Tuesday, February 25, 2020

July 2019: Extreme heat and Endless Work

Posted:   February 25, 2020                                    Most Recent Posts:
About:  July 2019                                      June 2019 at Greenfield Mountain Farm
                                                                                    May 2019 Back in Virginia


I didn’t take many pictures of all the work I did this month so most of these are from my visit to Carrie and her family.  With many thanks to my wonderful friend Pam for locating the journal that details the things in this blog and many more boring details of this month of solid work.


IMG_9885I spent much of July cleaning both inside the house and cleaning out papers of all kinds.  Seemingly never ending papers.  Shredding things with David’s social security number on them.  SO many medical statements and bills.  He kept everything for all 7 years of his illness. 



The table above me is in what we called the west porch where we had the computer, many reference books for school work and where I’ve taken to doing puzzles to while away the long evening hours here without David when I am too tired to do anything else.




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It is so amazingly hot here, very unusually hot here – mid to upper 90’s and as high as 100 degrees for much of the month.  I’ve been keeping track of the weather in other places.  Like Bar Harbor, Maine where it is in the low 70’s and even Flagler Beach Florida where it is 10 degrees cooler than here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  What is going on?  It sure makes getting things done outside very difficult.  With a heat index of 110 it is becoming scary.  I’ve never experienced anything like this in over  40 years of living here.

With the heat here, I can barely keep up with the mowing of the grass in the yard and weed whacking the fence line.  I’m having a great deal of trouble with the riding mower which is old and has been badly abused.  David was very hard on mowers asking them to do things better suited to a tractor.  

In the cool  of the evening when I did most of the outside mowing and trimming, several times I saw this mother and her baby along the newly graveled farm road.


During June I got several estimates to paint the house and the shop in the yard which David always did every 7 or 8 years.   Our previous blog shows us doing one side of the house each year we came back to Virginia but nothing has been done since and it is over due. 

I think I’ve found someone to do it but the price is high.  Not the highest estimate, not the lowest and  not necessarily unreasonable given that it is a VERY old house and needs scraping and painting with multiple shades and there are porch railings.  

David only had a small life insurance policy as it was through his work with the University and after you retire, it decreases by about 50% every year until it gets to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% of what it was when you were employed and there it stays.  So for me it’s about enough to pay to have the tree and road work done and the house painted and then it will be gone.  Not sure what I’ll do 8 years from now but I’ll worry about that then.


IMG_9770I rewarded myself for all this work with a trip to Maryland to see Carrie and her family. 

I took a Little People School House that had been Carries after sewing a bag for it and its pieces.  Celia loved it.  Colin, at 10 months, was more interested in the ribbon on the box 


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I was happy to see Celia using what I guess is now an heirloom dolly cradle.  It was mine when I was her age and Carrie used it and now Celia.  That’s Amanda Claire in the cradle.  She was Carrie’s baby doll.

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It’s hot there too but they has a pool in her backyard where we could all keep cool.

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Celia and Nana read books and did puzzles.  Colin wanted to help too but as you can see, Celia thought she’d better not let him have the puzzle pieces.  Notice she’s looking at me while she has her hand on the puzzle he has.   As if to say, can I do this without getting in trouble?

And all too soon the week-end was over and it was time for all the adults to go back to work.

When I returned, a new problem showed up in the form of 6 fraud charges on my Discover Card which they graciously took care of, cancelling my card and sending me a new one.  That of course means that I have to change all my automatic charges for cell phones, utilities at the farm, auto and homeowners insurance and on and on. 

Still taking things to Goodwill, the local hospital donation shop and the library book sale.  I don’t think I’m ready to sell the farm but it needs to be cleaned out while I am here for so long this year.  It gives me something to do to keep my mind occupied and when the temperature is so amazingly hot.

Carrie and I have decided to have the Memorial for David here at the farm for mid September so that I will have time to finish getting the house painted and other things fixed but I sent out the invitations to his family and very close friends so that they can plan for it.  It will be a very hard day for me but I know this is where David should be remembered.  He spent nearly all of his adult life here loving and caring for this place and for us


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42 comments:

  1. Love the pictures. I had forgotten how hot it was! So hot. We enjoyed your visit. I hope you will return this summer too. xoxo

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    1. Thank you sweetheart. It's in my plan for Celia's Birthday.

