Slight Detour: Got Radishes, Et. Al.

It was a meeting which dealt with a four-letter word ending in "t." And, as time went on the pile to the PHD mode: deeper and deeper with a little spilling out on the ground around us.

Yup, Ann and Rick showed up yesterday in their turquoise pickup with the dent in the side so I could use our Kubota to dump dirt in the pickup box.

I felt a little nervous when Ann parked the pickup with the unblemished side toward me and the tractor loader. The last thing I wanted to do was put a new dent in their pickup.

So, carefully,carefully, I inched forward with the loader high in the air, and when Ann said "yes," the first time, thankfully I didn't believe her.

I had wondered if I was to keep going forward when I saw the the orange reflection on that polished turquoise getting clearer and clearer.

Ann nodded, but I stopped and dumped the first load of dirt into the box. Then, I asked, "Did you mean 'yes' to go forward or 'yes' to stop?" She said she meant 'yes' to stop.

Glad we clarified that message and even happier that my gut feeling had told me to stop.

Sorta like those tweets----ya never quite know what to think, so you rely on instincts.

Anyway, we loaded up a big pile of dirt, along with a few of last year's potatoes that had gone to seed while residing in their winter home deep within the well-aged manure pile.

Being able to load barnyard dirt has been far behind schedule this year, as has most everything else depending on solid ground, but we got 'er done yesterday. Rick and Ann were mighty anxious to go home and play in their dirt.

Before they left, however, we strolled around the place to look at the garden and the flowers. Turns out the Gehrings (longtime friends and teaching colleagues) have been eating lettuce which emerged from last year's seed, but they don't have radishes.

So, Ann picked a clump to take home with their dirt.

We also had a great time with a brief photo op in the midst of blooming lupine which now extend almost the entire length of Love Canal.

Twas a fun visit, and I'm sure my friends enjoyed a fun day preparing their garden. Once they left, I hopped on the mower and finished up the lawn by 3:30.

Today will be a fairly relaxed schedule compared to the past few, but Bill and I are excited to join in on the fun at Farmin-Stidwell this afternoon as one sister and a couple of her colleagues are roasted at their retirement party.

The food will be grilled, so I think Laurie is safe.

June seems to be sprinting along, maybe a little faster that it needs to, but not much we can do about that---'cept maybe enjoy it as much as possible.

Happy Wednesday. Hope you're having time to smell the flowers!