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Clean House!

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Kelsey

This weekend we finished a big portion of our house cleaning and sorting, and can finally say that what’s here is ours, and not leftovers from someone else, and junk that nobody seems to want; leftovers from mt grandmother, and leftovers from when we first moved to the US, and lived on a very low income, and had to buy everythign from thrift stores because there was so little room for anything new.

I did a sort out of our storage, and put into use severl of those plastic tote boxes we decided to use to get organized, and that made a huge difference, and mouse proffed the things we keep in the outbuilding. Missus took a bold step in deciding to spend a lot of money on those totes!

Our living room, dining room, and my den are all cleaned up and the stuff from them is nearly all sorted out. We have a little to clean up in two bedrooms and the sitting room upstairs, still, but those are none too bad. I have a few projects to finish over the next week or two, which can be done before payday. Then I’ll probably be able to look at some things that need doing that require a bit of money to complete them. I’d like ot get the area around the woodstove refinished and looking a lot better than it is now. I won’t post photos of the area on the blog till it is done. That means that as far as instrucitonal blogging and the sort, I have been at a stand still based on a certain sense of pride and decency.

Right now a couple of the rooms just need flooring done to be complete, or done enough to call good. There are projects, like building the reading nook in the library in a spot that was previously made for a firewood bunk. That will only require a set of shelves and a light in it, then some cushions on the bottom, and it is done.

Well, anyway, the point is that I am excited about where we are at at the start of this week.

The next big steps will be to finish the shop moves, and get us into our outbuildings, selling shop for her, and a workshop with more space in it for me. I am also excited because the building I get for my workshop has a much older feel to it than the one I am in now with vinyl siding, and such. I get an all wood building that will suit well to the kind of woodworking I want to get more into.

I am thinking on how to install a model railroad into the den, so that it does not take up a huge amount of space or money, and can be easily set up with a cover to keep dust from it. I have that train I bought last year that models the one my mom and I rode in the summer of 1980 or so, when I was nine, and things like this were the best things in the whole world to me. Right now I am thinking two u-turns with a straight run between representing the stations at Salt Lake and Denver, with the mountains between long the wall. I want it high enough small kids and pets won’t be able to reach up, covered with plexiglass against the dust, and as out of the way as possible to allow the room to still function. That puts it about four and a half feet up the wall.

The time preiod of the train should probably be 1980 for the sake of when I got to ride it. It would look really cool in the 1950’s too. That was a real transition time in this country from agricultural and industrial to technological. It stands on the cusps of ag and tech, and right in the middle of industrial. The 1980 period would end up covered in more grafitti, as I remember it. I can’t scribble in N-scale!

Our eldest came by this weekend to help out with getting firewood, which was awesome. It was a good time to be able to hang out and talk, and to get thigns done. He also helped out with such things as moving stuff from the house to storage. So, with his help, it was a lot easier to get things cleaned up once and for all. Now to keep it that wiay till the run up to the Holidays!

The summer season is hot on us right now. Temperatures are topping out in the low 90’s, usually. That means the house is hot, and the kids are wanting to play in the pool or in the water sprinklers. I want to have a minute to take a break now, and reasses the way forward from here. I will be letting the girls out to the pool in an hour and a half or so. Meanwhile, writing is an excerise in thought, and a chance to catch my breath and see where I am at and where I am heading.

I feel fortunate that at this point I am in a house that I really know well, and I know how to do many of the things I want that have always been on my list of things I have always wanted in a house. One example is putting power outlets in place that will run on a switch, and allow me to plug in holiday lights easily, and where I can turn on the whole display in one go. There are other, more critical thhing to do, true, but we are also talking about reaching for pie in the sky here. Who does not want to live where they are reaching for that?

We have got all LED lights for this year’s holiday displays, so it will be cheaper to run, but also require less to install the electrical support system as I just suggested I want to do.

Coronavirus has stalled our ability to go to town to get some of the things we need. It has also kept us at home, giving us less reason to procrastinate the things we need to do. I have been thinking like we really travelled back in time to the early 1900’s, when it was more difficult to get far from home, and when things were harder to get ahold of. We have Amazon now days to support us, and we can get the shopping ordered and picked up withhout exposing ourselves to a lot of people; reducing our social exposure. I can’t imagine how that is anything but living like it is 1900. Sure, the part about the car and the shopping being loaded in for us is different. But I do like it, and like the extra time I get to spend with my kids without the whole trauma of taking them into a store and having them wanting things we cannot budget. It’s been a big change.

