BUSY LAST DAY OF AUGUST 2015

I got up on this last day of August with a full slate of things to get done today around here. Hubbie and I usually use this day to go into town or run errands but not today. We are both committed to a day of  work on the farm to catch up some task that we have been ignoring.
After chores and breakfast I got laundry started for this Monday laundry day.
While the first load washed, with hubbie's help we emptied the big chest freezer downstairs. We loaded all the frozen food in coolers and threw out all the out of date or iced up things in there. The chickens will be happy for several days !!!
This freezer usually doesn't get a huge coating of ice in it , only a ring of ice near the top so defrosting isn't a big deal.

It doesn't take long for this ring of ice to loosen enough to be scraped into a big bowl to throw out.

I always hold my breath when I turn this old freezer back on. It is many years old and I pray that it keeps working. Today my prayers were answered and it sprang right back into life and cooling mode.
Hubbie bush hogged all morning while I did this defrosting and laundry. He came in for lunch and grilled us some pork chops. They hit the spot with a big salad of fresh greens and tomatoes from the garden.
Then he headed down into the lower pasture to bush hog there and I got the clippers and started to work on getting the weeds and unwanted vines and grass out of my flower beds. Although we haven't had much rain, seems these unwanted things grow much faster than the wanted plants do !!!
The roses in this bed are still blooming and now I can enjoy them again after getting all the weeds out of there.

Hubbie came in from bush hogging and brought a big wagon and a pitch fork down, following me around picking up all the things I pulled and cut out of my beds.
We decided to pull all the Oregano from this bed and use it as a greens and late vege bed since I am way over stocked with Oregano.

The plants were rooted very deep and I'm sure I will have more Oregano come up next spring from any roots we didn't get out today. I used a pitch fork to dig and scoop most of the plants out and bust up all the big clots of dry earth, it was a hot sweaty job.

But the results were worth it as this is a nice place for some Fall fresh food that can be handily watered.

With aching backs we concluded our day of work by planting a few seeds that I found. I will need to buy more seed and some plants to finish this job.
We rested for a little while in the covered patio where a cool breeze brought clouds over the 85 degree sunshine of the day. We got no rain but the clouds cooled the evening down nicely.
I remembered a surprise baby shower the elementary school workers were giving d-in-love over an hour to late after it started so I missed that . Talked to her later and she got some nice things and some money to buy some things she needs also.
After chores we neither one wanted much supper so we had coffee and hot tea with a snack and relaxed again outside to watch the clouds and sun battle to end this last day of August 2015.

As I think back over this month it seems this was the month that wasn't !!!!
Maybe it was because we took the first week of this month on vacation at Oak Island which all of us enjoyed very much.  When we got home it was already the middle of the month week.
Curb Market was very busy for me for the 2nd and 3rd week and it seemed I was trying to continuously catch up with everything.
 I canned beans, made salsa, pasta sauce and grape jelly during this month that is traditionally the busiest food preserving time for me.
#1 son and d-in-love spent the final month of waiting for the newest edition to our family as now she is expected any day before her due date of  September 11.
G-son started third grade and is enjoying it so far.
#2 son got a new boss at his work place and his job is much easier  now without as much overtime.
Daughter has had a usual busy month coaching volleyball and beginning her third year of teaching at the high school with over loaded class in all the subjects she teaches.Her JV volleyball team is undefeated so far but the varsity she assist with is struggling to win their first game. They ended the month tonight with a game at Enka high school and the JV won but the varsity lost another close one in 5 sets.
Aa and Re got moved into their new double wide on their farm property the first of this month after many hurdles. They are happily enjoying getting settled in.
We as a family are still awaiting the decision by Duke Energy to see what corridor they will choose for the big transmission lines. Whether it will be our property or not will remain a mystery until October. The way things are shaping up we don't really believe we will be involved  but you never know so we are holding off doing any major improvements to our place as we usually do when the weather cools down.
It has been a very dry month and our garden is just about finished with the little rain for the month. Even the late garden things we planted came up but are not doing well with the little rain that we have had.
Unfortunately the forecast for September is abnormally hot and dry unless we get a tropical system that breaks up that pattern.
Fred, the newest tropical storm that formed yesterday, advanced quickly to hurricane status today but is expected to weaken as the path hits cooler water.

Thankful to our Lord for a wonderful blessing filled month of August and excited to see what He has in store for our family in September.
Good Night and God Bless