Yesterday was a good day. I talked to all of my kids. Cameron was in some flood warnings due to KC getting 10 inches of rain, but despite living close to (actual feet from) a pond, he did not have any damages, and I am thankful for that. Yesterday afternoon, Preston called me to tell me that he had a large piece of scaffolding fall on him at work. He said he was wearing his hard hat, and was hit pretty hard on the shoulder and head, but that the hard hat did its job. He thinks had he not been wearing it, he might have been killed. He was shook up, and just called to tell us he loves us. I am so thankful that he is ok! Guardian angels working overtime around here.
When I got off work, I met Jim for a little pick up on a project I am doing. As I was loading said project, I got a text from Saige telling me we were going to have to move, with the top photo. It looks like a plain old Western Rat snake to me - commonly called a black snake. I explained to her that it was a harmless snake. She and I do not see eye to eye on this topic. The night before, I believe the same snake was crawling on the door when I went out to feed Rocky. It fell as I opened the door, and I jumped a little because I was not expecting company! They are good snakes but they do tend to climb around on the house and lay on the deck, in the rocks the previous owners put out for decoration, or in the chicken pen. We have hundreds of them where we live. I still prefer a black snake to just about any other variety!
When Jim and I got home, he was still hanging out on the porch light. I got a kick out of the fact that he had cobwebs on his nose from crawling around behind those lights (they are constantly covered in cob webs no matter how much we clean them). He was a cute little fellow - about 5 feet long! I went out and tapped him with my hand until he got down and crawled away. I told him to stay off the front of the house! I am sure he will comply! I was texting with Colin at the time - about wedding stuff, but I told Colin I missed having him around. Colin was always my snake wrangler. He would have taken him down and relocated him. I don't mind snakes, but I don't really want to grab them or carry them around. Colin also used to get called by the neighbors, and by grandma to relocate these little dudes. I tried to teach my kids to not just senselessly murder snakes before you tried to relocate or make sure you knew what you were dealing with. The fear of them is unnecessary, and they truly do us all a huge service by eating bugs and rodents.
It also reminded me that I was going to take those porch lights down and paint them - I really hate brass! Project for the fall I guess!
I also got this photo from Madison at the same time as the snake photo. I cracked up. This girl is a hoot! And why is she looking like a big kid?
The project I mentioned above - I bought a 120 gallon fish tank from a woman outside of town-for an extremely cheap price. As I was talking to her, she told me that if I bought the tank, she would throw in a second tank for free - a fiberglass tank she had used as a saltwater tank. FREE? Do I need another tank? YES = YES I DO!!! So I had to force Jim to come to town, and haul home the 2 tank stands. We managed to shove both tanks in my car. It was extremely tight. Good thing Jim is good at Tetris! I am excited about having a tank that is more than double what we have in our living room right now! Jim was pretty excited about it as well. I have big plans to make a planted tank, with all new substrate and I have already agreed to some trades with a different lady in town for some aquatic plants. I have no idea what I am going to do with the second tank. I told Jim I didn't know if we needed it, but I couldn't resist when she said she would throw it in. He said he would have done the same thing.
The tanks had both been in the lady's garage. Both need to be cleaned and both stands need cleaned and painted. I told Jim that I was going to set them on the driveway and fill them, no sense doing any work cleaning if they leak! So far, they are both holding water. I have a huge undertaking ahead of me, as getting a tank set is a lot of work. But it is fun work, and I am thrilled with my little score! I will admit that I am starting to amass quite a collection of tanks, and will probably either sell or give some away. But only because Harper told me that I was going to end up on the show "Hoarders" if I wasn't careful! If you know anyone wanting a tank, send them my way! :) Or not....maybe I need a tank in my office? :)
After we got the tanks home, I then ran to Baldwin because the hardware store there was giving away the rest of their bedding plants for free. FREE PLANTS - YES PLEASE! Are they beautiful plants? No. Did I load my car full of them with the intention of saving their lives? You bet your booty I did! Mallory came over to help me with the apples, but we ended up rescuing and planting so many plants instead! I ended up with 20 peppers in different varieties, 12 eggplants, some cantaloupe, a couple of cauliflower, and about 6 cucumbers. I also got a few perineal flower seeds and we planted those as well. Hello billion dollar water bill, as it is supposed to get really, really hot next week and these plants are going to need water to even have any hope of survival!
Am I worried about the water bill? Not actually. I am worried about the survival of my little friends. Oh and maybe, if I am successful, about making salsa, and enchilada sauce, and canning food for winter, and if I am lucky, maybe making some pickles! Am I insane? Perhaps. Am I happy? yep!
As Mallory and I were working in the garden, Jim was erecting some gates on the goat pens. Why we didn't do this sooner, no clue! I am so happy about how much easier getting into the goat pens will be now! No more unwiring panels and then getting head butted while you try to hold them shut and re-wire them! It is going to save us so much time and energy! (Thanks Jimmy).
The weekend looks to be a fair bit of insanity, but it will be fun as well. I have decided to no longer work at the liquor store, so this weekend marks my last weekend shift there. I have a couple of weekday evening shifts left, but I am excited about having my weekends back. I don't work there all that often, but it still eats my weekends up and I am happy to be free to do things with the grandkids! I do not hate working there - I actually really like it. It is an easy job, with good bosses. Now is a good time to get out though, as they are trying to sell it and I just don't know what the future would hold. I am thankful that they gave me a way to get some extra funds for the last 3 summers, and I will always be happy I had the experience. Someday, I might start my own drinking club, and the knowledge will come in handy.