I have been lying in the floor asleep. The kids came over today. We had a great time, but I was so out of it that I could not even stay awake to talk to them, because I spent most of the day yesterday on the lawn mower.

I got the trellis over one row of butternut, but only a few runners tied up to the trellis. I moved another cattle panel, t post and rebar into position to build another trellis for more butternut, tomatoes, and peppers. I also pushed a good supply of old hay up near the tows to use for mulch as I start doing the finishing touches to those two rows.

I feel over whelmed also. I just cant do the things that I use to do. I have another good size pile of hay in the pasture that I wan to move to the wildlife garden, but first I need to do a lot of weeding and build some trellises. By the time I get the wildlife garden ready, I expect that I will be needing to haul water to it. I just cant see how I will be able to do that, and keep my other three gardens going also.

We are planning our 65th class reunion now. I am not the only one in our group that is slowing down, many are no longer here.

I’m here

Did some research on asparagus crowns and have a plan for late winter. If everything goes as I would like....we'll downsize to one bed of asparagus. Also, I'll have crowns to share if anyone is interested in asparagus. These will be 12 years old. I planted 1 year old crowns in 2016.

So far, one bed is about 3/4 weeded and the other about 1/3. I'm thinking of going out in a few minutes to work on it more. I'm off work today.

I've not found the perfect place for my taller Greenstalk, but have a new idea about where it could go. It needs to be in a place where it gets some shade. The shop porch is too shady for the plants in it.

Other than that, I don't have a lot to talk about. I'm going to pull the flopped over onions this morning too.

Things are sprouting and growing and making fruit.

Jennifer, I would definitely be interested in some advanced asparagus. I am thankful for everyone that I got but I think I got less than two dozen this year. I have pulled almost all my onions maybe half a dozen left. I am picking blueberries by the jelly jar and saving them for my grandkids coming to town. My little grandson for some reason thinks that I have strawberries for him and I had to tell him I have blueberries, but I don’t have very many strawberries. The bugs have been getting all the strawberries. The garden is difficult right now because my green stock is laid out everywhere.

It takes me forever and a day to do anything, but I fdo try to work in the garden every day.

Today I moved a bag of compost, and found what I am calling "Root Fungus", only because it looks like a root system.

I have run across something like this at least once before, and it caused me no problem that I can remember.

This ridge that the pumpkin is growing on has a large amount of composted sheep manure in it, and I have found this fungi in other areas, and have not notice any damage to the plants. Is there something that I need to watch for?

Kim, from what I understand, I need to divide the asparagus crowns. You are definitely welcome to some. Especially since we want to downsize the asparagus. We do enjoy it a lot. During this season, I get at least 12 spears a day--usually more.

There's about a 4th of a bed left to weed. It will feel so good to get that done so I can move on to other things. The tulsi is thick and it all needs to be pulled except in the small space I want to keep it. Once it seeds, you'll never get rid of it. It's a good problem to have....but it is a problem.

My winter squash barely has it's first true leaves and there was already a stupid squash bug on it.

Had to water tonight. Supposedly getting rain on Saturday.

It's pretty out there and I'm enjoy the loveliness.

Jennifer, I killed a squash bug, and mashed squash bug eggs today also. I seem to get farther behind every day. I have 40+ peppers in the wildlife garden, and I cant even see some of them because of the grass and weeds.

I am already tying my winter squash up to a trellis, but if I don't get the water line repaired to the pasture garden, I wont have to worry with it much longer.

Thought y'all might find this interesting. I googled "okiedawn" during my lunch break and this is what AI gave me.

If you are looking for gardening wisdom from "OkieDawn" (Dawn), the legendary and deeply respected contributor from the Oklahoma Gardening communities on Houzz Forums, she is best known for her extensive knowledge of Oklahoma's red clay soil, native planting, and vegetable gardening. [1, 2, 3]Because Oklahoma sits in Zone 7, "OkieDawn" consistently advocated for localized practices such as:

• Building Soil: Using dried molasses as a biostimulant to feed red clay and stimulate microbial activity.
• Planting Schedules: Timing tree and shrub plantings perfectly to establish root systems before the harsh summer or winter freezes.
• Pest Management: Outsmarting voles by planting excess ground cover like moss rose, and protecting growing fruit (like heavy melons) with slings.

I've been thinking about her for a couple of days.