I feel fortunate to be in rural Idaho at this particular time in life, and during this event. It does nto make us safe, but we have greater control over our efforts to be safe. I ready almost daily about the thousands that have died, and the hundreds more that do each day. It breaks my heart. Other countries have been able to reduce deaths and the spread of this virus. There seems to be a sort of person here who refuses to take the responsibilities that are required of those who wish to have the rights granted them. There are those who forget that their rights are granted them to free them from government tyranny, not from social responsibility. Well, be it what it may. I have the right to stay home, and I take it as much as I can. We are getting on pretty well, at the moment, and aware that even though we do, we are still highly likely to get this virus and end up sick and dying like others are. All we can do is do our best to reduce risk, and take it a day at a time.

I don’t know what else I should address right now. There are other things I wish to discuss, yet there are things I don’t wish to discuss publicly. I think it best to keep from airing laundry I don’t want everyone to see. But for my sake, I will say there are some dirty clothes that fit a couple of people I know I hardly know. But between them I have the right to say what needs to be said.

So, that’s a bit of where I am at right now. I better go eat some lunch and be ready to get the girls out into their pool today. The farmer’s irrigation ought to hit us tonight, and dirty up the pool again after I clean it today. That ought to keep me free to do other tings tomorrow as I will not be cleaning it out for them again then.

I want to try to write more here. I always do. Who knows. Mabe I will be up to it more, now. Let’s see.

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I Am Reminded

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Kelsey

I am oft reminded that I am not musical. I remember it well when I am with others, and won’t dare to ruin any composition with my voice or instrumentation. But even alone, I cannot muster a sound or two that does not fit the definition of caucophany to the point of pushing the extremems of its meaning. I am not musical.

I recently watched a video where Christopher Hitchens said that he was not musical, and was also not a novelist. He said that he had observed that the people who are novelists, tended to be musical as well. Thus, he defined himself, a prolific writer, as an essayist.

I think I fit this, and fit it well. I cannot muster the imagination and the ability to sustain it to create characters and then follow them through a plotline. THis is purely anecdotal, of course, but it seems to fit.

It is nothing to me to get up in the morning and to clear my mind on a keyboard, filling a screen with whatever comes to mind, or whatever was on my mind before getting out of bed and pretending I am concious.

This morning, I could not put more than a thought or two in order before getting up. I know it is meant to be a hot one today, and if I am going to get anything done, it is going to have to be tackeled in the morning hours, before the sun has stolen the workable daylight hours and cast them into a dismal furnace. Still, writing comes easy.

“What do I write about?”

That’s easy. Write whatever is in mind. There is something in mind, isn’t there? Write it. Even if there is no particular order. That is what editing software is for. The imparative is to get something from the brain to the fingers to the screen. Do it, if for nothing else, but to practice the art. It may not be good. It may never be great. But it is better to make it happen to make nothing at all.

A school child can say there is nothing to write about. There is always something to write about. Write about the knot in your shoelaces. Tell about the lace, the way you have inserted the laces into the shoes, why they are that way, where you learned it, and any other creative ways you have tried, and why. Tell about who taught you to tie the laces. Tell about why you do, or do not put a knot in your bows. Do you fold the bow and turn the second lace around it, or do you make the bow and tie them together? Do you like the way they lay when you do? Do you even tie your shoes at all, or do you wear only slip ons, or just slip on a laced shoe? Are boots your thing? Why? Are the comfortable, or necessary, or both? Does walking make you happy? Does it make you suffer? There is so much to say, and no two people would write the same essay.

If anything is difficult, it is taking a complex subject and breaking it down into an ordered essay, pleasant to read, concise, informative, and something that adds value to the reader. Without citing Arab proverbs about elephants, the point is much the same, to take it a bit at a time, outline the thing, and get to the chore of writing it. It is likely best to section it off, and write each topic in the ouline. Of course, what do I know about it, as this is also a difficult task for me to do. So, I’ll tell you what! I’ll make a project, and see what I can do and then present it later. Let’s see if I can string together many thoughts without boring myself to death. I’ll even try to pick a heavy topic, so as not to cop out with some lightweight task that any school child could do. Please don’t expect it till next year, though, in case it does turn into a project of some magnitude.

Right, Missus just put in her breakfast request, and said she is starving, and I cannot let that happen.

Posted in Journal Entry, Philosophical, Regular Update | Comments Off

Life Keeps Moving On

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Kelsey

Life moves on. People get older. I get older. I am past the age when I celebrate myelf getting older. But the young… They are lucky that still think the passing of a year a momentous occasion.

As the days count on, the virus continues to spread almost completely out of control in my country. As of today, the President’s office will be in charge of keeping the count, rather than the CDC. For weeks, the President has been complaining that when people are tested, new cases are revealed. With the election coming up in four months, nothing about this looks corrupt at all. I am sure that by November, the numbers tht the President’s office will report will reveal that it is safe for schools to be open, and for the populace to go to the polls to vote, rather than voting by mail, where he is less likely to win. Surely there are no bodies rolled up in the carpet in the trunk of the President’s car.

