Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 1172)

Hello Everyone!

A pretty day, Treating a dog's UTI, Cleaning the cabin, More de-junking, & Collecting firewood!

Alright, I am starting my writing routine a wee bit early this evening... and even doing it before the sun has begun to set over the horizon so woohoo for me. Seriously though, I made a concerted effort to wrap things up a bit early today... because I just have to start working on these entries before I begin feeling fatigued... and then find myself struggling to spell things out.

I was once again up rather late last night after napping most of the day away yesterday... and then my eldest dog kept waking me up because she was having some discomfort. Being such a stoic critter, unless there is some kind of predator nearby (or what she thinks is one) it is really obvious when something is bothering her.

I had not mentioned it the other day, but when I went on that supply run I got some cranberry juice for her... because she had gotten a UTI (urinary track infection) again... and the juice was the best option that I could find to treat it. Amazingly, all it takes to get her to consume it (given its tartness) is mixing some mayonnaise into it which is something she likes a lot.

Thankfully, today she is doing much better... even though her hips have still been bothering her a lot. To explain some of what is going on, I have been having to help her walk for the better part of a week now. What seems to happen is that when her hips give her problems she gets a bunch of inflammation (or just lays around too much) and then she develops a UTI due to not urinating often enough.

Anyways, after doing my Hive engagement routine this morning I immediately dove into the tedious task of getting all the dog bedding (and the rug) out of the cabin... as well as all the other stuff that tends to be in the way of cleaning the floor. I then swept everything out, scrubbed the floor by hand... and followed it up by mopping it with some piping hot bleach water.

Once all of that was done, I moved on to getting all my socks out of the tub... and getting them all hung up on the dog yard fence. I briefly debated soaking them again (for a third time) but for some reason this time around... only soaking them twice seemed to get them 'clean' or at least clean enough for my purposes.

There was a bunch of my other usual chores that I knocked out as well around the shelter site... before finally calling it quits... and heading off to continue my 'de-junking' efforts on the property. Today, I focused on cleaning up even more of the stuff left laying around where that travel trailer (camper) used to be... and have gotten the bulk of it knocked out at this point.

While I was doing all that, I repurposed a tarp that was there to cover the wood pile (in the communal area) because the old tarp that was covering it had deteriorated away... to the point where it was useless at keeping the wood dry. I also tidied that area itself up some by tossing all the dilapidated camping chairs into a pile... and picking up a few odds and ends that were laying about in the grass.

After all that jazz, I hauled the empty wagon to yet another part of the property... and collected a bunch of firewood from that pine tree that fell recently which is the same one I got the firewood from last time. This time though, I took the time to break a bunch of it up and loaded the wagon so full... that it gave me quite the workout hauling it all back to the shelter site where I unceremoniously dumped it beside the fire-pit.

My big plan is to get a few more wagon loads like that of the pine... and a few more consisting of some hardwood branches... so that I can have a nice fire at some point over the coming days. Having purchased some 'good' beer while I was on my supply run I intend to actually drink some of it at some point... and just have a day of relaxation with some music... which is something that I admittedly need more of in my life at the moment.

We will see how all of that works out... because although I tinkered with the idea today it was a bit on the chilly side... and the wind was blowing a wee bit harder than what I consider safe for a fire. What I wound up doing instead was pumping the tub out, filling it with hot water and soaking in it for a long time (with my clothes on so I was not chilly) before finally getting out... and making a beeline to the cabin where I had the heater on and everything was quite toasty inside!

Well, I think that is it for this entry. I hope that everyone is doing well and meeting their goals in life... if they have any! Ta ta for now.