I AM the machine!

Another successful fire!

Good-bye Yellow Brick Road.

Denny finishes...

...running the tile.

At long last...

...our Autumn Blaze Maple comes to the farm!

See the shade?

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

It is very hot today...in the low 90s. Summer has finally come to Blossom Ridge Farm and there are only a few hours each day that we can work outside. Yesterday Kathy was outside by 7:30 a.m. burning what was left of the wood that had been in front of the house, posing as our sidewalk. She, of course, had a hard time getting the fire going. Denny reminded her from across the fence about the fire starters she had in the shed. A few of those along with some newspaper and cardboard she had been saving for the fire, and the sidewalk was quickly consumed.

While the fire was burning, Kathy hoed the last two rows of vines she hadn't done and is set to start over on the first row she did. (Hoeing one or two rows at a time beats hoeing them all at once!) It was much too hot by 10:15 when the hoeing and fire were done to do any weed eating. So inside Kathy went, where she occupied herself with an assortment of indoor tasks.

This morning the call came from Huntington Nursery that they were coming to plant the Autumn Blaze Maple we purchased 9 months ago! The mature height of this tree will be 50', and the spread will be 40'. The fall color is a long-lasting, brilliant orange-red. When Kathy told the men who came to plant the tree that she thought they would be bringing a machine to plant the tree, one of them replied, "I am the machine!" We do know what he is talking about!

Denny finished the tile work he began for us last week and did a super job. Almost makes you wish for rain to see how the drainage works! We need to decide where the dirt will go that is left over from the excavation work that he did. Thank you so much, Denny, for all of your hard work! We really appreciate you stepping in and resolving this issue for us.

Bonnie has been working on her veggie garden in the evenings after work. She is smart enough to not work outside in the heat!

Kathy tied up some vines this morning while waiting for the tree to arrive. The vines look breathtakingly beautiful. It is so much easier to care for them now that we are living here.

After the tree went in, it was off to town for food and supplies, then back into the cottage to escape the heat. We are very pleased to report that the through-the-wall AC that Bonnie purchased is doing a GREAT job cooling the entire cottage. We are also using our two ceiling fans which, likewise, we are thrilled with.

Bonnie's garden is growing well. We are eating black raspberries, and Denny brought over some sour cherries for pie that Kathy pitted and froze for her mother to make a pie with. (Kathy's mother makes the BEST cherry pie in the world! It is sooo good that Kathy asked for one instead of cake for her birthday!)