Jennifer, that is interesting, even AI knows Dawn. I really miss Dawn, she was a walking encylopedia.

I went out to tie up tomatoes this morning. I always let my tomatoes get too far ahead of me when it comes to tying and pruning. I have never been good about pruning my tomatoes, but I am trying harder now to see if I can reduce disease on my plants, it seems hard, it seems as though I am cutting away half of my plants. If I were starting over, I would use a differed caging method, but many years ago I started using T post and rebar because cages were too hard to store, and rebar and T post could be tossed anywhere. If I ever wear out my T post and rebar, I will change and get something better, because I have tons of room now to store cages.

After I came in for lunch we have had a few rain and wind storms. It would rain and blow a few minuates, then quit, then repeat. The sun is shining now, and it look like the rain is over. I have really needed the short rains. I have shallow topsoil and cant hold a lot of water at a time. I am going to try to go back out and finish tying plants if it is not too muddy, but it is going to be hotter than I want to deal with.

I went out to check the garden, and its too wet to do anything in the garden now, so I will bore you with pictures.

Here are some of the tomatoes that I tied up this morning in the south garden. I want to plant some Honeydew melons between these two rows of tomatoes.

Here are the tomatoes that I tied up a day or two ago. Jennifer, you can see my winter squash and pumpkin in this picture. The pumpkin ts at the far end, the ( butternut ?) in the fore ground, and in the row to the left. I hope to have the squash grow up the trellis, and to fill in between the rows, but that means a never ending battle with the squash bugs. This is in the pasture garden. I have 3 fruit trees in that mess of Johnson grass on the left, I hope to get that cleaned out soon.

Here is a row of peppers that I need to clean out. I expect to find a few peppers big enough to harvest when I start cleaning this row. In the background you can see stuff that I planted for the wildlife. I till the wildlife rows in and plant peas, it looks like I have more weeds in the wildlife rows than anything else, and I still have plenty of pea and okra seeds to plant.

I know, all of this is a mess, and I am just not man enough to keep it all clean, but I enjoy getting out and playing in the dirt. You can see that I have moved hay in to mulch with. I move hay into 3 gardens last evening.

Larry, I was surprised a little when that came up too. But, not really. I'm not sure what prompted me to search her username.

Another Dawn thing. Years ago she gave me a Laura Bush petunia. Just one. For the next several years it beautifully reseeded in the area in front of the chicken pen. Then one year it didn't. Maybe 3 years ago. I was very sad about it. Then....one day I saw a pop of violet-pink color in the burn pile and those petunias were coming up way over there. (probably where I had thrown the dead plants the previous years) So I dug one of them up and put it in the chicken pen bed. Again, it reseeded and was beautiful that year and the following. Then, again, nothing last year. BUT...this year, there's a little plant coming up again. Must have been a seed somewhere that decided to sprout. So, I'm trying to keep it healthy.

Also, Larry, I'm bad at pruning tying up tomatoes. But, having so few this year is helping me stay on it. Overall, the tomatoes look really good this year. The first Big Beef will be picked this morning.

Your garden actually looks really good.

My peppers are beginning to outgrow the wind damage. I saw fruit on one of the anaheims.

I woke up thinking that I had finished the asparagus beds but then realized there's about an hour or two left on them. I'm off work again today. It's been nice having so much time off this week. I'm sure it will ramp back up next week and then it's our trip to Oregon, but I'm expecting the rest of the summer/early fall will be quite busy. That's okay. I can replenish my travel/holiday account. But...I am enjoying the days off. My regular job is chaotic and confusing just because of trying to squeeze into about a 20th of the space. And re-keying of things. And the running of weekday summer children's programs. Glad I'm not involved in that this year. Sunday should be interesting since I don't have a new key to the building and I (and the custodian) am the first to arrive. Hopefully, he will be there to let me in.

But...days off are good. I slept until 7, got everyone fed and will head out in a few minutes after starting a load of laundry. I'll work on the asparagus and should be able to finish it and then will tackle the holy basil, trying to save as much as I can.

One of my old hens (She's 9 this month) died yesterday. She had slowed way down. She was a Buff Orpington named Buttercup. I looked her over after she passed and she had some mites. I don't think that's what killed her, but she did have a few. So, I dusted all of the chickens last night. A few of the older ones had some mites, but I didn't see any on the younger ones. Everyone got dusted, tho.

