September 20, 2026
On August 29, with rain expected later in the week, Bruce decided to clear the drainpipe under the patio. He spent some time trying to clear the pipe with me providing suggestions. After getting tired of watching the struggle, I went inside. About 45 minutes later, Bruce was triumphant. The drainpipe was clear!
In the first picture, on the left, the shiny piece of metal was inside the drainpipe, contributing to the clog. The plumbing snake was a big help in clearing out plant material. In the second picture, the long pipe leaning on the grill helped push the material out of the drainpipe. The pliers on top of the grill allowed Bruce to pull the pipe out when it got stuck. The water hose with a sprayer attachment cleared out dirt.
That afternoon, Bruce started coughing, sneezing, and having a stuffy nose. He also developed drainage running down the back of his throat. He could only breathe through his mouth and his throat hurt. He had body aches and generally felt miserable. He didn’t have any energy or much of an appetite, but no fever. Maybe he caught something from someone in the jury pool? He was happy he finished clearing the drainpipe before his symptoms hit. Bruce likes giving me things, but I would’ve rather he didn’t give his illness to me!
On August 30, I woke up wondering when I ate ground glass and why someone was holding my nose. I had all of Bruce’s symptoms.
We stayed in bed, except to eat some soup.
I did manage to get a sunset picture.
On August 31, Bruce decided that riding on the mower in the sunshine would help him feel better. When he was done, the front lawn looked nice, but Bruce was wiped out.
I did sit on the porch for a bit, hoping the sunshine would help me.
The sunset was nice.
On September 1, we didn’t do anything but sleep and have some soup.
On September 2, by the end of the day, I felt well enough to check on things. The body aches had stopped
The bucket brigade was droopy and needed water.
The sunset was lovely.
On September 3, I got up, watered the bucket brigade, and picked cucumbers and okra. I put the produce away, got a shower, and crawled back into bed.
The sunset was beautiful.
On September 4, it rained. We were happy to get some rain. We were still struggling with whatever Bruce caught and gave to me.
On September 5, I went out in the morning and picked cucumbers, peppers, and okra.
Bruce and I agreed. If we were still sick after a week, we should go see a doctor.
There was a pretty sunset.
On September 6, I was feeling better, but still coughing, stuffed up, and sneezing. I went outside and picked more cucumbers, peppers, and okra.
I also spotted a kaleidoscope of Gulf fritillaries on the verbena bush.
I needed to do something with the large amount of cucumbers. I made cucumber chips by dehydrating several rounds of cucumbers. I made two quarts of refrigerator pickles, one of cucumber spears and one of cucumber slices (coins). I used the food processor with the slicing disc to slice the cucumbers. After adding the hot brine to jars, I used my new mason jar vacuum sealer on the jars.
With lots of cucumbers left, I switched from the slicing disc to the chopping blade (S-blade) in the food processor to make refrigerator spicy dill relish.
I peeled the cucumbers, cut them from stem to blossom end, and did a seedectomy*. I cut open a few hot peppers, a couple of small bell peppers, and performed a seedectomy. I peeled sweet onions and homegrown garlic. I chopped the cucumbers, onions, and peppers into chunks. Into the food processor they went, along with the garlic.
I used the pulse mode to control the vegetable to size, pausing to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl.
I briefly cooked the relish in a brine mixture, before adding some cornstarch to thicken the brine. Using a canning funnel, I poured the relish into two pint jars. I used my new mason jar vacuum sealer on the jars.
Notice the two stacked pint jars have a smaller footprint on the refrigerator shelf than a quart jar. The difference in height between the quart jar and the two stacked pint jars limits the usable space above the stacked pint jars.
The pickling process wore me out. I still wasn’t recovered.
Bruce did some mowing during the day.
We had a pretty sunset.
On September 8, Bruce and I decided to go to a doctor. We were planning on going to Jekyll Island, GA on September 12. We had plateaued on getting better. The hacking cough, drainage, and stuffy nose continued. On top of that, I had an ear ache.
We were tested for COVID and the flu. We had neither, but I had an ear infection. Bruce didn’t have an ear infection, just me.
The doctor prescribed antibiotics for me. For both of us, he prescribed cough syrup and a decongestant. The doctor called in the prescriptions. We headed to the pharmacy and picked up the medicine.
I took some pictures of a bee and butterflies.
I started digging up the sweet potatoes while Bruce mowed. I quickly became tired and I had to stop digging.
On September 9, Bruce mowed while I dug more sweet potatoes. I was able to last longer before becoming tired. Bruce had more energy and wanted to do more yard work. I suggested digging up more sweet potatoes.
Bruce started digging up sweet potatoes by hand, with mosquitoes buzzing around him. As he moved down the raised bed, digging out sweet potatoes, he knelt in a fire ant bed. The fire ants crawled on him and as fire ants do, stung him all at once.
Bruce jumped up, started brushing off the fire ants as fast as he could, and running to the house. The bites (stings) were red and swollen. They ran together in a large area. Bruce was having a bad reaction to the large number of bites. He had me help by putting on “After Bite” on the bites. He also took an antihistamine.
If you have ever wondered why I hate fire ants, let me show you what they did to Bruce. This is what the bites looked like the next day on his left leg.
His right leg had the same level of bites on both sides of his knee as well as the front of his shin that wasn’t touching the ground.
The bites are as painful as they look. The itching was impossible for him to ignore.
Fire ants bite to hold on before they curl up to sting you. Even though fire ants sting, the stings are called bites.
On September 10, Bruce didn’t feel like doing anything between the cold and fire ant bites. Later on the day, he went out and mowed.
I picked cucumbers and okra. I started catching up on the much neglected housework.
The sunset was pretty.
On September 11, I spent some time remembering those who died on 9/11. I finished up the housework and Bruce worked on building his new computer. In the evening, we packed for our trip. We were feeling a lot better, but still were a bit stopped up and coughing occasionally. My ears had stopped hurting.
We had an interesting sunset.
*seedectomy – means the removal of seeds
Blackberry Homestead 