Although Dave made headway planting the fall crops, (cool weather plants such as spinach, Swiss chard, kale, radishes, carrots, lettuces, bok choi, kohlrabi, etc.) this week, it seemed, in general, as if the farm was much more like another job site. Sadly, I missed much of what was going on early in the week since my other job sites required the majority of my attention. In my absence, Dave took delivery of the new outdoor grill (270lbs) which arrived via freight. 

He was also here for several deliveries of sand and mortar that the masons had ordered in.

Eventually some other equipment arrived.

An then their tool trailer which they parked in as much of a concealed area as possible.

No, I’m not doing any free advertising for this company, but I often describe them in this way: If you wanted to build a cathedral these are the guys for the job. Again, a crew of father, Bob, and son, Adam, and Sayad along with the laborer, Pete. Here they are last year (along with Mule, some of the carpenters on the kitchen job as well as Dave and Farley) laying the corner stone for Seven Oaks.

Adam had the honors of laying the stone, one of which was placed in front as well in back.

The Masons arrived to begin the terrace steps on Friday. Steps are really tricky, so after some calculations, they were able to figure out how to proceed and got a good start.

When I had snippets of time last week I met with my electrician friend, Rich Wood, (who also delivered the sleeves for future electric under all the new concrete) the outdoor lighting expert, Mark Sullivan, and of course the mason coordinator, Jim Theusch. Our friend Mule dropped by and put on his plumber hat since he will be working on the gas lines for the outdoor grill. I plied both Rich and Mule with additional goodies such as melons and jarred items from the pantry since they really appreciate that kind of thing.

Today the driveway crew arrived to get some work done moving pallets around and exploring what was underneath all of the pea rock on our driveway. A very large dump truck pulled in and we ended up needing to cut back some tree branches to allow them better access to the rear area. We pulled Dave’s pick up into place and he climbed into the back and used his new giant pruner to do the job. 

This truck dropped a ton or so of rock for just a start on the future base.

He then was prepared to receive and haul away whatever was pulled up from the current driveway.

They worked a long time today but were finally stopped after discovering their machine, a Case skid steer loader, had a flat tire.

We felt they got a good start and were not terribly disappointed that the dust and noise was over for the day. 

The farm is suffering from the continued area drought. We have had no discernible rain for more than 7-8 weeks. Dave is watering constantly but managed to plant the fall season of crops and reports that many of the rows of plantings are already sprouting. Our harvest totals for the year as of Friday, September, 6th was 1,249lbs. The big winners listed in order of weight totals so far are: cukes, followed by cantaloupe, tomatoes, strawberries eggplants and potatoes.

I gave away many, many melons this week and had wonderful messages back from folks who realized how very tasty they were. My sister, Lisa, served many farm items at a Rosh Hashanah dinner this past week and picked up another batch of items for a family dinner she is hosting tomorrow.

We continue to enjoy eating and preserving the fruits of our labor but sharing with friends and family is also a great reward.

In addition to all of the joy of progress at the farm this week, the very best part of my week was when a dear friend, Janet Lange, dropped off a beautifully wrapped present for me, in recognition of some assistance I contributed to her recent home project. No need – wish I had helped more – but what a wonderful surprise!

With a full schedule, I had to leave it – full of mystery – on the table all afternoon until I got back from a long day of work. OMG! You would not believe my excitement after carefully opening the package. It was a John Gould bird print, of the Parus Major, which remind me greatly of one of the birds that I have seen around here, the American Goldfinch.

Thank you, thank you, Janet! This was very special indeed since Janet was with me when I bought my very first pair of Gould prints, many years ago! Some people are just great gift givers since they remember details like that! I am so excited to add this print to my small but growing collection of ornithological and botanical prints!