We Are Okay, Blackberry Homestead With Downed Trees

April 6, 2025 The tornado that touched down in Muscle Shoals was about 6 miles from us. We huddled in our closet part of the night when the tornado warning sirens went off and the electronic warning said a tornado had touched down. Nox really didn’t like hanging out in the closet. I believe she […]

New Style of Artwork, “Abstract Sensualism”

April 5, 2025 Surprise was expressed at how much we were willing to spend to ship and have our DeRubeis’s artwork “Autumn Wind” repaired. (We were both sick to realize it had been damaged.) I want to explain why we are willing to spend so much to ship it and have it repaired. Bruce and […]

The Damaged Artwork Shipped for Repair Today

April 4, 2025 After carefully packing the entire four panels of the damaged artwork, we packed it into the large art moving box from U-Haul. We used bubble wrap and U-Haul styrofoam corner proctors, along with bubble wrap corner protectors. We used a lot of tape to keep everything in place. The styrofoam corner proctors […]

Into the Drink and Out Again

April 4, 2025 On Tuesday (April 1), I was using the loppers to cut down small trees and bushes in the cross fence. Bruce came out of the house and called out to me, “Hey, I’ve got a situation and need your help.” I called back as I started walking towards Bruce, “Are you okay?” […]

I Started Physical Therapy Today

April 3, 2025 For the last four years, I have had issues with my left side of my back. It is triggered when riding on the back of the motorcycle for more than 30 minutes. I have the same pain when washing a large load of dishes by hand or when I spend a significant […]

Podiatrist and Dermatologist Visit

April 2, 2025 On Monday (March 31), I went to see the podiatrist my new primary care doctor recommended for an ingrown toenail. The podiatrist gave me three options to deal with my ingrown toenail. After additional discussion with the doctor, I picked option one which was the simplest and least invasive treatment. The doctor […]

A Visit from My Sister and Her Husband

March 30, 2025 On Thursday (March 27), I had a doctor’s appointment for my physical. My new doctor is going to recommend some doctors in the area. I have a toenail that is trying to become an ingrown toenail. I also need a neurologist in the area who is familiar with my condition. After my […]

Six Blueberries Are Planted

March 27, 2025 On March 25 (Tuesday), we planted the six blueberry bushes we purchased from a local nursery, Porter Garden Center. We had planted two small blueberry bushes from Gurney’s Seed & Nursery (mail order) earlier. We planted the blueberry bushes in the circle Bruce had measured out. Bruce dug the holes. I placed […]

Update on Repairing Our DeRubeis Artwork

March 25, 2025 I received another email from DeRubeis’s office. “I spoke with the artist and he does believe that scratch is repairable. The cost for repair is $200, plus shipping. He does want to note that if you send back just the panel that needs to be repaired, it will be shinier than the […]

Planting Bare Root Fruit Trees

March 24, 3025 For some reason, Bruce thought we’d take it easy on Sunday (March 23) after “An Evening of Fire and Smoke” on Saturday. We did sleep in a bit. I woke Bruce up to make sure he was in time for the family Zoom call. Once Bruce was done with the Zoom call, […]