We are keeping busy at home, hoping for a working vaccine to arrive before we return to a life that involves much time with the public. It is all about making the house better, and building up the things we have always wanted for our little micro farm, as well as reevaluating what we want to carry on in our own foodchain. New hobbies will likely take off by next year if we can finish what we are working on now.

One new hobby will involve something like spoon-carving. I want to start milling the trees I get hold of. To that end, I am considering getting a hobby size mill, and running wood through it before giving everything up to firewood. Being able to mill myself will allow me more freedom with dimensions, too. I would be able to mill pieces two or three inches thick, or much more, at will. That could put an end to shopping for wood at the box store. That means that with a bandsaw, and a few hand planes, anything I would ever need would be in my reach, so long as I can still get the trees.

If I am to ever bother with a mill and even a bandsaw, then a lathe is another mighty good option. Boy, what I could do with lottery winnings! In lieu of that sound financial plan, the trick here is the shorted route to some profits. What could I sell? Milling services? Spoons, spindles, or small pieces of wood others can work with? Options are good! Which option would be best to keep a certain, safe distance from the public, allowing online sales? Obviously I am kind of thinking out loud here. Reclaimed wood could opt in here, too. Random.

Time to get back to a more specified subject matter here.

I cleaned out our storeage building the day before yesterday, and got it organized and ready to take a lot more storeage. That will result in a cleaner shop building, and a cleaner workshop. I need to ready those buildings for electrical installation. I cannot put that off all summer. That’s a whole project that will go tons better when the buildings are clean and ready. Once the main panels are in, and the buildings are clean, then I can look at how the final wiring can go in each. So, it’s planned out. Planned right to completion, that.

I had such high hopes for the gardens this year. I really looked forward to getting a good harvest, and putting it up. I tilled and planted and watered, and got great germination in weeds, but little to show for the seeds I put down. Is it me? Is it my soil? Is it the seeds? I have some detctive work to do. The corn is coming along fair. The north garden is useless, and just weeds. I am like to let pig out and wander along it and have all she wants to eat of those weeds. There appears to be nothing worth saving in there. The south garden could do with some severe attention to the weeds, to see if there is anything worth a damn in there. But even if so, I had to hurry to plant it because I thought my planting day was going to be foiled by the neighbor’s irrigation line, so we put in a hell of a lot of onions. What we see now, is a hell of a lot of weeds.

So, today wants me to clean up a couple of outbuildings and clear out a lot of weeds. This conflict is one of my problems. I think it best to clean out the buildings, and get them towards being done once and for all, so next year can move on without distraction. I need to order a new recoil starter for the cultivator, anyhow. That would make the weeding a lot easier. I guess that is today’s list of to-do’s. The logspliiter it down too. The recoil starter is broke on it as well, and probably fixable. But the fuel keeps getting fouled by water because the top of tht engine is complete shit, and lets water into the fuel, and the carburator. It could do with a better engine assembly on it. Electric start, if it is changable?

The kids are also going to be wanting some time in the paddling pool. No chance I can blame them for that! The high is expected to be 94. Too hot for work!

So, that’s a little update on what is going on here. I am still away from Facebook, and happier for it. And that is an update of what is not going on here. Time to get this day a moving!

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The Stars In Our Eyes

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Kelsey

Where we live we are lucky have a fairly dark sky and a balcony facing south. Stepping out the door and onto the balcony can sometimes be like stepping off into the void of space itself. Tonight I was so lucky to have caught my two daughters still awake a while after the sun had set, and we gathered there, and talked about the stars for about an hour, spotting numerous satellites soaring over head, and even a couple of shooting stars. At one point we even caught sight of what appeared to be a very high altitude aircraft that did not show up on Flightradar24. The dim navigation lights were the distinctive trait of an aircraft. But they were dim. The girls both had a really good time, called it awesome, and are now already fast asleep in their beds. I am avoiding the temptation to just sleep out on the balcony myself. Really happy to have spent that time with my two little stars.

Posted in Coronavirus, Journal Entry, Memories, Special Update | Comments Off

As The Virus Burns

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Kelsey

A fire begins deep in the forest as lighting strikes a single tree. As that tree is consumed, two trees near it begin to catch, then finally are also engulfed. Soon there are six trees, then eight all burning at once, as the first three are already burned out. The fire continues to spread from tree to tree till it has burned down the side of an entire mountain, hubdreds of trees gone, then it crawls down the other side, and makes its way to the next mountain and the next. Eventually, the fire consumes miles of wildreness, sending life scurrying out of its way, millions of trees lost to the flames and smoke.

