Flurry

Yesterday Morning at 8 a.m. Sharp, the Contractor with 3 Crew (plus 3 Pick-ups, 1 Van, 2 Trailers) arrived to do some work on our House. I'll talk more about this later. I was making a Molasses Cake, which Melanie completed, as the myriad of Final Questions made their appearance too.

Simultaneously, someone from Green Building Supply in Fairfield, Iowa, delivered our outside Door for the Dining Room. That meant all the major supplies (Windows, Doors) were complete and ready to go.

While the Construction Crew is here, we dance around doing our own part to make things go smoothly. This 1st day was no exception; in fact, the speed seemed to be up a notch. Things got easier as the time went on. Maybe we just got used to it. While the Construction Crew is here, we follow them around occasionally, trying not to be intrusive, but eager to see the progress in our Little Home.

By late morning, 5 people on 5 Bicycles with 2 Trailers arrived from Wren Song, a Farm which is 3 miles south on our shared Gravel Road. These Glowing Young Adults picked 5 Gallons of Green Beans, which they planned to can later in the day. We managed delicious moments of conversation on the Porch, while the Construction Crew was energetically installing Windows on Scaffolds above.

Most of the Travelers through our Little Farm on that 1st day of Construction enjoyed Molasses Cake. I let Folks cut their own Pieces. The Pieces ranged from Postage Stamp Sizes to unabashed Blocks as big as the Palm on your hand. Regardless of size, all were quickly devoured. I just smiled. The simplest of pleasures are the best. Plus, 1 of the Rules of Farm Life which we have learned and try to follow is that you feed whoever comes. The Cake was finished by mid afternoon.

Our Security Light. which is provided by our Rural Electric Cooperative (for a fee, of course), had gone out some months ago. We were actually quite delighted by that because those lights tend to disconnect people from the Lovely Nights. We love the Night and without the light, we could now see the Stars. A Crew from the Cooperative in a substantial Pick-up with a Cherry Picker arrived to fix it. In the meantime, I talked with them about the logistics of removing the light and installing our own light, with switches at the House and the Garage. We will be doing that sometime soon, hopefully.

Sarah and Ronnie Saltmarsh came out in the Early Evening. We had a wonderful visit as we strolled about the Garden and each shared Garden Successes and Challenges. The Cake was long gone, but our special Guests were encouraged to browse in the Garden, which they did. We did too. We always do.

All of this was happening with a little Side Drama. At Rachel's Birthday Dinner last week, we had a Plumbing Issue. Birthdays are supposed to include surprises, right? The Plumber arrived earlier this week and we are very pleased to report that the issue is no longer. However, we are having him attend to some Plumbing Concerns in the House. While they could be put off, they are of the "Fix It" variety. We are also asking him to help us think about taking good care of the Plumbing System and Lagoon. City Folks aren't quite in tune to these things. He should be coming any day.

Recently, my Car developed a smell that could be nothing other than a Mouse. While I like to share, I have no interest in sharing my Beloved Car with a Mouse. This morning, Richard and I used our Sniffers to isolate the source: the Car Seat behind the Driver's Seat. We proceeded to try to remove the Seat, including calling the Dealership in Quincy. They advised us that we would need someone to remove some bolts.

So I headed into Town today and asked the Mechanics to remove the Seat. The Technician who was removing the bolts had quite a fear of Mice. He had no idea if something was going to jump out at him. Nothing did. In the meantime, his Fellow Technicians were gathered around him so as not to miss any Drama. It must have been a slow day, at least while I was there.

Mice are not uncommon to Country Life, so we are learning. This is a part of our Learning Curve too. I shall look forward to reporting some solutions.

Today actually went very smoothly. While the activity was definitely a Flurry, we just went with the Flow. After the Construction Crew left today, we have 4 Windows in and Trimmed, and 2 Windows in but yet to be Trimmed.

The House seems happy. We went into the Garden to Gather a Simple Meal for Dinner. We spent time in the Garden later just meandering about, attending to some details, but not being in a big hurry about anything.