“Be Still” is a Farm Chore Too

Farmstead LifeThe Barndoor
Written By Jacqui (Jax) Tress

Here is the funny thing about being told to sit down and be still when you live on a homestead: everywhere you look, there is something you could be doing.

The potato logs still have not sprouted. The fodder system is on hold because I am not putting jars of wet grain anywhere near an indoor ant invasion. The greenhouse has had its own little series of unfortunate events, including missing seeds and bean plants that finally got yanked.

And normally? I would be right in the middle of all of it.

This week, apparently, my contribution is supervision from the recliner.

Apparently, “sit down, don’t touch anything and just be still” has become my chore on the homestead. I did not realize that could be a CHORE, but it is!

My Guys Watching Over Me 🫶💕

Making sure I am minding the doctors, whether I like it or not. 🤭

Let’s take you back to the beginning of this chaotic whirlwind of a circus that has been going on over here at T-Bone’s Place.

It began with the heat wave that August always ushers in. We are accustomed to it, prepared for it, and in some ways we kind of look forward to some aspects of it… calm down and hear me out! Geez! I am talking about the LOWER HUMIDITY, the fact that it is SO HOT the grass cannot grow and you actually get a few days off from mowing ⭐, less people out peopling… IYKYK.

OK, that is all I have… anyway, another joyous part of this kind of hell, is that the ants become desperate and they start coming inside. Yay! It hasn’t been that bad of a year with the other bugs and critters, wasps and those kinds, so we should have seen this on our bingo card… but before we knew it, they were everywhere! UGH! 🥴😮‍💨

So, I was going to be helpful and grabbed our trusty ol’ stick vacuum, when T-Bone wasn’t looking, and started sucking up ants! I was ignoring all of the rules from my docs and surgeons, bending over to the floor, pulling on the edges of the rug and holding the vacuum wand at the same time… a few hours later, I had literally passed out in his arms from the pain of a pinched nerve in my neck and shoulder.

I toughed it out for a couple of days, but I ended up going to the ER to have a CT to make sure everything was copacetic. It is! Well, other than being extremely inflamed and angry. 🥴🤕

T-Bone is working on a homemade bait to rid this home and our lives of the ants, and it seems to be working. We will report back in a week or so to let you know what has worked and what has not. In the meantime, I am in the recliner chilling and recovering… requesting cups of coffee and snacks on the regular. 🫶🤭

Jacqui (Jax) Tress

Jacqui is one of the voices and hearts behind T-Bone’s Place. She writes about practical farmstead lessons, living soil experiments, rabbitry conundrums, and the real-life learning that comes from building an un-modern farmstead life alongside Gene, with roots in East Texas and Southeastern Oklahoma. Much like she did years ago with Lil’ Bits & Pieces, The Un-Newsy Newsletter, Jacqui believes in sharing the ups, downs, mess-ups, breakthroughs, and hard-earned lessons, because the honest parts are usually where the most useful learning lives.Jacqui is the voice and heart behind T-Bone’s Place. She shares practical farmstead lessons, living soil experiments, rabbitry conundrums, and she writes down their real-life learning that comes with building an un-modern East Texas farmstead.

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