Fires like this don’t burn at a rate of every tree at once. They don’t just stop because trees stand in their way. Trees cannot will the fire to end. The fire will get them, or it won’t. It moves in the directions easiest for it to go, with the wind, up the hills, and it jumps for miles as burning embers are carried from one place to the next, starting seperate burns that eventually may burn together again, or may go two different ways. No tree has a say in the matter. They are rooted where they are, no will to speak of, no way to change where they stand, or to protect themselves from the coming flame.

An infectious disease, a virus, burns through a population like a forest of moving trees, able to walk, to carry the flames from place to place as they go about their day. They unknowingly carry the flames with them, setting others alight, including their friends, families, co-workers, and everyone else they come into contact with. The biggest difference? The population of human beings have will, and knowledge, and they know the fire is set, the flames are among them.

In the modern age, we come to a time when there is another factor, too. We are able to contact eachother at the speed of light, person to person, place to place, almost anywhere on the globe. We can tell eachother that the fire is coming, and we can then do something about it, namely, wash our hands, wear a mask, don’t touch our faces, practice social distancing.

The whirlwind of the pandemic is still only gaining speed in mid July, 2020. Some will stand as trees in the forest and burn. They will set alight others around them who will do the things necessary to survive, and those have, and will die. The stubborn ones, willfully are putting everyone in danger.

The argument has been made that it is their right not to wear a mask, and they will not be told what to do. You bet when they get stopped by a police officer, that seatbelt gets clicked on, and they will be asked if they know why they were stopped, out of a myriad of laws telling them how to drive. They will be wearing clothes, even though I could just as easily argue that clothing is a Socialist Agenda to force them to do something for other people’s benefit. The drivier will submit to a sobriety test if told to, and if they fail it, they will be arrested on the grounds they are an endagerment to the public. I could go on about everything. But in the end, wearing a mask in public is not the law. It is an extrordinary request for the same reasons general safety has been encoded in so many other laws. It is a chance for a democracy to show it has the educational standards not to need a law.

Yeah, you can bet that many of the anti-maskers will also be the ones bitching at “all the stupid safety labels on everything.” They should have the common sense to recognize the dangers without the labels, right? Well?

The human forest is on fire. Some will ony be singed, some will only be scorched. Some will be burned to the ground. The desolation that remains is a choice.

And finally, I want to address the “I’ll just tough it out if I get it,” argument. The mask was never about you. It was about everyone else around you. I don’t care if you die in agony alone in a sterile bed in an ICU. I care about people like the nurses and doctors that will be looking after you, the people who clean in the hospital, take out the trash. I care about the pharmacy workers, the equiptment support personell and the porters who will be working in close proximity to you as they stuff a hose in your throat, and down into your lungs to force oxygen into you in a desperate bid to keep you alive. I care about the ones who will put their families and friends at risk for you. I care about the people who care that much about you, not you, who does not have the care to just put on a mask.

I live in an area where it is apparent that it is going to burn hard before the end of the year. Most people where I live will not wear a mask, and even more so, they gather for private parties. When I was in town today, the local cinema had a sign out front; “E.T. tonight. Free.”

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Sinus Infection

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Kelsey

The past few days have been less than fun. I tought I was experiencing a toothache where I had lost a molar some sixteen years ago, and that it was sausing the normal toothache pains. However, the pain transitioned from that area, and all the teeth on the same side, and moved up into my head. This morning’s nasal drip turned into the last straw before attempting to rediagnose the issuse myself with the help of Dr. Google.

I was well enough to go up to the store and get a saline and sugar rinse for an extorionate price, and then came home and gave it a go, after washing the store off my hands. Thank you Coronavirus!

Before very long at home, I sat down and fell asleep. Missus talked me into going up to the bed to lay down by merely making the suggestion. I went up, and had a rough sleep, waking up several times. I was looking forward to her finishing work, and then telling her that I was set to call it and go to the Health Clinic and get an antibiotic perscrition. She didn’t come till she had finished work, then taken a nap herself, so when she did come, and asked me if I knew what time it was, she told me 3:30. Not much time before the clinic closed. Still, we were able to get there and make both, an appointment, and pharmacy hours.

The doctor agreed that I had diagnosed correctly, sinus infection, and said I didn’t need her. I reminded her that I cannot write myself a prescription. She did and started to tell me that she had sent it off, and it was for a ten day cycle. I said, to be taken twice a day for the full cycle, even if I am feeling better. I have not had antibiotics for thirty years, but I have done a couple of stints working as delivery for pharmacies.

The important moment came at supper time when I took the first tablet of the course. Missus said that when she had a similar experience, she felt better soon after her first tablet. And so it was. Not all better yet, but at least I am awake.

And so, what are my desires in these moments of ill feeling, apart from sexual, and life affirming? To write, and tell the world, I am still alive! Life affirming! And that’s me in a nutshell when I am under the weather. I like to prop up my little brolly that tries to keep me alive and dry of the storm.

