tractor club cliff hanger

The tractor club kids were temporarily disrailed in their project due to lack of parts; after taking pretty much the entire engine apart, they waited and waited and waited for the new parts to come in.

It has been a race to finish in time for the fair.

They pulled the 4-H project equivalent of a college all-nighter last weekend, working from 10 am to 9 pm on Saturday -- in that awful heat -- to get the engine reassembled. When I got there at 8 pm to pick them up, they were all still working...

And I think still having fun...

And also suffering a bit from the goofiness that affects you when you have been working so many hours in a row.

When we left that night, the tractor still looked like this (which was a slight improvement, as the back tires weren't even on when we got there that morning):

But the entire front end was in a completely different location.

They have worked a few sessions since then, but the question remains: did they get it put back together in time for fair? You'll just have to wait and find out!

sheep school

County fair is on the horizon, so lambs must be schooled in the ways of walking nicely on the halter so they don't embarrass their showmen in the ring. We had a regular sheep school going on in the backyard last week, before the worst of the heat hit. I'm sure you can guess whose sheep was the best behaved... the boy for whom the gloss of his first-ever lamb has not worn off yet. Hard to see from the distance of the shot, but she is clearly the only one going nicely!

(No, your eyes don't deceive you. There are four boys out there. One of them is a friend of Primo's, who has been in the lend-a-lamb program with our sheep for years now.)



Terzo had no hesitation in pointing out (over and over and over again) the superior behavior of Kanga Jr. He frequently stopped to praise her in a voice designed to be heard by all present.

We'll see if she -- and he -- can keep it up when the pressure is on in the showring. The rest of the lambs... well, let's just say that this should be an interesting year.

seeing red

Finally, a relief from the green zucchini and yellow squash!

Succulent, small strawberries, an excellent reward for the faithful waterer.

Sun-kissed cherry tomatoes, the first harbinger of the harvest to come.

lamb sundial

We don't need no stinkin' clocks around here. I can tell the time just looking in the backyard.

Early morning:

Late morning:

Noon:

Early afternoon:

Late afternoon:

Can't do a good representation of evening, but imagine late afternoon, just a bit darker!

a lamb of his own

For the first time this year... Terzo asked for his own lamb. When the older boys started to make their choices for their 4-H projects, he quietly approached me and asked if he could finally have his own, instead of sharing one of his brothers. He had a little help choosing her, but she is all his.

Meet Kanga Junior. She was the ewe from this set of triplets.

"Kanga" because it is "K" year, and we were reading "Winnie the Pooh" and "The House at Pooh Corner" on and off this spring. "Junior" because she is little. According to him, when she grows up, she will be just plain Kanga.

He is in the midst of training a lamb for the first time, and he is doing a pretty darn good job, if a proud mother may say so herself.

He is training her to walk with him....

and turn with him...

and get used to the sound of his voice encouraging her to keep up with him.

And so it begins.

nearer to thee

As I work in the garden these days, to keep things watered and weeded and generally tended to, one phrase from this poem keeps running through my mind:

"One is nearer God's heart in a garden,
than anywhere else on earth."

He's got it all going on this week out there.

Renewal...

A strong comeback from the cucumber plant decimated by the deer.

Regeneration...

Is there anything to rival the fecundity of a well-picked squash plant?

... and simple grace and beauty.

Certain visitors are welcome to enjoy the garden's bounty with me.

The blessings of a garden extend well beyond the dinner plate.

surefire sign

Today we were displaying the international symbol for "our kids just got back from camp, and now we are dealing with the aftermath":

Nothing like the smell of sleeping bags dried in the sun to dispel the horrendous odors that came home with them.