I had a few leftover peanut M&Ms, so I knocked on the door to the bedroom where they are having their night club and said "Trick or treat!" But they knew better, so we closed the door and they knocked to me, in the living room, and, when I opened the door, they chorused, "Trick or treat!" Ten M&Ms each was their haul, and they felt well rewarded. "Thank you, ma'am, for your generosity."
We go all out on celebrations here.
This morning we woke to gentle, steady rain. Yesterday Phil had had to swap the tractor bucket for the forks, and he is ready for that to be the quick connect. Our backhoe bucket also needs repair, and since we don't have the welder (nor the experience) to manage either, he loaded both front bucket and backhoe bucket into the truck and headed out for the welding shop.
After he stopped for gas, the truck wouldn't start again.
So the boys and I joined him and drove him to town to get a new battery. The swap of old for new took little time, and he continued on his way while I headed home. It's always something!
Late in the afternoon, I checked the weather, and it showed no rain for the next ten days or so. Perfect. Abraham swept off the foundation, and Jadon helped Phil and I snap the string line. Then Phil and I hauled block to dry stack two sides of the first level. Overall, it's all a perfect fit. Except that, because we didn't know that there would be corner blocks, and the corner blocks have smaller holes than the regular blocks, we may have to cut some of the corner rebar to allow all to fit.
The one disadvantage of the rainfall is that the road leading down to the site is slick mud. We ran out of gravel, and we miss it now. Rather than having a partial pallet easily accessible in the work site, we have to walk the blocks, one by one (for me) or two by two (for Phil). It's not a long walk, perhaps 30 yards per trip, but it definitely adds to the time.
For now, though, we're pleased that all fits so beautifully, and soon we will begin the added challenge of mortar.
In gardening news, I was reading a short book that recommended preparing all garden soil the fall before actual growing commences. The author suggested pulling sod and composting it (sod turns to humus quickly), trenching (or subsoiling, perhaps?) and allowing weeds to germinate and pulling them before they seed. The freeze-thaw cycle of winter also helps aerate the soil and ready it for spring.
It feels a bit hopeless to even attempt growing at the moment. With concrete blocks spread across the hill, and general lack of time, it seems that I still will not have much chance to grow next year.
But as I passed the greenhouse today, I realized I'm being silly. The compost in the front quadrant has sprouted a lush growth of weeds, ready to seed. If I could maintain even the front quadrant of the greenhouse in vegetables, that would be about 500 square feet of vegetable garden more than I've ever maintained before.
So I pulled the seedy weeds, and look forward to having a little spot of land ready for growing when spring comes.
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