The last few nights have been poor sleep, tooth pain, headachy, and finally sinus pain last night, distinguishing this from just a toothache, which I believed it was till then.

I went to the local health clinic, and found it to be a little less protective than I expected as far as the virus is concerned. The lady at the desk wore no mask, and she did not chase me off when I leaned over the desk to write, which I realized I was doing and appologized for, she said, “that’s okay. There is noone else here.” The nurse who took my vitals wore a mask part of the time, but the doctor wore hers the whole time, suggeting she was more intimate with, or more aware of her patients potential infections.

So far, still no signs of the virus for myself. Happy news as I am the designated emerger from our lockdown. Whenever there is a need, especially for groceries, I am the one designated to go get them, keeping at least one person barrier against the virus, even though we would obviously all get it if I did breing it home. Cautious sensibilities are thus on me. It’s a big responsibility to the people I love.

We are holding back, keeping more than social distance because the virus is spiking again. We have been all along, but the situation is becoming more dire, even though the attitudes of people I see in public, and reported in the press seem to be almost indifferent among many. I have heard in the news of people yelling at folks in masks that they are just pushing an agenda. I have heard someone in a shop complaining to his partner about “all the stupid people in masks.” I doubt these are experts in infectious control, and instead, represent the type of people who disreguard those with actual knowledge as ‘know-it-alls.’ Yeah, kiss my ass. Nobody knows less than he who thinks he knows everything. Hail to the Chief!

I am happy to keep in my little corner of Earth, at a safe distance, aware that the defences I need are small ones, not stockpiles of guns and ammunition; sorry preppers. The problem was not Armageddon, or Red Dawn. It turned out to be more like War of the Worlds. Just keep safe, and do nothing. The rest could take care of itself.

I guess this society started politicizing wellness when it started to politicize vaccines as far back as a century or more ago. Yes, the anti-vaxer movement is that old, at least. The earlies renditions go back to those who would call a vaccine, just like a lightning rod, interfering with God’s Will. Somehow, apparently, God’s attempts to strike people dead with lightning were subverted by Mr. Franklin’s invention. Laughable.

I have spoken to one fellow who believes the virus does not kill anymore than the common flu does, and his plan is to lay down and tough it out if he catches it. Well, there is an example of male ego if I ever saw it, just the idea of toughing it out, nevermind the complete disreguard for other people. And I assume he is not aware that so far this year it has already killed more people than things like eleven years of Vietnam. Misinformed is surmounted by being willfully disinformed. MAGA.

I am unhappy with the politics in the issue, and should not perpetuate it myself. At the same time, the will of some to walk over, and endanger others to the peril of the lives of all involved, and children and the elderly who are not involved around them… Well, I said what I said.

So, Coronavirus is a thing, and it is going as fast as ignorane will move it. The sinus infection over the past few days has knocked me out of useful service, so with this handfull of antibiotics, I hope to get back up on my feet and prove worthy of my rations once again. Everything for us is business as usual. The farm is moving along with another season of more weeds than food growing out of the vegetable patches. The kids are enjoying their time off of studies. The kids are being educated still in subversive ways they don’t recognize as learning. Equipment on the farm is failing me, and making me resent the money spent on it. I am older, and feeling it.

Posted in Catastrophe & Disaster, Coronavirus, Journal Entry | Comments Off

The Middle of it All

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Kelsey

Covid is beginning to spike in the US. There are things I would like to say about how it is managed here in the US, and that if we had elected Bernie in 2016, and put in place an national healthcare scheme, and nationalized records, and nationalized the effort to fight something like this… And I would especially like to say things about the current leadership, or lack of it. But I think that IF Bernie had been elected, and we did actually coordinate a national shut down, the kickback by the Covid Freedom Fighters would have been immense. Better this to have happened under a “Republican” President. Let them fight him instead.

Anyway.

So Covid is spiking nationally right in summer. It seems like the efforts to fight it have peatered out. People are wearing masks, even around here, where Liberty Trumps sanity.

My poor wife and kids have hardly left the property in a couple of months now. I have been getting out, but to run the errands and get the things. Putting myself in harm’s way, hopefully making the right decisions, and keeping clear of the virus, because the moment I pick it up, they are all in harm’s way.

I see so many people when I am out who areragging their kids through the stores, the whole family unmasked. There is a word for people tho make such very poor decisions. It’s stupid for me to say it, though.

So, we have mostly been at home since at least March. This has given us some time to work out some of the things that need doing around the house, and keep changing and improving it.

