Before the Storm

April 6, 2025

On Thursday (April 3), after my physical therapy, we checked out a salvage store and purchased 4 metal chairs at $35 a piece for the blueberry circle. We just need a table for the circle now. We also bought two end tables at $45 a piece. I like the shape of the tables, but I don’t really like the bleached wood color. I may get used to it, but if I still don’t like the color in a year, I’ll paint them. Bruce likes that they were inexpensive and if he spills his coffee or tea on them, they won’t be damaged.

I’m sharing some pictures I took of Blackberry Homestead in the past few days before the storm hit on Saturday night.

On Friday, we got to see a hawk in the front yard, sitting in the grass, then taking off with a bird it caught. I tried getting pictures of it, but only got one blurry picture to show for my efforts. I’m sharing it, since it was interesting to see.

During Saturday afternoon, I was marking the poison ivy sprouts I could see in the back pasture. Bruce was bringing the mower with the cart holding the new chairs. It was a bit windy.

I heard a crack, looked to see what the noise was, then heard a louder crack as a large branch broke and fell. I watched it crash onto the shed roof. It made a tremendous thud as it hit the shed roof. I wasn’t sure the roof was intact after hearing the branch hit. Bruce heard the second crack and got to see the branch fall as well.

Fortunately, the roof wasn’t damaged.

Bruce spent most of Saturday (April 5) mowing. He had let the meadow get a bit tall.

On Saturday evening, we hung one of my drawings, “Lioness with Cub” over the loveseat. Nox was interested in what we were doing.

The picture is hung too high on the wall by itself. It looks awkward on the wall. I envision another picture under it or several smaller pictures underneath it. I am considering putting a counted cross-stitch picture my mother-in-law made for me underneath it.

It would also be fun to draw two or three individual lion cubs playing and have them framed to go underneath the “Lioness with Cub” to make a set.

I now have the rest of our non-DeRubies art spread out on the living room floor to consider where it should go.