I'm down to 20 now. Two roos and 18 hens. Jean Luc Picard is barely getting around. His legs really bother him.

In general, the garden looks really nice. I'm happy with how things are going. It's always hard to leave it in June for our trips, but usually we're not as dry in June as in July/August...so it's the best time to go. My neighbor is caring for my animals and her 13 year old daughter will water for me.

The upcoming problem will be the pathways in the kitchen garden. They didn't get fresh cardboard/wood chips this year. I can see weeds/grass about to explode in them. But, I'll deal with that when we return. It's normally something we do on a warm day in February or March. But, Tom was recovering from a surgery and I had the hand/wrist issue. And still do but am just living with it.

What are y'all up to? Kim, have you started moving yet?

Jennifer, I have too many plant to care for properly, I am just too slow, and have to rest to often, plus we seem to going to funerals and doctors too often.. We seem to be at the age that all our friends and family are dying off. I lost a half day yesterday taking my cousin to the doctor, Madge is getting ready to leave for Tx. now for a funeral.

I am also seeing a lot more insect damage in the garden. The wildlife is hitting their garden hard also, but they are also hitting my part of the garden. I cant say too much, so far they have not done a lot of damage to the three gardens I have at the house.

I had hoped to get a little gardening done today, but it is raining now. I am planning on the rain to stop for me to at least enough for me to do a little weeding, the north garden really needs it.

Larry, the rain seems to be missing us this morning. The storms/rain split and the OKC metro area is dry. Glenda, is it missing y'all too? Maybe we'll get the next round. If not, I'll need to do some heavy watering tomorrow.

I pulled my first tomato this morning. BER! So disappointed.

But, did bring in a nice basket of asparagus, green beans, and blackberries.

All that "holy basil" was actually Scarlet Salvia. In a way, that's good. I don't really have time to deal with drying tulsi right now anyways. BUT, I need to check in with a couple of people who I gave a "tulsi" to. They probably got a Scarlet Salvia instead. Jen, I'm sure, remembers when I gave her a dock instead of comfrey. It happens from time-to-time. Even Dawn gave me some weird thing (maybe a type of winter berry) instead of what she thought was a red honeysuckle. That thing needs to be cut back again. It's just rampant, but does shade the chicken pen nicely on the west side.

But, in good news, I did find some reseeded tulsi too. It will be waiting for me after Oregon. I do like it in tea. A lot. It's good with chamomile. Speaking of....the chamomile isn't liking the warmer temperatures. Hoping it comes back in the fall so I can get another jar dried for winter tea.

Does anyone have a zinnia variety that is a little more disease resistant?

I love them, but they sure get diseased. I'm always curious about people and their perfect flowers. Mine are not perfect. Like with sunflowers, the caterpillers chew them up pretty quickly. One of the YouTubers that I watch sells her flowers (especially sunflowers) and makes a lot of money from them. How does she keep the checkerspots off of them. She says she is organic. But maybe uses BT....I won't do that because I want the checkerspots, but maybe not so many. lol. I think some people "sneakily" use products. She's in Arkansas, so has basically the same insects that we have.

I'm about to start cleaning this dirty house. Tom is working today. We will have the baby overnight so I'll take him to work with me in the morning.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I am sitting here chomping at the bits, I need to be out doing something, and it wont quit raining. I could be on the porch sharpening my tools, but I did that no more than a week ago. I have sharpened mower blades, knives, and gardening tools. I may just have to start some seeds in the house. I still have plants on the porch that need planting, but it seems as tho when it is not raining I am always doing something else.

Three of Madge's kids came down to go with Madge to Texas. I don't like for Madge to travel alone, and it works out well for her kids to come down, they drive Madge's car, which I like, because I feel that the younger folks drive better than us older folks.

Madge's daughter showed me a picture of her daughter's tomatoes, they were huge. I start plants early for the friends and family to put in their garden. I am sorts trying to spread the garden bug. Even my great grand son has taken some plants, and they look great. My great grand son is home schooled, so his mother is teaching him, His mother is very much an indoors person, so she is having to learn also. I am very proud of what they are doing..

You can tell how bored I am, I stood on the back porch and took a picture of the garden that I need to be weeding. This is my oldest garden, so the soil is better in it. I started this 19 or 20 years ago. We also planted a tree too close, and now some of the garden does not get enough sun. I have 100 sweet potatoes, maybe 2 dozen peppers, 3 roselle , 1 tomato, a few onions, and maybe 1000 weeds in. I don't think that I have ever been caught up in my life.

