Closing it Down

Sadly, we've begun the process of picking, putting away, and packing up. We leave a week from Tuesday, so there is much to be done in this last week.


Garden Update:

In April, I pulled up 18" of sod inside our Dr. Seuss fence and planted lots of hardy seeds, not having any idea whether any would grow. Low and behold, this was a wet spring, and we've eaten from these vegetables ALL summer! I still have one small picking of peas left before I pull up the plants and add them to my compost pile. I gave Jill Owens of Mt. Front Market two gallons of lettuce to sell on Friday, and after we had two more meals of lettuce this weekend, I pulled up the lettuce plants. The kale and chard continue to produce slowly, and we have carrots and beets in the ground to be eaten this week.

The exciting news is that we have two tomatoes getting ripe! We never thought we'd be here long enough to see one ripen, and the deer haven't been brave enough to go into the garden (yet). Our neighbor, Laurie, will get the rest of them.

My two square foot gardens on the other side of the house are just sitting there full of tiny plants. We've had such cold weather that nothing planted in June has done well. Even my flowers are just now looking full and colorful after the damaging hailstorm of mid-June. I hope to find new homes for them by next week.

Marking Off My To-Do List:

As is always the case, my to-do list is pages long. However, I marked one of them off today, as I took my first ride behind Harry on his Harley. I've been falsely accused of being "afraid" to ride with him. I resent that, as I don't think of myself as being afraid of many things. However, I DON'T like doing things for the first time, which to others may appear as fear. So now it's not a big deal any more... OK? And I plan to learn to ride the little Honda scooter before we leave, too. I thought our ride was spectacular. Despite thunder clouds all around us, Harry was determined they would miss us, so we rode across Freezeout Lake, through Fairfield, and almost to Augusta, where we turned around and raced back to Choteau, chased by a windy, dark storm. The sights and smells were amazing, and I wished that I had a camera to document the view.

Laurie and I have also finally picked out the color to paint as an accent color on her house before I leave. Thankfully there isn't much to paint (front porch door, etc.) and she can finish what I can't. It's plum! She will definitely own the "Purple House" by the time that's done. Stay tuned for the picture...

We still have an important hike to take, wedding clothes to pick up in Great Falls, the State Fair to attend on Thursday with Shelly, and lots of friends to see before we leave. I foresee a busy week.