I did not finish my last post, I intended to come back and finish it but like most days there were just not enough hours in the day. Any ways there is the story of the tractor. A week or more ago Norman decide the lawn needed mowing so he got the tractor out and started under the fruit trees. He tried to push the over growth back a little and everything went well until he tried going through the pile of leaves. He didn’t remember there was a stump there and he got hung up on the stump. A couple hours later he got off the stump. Then this week he again went to mow the lawn promising not to get near the stump again but as he went down the hill he noticed the cherry tree and it had one – only one red cherry on it. This is the first cherry for us after 7 years so he kept looking at it and ran right up on the self same stump. He worked and worked at getting off and a couple hours later he gave the wheel a hard turn and got off the stump but in so doing he heard a bang. The tractor still ran but when he tried to steer it the left wheel would turn but not the right. He took the thing apart but could not find anything broken. By the end of the day he got the tractor into the cellar to his work shop and the next morning he took it all apart again and worked all morning on it. Finally he found what had broken and he called the company to order the piece. Now we wait for the part to arrive and then he can put it back together and hopefully it will work correctly. Meanwhile on Monday while I was weeding I got a bug bite or at least I thought it was a bug bite cause at the end of the days it itched like mad. I did not scratch it. Tuesday I got a spot on my right arm pit just like the one on my left arm pit. By Wednesday the spots had gotten bigger and itched even more. I thought for a minute it might be poison oak but they were not blisters, just red swollen bumps. By yesterday the patch covered the whole arm pit on both arms and extended out beyond and I said ” That looks like hives!” sure enough that is what it was and that meant that it was something I ate that was different and we both looked at each other and said “PINEAPPLE” We had so much on Monday it made our mouths feel funny and I had given us each one slice each morning for breakfast. When I looked up pineapple in my book on food I found this is common for people who are sensitive to some foods. So that mystery was solve. No pineapple for me today and the hives have stopped growing and I am getting better. I should have known if anyone was bothered by them, I would be too. Once I am over the hives I will be careful not to eat more than one slice a day. I know better than to over due on any food like we did on Monday.
Today I weeded the corn and got three more rows done. Only two more to do and the corn is all hilled and weeded. After breakfast Norman weeded the butternut squash garden and I picked the spinach for dinner. I got a pound of nice green leaves and noticed the cabbage worms were in the cauliflower and brussel sprouts. They always find their way to those but if I catch them early one dusting usually takes care of them so I helped Norman weed the squash bed and he dusted the cabbage family rows. After dinner I went to my studio and did some more sewing. I have so many outfits I want to do but I am trying very hard to do only one at a time.
Last night we got 6/10 of an inch of rain. That makes a little rain every day this week and right now it looks and feels like rain again. The gardens love it, it is just right for them. Tomorrow I will get a meal of snow peas- I guess I will fry stir fry them with spinach. Have a good day.
Oumapetts's Blog 
Hope the hives will leave you soon.. That must be very unpleasant. We just never know do we? Good luck on Norman getting the tractor going again.. We finally had a nice sunny day here. Hope tomorrow will be the same. Bye for now..
Hi Joyce, The hives are slowly getting better, as long as I keep busy they don’t bother but when I stop work they want attention and itch so I am getting a lot done these days. Norman is waiting for a part to fix the tractor and then we’ll see if it runs well again. I hope so as he will not buy a new one, he thinks of selling the farm so hates to invest too much more money in here. Our weather stays nice, nights in the 60’s, days in the 70’s or low 80’s and rain most every afternoon or night. We got 6/10 of an inch Wednesday night and it is thundering now so should get more today. Just perfect for growing and working. Take care of your self and Don – say Hi for me. Love Carol
Hi Carol, Just want to tell you again how very much I enjoy the quilt that you made for me a few years ago. It is on my bed and I see it every day and think of you and the work you put in to it! It is appreciated so much. I still have not put my house on the market and drag my feet, although I am not living in it. Can’t make up my mind as to what to do with furniture and ” stuff “. Store it, sell it, what? This house of Peter’s has too much in it already so…….Hope answers will eventually come to me. Glad the hives have been solved as they can be dangerous. Do you have problems with ticks like we do??? Stay well and happy eating off your land. Best food there is but you both work so hard. Wish I could see you and visit but I don’t have this skyp they tell of. Do you have it?
More another time. Love, Nancy
Hi Nancy, So nice to hear from you! I am glad your only problem is to decide what to do with your “stuff”. I never have that problem as we always move so far away I can only keep what will fit into the pickup truck. There is many things I wish I could have kept but I have no idea what I would do with it now or where I would put them if I had them so it is bed that I left them with people that wanted them at the time. We have talked about it after we read your note and Norman says he thinks you should keep your house and not sell it. Keep to for a summer home or get away home when you need a break or even rent it but then if anything happens to Pete you will have a place to go to until you decide what to do then. He was thinking of Mary Thayer, when Warren died Helen would have been stuck if not for her house on the Spofford Lake, it helped her a lot to have a home to go to when the house in Harrisville was left to his kids. You have to decide what to do yourself, advice is only worth what you pay for it and then most of the time it was too expensive. ….. Yes, we do have the tic problem here too but keeping the weeds down and the woodland paths free of briars and weeds helps a lot. The tics climb up these and just wait for warm blooded creatures to walk by and brush again them. Patty gave us some antibiotics that you take when you get a tic bit and it lasts for a month so when we get a tic if we haven’t already had one that month we take another pill. It only takes one to guard against any big problem, and I use the aloe jell to stop the itch so they have not been too bad a problem. .. It would be nice to see you again but that does not look very promising at this age. I don’t have skyp but I do have face time- If you have an apple i phone or Mac lap top as I do we could set up a time to talk and face to far visit that way. I call Shirley about every week on her apps iPhone and of course Shanti has a Mac lap top as she is the one who gave me mine and we get together about once a month. It is next best thing to sitting and having a cup of coffee together. I tried skyp but no one I knew had dkyp and I had no luck setting mine up so I cancelled that and stuck with face time. Love Carol