Bruce’s Sister and Lola Visit Us

September 24, 2026 On September 18, Bruce’s sister spent the night at Blackberry Homestead on an air mattress in the odd room. Lola slept on the carpet next to the air mattress. On September 19, I got up early, just after six, and headed out to water the garden. Blackberry Homestead, the entire time we […]

Just Trying to Get Over a Cold and Not Feeling Like Doing Anything

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 […]

Bruce Does Not Have to Serve on the Jury

September 7, 2026 On August 28, 2026, in the morning Bruce headed back to the courthouse for the jury selection process. The jury pool was told the jury selection was almost finished. Bruce was a little bit jaded since he had heard this a few times. Bruce did appreciate the judge apologizing for the process […]

Bruce Still Being Considered for Jury Duty and Chili Pepper Ristra Attempt

September 7, 2026 On August 27, Bruce had hoped the jury selection would be completed by the end of the previous day. It wasn’t, so he had to go back to the courthouse in the early morning. The number of the jury pool was smaller, but it was still a large pool. I went out […]

Bruce Still Being Considered for Jury Duty and a Cucumber Tornado

September 4, 2026 On August 26, Bruce headed to the courthouse for consideration for jury duty. He was expecting to either be picked or be released since the two-day time frame had been exceeded. I walked around the back field to see if any of the trees or bushes needed anything. I noticed this spicebush […]

Bruce Still Being Considered for Jury Duty and Watering the Gardens

September 2, 2026 On August 25, Bruce headed out for jury selection consideration. I spent some time catching the evil leaf-legged bugs attacking my tomatoes and dropping them in soapy water. I mixed up my post for August 23 with today for watering. We’ve had a dry spell, and the pepper bucket brigade was drooping, […]

Bruce Called Up for Jury Duty

August 31, 2026 August 24, Bruce had to go in for jury duty. He had received the notice four weeks ago. They had called up 400 people to pick the jury from. The court only planned to take two days to select the jury. It took them 5 days. Bruce was not allowed to talk […]

Cucumber Chips, Organizer for Lids, and Mason Jar Sealer

August 31, 2026 ***Updated on September 2 to remove watering. I watered later.*** On August 23, Bruce was excited to try the cucumber chips. He had a hard time not eating all of them in one sitting. I got a package from Amazon. It contained a shelf organizer for lids or plates and a Mason […]

The Pig Feeder Is Gone and Catching Leaf-legged Bugs

August 31, 2026 On August 21, we looked out the window and saw that the pig pen was still there. I had started a new morning routine, I go out to the garden in the early morning and try to catch leaf-legged bugs (true bugs). “I hates them.” They are related to stink bugs and […]

Tadpoles, Chainsawing, and Butterflies

August 29, 2026 On August 18, I felt well enough to walk around Blackberry Homestead. Bruce had been talking about frog eggs and then tadpoles in the blue half-barrel. Once the tadpoles hatched, Bruce mentioned the green layer on the half barrel was gone. The tadpoles had eaten it. In the picture, you can see […]