Progress

The crew hasn't arrived yet this morning, so this is the current status of the new building. Poles went up and cement was poured in each hole. Today the trusses will be up by the end of the day, and we have to decide where the windows and walk-in door go.

The walk-in door will be on the side facing the camera at the east end. This side will also have a lean-to running from front to back. Windows will go on the southwest corner and west end of the building.

The crew works hard and stays on task. They finished setting poles at the exact time the cement truck arrived yesterday at 2 p.m.

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In the meantime, other progress is occurring in the gardens, except for corn. I don't know if Burpee sent me bad seed or if the soil has remained that cool cuz I've planted corn twice now and have all of about half a dozen little stocks poking out of the ground. Maybe the corn knows it's going to be high-priced this year, so it's playing hard to grow.

Even my beans have been a bit spotty, but those that managed to rise above the ground are flourishing, as are the potatoes, lettuce, chard, beets, green peppers, onions and spinach. I love those salads picked straight from the garden.

The tomato plants are now getting over their initial shock of being outside, but no good news to report on my cukes. I don't know when the best time is for introducing cukes to the great outdoors, but I do know I missed it this year. Most are withering away, so the big plan for lots of pickles has gone by the wayside.

I've given Bill the job of figuring out how to avoid wormy apples. Our trees are loaded this year, and I'd love to pick some big, juicy, unflawed beauties this fall. So, he gets his daily reminders. I figure the tree man ought to specialize in all the trees on the place, especially if he wants to enjoy them apples.

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Guess that's it from the Lovestead this morning. There's always progress with the grass and the weeds, so I'll be keeping plenty busy in that department today. Plus, I've got to get started writing my next story for the Appaloosa Journal. This one's about a Texas cowboy who did stunts for several years on "Walker, Texas Ranger." He's got great stories to tell, including the one about his great-great aunt Sarah Dodson who sewed the first-ever Texas Lone Star flag during the war for Texas Independence.

These days, Joe Dodson is training a wild and weird mustang for the Extreme Mustang Challenge. He's one of 200 trainers picked for the big competition in September. Yesterday he got a halter on his critter; that was after taking delivery nine days ago.

Off to work. Have a great day.