This past week we took the false ceiling out of the craft room. That raised us back up in there to the original ceiling, 18 inches higher than that old false one. That makes nine and a half feet. That also involved taking out where the tops of the built in cabinets were boxed in, and I will soon be finishing that as a display shelf for her who claims that room. The bathroom is repainted, and a new sink is nearly ready to install. I have covered the top 18 inches of the walls of the craft room with beadboard, to hide a few sins there. I’ll be boxing in where the chimney angles from the living room through the top of the south wall of the craft room. The whole beadboarded area will be painted yellow to offset the very dark blue of the room, and the ceiling white. I think it is going to look great!

All of the work we have done in there has kept me too busy to get into the garden and get at the weeds. Missus is back to work, and my mornings are free now since she is in the craft room, but the weather is highly uncoopaerative and it is soaking wet out there, and cold. That’s how we roll in July here in Idaho.

The boys were by on Saturday. Jordan helped me go to the Logan City Dump and pick up a full trailer of firewood. I have never carried that much in it. It was great! A couple of more trips like that, and with the wood promised me by a farmer friend here in the neighborhood, we are going to be set for this year. I may have to finally start building my stores for excess that can be kept for coming years to improve the season on the wood. Now there’s what I would really like to do! Get ahead!

Dylan bug bombed his house and got to our place after Jordan and I had left. But he and his family were still here when we got back, and we had time for a nice visit. They also brought Dylan’s friend Ed. So if we are all found dead of Coronivirus, there is most of our contact tracing in the past few weeks. You gotta follow them from here.

So these are cynical times, even with the good of getting firewood and getting done with more work on the house.

So much has changed since I wrote my first journal entries in this journal all those months and years ago, in England. So much! People we have loved are gone, and new folks have shown up. We have moved from city living to country living, and in the process moved from one nation to another. The boys have had the chance to grow and have a life that is more than getting drunk, hanging out with friends, and trying to avoid getting in trouble because of a lack of other choices. One is a mechanic, and the other is putting his wife through college. We have added another daughter to the family since leaving England, too.

Whatever happens, happens. And When it does, I just happen along with it. Sounds like a lack of ambition, doesn’t it? Yet, here we are. We are working up an early 20th century house, and burning firewood to keep warm through the coldest of winters, raising loads of animals, kids, and building a little mini-farm one could raise a family on with little outside input.

It has not come free, despite sort of inheriting the farm itself. I say sort of because that is how it might look from the outside, but it cost me plenty, more than I will ever discuss because of the anger that comes with that topic. It is enough for me to say I busted my ass for it, looking after the grandparents in their lowest times, and losing one of the most valuable relationships I have had in my life, which is now irretrievable as she is dead. On top of all of it, there has been working the place by hand with no money to put into it for years, and no tools to help. There has been fighting the opinions of a certain grandparent, and he entitlement to feel like she could offer those opinions. We are in a heavily religious area, and since we don’t participate in their faith, we have very little interaction with anyone here, with only a single notable exception among them. There is one guy who really does look beyond all that and is a friend. On top of it all, as part of the arrangement to come here we were supposed to have irrigation on the field, but grandma up and sold that just to spite me. That has not been recovered, so we have dry farmed and been short every year because of it.

So, no, it has not been free. Far from! We have a lot to do in order ove forward from where we are now, and we are not the type not to move forward. Moving forward is still trying to catch up to what we had been promised in exchange for coming here in the first place. But we are also ahead of where we would have been had we stayed in England. It’s a double edged papercut.

Mom’s birthday will be rolling around in a few days. I wish she were still here to celebrate that with us. I never expected her to go as young as she did, and the way she did. She was the last good part of the life I was born into. More good has come, but there is nobody good between me and the grave now. I am left here to forge on, and to try to show the new ones how it is done. Luckily, I have had a great show from grandma how it’s not done. She aged disgracefully. I have got to age better. That is my determination in life, now.

So, it looks like the last ten yers have made me a philosopher. That’s fine. We battled 50 mile an hour wind two days ago. That was much easier than battling people. Ironically, we battled both in much the same way. Hunker down in the house and avoid the flying debris.

Speaking of 50. I am seeing that come around real soon. Probably time to write that book I have kept promising myself I would do.

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Suddenly

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Kelsey

Suddenly having the ability to type properly again makes me want to type again. A stupid onscreen keyboard is not condusive to the creative process involved in writing. Never has it been shown more clearly to me than right now, with a proper keyboard that works under my fingers, and the absolute lack of desire to use the onscreen keyboard over the past year or so. I am encouraged!

Today gets a rain delay on the farm. I don’t deliberately push myself out into bad weather since there are so many good days to chose from in the warmer months. Winter does not offer the same, so that is a different story. Besides, warming up by the fire is all a part of the gig.

So, to update a bit on the old journal, how is life these days? Well, Covid-19 is still raging, and the human need for Liberty is really helping it spread right along. Idon’t see how anyone can assume some sort of immunity because of their nationality, religion, or individual narcisism.

