It’s May now, and temperatures are going up. While the rain still keeps us inside several days a week, we are able to get outside and enjoy some activities on a lot of days.

We are often leaving the windows open to get some fresh air in the house, and while we aren’t using it yet, we had our service man do the annual maintenance on our air conditioner.

We are still not going to the fitness center yet but are trying to walk a mile or so every day outside.

We are not finding any more money lying along the side of the streets in the neighborhood. I guess we will have to start walking in a new area if we want to find more coins.

I planted some tomato and pepper seeds in pots last month. They are now about three inches tall.

I haven’t tilled the garden yet but will have to do so soon. I have the framework for my expanded raised garden finished.

I ordered garden soil from Filbrun Peat Moss in Pendleton. As soon as it’s delivered, I can finish the raised bed and prepare it for planting.

I will be putting tomatoes, peppers and luffa sponge in one end and other items in the remaining space.

Since the raised bed is inside the fence, the dirt will have to be dumped on the end of my large garden.

From there, we will have to shovel the soil into my wheelbarrow, then push it inside the yard and dump and spread it in the new raised bed.

When I got the wheelbarrow out of the shed, both tires were flat. I fired up the air compressor and filled one of the tires. The other wouldn’t hold air. I removed it from the wheelbarrow, took it to the tire store and had a new tube put in. It only cost $12.

While the compressor was running, I checked the tires on the mower and rototiller.

While I hope I don’t need it this year (I always do), I will be getting the submersible pump out of the shed, along with three coils of garden hose.

My large garden is the lowest spot in our yard, and it floods every year. I have a bucket sunk in the lowest part of the garden and I will drop the pump in this bucket, attach the hoses, and stretch them into the field behind us where a drain is located.

When the rain starts filling the garden, I turn the pump on and try to keep the garden from flooding.

With the price of meat rising and availability questionable, we ordered a half beef from our favorite meat processing plant. The cost will be between $1,100 and $1,200 dollars depending on the size, and we will get between 250 and 300 pounds of meat. This will be just over $4 per pound. It’s about what burger would cost in the grocery, but I will also be getting steaks and roasts, plus the burger.

My gas grill is starting to get a little dilapidated, and I didn’t use it last year. Maybe it’s time to buy a new one on which to fix those steaks.

I always watch the meat sales at Needler’s in Pendleton. I plan on stocking up on ribs the next time they have a good sale. Those will be great on the grill, too.

As I write this, I can see the big red “X” on my calendar. We were supposed to be on our way to Florida this week to visit Susie’s brothers. I also had a scheduled fishing trip with a charter captain there. We were to fish fresh water one day and salt water the next. Unfortunately, that trip will have to be rescheduled for next year.

I just received an email from our tourism friends in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Their beaches and charter fishing have just reopened, with some restrictions. We have been invited down there to gather information about that area for some of my columns.

I have made no decision on that yet, but it is under consideration.

We still have scheduled trips to Ontario, Minnesota, West Virginia, Michigan and southern Indiana this year.

We will have to wait and see what the future brings and if those trips get canceled or not.

The weatherman says the next three days are supposed to be great. I guess we will load our metal detectors in the truck and check out a few of the areas we have permission to search. Maybe digging up some old money will improve my spirits.

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