes my mind. Bless the name of God, I am bowed but not broken.

How am I doing? As Dave would say, "C, C-" for a variety of reasons: I'm not sleeping well due to keeping the house so warm hot to dry out the plus 100 year old wood. I've moved to a spare bedroom and will live there for the foreseeable future but last night it was 85 degrees. The dogs pant and sleep restlessly and I sweat and sleep restlessly; I've been up since 2:30 and it's now after 6 a.m. I'm not eating well...takes energy I simply don't have and am busy talking to contractors (Gillespie Construction), plumbers (Daniel Jones), insurance adjuster, ServPro...on and on the list goes. Also, the machines being used to dry and de-humidify are LOUD...relentlessly LOUD and I've a constant headache. Plus, I can't use the coffee pot, microwave, convection oven or stove oven because the machines are pulling all the electricity and causes circuit breakers to flip off.

Last night, Brandon H. and his crew, delivered two loads of firewood...black locust, cherry and red oak (hurrah!!), I'll have to order more oil and propane and it feels like I'm burning though money that would give Bill Gates pause. Bless God, today the temps are already in the 50's so the dogs and I will be able to get outside for a nice long gambol after I've returned from town errands.

For your prayers, I am ever grateful and, with God's help, I'll get through this as well (but, sorry to say, I'm sure to be even more negligent in responding to comments). In an effort to be "normal" (whatever that means...) yesterday, Eddie and I began clearing/cleaning the living room which is where the brunt of belongings were stashed while I was frantically rescuing things from the dining room. He then set up my laptop computer on the desk and linked it to my scanner/printer. It's my intent, when clean up, construction, etc. becomes overwhelming, to begin work on the story of the best one-third of my life. The working title is The Thistle Cove Farm Epistles ~ God Has a Plan.

Wish me well, eh?

Ponder this ~

"God has not promised skies always blue 

flower strewn pathways all our lives through 

God has not promised sun without rain

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain

But God has promised strength for the day

Rest for the labor, light for the way

Grace for the trials, help from above

Unfailing sympathy, undying love. 

God hath not promised we shall not know

Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;

He hath not told us we shall not bear

Many a burden many a care

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide

Swift, easy travel, needing no guide

Never a mountain, rocky and steep

Never a river, turbid and deep."    (here)

My Knees Are Crying Like Babies

This morning, my knees are crying like babies and at first, with an idiot's wisdom, I thought "It must be going to rain." Then I checked the weather and find it's not supposed to rain until Wednesday and reconsidered the knee situation. Oh. Right. The wood stack on the back porch went from the above to 

which meant one step up on the porch, carrying wood, one step down on the ground, repeat until wood off ground and onto rack. The large piece, left, will be used as a back porch table; a sweet reminder of the gift of the sugar maple. In the interest of full disclosure, the back side is what I did before leaving to do errands. The front is what Faith did when she came to help yesterday. Still, immodesty bids me also tell you, Faith is 2/3 my age; she's 21 to my 62 so your adulation and praise should not be withheld on my behalf (HAHAHAHAHA).

There's one more wood rack to fill and, in the next few days, the boys will be along with black locust. I've got a couple of things to finish in the house and then let Ole Man Winter come! But, not until then please and thanks.

Coming home yesterday, of course I stopped to take photos.

A beautiful white tailed deer.

The Cove from another direction. This taken from about where the "Half Mile Tree" stood until it succumbed to Father Time and Mother Nature. The tiny white spot, about center left is the Cove church, no longer used for services. Thistle Cove Farm cannot be seen due to the rolling nature of the landscape and much of the land in this photo belongs to the estate of Smiley Ratliff, a local southwest VA (Grundy, Buchanan County) boy "who done good"...very, very, very good. Dave and I were welcomed into the Cove by Smiley, long before we knew who Smiley was. To us he was simply a kind man, a good neighbor who invited us to his home for cook-outs and a good time. If you click on his name, you'll read a Washington Post article that describes Smiley and our part of Appalachia to a T. In the 1950's Smiley was on the cover of Time magazine. Like I said, a southwest VA boy who done good...very, very, very good for himself and a lot of others.

As an aside, when we first moved to the farm, a young lad who helped us told me he used to play junior varsity football. I asked him why he'd quit and he replied, "Waelll, we'un's 'uld play agin Grundy and I'd be on the line and look up and that thar feller 'n front of me 'uld have a mustash. Heck, Miss Sandra, that just ain't right...them Grundy boys go back to school in September so they'uns could play football and they'd quit by Christmas. Some of them had been in the 8th grade 3 and 4 times!"

Smiley coached Buchanan High School football and was once asked what was the best pass defense. He replied, "A quarterback lying in a pool of blood, dyin'."

They don' grow 'em as tuff as they us'd tuh.

Blessings ~ Smiley Ratliff ~ firewood ~ the Cove ~ black locust ~ sugar maple ~ 

Three Days of Absolutely Beautiful!

~ home sweet home ~

I'm participating in Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party here and have giveaways.

Just yesterday, the weather report said three days of absolutely beautiful! Today, tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be warm, sunny, bright and, totally, un-February. 

Wrong.

Today is rainy, chilly and absolutely not clothes hanging outside to dry weather so no laundry today and not even thinking about it. January and February have been bone crushing exhausting and mostly spent on the road, tending to business which, for the most part, is almost caught up. The South Carolina Cherry Grove condo was made ready for Canadian snowbirds (hi John and Rosie) and then for the season ahead.  The website has yet to be updated but VRBO is, mostly, updated.