We are staying locked down, still. The enemy is at the gates, and it is up to us to keep it there. Missus places an online order for groceries every two weeks, and I go pick them up, contactless. Apart from that, there are only minor trips out to get things, to reduce contact with others. When we do go out, we try to wear masks, kids too.

This might all seem really boring, but there is so much to do here at home that we have not had cabin fever develop yet. I take it as part of the norm, and use it, like any other experience, as a way of understanding. To me, this experience more resembles life before cars were there to wisk us around to wherever we want, whenever we want. So it fits in with my ‘born in the wrong century’ persona. The kids are taking it really well too. The youngest really knows no other way, and the oldest is reading the Harry Potter books now. Missus is keeping busy as per her usual, and seems to be doing just fine. She does work, crafts, gardening, and we are doing a bit of backyard archery some evenings.

Then there is the work around the place aspect. We have storage to clean up, two other outbuildings that need to be reset to new uses. The gardens are requiring heavy attention right now. We are working to get the herb garden going this year. We have some work to do with animals such as training the dog, breeding the two new doe goats, getting a pen ready for a calf or two, keeping close care to one of our elder female llamas whose hips are going out. We have the usual work with the pigs and chickens too, but I do want to reset the chicken flocks, getting some in the freezer, and putting new egg layers to work in the egg coop. We also have two ne male peacocks that will hopefully either breed the females this year, or keep well enough and sort it out in the spring as they mature a bit more.

The house wants a lot of work still, too, although I have got a good start on the bookshelves in the living room with only a little left to do there, and I think Ifinally sonved a problem conceptually with the bathroom sink, and need to get the parts to sort that out at last. Then it will come near time to look at doing the floors and fixing the fireplace hearth to get the rest of the house up to scruff. The living room, where the booksheves are, is really showing potential.

Once the outbuildings get their electrical installed and the shuffle around done, they will be put to new use, including what I hope will result in a cleaner workshop for me. Missus will set up a shop for her crafts and llama fiber.

Our farm is still without tractor, which I am looking more seriously at solving before I turn a year older. If I can get that sorted out, there is so much more we will be able to to around here than we already are. For one, my compost pile is too big to deal with by hand. Dead livestock will be easier to dispose of. Tilling will be easier. Snow removal will be possible on the drive spaces, making the whole situation with animal feed much easier in the winter, as well as usually safer. I will also be able to see about loading the feed at the shop on a pallet instead of loose in the trailer, which should make it easier to bring feed to the bins, as right now the feed bags require a lot more lifting, which is a lot of fun at 50 and 80 pounds per bag. Could be easier still if we didn’t have so many animals living here, I suppose, but where is the fun in that?

Then there is the land across the street. I have a lot of clean up over there from the mess the canal company leaves along the edge of our property, there is a bridge I want to build over the drainage ditch that will allow us access to the strip of land beyond it that we cannot currently access from the main portion of our place. There is some contouring I want to clean up down by that water, and then I would like to have a look at planting better grazing grasses, and possibly even a garden out among the pasture somewhere. There is a lot of unrealized potential over there. We need to get some trees in on that lost strip of land, and grow some asparagus there. And these are just some of the things that hinge on our having a tractor. There is so much more on the day to day, too. For example, if Icould move hay bales, about 1,200 pounds each, I could work out delivery so the tractor that brings them now will not damage the yard, as it is a big, heavy one.

So, as you can see, with just a cursory explanation of our lives here, we have plenty to do within our own gates.

I have been thinking back a little lately, to when I started this journal. February, 2006, back in Worceser, England. Sunlight soon shone on the front fence, showing that it was coming to the spring and summer months, and there was such excitement for the change of seasons. Changes come with the seasons, and life is often reguarded with seasons. So much has changed since those days in that tiny house on Portefields Road. So much will continue to change in the coming years. I have got a to do list that is as long as my life, hopefully even longer. After all, who wants to ever look at things and say, “well, that’s it, I’m done.” I never want to be done. If I am, I am no longer moving forward.

Well, my next trick will be to figure out what resolution I need my cemera app set to so I can upload photos to the blog without it returning a message that the file is too big. I’ll go work on that today, and then hopefully start adding photos again.

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Today Was a Very Good Day

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Kelsey

Today started out really well when I finally figured out what has been wrong with the keyboard I bought with my tablet a little over a year ago. It worked for about a month, then developed some dodgy problem that caused it to stop responding to keystrokes. I found an intermittent work around, but did nothing to get it replaced otr repaired through the company I bought it from.

This morning I finally realized the source of the problem was not the metallic connector pins, but the rubberized tabs that align them, and the tabs were too narrowly spaced to fit into the slots on the tablet. This caused the pins to unseat, and not make a connection. I trimmed the tabs a millimeter each, and voila! The keyboard works really well now, and I have newfound faith in Samsung.

