March 31, 2026
On Monday (March 30), my GI doctor’s office called. As I guessed from looking at the test results, my gallbladder has to be removed. He is referring me to a general surgeon. I don’t know when I’ll hear from the surgeon’s office. I hope it will be soon.
The driver for the Bama Dirt company called at 8:00 AM. He was on the way to pick up a load of dirt at the company. He expected to be at Blackberry Homestead around 9:00 AM.
The dirt is a lot better dirt than the previous Pro Mix deliveries. It made me wonder if they changed up their mix or if they just got better topsoil to mix with the compost and sand.
We walked around and looked at plants.
Here’s the dump truck dumping the third load.
I am glad the ground was dry. The truck would’ve sunk in the clay and made a real mess of the yard. The truck just made tire tracks on the grass.
Here’s all four loads dumped.
While I was looking at the dirt, I could see the peas grabbing on to the netting.
While the dirt was being delivered, I completely weeded the flower beds out front. I discovered fire ants in the flower gardens. They weren’t there yesterday, so how did they spread so fast? I am guessing I didn’t disturb them before.
After the dirt delivery, Bruce got a text from the Walmart pharmacy saying his prescriptions were ready. He rode the motorcycle to pick up his prescriptions and get some groceries.
While he was gone, I shoveled dirt into bed D6. This bed’s level had dropped significantly. The Lowe’s bagged “topsoil” had composted down. This was hard work, I was exhausted when I was done. I sat down and rested.
Bruce got back while I was resting. I helped him unload the motorcycle and put away the groceries. After the groceries were unloaded, he rode his motorcycle to the barn and put it away. The barn acts as a garage for the motorcycle.
Bruce wanted shepherd’s pie for dinner to use up the leftovers from the lamb roast. Bruce asked me if there was anything he could do to help. I said, “Yes, you can make the mashed potatoes. You’ll need five russet potatoes.” He asked if the potatoes should be riced or mashed with the masher. I told him to rice the potatoes.
Bruce was pleased with the mashed potatoes. I agreed, they were fluffy and tasted delicious. I got to work slicing and dicing the vegetables and meat. I created a roux and sautéed the onions, celery, and mushrooms. I added the finely chopped garlic and gave the mixture a few stirs. I added enough water to cover the vegetables and then a bit more. I added the carrots, red potatoes, and lamb cubes to the pan. The water barely covered them. I turned the oven on to preheat.
I let the vegetables cook until they were tender. The water cooked down and made a nice gravy. The pan came off the stove. I spread the fluffy mashed potatoes over the lamb and vegetable mixture to create a crust. The pie went into the oven to bake for 20 minutes. After baking, I turned on the broiler and browned up the mashed potatoes. Bruce came to “help” me take out the pie. He really came to drool over the pie. I told him we had to wait for the pie to cool for five minutes. He set a timer!
Bruce loved the pie and ate two servings. He said “I know I am eating more than I should, but it is so good.” After the second serving, he mentioned wanting a third one, but he wasn’t going to get it because that would be just too much.
We had a pretty sunset.
Blackberry Homestead 
It is good to have still have good appetites! Healthy sign! We did some more gardening today. Looks like rain, so it is a wrap. We are waiting to have orange rocket barberry (3) to replace some plants which died. Coming from Wal-Marts. Planted some blanket flowers (Gallardia) today and Mike did some repairs and raking. I planted some seeds (flowers). Time for lunch. Hope you will hear soon! Mike had his gallbladder taken out before cancer as he had a gallstone which needed to be removed.
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It is good to have good appetites! Gardening feels productive and rewarding. Growing flowers is fun and beautifying!
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Sounds like you all had a good day! Hope you hear from the surgeon soon so you can get the unpleasantness of surgery behind you. 😊
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Me too!
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Look at that rich looking soil. Pretty jealous. Everything at this new house is some of the worst clay I’ve ever seen. It’s going to take forever to get soil rich enough to start plants during this confounded drought.
Sending all positive thoughts on your upcoming surgery. Hopefully it’ll put you right as rain.
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Last year the soil we got seemed it was mostly red clay. It develops a crust on it after rain. This soil looks soooo much better. I am tempted to order two more truck loads! The ground here is mostly red clay. It’s hard to dig and seems to soak up compost like it never existed.
Thank you for your well wishes.
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As a fellow ‘clay gardener’ it left me totally coveting it! Such beautiful loamy soil. Be still my heart. 😁
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I was amazed and delighted! I can just imagine how everything will grow!
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Sounds like a lovely quiet day. Can’t wait until we start really getting our like homestead started. Right now it seems to just be remodeling and clearing. It has to be done though before we can really do much else. Everything is a process, and I keep trying to remind myself of that. I’d hoped to have rabbits and be planting this spring but it’s not looking like that’s going to happen. Maybe I’ll be able to at least get some stuff in pots on the porch if nothing else.
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I meant to tell you before that I like your homestead name and website.
Remember, just take it one step at a time and you’ll get where you’ll want to be. You’ll wake up one morning and realize you are living the life you want to live.
Herbs are easy to grow in pots and usable quickly.
If you like peppers, they are easy to grow in pots. I grew several in5-gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. https://retirementrvdream.com/2025/06/27/julia-julia-how-do-your-peppers-grow-in-five-gallon-buckets-all-in-rows-on-the-patio/
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Way to go, Julia. There are very few people who can successfully merge in one post, the seemingly disparate topics of Alabama topsoil and your gallbladder. But you achieved it. With photos. Of the dirt, not the gallbladder, for which we thank you. (Hums his song as he walks out, 🎵”Second opinion, always get a second opinion.”🎵)
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Well, I do try to provide twists to my posts, but maybe that was a bit much. 😆
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