I have so many nasturtiums blooming now. Jennifer I just buy a couple of packets at the mill when we get feed. This year they were Gleam and Little Marvel. I paid $2 or $3 for a packet - less than 1/2 the price and twice as many seeds as any other place. I do think they help with insect control like aphids and spider mites.

My zinnias are blooming and need to be thinned by probably 1/2 of what’s there. Haven’t had any mildew or problems except they dry out so fast when it’s really hot. The Kindergarten sunflowers have been a complete flop for me. I haven’t had a single one that lived to bloom and they got spider mites when just a few inches tall - I have them in several areas but every one has been a disappointment. Right now the ear wigs are my biggest problem- they have killed or chewed so many holes in all my peppers. The oil/soy sauce traps and sluggo baits haven’t slowed them at all.

I dug all my potatoes last week and replaced them with sweet potatoes. I have 8 - Larry I hear you laughing but that’s plenty for us with some to share.

I have corn in a round bale feeder that is making ears, silks are starting to turn. If I can just keep the coons out we may get a couple of meals from them. Grandson came to check on them yesterday. He said “our” garden looks good. lol

I pulled my first beans and the 2nd planting is winding down. Cucumbers are making little ones and picked squash and zucchini. My purple hull and mixed peas are starting to run - I planted some Indian corn with them to save for fall decoration. My tomatoes are looking good but nowhere near getting ripe except for a Sunsugar and a yellow pear. They are little bites of sunshine.

I have a painted bunting that’s been visiting my garden. Hopefully my cat won’t get it. She seems to get the birds I like best - the bluebirds and wrens. But she also chases the rabbits out and catches a lot of mice and moles. I would be sad to lose her, she usually follows me around in the garden and is good company.

Larry, I’m jealous of your rain. We are so dry. The ponds are lower than ever been this time of year and only have one big one that’s fit for cows to drink. We do have a well at the barn but would be a strain to water 50+ head everyday. The rain all missed us again this morning so we were repairing hot wire and a stray shower popped up and drenched us. 1/2” in about 5 minutes time. I was thrilled. It saved me about 3 hours of watering. Supposed to be more coming tonight. I sure hope so -like Jennifer it goes all around us but not on us.

Bill has his shoulder surgery on Wednesday so I won’t get to the garden much for awhile. We’ll see what survives.

Prayers for Bill's surgery, Glenda.

We got not a drop of rain in the rain gauge this week. Got home around 730 this evening and watered until dark. Maybe next time....

But, my tomatoes look better than they ever have. The cucumbers look good. Things in general look good. Except the weeds.

Well...just checking in. I'm going to rest awhile. Maybe watch a few minutes of YouTube. See if there's anything interesting new.

Neighbor said thet we had 3.5" of rain last night, and had 3 tornadoes within 5 miles, all I can say is that I have had more rane than I needed. We ran low on rain for the year till this weekend, now computer says we are 3% above average. This has been the best gardening year that I can remember as far as being dry enough in early spring to ger my ground ready. The biggest thing slowing me down this year is just not being able, not having the time to get the work done.

My neighbor has some really pretty stuff, he started early this year, and has really worked hard, and it has paid off. Neighbor Has a nice web page at "Diffy Mountain Produce" Greenwood Arkansas, if you care to check it out. Neighbor brought over some nice Veggie this evening.

Not much to report really. Last night I had time to do a little watering and tied up some tomatoes. Still no ripe ones, other than the one that had BER. But, there's fruit on all of them. The plants look nice. Last year we had way too much rain all at once and the plants really never produced super well. Also, I neglected tying them up and it was just a mess in general.

This morning I've been out to water a few things that didn't get watered last night. Just pots of things mostly as they dry out quickly....and it's gonna be hot today.

Larry, I looked at your neighbor's facebook page. What a nice garden!

I have a list of things to get done in the next 6 days:

Deep clean coop

Clean little coop

Set up auto waterers

Deep clean turtle tank

Set up a protected area for the banty hen that gets beat up. I have a system now, but can't expect my neighbor to baby her the way I do.

Trying to figure out the best time to deep clean the coop as that's the biggest job. I like to do it in the morning before the sun is in the west sky. It needs to by dry. And it's gotta be scheduled around my work schedule.

