Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! (do I sould like that monster truck show announcer guy? huh? huh?)

First I'll talk a bit about yesterday, then continue on to the monster truck rally story. (ok so it's just garden stuff)

A friend of mine got married yesterday. We attended the wedding with doubts of the weather holding off, (it was an outdoor wedding), which it did....at least till everyone in the wedding party got under shelter of the gazebo by the lake. The rest of us? Not so lucky. It wasn't a heavy rain, but was enough of a steady shower to pretty much soak everyone else. As soon as the newlyweds walked down the stairs after the ceremony, Lisa and I high-tailed it to the car, where we sat until everyone left. (we didn't want to be the first at the reception) The reception was also outdoors, in the backyard of the grooms mother. Things were wet when we got there, but the rain stayed away other than a few random drizzles, so all went well. Luckily they set up several canopies with the tables underneath. The food was good, the music-well......typical wedding reception music, lol. Yanno.....a little disco, a little 80's, a few 60's tunes, and of course, with the groom being a HUGE fan and collector-Star Wars themes. All in all it was a good time, and we got home around 7:00 after the couple left for their honeymoon in an amish bed & breakfast. Congratulations Mike & Chris!

This morning I slept in late yet again, but after 2 big 'ole cups of motivational coffee, I headed outside. The rabbits and chickens got fed, and I went to look about the garden. A few days of rain has done wonders, and I saw that we had green beans to pick, FINALLY. I started and got about halfway down the one double row when Lisa came out to help. We ended up with two 5 gallon buckets full, which ended up being 27 pounds. As I sit here typing, they're in quart jars in the pressure canner. We also got the first 4 green peppers, 3 1/2 pounds of hungarian hot peppers, and 5 more turnips, bringing the turnip total to 3 pounds so far. There will be more beans to pick later this week, as well as more peppers. We also pulled a few potato's to put in the pantry, so they're about ready too. I can't wait to see what the yield will be off of two 45 foot rows.

Last week I had the new herb bed staked out and marked with string, and today I started digging it out. My initial plan was to shovel the sod into the soil sifter I made several years ago from 2x4's and 1/2 square fencing, but that was just too much to do by myself. Shovel, sift, pile, shovel out.....nope, that didn't last long. Instead I just dug up the sod and used it to fill in the old gravel areas around the outdoor stove and fire pit. Right now it looks pretty awful, but after a rain or two, and several passes with the lawn roller (loboy rear tires) it should lay out pretty flat. I managed to get one whole side done, and the top square of the second side before I called it quits for the day. Thanks to a bad back injury at work several years ago, my back aches like mad with constant shoveling, and tells me when to quit.....and I listen! Otherwise I'd be on the couch for 2 days with ice and a bowl full of ibuprophen like m&m's. It talked, I heard, I stopped. There is no real hurry on this project anyway since most of it won't be planted till next spring, but I wanted it out of the way. I think I'll go introduce myself to the people 4 doors away that have horses and see if they have any aged manure they want rid of, and spread it on the new bed to sit till spring. I've never met them before, though I have been meaning to. This might be a good opportunity to make new friends....and freinds with animals and farm equiptment wouldn't be a bad thing to have.

Before I started the new bed, I took another walk across the old orchard to check on the grapes and berries. I managed to get a handfull of red raspberries to munch on, though the grapes aren't ready yet. I stood there looking at all of these berry plants that no one uses, and started thinking I should transplant some over at the house. I talked to Lisa about it, and she agree's that red raspberries would be a good edition to the ever growing produce around here. I stood in the front yard a few times this afternoon, trying to decide on an area to put them, and of course I still haven't made up my mind. I can put them pretty much anywhere since raspberries aren't all that picky. Though they do prefer full sun, they can also do well in partial sun. Decisions, decisions, decisions.....hmmmmm.

Both of us love doing all these things here. Tearing up worthless grass and planting something edible. In the 10 years here, we have planted more and more each year, almost running out of backyard and now moving to the front with fruits. This work and this choice of a yard isn't for everyone, and that has come up in conversation. Lisa first brought it up, it was something I never really thought about. What if, when years down the road, the time comes for us to take over my uncles place and have to sell this one? What if none of the buyers want or appreciate a yard full of fruit? What if they tear it all out and replant the grass? Lisa said it would break her heart, and I have to agree with her on this one. For us, it would be the eqivelant of watching someone tear down the house that we have loved for all these years. It would be like watching your favorite old car go into the crushing machine. Though it will mean opening a whole new chapter in our lives with an 8x larger canvas to make our mark on, it means leaving this one behind. I gotta say, that is going to be really hard.