Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Thursday, July 9, 2015

The Good ~ The Bad ~ The Very Sad

 The Good:
There is nothing better than creamy, homegrown potatoes.  Last night's dinner was a hit, and I had to post a picture.   Boiled potatoes and green beans, with crumbled bacon.

  
I am very happy to report this!  Two quart bags of green beans in the freezer! 

And this too.  It's for dinner the next two nights.  What's left, will go into the freezer.


The Bad:
I cringed as the pouring rain woke me throughout the night.  We awoke to standing water and more rain on the way.



The field across the highway is flooded again, and without then minutes of checking the water height.....



... the north bound lane was flooding across.  It took three calls to the department of transportation to report it.  By the time I posted this, the southbound lane was flooding, and one driver almost wrecked (flying through it).  And the "high water" signs were not put up.  I just hope no one gets hurt.  We've only had this happen once, two years ago, and one other time this season.  After I took this photo, shortly after, the water was all the way up to the edge our of front flower beds.  I first called at 7:39am, at 9:00am, no one had come out.  I called again.

Update:  Signs were put up about 2 hours after we called.  However, around 12:30pm, there was a loud "SWISH!" following by a "SCREECH!"  A driver did not slow down, hydroplaned and roller her car.  She's okay however.

With all this rain, I am wondering if local produce at the  Farmer's Markets will be slim too.  I hadn't thought of it until now.  Everyone here has had trouble, considering the rain.   I guess I'll just have to check it out myself.  Also, I'm noting this in my journal - good reason to grow enough to stock up for two years.  Part of preparedness, although hard to do with our large family.  I'll get it right one of these days.

Oddly, our news channels have not posted the amount of inches of rain we have received this year.  During winter, they post our snowfall almost daily.  Curious minds want to know.

Ha!  I have no excuse not to exercise, nor have a clean house this year.  And write.

The Very Sad:
Alias, our son's dog, has been diagnosed with cognitive dysfunction - doggy dementia.  Medication does not help him.  It breaks our hearts.  Especially with Son so many miles away right now.  Alias is approaching the age of 15.

10 comments:

Cris said...

Poor Alias. My 13 year old coon hound is developing some age related issues, mostly creaky ACL/joints and anxiety. As my grandmother once said, it's hard work getting old!

AS for your farmers market, if you have some producers who grow in polytunnels/greenhouses they may have a pretty good selection. Gray days will slow them down a little, but they should still be able to have a harvest to share :) I hope the rainy weather breaks soon for you!

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

So sorry about all the rain and about your sons dog. Your garden veggies look beautiful!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Cris, thanks, we hope the weather breaks soon too. I am checking with our market volunteers to see if they are selling produce yet.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

GratefulPrayer, thank you. We are thankful for what we've been able to harvest this year.

Denton, Texas said...

I am in North Texas and we had so many days of rain and standing water and our farmers were affected. Our CSA shares are not what they usually are the farmer's market is the same way. In my own garden, my onions drowned and my tomatoes just did not produce. I think the rain killed my peach tree too but I'm leaving it up and we'll see what actually happens with it. We are just now starting to get our regular summer temps and I planted some more tomatoes to hopefully get a late harvest. One good thing is that our cucumbers seem to be okay but the seeds were planted towards the end of the rains.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Denton, Texas, so far my tomatoes look good, but they are starting to yellow at the bottom. We may attempt to fall plant, but only if it dries up enough so we can get in the garden and pull the dead stuff. So far my 36 cauliflower plants look pretty bad. Not sure if they'll make it. Glad to hear your cucumbers are well.

RB said...

Wow! Looks like maybe your hubby needs to build that boat, with animals standing all around waiting. LOL
Sorry to hear about the dog though. Is he in pain or just confused?
Glad to hear the lady wasn't hurt. Guess the DOT had a lot of signs to put out that day maybe.
On a good note, waterfront property is worth more than farmland I think. ;o)
Have a good weekend.
God bless.
RB
<><

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

RB, for a day it looked like a complete lake out front. Alias is uncomfortable - anxiety, loss of eye sight, loss of hearing, loss of memory, confused, etc. It has to be very hard on him.

RB said...

I'm sorry to hear that about Alias. Am praying for God's will for him and for your son to be able to see him one last time before the dog departs.
God bless.
RB
<><

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

RB, unfortunately, Son told us we won't be home this year for a leave.