Our roo, Jean Luc, didn't come down out of the little coop today. His legs just aren't working. But, I gave him water and food inside the coop and he ate it. I don't know how much longer he will live. I remember Dawn saying that once a rooster can't get up, they don't last long. Thing is, if his legs worked, he would be fine. He's still hungry and thirsty and wants to crow.

Anyway, I just got word from my second-job boss and she wants me there at 930, so I better get around.

Stay cool, friends. Drink plenty of water.

I went to another funeral this morning, my school mates are dropping like flies. I came home after the funeral and tried to work in the garden, but 95 degrees just seems too hot to be out there. How did we handle the heat before air conditioning?

I are my first of my home grown tomatoes today, my first jalapeno yesterday, and the first bell a few days ago. What I am really wanting is fried green tomatoes, but I have too few now to be picking them off. Another thing that I have noticed is that by me not having the large amount of compost and mulch like I use to have, my garden is not doing as well, plus I am not able to work at gardening as hard as I use to do.

Larry, I'm jealous! No tomatoes to eat here yet. Or jalapenos or bells. There is an anaheim that looks ready, tho.

Has anyone used those kitchen composting machines?

Your comment about compost reminded me of that, Larry. Of course it wouldn't make a ton of compost, but it would be usable very quickly to add to garden beds. If they do, in fact, work. I saw a video a couple of years ago. Becky from Acre Homestead had some type of container that she called her compost. She was adding a little with each planting. I'm thinking it was one of those gadgets.

I'm super tired today. Work yesterday was long and physical. I'm about to do it again but need to get out and water some this morning before leaving.

We were able to get some of the above list done last night.

It's gonna be another hot one, today.

I woeked on cleaning the peppers in the wildlife garden last night. I did not get much done, and plan on going back today and work a while. I tried posting pictures last night, but was unable, I will try again today

Everything I harvested yesterday was small, but we are out of produce, and I don't want to buy any if I think that I have some that will do.

This is as I was trying to find my pepper plants.

The jalapeno are growing well burred in the grass and weeds

These Red Pimento peppers were so heavily loaded that they had fallen over. I will try to finish staking these plants today.

This is my second tomato for this year. It seems that if you don't produce compost, you sure have to come up with something to feed your plants. I keep synthetic fertilizer, but use it very sparingly, but without compost I need more of it.

Jen, I checked my Dawn peppers after reading your post last night. I have small fruit on those.

And....I spoke too soon about my tomatoes being so healthy. Noticed disease creeping in as I was watering them. Oh well. It's gonna happen, right? I'll start a couple more tomatoes when I get back from Oregon for some fall tomatoes.

Although, the propagted ones look awful...they might make it if I could get them planted. The two that were planted earlier in the week, are beginning to look good. I'm out of room to put the others but maybe can come up with a place. At this point, they may not produce until fall anyways.

If they live. I suspect they are very malnourished.

I pulled a few more onions last night. They're curing with the others in the hot shop with fans blowing and doors cracked open for ventalation.

Ahh its been too long since I’ve been here. Most of my onions are pulled, and all my potatoes are in. I still can’t get big onions. I really heavily amended the soil in those beds, but since I planted so many too deep, I didn’t get what I wanted. Next year.

I’ve gotten half a dozen Fourth of July tomatoes and one Early Girl. And two small cucumbers. Two 5 gallon bags of Contender green beans.

First pole beans are blooming. Theyre a bit… scrawny.

Cantaloupe is up. Second planting. Not sure what happened to the first ones. Put in lots more green beans (Jade and… something elselose) so I can start feeding the freezer for Thanksgiving. Trying a couple mini butternut squash too.

I desperately need to fertilize though. And the tomates in one raised bed look sicker than the ones in feed tubs. Fungus from the rain, Im sure, but theyre supposed to be resistant. The early girls and Fourth of July will end up almost naked from leaf loss, but will still crank out tomatoes. I guess ill start a couple of those for fall.

HJ, Id love a couple crowns. Mom loves asparagus.

I typed up a post around 7 this morning, but it disappeared....completely. Not just from using a banned work like "eggplant dip".

I needed to get out and get busy with cleaning the main coop, which is a huge task. And putting the sprinklers on the garden. Both of those things are done now.

The rain missed us again. Maybe next time....

