Throw it down and walk away

We have had some hard decisions to make recently. About the land, about retirement, about building a home. We are no closer to an answer, the right one at that. We even toyed with the idea of filling in the main pond, or selling the land and starting over. A quick online research of property for sale, with or without homes, showed me that that would be an asinine thing to do at this point, and it didn't take us 20 years to find this property because we had so many options to choose from! If we were to sell it, we would be back at the start with no other viable options for getting out of the this house and into nature and our forever home. So the obsessing and worrying continues.

As we continue the back and forth between Winter and Spring, and are finally in the woods of whatever hellish virus we caught, we continue to do the little bits that we can. I have spent more time than I should trying to finish these pumpkin earrings. I usually have to start over no less than three times. First one is done! Just need to trim the threads and put on the ear hook.

Although Woodchucks intentions were good, and goals lofty, he indeed did not meet the goal of getting our sons bathroom completely remodeled before his surgery (which I am taking him to in about an hour). Plus, with me not being there to see the little things, he didn't notice that some of the older plaster has mold on it. So that will all need to be torn out. Maybe he was going to tear it out anyway, but he seemed surprised when I sent the pictures of the mold.

Those are some wide boards! This is the area where the exhaust fan will go. Woodchuck said that there's still asphalt shingle-style siding on the house too!

They picked up the drywall already, so just a tad more demo to do, then wiring for the exhaust fan and some replacement wiring for other things that might not be up to code and are a fire hazard.

While the bathroom is on hold for now, we are making quick stops at the land. An important stop was to cage the front arborvitae that we planted last year and that have been stripped by the wildlife. I don't know that these cages will make a difference, but I had to try some thing.

We also got the chain unwrapped that the neighbor wrapped around a small tree. It took both of us to get it unwrapped.

I saw my first bluebird of the season out there! Not my picture, found this one online. I had to use it to help me decipher if it was a bluebird or blue bunting. I can never remember which is which.

I had a follow up with my GP for some lab and I was feeling freshly sick and thinking we had the flu. They tested me for the flu and Covid and both came back negative. He said that a lot of people were coming in thinking they had the flu and it ended up not being that, just some virus. Yeah well, the "just some virus" was a beast and kicked our butts. Back when I was growing up, you could tell if you had the flu or a cold. Now all of the lines are blurred.

On another trip to the land, we placed markers at the edge of the pond where about 4-6 inches of land is getting ready to slump in. I want visuals. I want proof that others can see that I am not making shit up, and this is not something to ignore. We have ONE WAY to get to other side of the property with the tractor, and we can't lose this land to slumping anymore. At some point I'm going to get tired of being ignored and treated like a stupid girl and I will take charge, but for right now, I am giving others the chance to step up and do the right thing.

With the "Spring" thaw and rains, water levels are high all over. It's a beautiful day though, with mirrored skies in the water.

My hips/legs/ankles were feeling well enough to finally walk the watershed and grab those trail cam SD cards and get eyes on the land. I am always amazed at how many Oothecas I find. On this trip it was three of them.

My eyes are constantly scanning. I'm afraid if I keep looking down too much, I will miss something higher up. These views, for instance.

The sandhill cranes are on the move into the area again, though we have never seen any at our land.

Hello, Mr. Blue Sky!

We thought we would also try and get over along the watershed pond too. I had to be really careful not to slip. These tractor tire marks are always here now, but I can see the watershed pond levels have nearly reached them.

Indeed, I was able to establish that the newest flooding issue we have is because the watershed pond overflowed on the lowest land side. That tree would normally be on dry land, and it is now an island and surrounded by water. We passed that information along to the company that is working to fix the main pond and the flooding to the side of it.

I am so grateful to have seen the pussy willows get their fuzzies! One of my favorite trees since I was a child, I thought I had missed them this year, but they were there waiting for me! 

We refer to this flooded area now as "the third pond", and the ducks are loving it.

The water meal already started back on the warmer days, with what looks like tree bud chafings mixed in.

We feel like we are in limbo right now, but I also feel like everything is happening as it should.

Satisfied that we could do all that we could on this trip, we headed home for showers and dinner. We made the last of the Pierogi up, and in case you ever wondered why we named our cat Pierogi, here's a picture for reference.

I have been itching to get back to creating. I decided to take advantage of the sunlight we get coming in through the East bedroom window! It was short-lived, but glorious.

I always love when we go to the land and hear ducks. After seeing a crane take off from the edge of the water, we could hear ducks (a male and female mallard)....but then also...

Geese. They are not our favorite to have there, but we understand the draw of the water to them. They don't stay long, and honestly, with so much mud, I don't know that they will try and nest again (so far, in five years, they have never had babies).

