The sky at 6:30AM
The sky was on fire when I went outside at 6:30AM on Sunday morning. I had gotten up at 5AM and gotten my post written but not checked or posted. I got the kitchen cleaned up and I saw a car pull in just before 8AM. It was my niece as she was going to breakfast with my brother. She said there was a balloon going up along the river.
So I grabbed the camera and got some photos as it went over the white oak tree heading north.
Then I headed to the cellar to start inventorying the vegetable freezer. People would start showing up around 8AM so I wanted a bit of head start. Then at 9:15AM the power goes out. My son got me an oil lamp and I continued the inventory.
His friend who was going to help arrived and he and I went up to the barn to clear a path to get the freezers out. We also positioned the truck for the easiest loading.
I called Tom on the corded phone as that was the only written number I had to see where everyone was. They had somehow gotten a 9:30AM start in their heads. Sigh… So they all headed over but before they got here the power came back on. I went down and finished the inventory on the vegetable freezer. I couldn’t start on the meat freezer until the coolers and baskets were emptied.
My #1 intern was able to get the truck started once they loaded the freezer that was iffy. I had shown then with the template about getting the freezer down the bulkhead. So they go it into the freezer room and my #1 intern and I got the back and sides of it washed. (We couldn’t reach them at the barn.) Then it was moved into place against the workshop wall and they headed out for the 2nd freezer.
That one was soon in and we got the back of that one washed and started loading it. The iffy freezer wasn’t behaving well, so I wasn’t going to load it unless I had too.
Once I had some baskets and coolers to load into, I started the meat freezer inventory. But half way through I was just too tired and I never finished the inventory.
They were loading freezers for me and there was not a plan and so things are sort of higglety pigglety in the freezers. I’d have to sort them out during the week.
They moved the fridge out of the old area and we discovered, once it was in place by the stairs that the cider press just fit under the electrical panel.
They moved the vegetable freezer next and started loading it. I finally got the meat freezer unloaded and they brought that over. While they were waiting I had them doing clean up things.
They got the tailgate back on the truck, put the storage boxes back into the stall in the barn and closed the barn up. They got the bulkhead doors back on. They brought the table from the second floor and that was really handy. They got the 2 file cabinets into place in the old freezer area.
There was a bit of old food to be discarded and they got that upstairs. The scaffolding and lift came out of the workshop and were stored. Once the heavy stuff was done, the 3 guys were paid and headed out.
My #1 intern and my son’s friend stayed to finish up. We got the meat freezer defrosted and wiped out and then loaded it. The iffy freezer wasn’t getting better so we left it empty.
They got the cellar door hung and Tom arrived about then to see how we’d done and deliver milk. He took his moving equipment and we called it a day.
I made some lunch and was in bed shortly after 2PM. I got up at 4PM and got my son to bring in wood so I could light fires as it was getting cold in the house. The rain had started around noon.
It took about ½ hour for the office to heat up and fortunately, both stoves lit pretty well, for a first burn.
I went down to get some photos of the finished freezer room and check the iffy freezer. I went up to check on the masonry heater fire and noticed something on the rosemary we brought in last week.
There were 2 flowers on the pathetic thing! I’d not had flowers but once before in the winter of 2019 – 2020. Mostly I just succeed in killing them, often in short order.
I made an early supper and just sat watching videos until bedtime at 8PM. I got the stoves loaded and headed to bed. It was still raining.
On Monday my #2 intern and I will be out at 8AM to finish this section of the fencing repair. We must finish it on Monday morning so the mulch guy can get it mowed on the afternoon before it rains. I also have to do something about the discarded food. But that will be all I can manage.
