Coming around...

Fall is here. It feels early to have yellow and bare trees and it isn't yet October. Close, but not yet. The evenings are cool and the winds are coming around. I forgot how quiet the air has been these past few months.

We are gearing up for the farm party. It is looking like it will be a big time. Based on the rsvp's it could be up near 100 or more. My friend Jeff Finlin was going to play with his band but he got called out of town for that weekend. Being the amazing guy that he is he lined up another band. A 3-piece blues band. It will do just fine, and the gesture was immensely appreciated.

We are finding the ground to be unforgiving right now. Years of no care or irrigation has made it solid. It took J all day yesterday, with the auger and tractor, to dig six fence post holes. The plan was to do the entire perimeter of the new dog pen before next weekend. Not happening.

I had my first shot training yesterday. It was a gun safety class to get beginners comfortable around fire arms. We just came up on the wait list for the local outdoor gun range. I was very happy for the opportunity to have someone explain the basics and the mechanics to me. I think J sometimes gives me more credit than he should. As a result he doesn't always explain new things to my need level (that would be not much brighter than a fencepost on the topic of guns). But alas, I am joining the female ranks of rifle shooters. Today we attended orientation and then went to the range so I could spend some time using my henry repeating action rifle. I must say, being immediately good at something feels kinda good. I may be ready for next years hunting season.

I also went a little nuts on trees this weekend. I love craigs list. I look at the local farm section faithfully. As a result I purchased 10 fruit trees. 2 each of 3 varieties of apples, 2 cherry and 2 reliance peach. One of the apple varieties was from a graft the fellow brought back from Belgium. I liked that it had a story to it. Then I went and purchased 8 windbreak trees. Some will be used as shady trees for various parts of the property and the evergreens will start the western windbreak. I am excited for trees. Not so excited at the state of our ground and the work it will take to plant them. But as the saying goes, the saying I tell myself anyway, nothing worth having comes easy.

I do believe we may also OD from potatoes. They are magnificent and we eat them often. The tomatoes are finally turning red on the vine, which makes them all the more delicious. We have eaten them several times sliced on a small bed of fresh arugula with small slices of fresh mozzarella and a splash of fig balsamic vinegar. Gardens are truly a glorious thing.

Now, time for some reading before another work week begins. Luckily, it's a short one.