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  2. I am in awe of how you tackled the job, and got it done. Almost, and happily, surprised you didn't grab a paint brush and start climbing ladders. I hope you've found someone to take care of all the mowing while you're now on the road. I imagine it would be difficult to part with the farm.

    Isn't there a subscribe option on blogspot? I follow you on my blog reader. Been too long since I used blogspot.

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    1. yes there is a widget that you can use FeedBurner to send out the blog to people who subscribe to the blog...

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    2. you can add it using blogger's editor...

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    3. Gaelyn For what I'm paying, they can paint it in that heat. More on that in the next post. Very very difficult to part with it.

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    4. Thanks heyduke. I've never used it before and hesitate to get anymore involved in blogger than I am given its problematic relationship with microsoft. But I'll take a look since you recommend it.

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  3. Cleaning up is hard to do . . .

    Virtual hugs,

    Judie

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  4. Cleaning up is such a never ending task. Having the memorial service at the farm sounds like a great idea. I went to a memorial a while ago where a tree was planted as part of the proceedings. I have enjoyed watching it thrive and every time I pass it I remember the person and say hello inside my head.

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    1. What a great idea. I wish we had done that. I'm now really sorry I didn't think of how perfect it would be. David was a big tree man and planted many trees in his life.

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  5. Oh, so much hard work. And in such intense heat! It sounds so daunting. I'm glad you got away for a brief visit with Carrie & Matthew and your adorable grandchildren...and had a lovely pool for cooling off!

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    1. It was definitely a great get away. The heat was outrageous. I hope to skip July for as long as I can. Given climate chaos this could be the new normal. But Virginia 10 degrees hotter than Florida?

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  6. I don't ever remember heat that bad in February in all the years I lived in the East. You have so much to do with taking care of a farm, house, and all that entails. I salute you for doing so well at it.

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    1. Gypsy, the post was about this past July. I'm still trying to catch up. That's why I put a posted date and an about date

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  7. So much to do and with the heat it really must be awful. But your getting through it. It was a nice break to visit your family and enjoy the beautiful grandchildren and the pool.

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    1. The heat was horrendous. Can't beat a pool and grandchildren.

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  8. It *was* hot last summer. I had kinda' forgotten as I love warm weather, but not like that. You really did do so much work. I don't know how you did it.

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    1. I actually don't know how I did it either Pam. Hope your sister continues to improve.

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  9. WOW...lots of work, but the more you clear out, the lighter the load!!! Sorry the weather was so difficult...just compounding an already tough job:o(( Glad you got to Carrie's and enjoyed the Grands...so wonderful to see the photo of Celia playing with your former toys!!!! I think there is still time to plant a tree for David...what a great idea to keep his memory alive on the farm!!! What was his favorite tree??

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    1. That's a tough one Nancy. His LOVE was BIG trees. His favorite tree on the farm was our biggest tree a red maple on the edge of the woods. On hikes, wherever we were East or West, he was always identifying all the trees. He knew and loved them all. He was an enthusiastic treehugger!

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    2. I do remember those tree hugs. Even got to be part of a couple group hugs...good memories!!!!

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  10. This was our third summer in Texas and the summers here are "blistering". But I wasn't trying to prepare for a Memorial. Nice pictures of the grands. They are so cute at that age.

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    1. Roger, I can't even imagine living in Texas although as I said, it was hotter in Virginia than in Florida last summer so perhaps it was actually cooler in Texas too.

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  11. Grueling work with grueling temps - glad that is behind you! How wonderful that your friend found the journal for you to access moving forward. Time with the grands is always the best medicine, and seeing them grow with toys their mom and nana enjoyed is truly special.

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    1. Wish it had all been behind me by the end of July Jodee but there's definitely more. It is wonderful to pass treasured things, even toys, along.

