12/22/19
(Above: Jacobhouse on a drizzly autumnal day.)
Active Summary: This morning began with over an hour’s worth of creative writing time which was ensued by a walk around the beef pasture. When Padre and I returned to the farm’s front area, we both went our own ways – he to mixing feed and I to the Master Blend freezer room. There, I procured a bucket full of soapy water, a ripped-up polypropylene bag*, and a milk crate (as a sitting/standing stool) before vigorously scrubbing all unprimed doors, door frames, and window frames. I finished off the morning by preparing a Master Blend beef order for tomorrow morning.
For me, it is also a beautiful day… to enjoy the coziness of Jacobhouse.
TIL: Today I learned – or re-learned – how to utilize the Square Megastripe Card Reader. I had been having issues with it picking up my customers’ cards unless I had them swipe it through a few different times, and I had begun to think that it was a faulty reader… but it was instead a faulty-me. The little Megastripe reader has the Square company logo imprinted faintly on the top and nothing imprinted on the bottom. So, when swiping a card, it is important to have the front of the card facing in the same direction as the emblem.
(5:16 PM Update:) Just got in from a very rainy afternoon on the farm. Fortunately, it was fairly quiet with the only extra activities being a few calf treatments / genetic tests. I am now back in my pleasantly warm, dry, and cozy abode.
Commentary: The weather today has been cloudy, rainy, and surprisingly quite mild. I went out with three jackets this morning but was able to take them all off when cleaning the doors in the freezer room – a boon because I really did not want water soaking my clothes. As far as highlights go, my brother and I made some plans / reservations in regard to our impending trip to southern France and Sicily. The reservations included a flight from Marseilles, France to Catania, Sicily, and the plans – at least for Sicily – included the lack thereof. Indeed, places are so cheap to stay in Sicily during the winter that I mean to find our primary lodging while we are there**. That way, if we find a place we especially enjoy, we will not be forced to move on.
The semi-cleansed western doors and door frames. 
The wiped-up water/feed trough area. 
The scrubbed office door and frame. 
The scoured south-window opening. 
A lunch of delicious collard greens fried up with apple-wood smoked bacon. Served with homemade bread with a spread of cultured European-style butter (or dunked in the delectable collard liquor).
Final Note: Tomorrow I intend to prime around the doors, the doors themselves, and around the windows in the Master Blend freezer room. Then, if there is still time, I will probably venture to the garden and thin some of the rows that are in need of assistance – namely the broccoli and kale rows.
*I have an abundance of polypropylene bags laying around due to their being used at the Moo Magic compost stand. What with their inexpensiveness and with my knowing that they bear an abrasive texture, I ripped one up and used the scraps as ‘rags’. This worked quite well – especially with getting the mud-dobber nests out of the corners. The only thing that was not ideal was the way that those makeshift rags shed off many strands of plastic that I had to pick up afterward. Still, it was worth it.
**I say primary lodging, because I think I will reserve a two or four nights in a Catania Airbnb so we know where we are going to stay the night that we arrive.