In between trips, it's been farm work with time taken for drinking in the beauty. I never want to allow myself to be so busy that I forget to take time to enjoy this moment. Recently, my brother asked if I remember something and was surprised when I said, "No, I've got maybe half dozen memories of the last three years. For the most part, it's a blur." That's what grief can do to a person's mind and body; it can wrack you with such emotional pain that you simply lose huge swaths of time. Never let someone force you into how you should respond, what you should do after the death of a loved one. Thankfully, due to God's mercy and grace and the positive actions and prayers of many, I was able to come through to this side mostly whole. It takes as long as it takes...

The dogs and I did a pasture walk to clear out the water trough, pick up trash and take photos. Please note, all the work was done by the one with actual working thumbs as the dogs are moral and love support only. ahem. 

This photo was taken from the far corner fence line, in the alfalfa field and the house is seen, barely, in the distance, to the left of Morris Knob (at about 3400 feet, the tallest point in Tazewell County), where the copse of trees stand. 

On the upper hill, hay needed to be set but I have to wait until the afternoon sun has come 'round and heated up the stable door lock so it can be unlocked. (Ain't nothing ever easy, is it?) It's difficult to tell but the tractor is on a slight hill, facing downward, so I always raise the front end bucket to offset the weight of the 1100 pound round bale being picked up behind; the tractor is in 4-wheel drive for added security. I spend a lot of time thinking things through in an attempt to do my part at preventing accidents but pray and rely on God to do the actual preventing. Although, as Daddy says, "There's no such thing as "preventing an accident". I believe he's right, basically, it's just an oxymoron. So, I spent a lot of time thinking about safety and then following through.

With the tractor in reverse, I floor it, just a tad, to shove the rear spear into the hay bale. For me, this is a tricky part...the three prong spear has to be in the right places in order to pick up the bale and you can see snow on the ground so it's a trifle slick. The three prongs are one on top and two side by side below, somewhat forming a triangle. 

Usually the round metal hay ring is frozen to the ground and I'm beyond the point in time where I could physically break the ground hold then move the feeder. The round feeder weighs close to 250 pounds so the tractor is put to good use by using the front bucket to lift the feeder and break the ground hold.

Before putting the ring around the hay bale, I remove all the twine that was used in baling the hay. Others have told me they don't remove the twine but all I see is a vet bill should the horses eat the twine and it gets wrapped around their intestines. It takes all of a minute to accomplish this step, lessens my anxiety and is safer and healthier for the horses. 

Once the ring is broken from the ground I, physically, lift it from the ground

then walk it so the flat side is toward the hay bale

and drop it over the hay bale.

The last step is positioning the ring so it's even all around making it easier for the five horses to eat. 

The dogs help by providing entertainment...Daisy on the left, Sadie in the middle and Sam on the right...chase, jump, bark and generally have a high ole time. Sometimes I join in and then we all take a toes up on the pasture to enjoy heavenly scenery. 

And in the "whoever said God doesn't have a sense of humor department"...you might remember when, first of January, I was bemoaning the fact my wood supply was, dangerously, low. To some folks I mentioned I wanted a supply of black locust because it has the best BTU's of any wood around here, burns cleanly and leaves few ashes. I also mentioned that to God but on the next to last day in January, I figured He had other plans for me. ... Until I remembered Charlie's son had a small business selling wood. In nasty weather, on the last day of January, B. and his friend, delivered a load of wood, directly to my back porch! The wood rack had three pieces of spongy, sorry looking wood.

While the young men were working, I asked, "I'm not good with wood but that looks like oak, is it?" B. stopped working, turned to me, looked me in the eye and said, "No ma'm, it's black locust we cut out of a fence line about four years ago so it should be plenty dry. We really appreciate you buying wood from us." 

I started laughing, raised my hands to the ski and said, "Thank you, God!" The young man grinned and looked at me. I said, "First of January, I asked God for a load of black locust and, honestly, figured He'd forgotten but this proves me wrong! I bet there's laughter in heaven right about now." (Truly, I know God doesn't forget but sometimes it's easy to confuse myself.) 

I ordered three more loads and will, probably, order more before summer. I like having wood stored in the barn; makes me feel like I've got a hold on winter before it gets here next year. This young man is impressive! He shows respect by stopping his work, looking me in the eye, listening and responding with beautiful manners. Several times he said, "Thank you for buying wood; we really appreciate it." Pick me up off the floor! Charlie, you and K. have done a fabulous job; I love this boy...may I have him, please?

Using the Polaris Ranger and an old metal bed spring, I drug the yard to distribute horse manure. Lightly has been allowed to graze the yard and her manure means I don't have to spend money on chemical fertilizers (as if!). Next time, I'll use the tractor as this job was a bit too hard on the Ranger. (Daddy John did warn me...)

What's on your back porch? 

If you've surmised my computer woes are over...they are, at least for the here and now but who knows how long that will last? For a lot of years, there have been no computer problems but, since October, that's changed. Hopefully, I'll have a spell where I'm able to visit around so act surprised when I show up on your blog, although, it'll be slow going for a while. Yesterday, I dropped a ladder on my right hand and the pain level is such I'm forced to go slow; thank God my hand isn't broken.

Blessings ~ days of beauty ~ safety ~ round bales of hay ~ dogs ~ black locust wood ~ another day above ground ~ I'm ready to go but I'm not homesick ~