back to the real life

Last Wednesday, it was three weeks since we were rescued by airboat as the water lapped at the door. Last Friday, three weeks since we saw the house for the first time. Those three weeks were filled with long days of physical labor. Nothing is back to the way it was but we've managed to reclaim some sense of normality now that we are back in the house. I feel lucky in that respect. Walking the dog early on Friday, stopping and talking to Gary to see how he is getting along and news of other neighbors and visiting with Leonard and Judy further down and next door Deb and Robert, all of whom are still working to get one room of their houses livable so they can move back, I know how much we were spared.

Now that I've hauled everything to the street, I'm no longer working hard long hours though I could easily spend a week doing just that over at the shop cleaning up behind the demolition over there. I work til about 2 PM and then quit mostly or do small things. I've gotten my wind chimes all cleaned and rehung and the totems and plate flowers are all cleaned and put back in place. I'm working on clearing the yard of all the fallen green and rotten pecans because they are starting to pop out of their husks and I don't want to confuse these dried up things with real nuts if we still have any up in those trees and they start falling.

I managed to find the jar of already mixed kiln wash for a shelf to do my color samples on for the drowned feathers. Fortunately there was just enough to do the kiln shelf because I have no idea in which box in which room or building the powder is in. I've set up the forms I cut out and cleaned the jars of frit and powder that floated in the water for three days. Out of 23 jars, only 3 seeped any water so I need to scoop out the damp frit and wash it and dry it out. And I've also got the drowned feather waxes set up and ready for molds to be made.

I had thought that I would not do a fall garden this year but then someone gave me some beet and lettuce seeds and I went and bought some spinach seeds and I just know that when the little plants become available I'll want to get some so I went over to the gardens to pull up the okra and check out the state of things over there and the state of things over there is nut grass and johnson grass have colonized my two original raised beds but I did notice a few volunteer tomatoes. I pulled up the smaller okra plants but the two big ones are like small trees with trunks about 2 1/2” in diameter! Could not pull those suckers out, had to get the shovel and dig them up.

It is still blazing hot out there. Mornings are a little cooler but it doesn't last.