Are We There YET ?

( Homemade Tomato Sauce - My First Try - Took FOREVER.  But it was sooo worth it! )

You know that little water spout that forms near the end - when the bathtub is emptying out?

( The first batch of Half-Pints full of Tomato Sauce. )

That’s where we are around here.  Only - it feels as if the water spout spent time above the water - like you can see around Galveston Bay at times.  And it looks like it came up on land - too.

( More to come. )

The water is receding.  The mess abounds!

And right now Carlie is trying to get my attention by touching my box of potatoes with her foot and grumbling…

She is sooooo the Brat!  She knows she’s not supposed to mess with the potatoes!

We’re close to winding down.  And yet - there is still so much to do.

Just the thought of my decision to not set up a garden next year gives me ‘ goose bumps ‘ at this point.

I’m gonna work on the landscaping for the front of our house next year - instead.

We have three Bradford Pear trees.  The previous owners planted them out front - smack in the middle of a gorgeous view of the Great Smoky Mountains and Cherokee National Park.

I don’t like them.  I want them gone.  And Dwayne is game for any excuse to play with the power of the toy.  “ Chain it up, boys ! ”

This has been quite the gardening season.  I think this has been the strangest spring and summer, yet.

The heat has won. I’m not even happy with the appearance of our corn.  I’m just not so sure it’s going to make this year.

And I’m so worn out that I have to muster up any caring.  I mean - what can one do?  Mother Nature has the upper hand.

All you can do is try again - next season.

Well - season after next season for me.

Wait a minute...  That's Brendon Clark.  How'd he get in here?

The girls are doing just fine.  I decided to stop going to Co-Op to get the Chick Starter.

This last bag had about 25 percent actual crumble - and the rest looked like flour.

My birds began acting funny - like they were starving - a couple days after feeding with that bag.

So I made a trip up to Tractor Supply.  The guy that helped me commented that I was the second person coming in telling him the very same thing that morning.

I seem to be having better results with their behavior feeding them DuMOR Chick starter - instantly.  So - I guess I’ll stick with that until it’s time to change up after they turn 12 weeks old.

We’re about to wrap up with tomatoes.  We still haven’t managed to get potatoes dug up.  They’ll be next.

From there - we start canning potatoes and jalapeno peppers.

And in between - I have appointments lined up with my therapist and my doctor.  And I’m still trying to find a dentist taking new patients.  But I’ve been told to hold off on any surgery until we find out exactly what’s going on with me.

All I know is this.  I live with constant pain - inside and outside.  And the anti-inflammatory pills I’m taking right now are doing very little to help - a couple hours of slight relief at best.

Those who know me well enough - know that I have always had a high tolerance to pain and a low tolerance to medications.

I have too much to take care of in my life to be putting up with pills that knock my lights out.  I don’t like trying to live my daily life without having full control over my head.

I still have over half a 90-day supply of muscle relaxers that my other doctor gave me last year.

By the time I have to go to the doctor - by the time I cave in and take a pill for the pain - I can barely move on my own without fighting the crying.

That’s just the way I am.

I guess that comes from watching so many others I care about - destroying their lives by abusing drugs.

Many of my best teachers in life taught me what NOT to do.