This was our last trip back to the land before Woodchucks sinus surgery, and the weather was once again beautiful. On this trip, things with the house idea were really coming to a head. A decision needed to be made, or I need out from under this weight. But not just any decision, the smartest one that we can make that will ensure our comfort in retirement, and ability to afford to live at the land. So we walked and talked. The flood waters continue to rise. Have I ever told you about the floods in Louisiana? When we lived there for a bit when I was in pre-K, we lived on a road that ran along the Amite River. And gator danger and contamination be damned, we swam in the flood waters! With the hips and ankles I have now, I am not even walking in this water! 😂

There's nothing quite like sunlight reflected on shimmering waters.

We decided to sit and watch and listen and dream and talk. Such a pivotal time it is! Still recovering from hip surgery, both of us still recovering from something viral, do we keep the land or sell it? Do we move forward with the original house plan, or change that? I know the answer is coming. I just need to keep my hands off and my wants out, while also being a voice of reason. It will all work out.

I could snuggle up and take a nap right here, but Woodchuck says I have to wait until we are living out there, and this bench is used by a squirrel for a dinner table. So, I guess that means that my relaxation time is over.

Between the virus and my autoimmune stuff, the sun is hurting my eyes. But I'm grateful that it's out!

We made a couple of trips to Bailey's Discount Center down in North Judson, for things for us and for our youngest who has been talking about moving out but still hasn't followed through with looking at places yet. The sandhill cranes LOVE that area! Fields and skies full of them!

While we are all grateful for the sun and slightly warmer temps, they fueled some intense storms. I can see the front moving in as we left the discount center to head home.

This is not my picture, but shows what a storm chaser caught. It hit about 20-30 minutes South of us, in the area that we had been shopping in. The lightening, winds, and pouring rain that we had here at home were INSANE. Tornado and severe weather sirens were going off, but we never lost power. I had a video for you to see that showed the intense lightening we had, but I couldn't get it to load.

Pierogi doesn't like storms, but was really brave this time! I could tell when it picked up in intensity because that's when she went and hid in the corner. Once the storm threat passed, she was exhausted and went face first into the blanket!

It took me awhile to type this up, and some decisions have been made about the land and housing! So stay tuned, the next post will updates about that stuff!

2026 healing

 Another new year. How lucky are we that we get to see another one? We still have so much left to do in the world as a whole, but also in individual worlds of the people around us. I purposely didn't make resolutions, commitments, set goals. Nothing. No pressure. No looking so far ahead that I can't enjoy the right now. 

As you figured, we spent New Years Eve and Day working. The walls are painted around the shower now, and it is time to move to the next step.

That is right, friends. Caulk. The dreaded task of caulking. Woodchuck is not allowed to caulk, though he did pick this one out. I was nervous about this, I didn't really want to be the one to potentially mess up all of this new stuff! But then I got hyper-focused. It was like being a surgeon, but I was asking for damp and dry paper towels instead of surgery tools, lol. This was one of the nicest caulks I've ever used! I can't take all of the credit, I was asking for guidance from every spirit of every person that has ever worked on this house and knew what they were doing, lol.

Then we got the water handle on, and that took a bit of work since you can't see through the wall to where the screws are supposed go into. So one of us would be on the screw head side in the shower while the other was in the closet with the plumping trying to guide where the screws would go. It worked out!

Then the shower head! The ring around it caused much confusion. Why is it this color and not silver? Is this a covering to protect the metal from getting scratched, and if so, why was nothing else coated in it? The box clearly shows silver. I don't know, and if Woodchuck knew, he was too distracted by other things. So it went on as is.

                                                        Then it was time for the drain cover! 

                                                                    And done!!! Or?????

We have running water!

We turned the water back on, and there was a small leak. My eye is twitching just typing that. It wasn't a big one, but we weren't going to leave it. So, back to Menards and this time Woodchuck decided on using flex line. Which I actually like how it looks better than the PVC we used.

But then the shower head fitting on the plumbing side of the wall also had a leak. So Woodchuck stopped the next day after work and picked up flex line for that and changed it out. As far as I know now, the shower is done, and the boy is using it. HOWEVER, it wasn't until he started using it that we realized the water lines were installed in reverse by the original owners. Woodchuck left it as is. I bowed out of the last couple of trips because our son wasn't feeling well, and I had a lot to get done to prepare for surgery...including not getting sick. I am honestly amazed at the amount of people who don't care they are sick and passing it around! It's me and some of the little old ladies who are wearing masks when we go out in public because everyone is coughing and sneezing without covering them up, running out to get medicine even though they say they have the flu "and my wife and kids had it first". But I digress. I can only control myself, I can only control myself.....

I spent a couple of days getting the Yule decors down and cleaning the house back up from that. I also had to think about being able to move around fairly easily while on crutches, and picked things up and moved things out of the way. We also tried to organize the fridge to have all of my things on the top shelves and at the front, since I can't bend over at the waist. 