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  12. Oh goodness, Sherry, what a huge and difficult job. So much growing so fast in that heat and moisture, so much to trim and mow. I get it! We didn't have the acreage you do, but we still had lots to take care of at Rocky Point, and it never got that hot. It gets hotter here in Grants Pass but we just work in the morning hours and relax indoors in the afternoons. You didn't have that luxury. Funny, your post is about really hard stuff, and yet it is a delight to read because of the good stuff with your daughter and grandkids. I commend your willingness to return to the memories and try to write about all of it after the fact. I also know how very hard that is to do. Sending hugs and love to you again.

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    1. Sue, you understand better than most folks the work involved. You probably have more land to care for than we since we only had the fenced yard and barnyard. The rest was woods and fields that were mowed for hay. But the heat was brutal and things grew like a jungle. And you are so right that "normally" I would only work early and late in the day but there was so much to do and time was of the essence. Thank you so much for your kind and understanding words.

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  13. That's a lot of work for one person, not to mention the cost of it all to get done. Have you ever thought of a live-in caretaker?

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    1. I have a caretaker who looks out for the property but he does not live in so that I can live there when I return in the spring and fall each year. Or at least that's the way it was when David had to be in Florida for treatment each year these last 4 or 5.

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  14. It is never too late to plant a tree in David's memory. It doesn't have to be at the farm, it can be anywhere he enjoyed visiting, sitting, watching or even at Carrie's home. A small plaque or marker can be placed to tell of the tree's reason for being in such a spot.
    At some point in time you will probably decide the farm is too much work for you, too much expense for the time you spend there and too much worry during the time you are away. At that point you need to remember that the farm is only a physical thing that you are selling. The memories are yours forever. David lives in your heart and in those memories, you have thousands of photos to pour over any time you wish. Each photo can bring back a memory that will make you smile, laugh and cry depending on the moment, the hour and the day but they are YOURS to keep. They don't go with the farm. However I doubt you are at the point of wanting to sell just yet.
    You are doing amazingly well Sherry. I am sure it feels more like wading through fog with no end in sight but you truly are making progress. You are moving in the only direction that offers you any hope, forward. Keep walking, you're doing great. Deb

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    1. Excellent thoughts Deb. Thank you for the encouragement.

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  15. How nice that the doll cradle has been passed down to Celia, a real family heirloom. Looks like she loves it. I hope she learns to cherish it as it contains lots of happy memories.

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    1. I too hope she will cherish it Paul. During Celia's life time it will become 100 years old.

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  16. My Mom planted many trees here on our place in her lifetime, so she left her own legacy and I will forever be greatful for each of them even the constantly making a mess Magnolia Tree..:o))
    I can't even recall what July was like...but this has been the wettest winter I recall in all my years living here on my homestead!

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  17. Are you living on your home place Sondra? Where is it located?

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  18. I remember talking to you and every day there was another dead battery on another vehicle!@#@! Love that Celia has Carrie's doll and your cradle. xxxooo

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    1. Yes, I didn't even mention that. I think it was 4 battery replacements including the farm truck, the RV, the car and the lawn mower. All at the same time what's the chance of that? Those things are expensive. David would not believe it.

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  19. What a daunting task dealing with all that's involved in maintaining the farm. That had to be a very difficult time for you but was probably good in that it gave you a reason to get up each morning. I admire your vitality to work all day in that heat and humidity.
    By the way, your grandkids are just adorable!

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  20. Somehow I missed this entry. The memorial for David at the farm was so meaningful...the place he loved do much. It was good for the family to come there and remember his place of happiness. The preparation was daunting but you accomplished it..with a lot of sweat and tears. Terrible that the weather made it all even more difficult. Celia and Colin are so cute. Carrie has her hands full right now...but things will ease up as they get a little older. Celia's spirit reminds me of Abby at that age...ready to take on the world. Darling little granddaughter. Glad that you went to Carrie's and Matt's and enjoyed their pool during that hot spell.

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  21. Dear Sherry, your July was never boring at all. Unexpected twists in life is bound to happen and happy to know that you carried on your life extremely well. Carrie has cute kids and it is amusing to know that the cradle is still intact and used effectively. Happy to know that your long discomforting heat was washed away in the pool. Go on inspiring Sherry!!

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  22. It wasn't as hot here last summer as it must have been there.

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