Life does not stop either.

I took this picture last spring. It is a favorite.
Dad and son fishing.
It does not get much better than this Dad.

blessings

“Is anyone interested in an oak dining table set?”

In our bible study group a while back one member asked if any one was interested in a dining set.

We have potlucks at their house often, and their dining table was a bit small, so the husband bought a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood to make the table larger.

So, this month they bought a larger table and chair set. They would rather recycle it to friends than sell it to someone they did not know, they said.

We looked it over and made a deal. The set goes back to the 80’s, but it has great care. It is a serious upgrade for us!

I made our last table 40 years ago. It’s next life will likely be to warm my toes on a cold morning.

So now we have this really nice round oak table that expands with two leaves , plus a set of very nice oak chairs. We are blessed.

Thank you friends, We will take good care of it (but use it several times every single day!).

My granddaughter Emily has begun a blog of a picture a day.
http://aestoliablue.tumblr.com/

This is the back of our weird house. It was designed to be easy on energy in the winter, and not need air conditioning in the summer. Works on both counts.

end of fall

It is grape time here on the micro farm.

We have had several frosts, none of them really hard, but the grapes are sweet, and beginning to shrivel a bit, so it is time.

Picked the first today, will finish tomorrow and then begin making juice. Looks like this year's crop will be about the same as last years, which was adequate.

The summer garden is over.

Today I picked the popcorn, husked it and put it all in the food dryer. I doubt we will get any where enough to make it worth while, from a monitory angle, but that is not why we garden!

Being a part time farmer and a full time eater makes for interesting conversations with myself.

I have a friend who spent a lot of years photographing trucks and truck parts.
How do you make a truck transmission look glamorous? How about an air shock?
He used colored gels, dramatic lighting and such, and did a wonderful job of it all.
There was no magic used on this photograph, but this is how the bag looks, honest injun.

the new sleeping bag

The tear is a good place to sleep.

It is a notch above sleeping in a tent, but the temp inside is a good bit warmer than outside and the mattress is as thick as the one at home. It is comfortable and it is easy to stay warm!

The 2nd night out I decided to push the bedding back all the way to the foot of the bed and get out the new sleeping bag that was a gift from our oldest grandson, and sleep on top of the bed.

It is a double bag. Not too many made like that. Zipper on both sides, bit opening at the top, but narrower at the foot.

Miriam, as always, was suspect of any change. AD people don’t want their boat rocked in any way. It took her a bit to figure out all the differences. And, in her defense, most devices, even those as simple as a sleeping bag to have some features to get used to, but we slept well. Really well.

The night before had been 27, but this night it clouded over and was a bit warmer, so we did not get to test it in the coldest temps.

We will sleep in it again. And again.

Today i emptied the teardrop, boxed the galley, brought the bedding inside, then wrapped the lady up in a blanket and two tarps. She is totally covered, tires, hitch, everything.

I was pretty sure that had been the last campout of the year, then I talked to a friend who wants to go camping again this fall.

We will see.

It does not take much to convince me!