I had to go and get fitted for the hip brace I was going to need to wear after surgery. Sizing is approximate, and based off of weight. That put me in a large one, but I'm short, and there was a lot of adjusting that needed to be done to it before it was fitting me even remotely correctly. They also have to set it for the degree of movement the doctor wants you to have after surgery. Mine is set for 30 degrees. It felt so good when we she put it on! Just enough pressure and support to stop my hips from hurting, but I don't get to wear it until they put me in it after surgery. After my appointment, I went grocery shopping, paid bills, and wrapped up as many loose ends as I could.

I am continuing with my smoothies most days, and loving everything about them except that they make me cold at this time of year, lol.

The day before surgery, I went to get a massage and hair cut. This was my first time at this massage place and I loved it! I loved the vibe, music, decor, and the massage therapist herself! I am looking forward to going back after I've healed a bit.

We went to the land after Woodchuck got home from work. I pulled SD cards so that I could look at them while recovering, and we just took in the peace and healing.

I found 6 more oothecas on the watershed.

The water table is SUPER high, and the watershed pond has never come up this high before. If we had not had the South bank of the pond built up, the ponds would have likely merged in this overflow and that would not have been good.

I step foot on this land and all of my pain, physical and otherwise, disappears.

That is the watershed pond in the distance, upper right corner of this photo. While the ground closer to me is always wet, the removal of the phragmite and silky dogwood likely is contributing to more water. I have researched plants that we will plant to replace them all, but we have to make sure this area won't be disturbed again with pond work, and we have to have soil brought in too. 👇

This would have normally stressed me out, but water does what water does, and the addition of soil and lots of native plants will help minimize the flooding.

We found an odd fungi on the watershed path, covered in water droplets.

It was hard to leave, not knowing when I would be back in the same capacity, but the land needs its time to rest as well. It should be thawing out and waking up around the same time that I am healed enough to start moving around, carefully but unhindered by crutches and braces. The stars saw us home.

I didn't get everything done that I wanted to before surgery, but I stack my to-do list unrealistically, never intending to get it all done, but would celebrate nonetheless if it did happen! The morning of surgery was beautiful! I was SO ready, SO peaceful, and SO grateful. It was a full moon week and it saw us off. 

We are rarely in my car at night, and I do nearly all of the driving and have the instrument panel creating light, so we never noticed that my car has internal panel lights, lol.

I feel like my new glasses are too big, lol. Waiting for Woodchuck to come in and sit with me until surgery time! They had me walk into the surgery room, which was WOW. There was so much equipment everywhere! 

Everything went well though, and after throwing up on our way to the pharmacy to pick up the most important medicine that, for some reason, wasn't filled the day prior when we stopped to get my surgery meds, we headed home. I had seen a recipe for a homemade electrolyte beverage and had that made for me to enjoy. I honestly didn't feel much different from it, but it tasted fine.

I started physical therapy the day after surgery, and have my post-op tomorrow. I am hoping they get the stitches out! My skin heals very fast, and they are itching and catching and tight and pulling and burning. But we will see! Form what I told, the surgeon found what he expected, an impingement, but other than that, I don't know much yet. I'm on crutches for 4 weeks, 20% weight bearing on that leg, and also the hip brace. I'm doing therapy twice a week, and also doing those exercises at home twice a day (except for the exercise bike since Woodchuck said it's old and really doesn't have a way to adjust tension). 

I'm working on some gifts for my cousin and they are Christmas themed, so I'm working on them now while I am still in the Winter/Yule mind set. Back to old-school, plastic canvas. This is a sneak peek.

The temps have plunged, and there has been hit or miss precipitation. The perfect time to go within and heal and rest. I am grateful for those days with Father Sun to break up some of the monotone and on the days we have snow, my world is sparkling like glitter. On this day, the sun hit a mirror I have temporarily stored behind the console stereo and you just had to receive the message! There was no turning away. 

With less movement, and being on an Aspirin protocol for 6 weeks, I get chilly faster. It doesn't help that I can only get one sock on by myself, so when Woodchuck is at work, the left leg/foot are always cold. I broke out the chunky wool sweater. Reserved for times such as these, it is the ultimate snuggler.

For the first 2 or 3 days after surgery, I was energized but as time is going on, I'm getting more tired. Most nights I sleep well, but on the nights I don't, it's much harder to push through the next day than usual. The upside is that I'm reading a lot! I'm on my third book since the beginning of the new year, and don't be jealous about that! I had fallen WAY behind and have stacks and stacks (and even a bag full) of books in the closet. It feels good to finally slow down and catch up on the things that I enjoy. Some days are a bit lonely and frustrating at the lack of independence, but all in due time. I have to rest now to make sure I'm ready for what the year is bringing! (and BTW, the book was FANTASTIC! One of the best I've read). I hope you are well, resting when you can, seeing the messages and the gifts of each day. )O(