I also have a working keyboard on my tablet again, which allows me to take photos and insert them into a draft of a blog post, then write and edit the post and publish it, all from a single device. This simplicity is what I bought the tablet for in the first place! It has been nothing but a disapointment since it stopped working a year ago. But now, beware! I am fully functioning as a blogger once again!

In addition to that repair, I also did a good amount of work on the property today. Iprepared two garden beds, and put in vital restraining barriers to stop grass getting into one, and pigs getting into the other.

Missus and I planted quite a lot in the beds as far as flower specimens go. We finished up, ate, and just as soon as my new recurve bow arrived, we finished the day off with archery practice.

I expect that so long as this keyboard continues to function, I will continue to post more. I hope this is so!

Kelsey J Bacon

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Post Apocalyptic

Posted on May 23, 2020 by Kelsey

There is nearly nothing to talk about that is greater and more important than Covid-19, and the effects it is having on us, our region, nation, and world. But talking about it brings up a lot of feelings that I really don’t wish to have so close to the surface, and gets into political discussion that I really don’t wish to share.

Suffice it to say, we are hunkered down on our little farmland, and feel very fortunate to be able to do so.

The kids are officially out of school now. They are happy to be so, and are enjoying free time to play games together, and to learn the things that interest them. They color and draw, and they watch videos on YouTube to learn how to make cakes or crafting projects. They are also sharing looking after a couple of new kittens out in the back yard with the momma barn cats.

Missus and I are involved in cleaning up the excess around here, getting us each set up with a workshop space out in the outbuildings. She will eventually sell things from hers in the garage out front, and I will be building a new workshop out in the large shed out back. It is an old shed, made of wood, and rustic. I think it will be perfect for the type of woodworking I want to do, and it will probably be inspiring. What could beat an hundred year old woodworking shop to inspire traditional making?

My coming projects will include putting electricity out to the outbuildings, and putting up the shelves in the living room. I have a bit of work to finish in the main bathroom, then some interesting work installing a tub into the craft room bathroom. The house has been an overwhelming mess, and it has been too much to try to get into some places knowing I would just be making more mess that would be impossible to clean up when it mixes with the existing mess. We sorted a lot of it out today, and have made the living room into a space I will be able to work in. I just need to get the last of the parts to get started.

I have been setting up a system of short range radios so we can communicate on the property, and when we are away and get separated. Our eldest child at home is getting to the age now where she is going to want to shop in stores by herself, and we may come apart when we go out for drives to explore places. It will be nice to be able to call ourselves back together when it is time to leave, or whatnot. The system will also help put us in touch with neighbors when things go wrong, like the power goes out. The radios can also scan police and emergency frequencies and the like, so we can keep aware of what is going on ahead. For example, the other day we went to Logan to pick up groceries, and were given warning of traffic lights out and a structural fire, both on our route home. The radios seem to provide a reliable means of situational awareness. I am still looking into the hobby aspects of the system, and what else can be done with it, but we already have enough to justify it. In addition to all this, I feel a little more comfortable wandering around the farm to do work, without having to alert others where I am at, and how long I think I might be. I know I can be reached in the event of necessity.

I planted in the garden a few days ago, and last night the snow fell almost to the treetops. It was only the corn that I had put in, so it should have been fairly safe even to a degree of cold. It hit 34 for the low, so we kept safe. I will be planting more in a week or so, but the vegetables to go in will be more sensitive to the cold. We had a strong cold spell last June, so this year it is a little nerve wracking. As I write this, my weather station is reporting 45 degree, and I am listening to the National Weather Service radio broadcast, and it is talking about temperatures reaching as high as 90 in the next week. Who knows what to expect?!

The record high for this date was 88 in 1967 in Pocatello, according to the radio service. The low was 23 in 1966.

My radio weather report comes from NWS-KZZ72, 162.425 MHz, broadcast off Sedgwick Peak, in Southeast Idaho, originating in the Pocatello office.

I am still staying off Facebook these days. I went in to look through the feed the other day. It took me less than a minute to find some post that some old friend had put up that amounted to an expression of stupid irresponsibility and public endangerment that utterly pissed me off. I shut it down rather than respond. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that includes me to mine. Probably best keep it to myself though. I think I hate Facebook. It is best to love people from a distance rather than get into their pockets and hate them completely.

I have not written much lately, still. This journal gets ignored too much. Hard to believe my first post to my online journal dates back to the 16th of February, 2006! It is crazy to look back at memories of life in England, and the boys growing up and so on. I know I lived there. I know it was for eight years. But now it seems so distant. This year will mark our tenth year living in the US. So many memories! So much time since I put my butt in the seat of that plane over to the UK to live.

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