Blah

It's just blah. The weather is so hot that, even when I don't stay over at work to make some extra money (to pay that stupid garnishment, cover the income taxes and the upcoming insurance that'll be coming out starting August), it's too hot for me to get out and do anything. Quentin's no real help, he's still pulling the "It's too (insert weather condition here) out to do anything." Kid you not, I asked him the other day to clean out the fridge, empty the trash and do the dishes because it was all beginning to stink, and he spent the day "watching the cats to make sure they didn't get too hot." He had something going on that night, so when I got home and had a bit of dinner, you can guess who did the chores. And all that stuff that was cut back is growing back with a vengeance, so the place is becoming a veritable jungle again. No, all is not well in Paradise these days. I have hopes that it will get better, but no guarantees, so I just take it a day at a time and pray like crazy that we will make it through this with our sanities and marriage intact.

Good news is that my ankle is pretty well healed up, with the swelling completely gone now but still a bit of stiffness. Apparently, I pulled some bones out of whack with that tumble, and as time's passed, more and more, they go CRACK! at the most inopportune times (like when I'm walking around at work), and leave me limping again. So things should get better with me being able to do some things around the house again soon.

Black raspberry season is over, there weren't many this year with having to cut everything back. The little patch outside the bedroom window that didn't get cleared gave me about a whopping quart overall, and most got used right away on my morning oatmeal. Breakfast was soooo sweet. The canes are pretty destroyed now, though, because once the picking was over, Quentin did get a couple of old tire rims out of there where they'd kind of sunk into the ground. Getting them out required walking all over the canes and then dragging the rims out from their burial spots over the canes, so I'm going to have to find time this week (HA!) to cut them back too, and get them to the burn pit. Need to get out with the loppers and cut stuff back where things were cleared already, too. Until fencing can be obtained and put up to make small paddocks, where I can keep goats and sheep, to help browse things down (especially the goats), it's going to be a nightmare.

The well development is edging along a bit at a time. Some of the stuff needed for the bailer bucket is together, a few things still need grabbing, such as the end cap for the pipe and a couple small bits and bobs of hardware, but I'd say it's about half ready to go. Still gotta do a bit of work on the bicycle windlass, but it's finally starting to come along. Quentin's doing a few small things with realizing finally that his wait for rehire to Tyson's is in the downhill stage of things, but he's still got so much depression from it that it's difficult to get him to do anything, which doesn't help either of our tempers, anymore than the heat does.

I'm putting in as much overtime at work as I can get, without killing myself. With that garnishment coming out, it pretty much stinks, because that's $125 a week or thereabouts that could be put to good use on the property, and it's going to take about a year before it's paid off, so it's going to be a bit before anything's done, assuming Quentin will put some of his paycheck toward the house instead of all the things he's talking about that he "wants" that have nothing to do with improving things or becoming more self-sufficient. It's beginning to look like the whole megillah is going to end up on me, with a spouse that really only wants to live in the country and doesn't want any of the work that goes along with it. He's been talking a good talk, but he's not walking the walk, and it's pretty disappointing. Anybody else have this problem? I'm sure some of y'all do, and there's got to be a happy medium to this other than just living with it and getting depressed myself from all that's not getting done. The plan for improving things is already a year behind schedule, and with that stupid garnishment, it's only going to get further behind. *sigh*

But hey, money making is starting to pick up a tad, so that's good, too. Every little bit helps!!!!! I do like making money from online sources, as it's all a bit of ready cash that I don't have to leave home to make. Now if Dish would just finish getting themselves all the way to the blasted outlying areas where we are, so I could work more from home and do even better with things. That would be a big plus! So let's hope that the next time I write, I'll be in a better mood than I have been lately, because this down in the dumps mood is starting to irritate me.