Country Boy

G in title is for General. CB in title is for Country Boy. SH in title is for Strange Happenings.
Relaxing. A rarity on the old homestead located on a dead end road...on an island...in a swamp...in Louisiana. Nice when mosquitoes and fire ants are under control. Lots and lots of work though so this video is the exception not the norm.

Just had a new steel roof (galvanized look) installed on the pink house. Quick little video showing before and after. It really reflects.

Picked a couple of buckets of Mayhaw's from trees shown in earlier video. Actually just picked up off the ground. Showing the lazy way I make jelly. Made around 18 pint jars and 20 jelly jars.
Mayhaw tree video. https://www.bitchute.com/video/9rHnsl95IUhO/

Main blackberries just started turning. Decided to make some jam around lunchtime...after cutting some roses off arbor that collapsed on beehives and using hoe to weed little garden area. 87F and we still have doors open to the house. No air conditioning. Only use it at night to initially cool off house to help sleep.

G=General, CB=Country Boy, SH=Strange Happenings
Picking squash and green beans. Thornless blackberries and blueberries ready also. Extra clips of flowers, wild areas, etc

Normally 3 days but did this batch in 2. 56 Jars of pickles plus lots of extra cinnamon syrup. First time using Pickle Crisp. Always changing and trying new things.

Had so much Red Hot Cinnamon liquid left from making pickles decided to try to make some pepper jelly with it. 70+ jars later realize I think we did too much. (Update. Still playing with recipe, need to add more vinegar)

G=General CB=Country Boy SH=Strange Happenings
Just harvested 5 days ago, picked again and got all this! Garden is doing better than expected. Had to pick before all rain that is about to happen from storm Cristobal.

Something we discovered to do with the older and kinda hard squash that most people don't like. We add bacon and onions for extra flavor with the secret ingredient being cream cheese.

Miss Katie lives down the road a ways and we traded veggies/blackberry jam for some of her cannas. I did not want to offend by getting video of her but she was so funny talking about the snake she saw in the house this week and then found later in one of the dresser drawers. But she did not think it was the same one she saw going under the bed earlier. The tail looked different.

G=General CB=Country Boy SH=Strange Happenings
Spent more time driving than working but picking needed to be done. Plus everything really wet and more rain on the way. (Update: 2hrs after getting back to city developed migraine headache. Took meds and went to bed at 2pm afternoon. Would not have had meds nor been able to drive if I stayed. Yay voice in head)

Picked a basket of veggies for a friend whose friend of hers died yesterday from Covid-19. Also worked the bees a bit and finger slipped, hit slow-mo on phone by mistake. The sounds were...interesting.

Installed handrail on the gently sloping bank of the river. Even with gently sloping can be slippery when wet. Planning on installing decking all the way down so folks can sit/talk/fish setup boat etc. This is second step after cleaning area a bit. (For those liking Strange Happenings check out the "extra" I put in the description of this one https://www.bitchute.com/video/VdEc93lbhG6i/

These "top pick" kinda peas have mostly gone to seed but I'm picking 2 rows (out of 50) anyway. The purple hulls and others are perfect now and relatives out picking now. There is pea sheller here but I'm a bit worn out this trip to use. Will shell sitting in air conditioning but will take much, much longer.

Took many hours to shell those 6 bags of peas but got it done. Now just to clean, blanch, pack and freeze them. Totaled 130 cups of peas. This is how I go about it.

Day 10/44 radiation treatment complete. Same day went to pink house and began framing bi-level decks. Just the beginnings. Was way too hot until little rain cooled things down and I could continue working. Lots more bracing and support beams to do before putting top on.

These are a few of my favorite photos from the past put in the format of a slideshow.

Replaced 2x6 joists with 2x8. Used turnbuckles and chains to secure deck to ground and help hold in place. Few more joists to place, then small center boards between joists. After that its just putting top on.

Hooked up irrigation pump to water sugar pumpkins and loofa gourds. Nice deep watering. Also worked more on the bi-level deck. Used all the boards I had in one day (Friday). Had 10 boards to start putting final top on. Going to check nearby city for more tomorrow. Maybe I can finish the basics this weekend and then do the "frilly" stuff later.

Got more watering done. Plants including the remaining rows of peas. I think I said 6 rows of peas but its 6 row pairs...meaning 12 actual rows. Only thing left on the deck is steps and handrails.

Finally finished the deck. Also did short video clips of garden, trees etc. At end show clip of voting station that was open today. Shows just how remote this place is.

Nearby neighbors did a little dock repair at their stocked fish pond. They also owned a small white house that was falling apart and they finished taking it down. Did a little shooting with shotgun / handgun and a little bit of yard work.

Visited pink house for just a few hours. Did a few things then headed back. The bi-level deck is now underwater. River is rising.

Spent weekend at pink house. Finished grapes, mowed, edged, cat sat and did a little video of riding four wheeler through back of property. Through woods to the refuge fence.

At pink house for a few days. Can't really upload videos there due to internet issues so video here is over three days. Set posts in concrete, disked field twice, cleaned trash dumped by road. Just things needing to be done.