June 04, 2006

Weekend report

Yesterday was Laura's end of year Brownies party at the home of our Swallows & Amazons friends. They had another fun day planned, for the eight girls who showed up. And the hostess's brother was quite happy to see our two boys arrive. The three banded together and headed off for the woods, with jacknives and cap pistols, for most of the afternoon.

The girls enjoyed a campfire, Brownie Olympics, and treasure hunt. We came home at dinner time just ahead of Tom, who brought the tractor to cultivate my former football-field Ukrainian-grandmother garden in the front yard; he wants to seed it to grass to turn it into a ballfield, which would be a most welcome change around here. Tom hadn't planned on cultivating or seeding this weekend, but Friday was unexpectedly warm -- around 90 degrees -- and yesterday warm and windy, which dried out the soggy soil nicely. Today is another sunny, breezy day.

A quick sandwich supper, after which he and the tractor headed north to the land we rent from his father for more cultivating. The tractor doesn't move that quickly, so the kids and I gave him an hour's head start, then followed along to give Tom a lift back to the corrals where he picked up his truck and headed back. That way I wouldn't have to go pick him up around 11 p.m.

The kids and I all took showers to get rid of the smoky smell from the campfire, and I washed a few loads of laundry.

Tom left bright and early this morning to do some more cultivating and to decide whether or not to seed barley there or just summerfallow the land -- it's a bit late in the season for planting but it would be nice to have a crop to pay for the rent of the land -- and the kids and I have been puttering around the house, doing more laundry and changing bedsheets. A neighbor stopped by with some wild turkey eggs he'd like us to incubate (a summer science project!); I brought the incubator home last night from the corrals and plugged it in, because it needs "preheating" like an oven. Needless to say, the kids are very excited and planning to keep detailed records. The eggs take about 28 days, so I'll keep you posted.

Tom should be back for lunch, after which we're going to pick rocks. You always knew farming was fun, didn't you?! At least the family that picks rocks together stays together...

If I get my rock picking done early, I'll slip away to weed the rhubarb patch and pick some for a crisp tonight. I'd like to get some more weeding around the house done too. We'll see how it goes. Most importantly, Laura and Daniel need to practice their piano pieces for the recital tomorrow night; one more piano lesson on Tuesday for Laura and lessons are done until fall. Thank goodness. After which Swim Club is the only extracurricular, and I don't even want to think about next weekend's swim meet right now, when I'd rather be in the garden.

No comments: