Homestead Hill Farm: June 2022

“what is so rare as a day in June…”

There is nothing quite like a beautiful June day…the brilliant blue of the sky, dotted with puffy white clouds that float by as the scent of freshly cut hay or the perfume of honeysuckle wafts through on the gentle breeze. Birds singing, flowers blooming…ah, yes!

This is summertime in all its golden promise, before the heat and humidity send us scrambling for a cooler spot and the bugs and garden pests cause us any sort of aggravation and discouragement.

This year first of June seems significant in another way…

We spent June 1, 2021 at the hospital waiting and waiting and waiting for the first surgery. (after his initial emergency room visit on mothers’ day and subsequent unsuccessful treatments) He wouldn’t be discharged until 12:30AM. (which made for a truly “interesting” trip home) This began the seemingly endless saga that included countless scans, visits to the Emergency room, surgeries and doctor visits. If he wasn’t IN a procedure, he was recovering, or awaiting the next one. It was an arduous ordeal, to say the least, with little opportunity to do anything else.

Eventually, he was referred to another surgeon at another medical center. This meant more tests and another surgery…that’s where we left off last month. He had the planned surgery, but they needed to wait a couple of weeks to decide what was next.

And, then on June 1, 2022, he went for yet another scan.

This time they were looking to see what the kidney function was after all the procedures and without the stent in place anymore. It was almost certain that they would not do the involved surgery that had been discussed (and the reason for going to the university specialist) but, there had been talk of removing the kidney, if it had failed completely.

Long story, short…the kidney is still functioning…although barely. But, there is no reason for any further surgeries. No kidney removal, no major surgery…he made it through.

When you get to the “we’ll just check on this in six months” stage of an acute health issue…it is cause for rejoicing, believe me.

So…June 1^st this year is cause for some sort of celebration. Or at the very least a big sigh of relief. We did it! We reached the end of yet another saga. Now, maybe...just maybe we can think about other things for a while...

morning light on fuschia blossom

While we are in the odd place of adjustment to a life without the Market…still. We haven’t come up with any great and interesting new plan. (maybe we won’t) Between the pandemic and a year-long illness, things still feel unsettled and strange. The world in general seems a hostile and hateful place. However, there are still amazing things in the natural world that surrounds us.

It is said that being in nature grounds you…puts you in touch with yourself and the earth and just makes you feel better.

I am grateful that I live in a place where this is possible…that I have a life where this is part and parcel of every single day. A place where I can make a conscious decision NOT to focus on the awful, horrible, very bad stuff that is happening in our world today. A place of peace and beauty…and quiet tranquility.

Where I can acknowledge this “one perfect moment”. Enjoy it. Savor it.

So…I want to share that with y’all today.

baby grapes

the "woods" beside the farm

backlit fern

begonia on the front porch

angus cow taking a Sunday swim

bumblebee in the comfrey

(excuse the quality-it was 6am)
button buck in the barnlot
yes, he IS sticking out his tongue
and he very possibly went INSIDE the barn

calf reflected in a pond

catch-fly plant under the birdfeeder

country kitty

our "cute" little garden
this is the smallest the garden has ever been!

making hay across the valley
been watching this process, in this field for probably 20 years now

downie woodpecker in a fencepost

late frost on a dandelion

fuschia on the front porch

hanging basket flowers

indigo bunting

inside a chard plant

locust blossoms

looks like I wasn't the only one checking on the fruit at the lane...

mulberries in the sunlight

oops, they saw me!
then they disappeared

multiflora rose on the fencepost
I don't care if this is a "weed"
it's so pretty and smells SO good

sunlit rose in front yard

Come what may…the beauty of nature is always here…all around us…just waiting for us to notice. (or sometimes, not notice...like the deer, the bunny and the birds)