Another Heavenly September Day

I guess you would never call me "girlie, girlie," especially when you know that one of the most exciting days of my year comes in the fall.  

It has to be a lovely, pleasant fall day.  Plus, I need a tractor and a brush hog.  

Bill took care of getting the equipment ready for me, and Mother Nature was more than generous with yesterday's weather.  Turned out to be a great day for him to visit the Kootenai River with his fly rod. 

For me, it was brush-hog day in the farm fields, and I was on top of the world. Well, actually, I was on top of the Kubota tractor, and my mood was soaring.  

In the fall, the fields get to looking pretty ragged with some grass eaten down to its roots and other left standing to dry out.  

So, yesterday's efforts involved a grooming job so that in the spring that all the grass is the same height and the fields will turn a solid green. 

In my mind, there is no better feeling than riding a tractor round and round a field, taking in the sights and the fall air while primping up that field to look like it just made a visit to the beauty parlor. 

Oh, granted, there's still some dead grass along the fence lines, but our three pasture areas look a whole lot better this morning. 

I also groomed the trails through the woods for horseback riding and walking. 

All in all, yesterday marked another day when I was happy to be riding a sexy tractor and breathing in all that fresh country air. 

I've also been picking a lot of plums and dispersing them different directions.  Yesterday 40 pounds' worth went to the Food Bank.  Still lots to pick, and it's looking like plenty of plum jelly this year. 

Mother Nature's generosity lessened as yesterday's gorgeous day turned into evening. Word had spread that things were gonna get cold last night, so a whole bunch of sheets, which suddenly showed up in the garden spaces, are scaring the dogs this morning.  

Dogs and horses ALWAYS notice anything different, no matter how subtle.  And, if the garden looks like a bunch of ghosts, a dog's mind can get a little disordered. 

I've left the sheets there until later this morning and am hoping that they protected my tomatoes, beans and sweet potatoes from the overnight frost. 

My Monday also included a trip on the back roads to and from the Pack River General Store, and, of course, the mountains and sky were pretty as a picture. 

Toward the end of the day, I heard some emphatic clip clopping down the road to the north.  Eventually, the noise increased, and the lovely scene of our neighbor Jerry and his friends driving a cart with a single Percheron punctuated what had been a wonderful day.

We're pretty lucky to live out here in draft-horse country, especially before the big show next week when the horse folks are getting geared up for competition. 

Their daily practice sessions up and down the road add a nice touch to any day. 

Happy Tuesday.