The first piece is that I will be able to access fiber optic internet and maybe phone soon. All summer, step by step, things have been being put into place for it. This morning when I heard trucks outside again, I looked out and saw workers doing something. After they left I walked out and saw black tubing coming out of the ground with a couple inch diameter. Not sure why someone was up on the pole with a bucket truck. One of the workers told me earlier this summer that it would be operational by December but that our road was one of the first they’d worked on so it could be sooner. December works for me but sooner is OK also. With fast, unlimited internet, I may even be able to get a remote job and earn money for home repairs.
The other piece of good news is that I harvested the birdhouse gourds today. There has been at least one below freezing night, and it killed the plants. Reading up online, I learned I could leave them hanging from the trellises all winter or they could be brought inside and dried over the winter. I decided to take them off of the plants and trellises and then move a trellis into the garage to hang them from. Six made it. There were two smaller ones that the ends started to soften so those were tossed.
Tao Talk 
Very good news for both fast internet, and the gourds look really good! Good job growing them! :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes it is. Thanks on the gourds. :) I might try a larger space for them next time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have Comcast/Xfinity cable. It makes blogging and writing so much easier. I hope this happens for you quickly, Lisa. The birdhouse squash are fun. Once they dry out do you carve a door in them? I have no idea. 💟
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s what’s coming and I’m counting on it. Yes a hole needs to be put in them. There’s a process. One step at a time :)
LikeLike
Your gourds turned out really well. They will make some great birdhouses.
Great to hear you have fiber coming your way. They came down our streets a couple of years ago. I still have Spectrum for internet. High prices any way you go. Were you using satellite internet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks on the gourds, Dwight. I look forward to the day they hold nesting birds.
Right now I have a verizon hot spot device, which is the size of a small phone and communicates between the cell tower and the computer, reader, and tv wirelessly. I’m sooooo sick of it though. I’m limited to 50 gb per month of data, and the device won’t hold a charge for long so I’m always having to plug it in — usually after I notice the computer connection ends. It’s only $30/month and does ok, but I think the new way will be much better. I think the new thing will be a minimum of $50/month. But they may also have phone service, which is where my bill is very high, so I may end up paying less. Will have to see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The gourds look great.
And I hope the internet arrives soon! I am so much happier with Verizon than Spectrum which used to just disappear several times a day. Our building switched about a year ago.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks on the gourds :) This will be xfinity. Son has it and is pleased with it. Glad your building switched. Patchy internet can be so aggravating!
LikeLiked by 1 person
A little gourd news never hurt anybody! Sorry Lisa, we non wordsmithy types have to grab that low hanging fruit (or vegetable) when we can get it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
LMAO, Randy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some good news re the internet then – some opportunities too. I love the gourds, I don’t grow them, I buy the dry shells and paint them as decorations. I would never have thought of a birdhouse.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Paul so awesome on your painting them. Would love to see some of them. These are called birdhouse gourds or I probably wouldn’t have thought to use them like that either.
LikeLike
The gourds look great, but even more great news about that communication connectivity scenario about to be put into place in your area. I am very happy for ya!😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bruce, being confined to 50gb in 30 days (it is advertised as unlimited but after 50gb is slows to a snail’s crawl.) has been frustrating but over the past 14 years I’ve gotten used to it. Like trying to walk with a ball and chain attached to my ankle. The promise of remote work has got me majorly geeked.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I left mine on the porch all winter – it got a bunch of spots on it, but it remained solid. So I carved out a small hole and managed to get all the seeds and inside stuff out. Then I painted it. I think I may need to repaint it again. The guy at the bird seed and such shop said I should leave my birdhouses out all winder incase a bird needed shelter. But to clean them out in March before nesting. So the only one I might take in is the gourd. I stuck a skewer stick in the top so I could put string on the sticks to hang it from. It was used two years now. I still have seeds somewhere. Good luck with them. :D
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the info, Jules. Good idea on the skewer. I had no idea how I was going to hang them after they became birdhouses. I still have some of the seeds you gave me :)
LikeLike
Right now my gourd is white… I will have to see what outside paint I have. Though any protective coating would be could. I have seen some gourd birdhouses painted extravigantly at craft stalls! Get creative! Maybe decopauge would also work – with a good coating of shelac?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll come up with something :) How big of a hole did you put in it and where did you position it?
LikeLike
I put the hole about two inches +_ from the bottom.
The hole depends on who you want in… the hole in my gourd is about the size of a halfdollar coin.
LikeLiked by 1 person