Time to catch our breath

Well if you follow us at all on social media, you know that it has been a rough couple of weeks here on the old homestead. Between all of this rain and high winds, and mail jeeps breaking down, it was almost enough to give a homesteader some extra gray hair. Wait IT DID!!  I guess the only way to explain it is to start at the beginning.  

The last time you guys heard from us we were putting the finishing touches on the vegetable garden.  We had just started mulching when the first set of storms hit. At first, we were grateful for the rain since it would save us from having to water the garden. There was just one problem with that.  The rains came in and then never left. It has rained here off and on for the better part of two weeks. The worst of it came at the end but we will get to that in a minute.  

So in between rain storms, we would go out and pull weeds and mulch in the garden. Then I started getting called into the post office, which is nice cause Lord knows we can use the extra funds right now.  While I was at work, the girls focused on their school work and keeping the house straight (for the life of me I cannot remember science being that messy of a class!)  

Now this brings us to Saturday. Now Saturday as you all know is my scheduled day to work at the Post Office. This Saturday started off like no other Saturday. Got to work and the mail was larger than normal plus this Saturday was the food drive Saturday where people would place food items in their mail box for the food drive and we would collect them and bring them back. I was about a quarter of the way into my route when my jeep started giving me trouble. The transmission went out, so I called my supervisor as well as my wife, who was close by at Market Days in Anderson with all of our kids. The post office sent another carrier to help me, as I waited for my wife. The other carrier took the mail and finished the delivery. 

My wife gathered my personal belongings out of the jeep left my son with me to take the girls home. Blaze and I waited on the tow truck to come get the jeep.  Once the jeep was loaded, the driver told us it would be the next day before he could bring it back to Elberton. Blaze and I started walking towards home. From the point where I broke down to our homestead was about a 45 min drive. According to Google maps (in the walking mode) Blaze and I could have made it home in about 12 hours. So, while we were waiting on my wife to pick up up, Blaze and I had a great father son walk and chat. It was nice to spend that time with him one on one. We don’t get that time as much as we use to and I miss it.  Blaze and I got about a mile or more under our belt when we saw the GREAT WHITE PRIUS come around the corner. There was my beautiful bride with cold drinks in hand. We were happy to see her but Blaze and I both believe we could have made that walk with no problem LOL.
Now because of the jeep breaking down and us being down to only the Prius, I had a HUGE monkey on my back. I had to either get the jeep running or another working jeep for my mail route. I am still on probation with the USPS so if I couldn’t find one or fix mine I was out of a job. And so, the race began. Everyone I called said that it was going to be at least 3 weeks before they could even think of looking at it let alone getting it working again. Transmission work is out of my pay grade so I was stuck. So, we started looking for another jeep. Well we found one in Virginia. I worked it out that I would work the next Friday if the full-time carrier would work for me on Saturday. So, Robyn and I took a road trip. First stop was to my parents’ house since they were loaning me the money to get a new jeep. I can’t get a car loan until all the insurance stuff is done with Blaze‘s wreck.  

We drove to Virginia with the intention of buying the jeep and then driving back to Georgia. Everything looked ok and the test drive went smooth. We paid for the jeep, then followed the seller to his farm by way of a gas station to get gas and the removed seats. Then it happened, the jeep started to shimmy, and then the transmission went out. Needless to say, I was a little upset. But I was also thanking God that it broke there while I was still close to the previous owner. Right there on the side of the road, I told the previous owner that I was going to walk away and asked for a refund. He gladly gave us our money back. So, Robyn and I headed back to my parents’ house feeling defeated.  

We drove back to Elberton determined that we would find another Jeep. This time we asked for help. One of our Youtube Subscribers sent us a link to a Jeep in Alabama.  So, once again, Robyn and I were off to find a Jeep. This jeep did cost a little more but it ended up being worth it. To make a long story short, we bought the jeep, and so far so good. 

 

Finally, we purchased an old Boy Scout Handbook from 1981 on eBay. My motivation is simple yet complex. When I was a kid going through Scouts, our moral compass may not have been at “true north” but it was a lot closer than it is now. I remember as a kid, we had a level of importance on things like Citizenship, helping others, being kind and courteous. Those things have been replaced with road rage, entitlement, no sense of responsibility, and a complete lack of respect for our country and our flag. This truly breaks my heart. So instead of just complaining about it in our blog or any of our other social media platforms, Robyn and I are choosing to do something about it. Hopefully our actions will speak for us and it will take over like wildfire.   

 

Well that about covers it. Hopefully I didn’t leave anything out, but I am sure I did. Be sure to check out all of the social media outlets we have. If it happened on the homestead, we are bound to post it somewhere! Also, hint hint…We are working on several homestead projects so definitely come back on Monday to see what kind of mess we got into this week!