Rebecca, one of the things I love about gardening is there's always things to learn. This year it's about onion depth. Next year it will be something else. I always want to plant too deep too. But mostly because the wind tends to blow them over otherwise. Normally, I'll end up with decent sized bulbs, tho. This year was mediocre.

I'm trying to learn about cucumber scab this year. It can stay in the soil for 2 or 3 years so next year I'll try something different. There was an amazing "regular" backyard gardener on OGN FB group who grew tons of cukes in hanging baskets. I'm going to try to find her posts (from a few years ago) and maybe mimic her method for awhile. Give the soil a chance to clear the scab. Rotating crops are a little harder for me because I plant several different things in the same bed.

Also, there's a couple of big things going on with my family that could change how I live life. Maybe small changes. Maybe big changes. It's uncertain at this point. I want to figure out how I can always garden regardless, so if it's cukes in hanging pots--okay. Let's do that.

The garlic was mediocre this year too, but ever so much better than last year when we had too much rain in April and May. I couldn't even save any bulbs last year. This year, there's some nice looking bulbs but not as many. Because I didn't plant as many. I'll save 3 or 4 of these bulbs and look for a hardneck variety for next year. Hardneck doesn't store as well, but I would like it for pickling.

We got the turtle tank cleaned last night which is another big chore. I sure wish I could find a nice place for her to live. It's hard to believe I've had her for 24 years. She deserves better, tho.

Other than that, I clipped a hen's nails and cleaned up the garlic to bring into the house.

Tonight, it will be grocery shopping....but more like pet supply shopping and things we need for our trip shopping. We won't be doing much cooking because we leave Tuesday morning.

How's everyone else doing on rain?

We got more rain, and I have learned a few things the past two days. First, always stay in the garden. Second, never be nice. Third, stay out of the ER. I wont go into details, but being nice nearly killed me. I laugh about it now, and I really don't know what happened, but Madge has told me to stay in the house today. I have not been to the garden in two days, and the weeds are so tall I am not sure I could find the garden, and I have missed two really good days of working in the garden. I hope to feel like going to the garden tomorrow.

I am so busy and hot down here. It’s been breezy so that helps a lot. Garden at home is being maintained but not exactly thriving. GS is still disassembled :/ The work garden sucks all my energy and I love it. Cantaloupe,watermelon,corn,green beans, noodle beans, okra squash eggplant potatoes flowers are all doing great. I have cabbage potatoes and kohlrabi in the frig. I alternate days I sent those. I have to get some housework done and take car to the mechanic tomorrow.

Kim, I feel for you, Madge just call me in to listen to the blower motor on our AC unit. I don't really feel like it but it looks like I will be working on our AC unit tomorrow, these things always go out on the weekend when the parts houses are closed. I am hopping that it is just the capacitor, which I can pick up at Ace Hardware of Lowes..

When the sun goes down I will try to drag supplies over to the wildlife garden, and start building a trellis over there. I also need to change the blades on the mower and get this lawn mowed. It is really easy to see why people want to down size when they get older, there is just too much up-keep on a home for an older couple.

Larry you have to tell us why you ended up in the ER.

Yes, Larry, tell. How did being nice end up with you in the ER.

Kim, sorry about your car. Car issues are so annoying and expensive.

Today, I'll probably work on laundry, figure out what I'm wearing on our trip and start the packing process. Need to see what the weather is doing in Oregon and Washington before packing. According to my phone app it will be dry and warm there.

Some family is coming over this late afternoon for an early dinner. I'm not sure exactly who is coming, but I bought 8 burger patties.

I'm going to trust that we will get rain over night, so won't spend time watering today. If the rain doesn't show up (again), then I'll be spending tomorrow evening watering. It's always hard to leave the garden for trips. I don't expect someone else to water the way I do....and if something doesn't make it, it's fine.

We had Rick to water for us until last year. Speaking of...we drove by his house 3 weeks ago or so. Looks like the bank moved his truck and car out. Not sure where they went, but I have the titles for them. His nephew was about to get them, but called the bank to check and the bank said, "no". I'm glad his family (and I) got the few things that they wanted before the bank came in. I got a iron bench, birdbath and garden statue. Still wish I could find those soaker hoses he ordered for the SG. Never did see them in his house. I also have the key to the house.

Anyway....it will be fine. I don't want to stress out the young girl who is watering for me with too many instructions and OCD behavior. The animals are always a thing too. A lot of special needs situations. And I realize I can insert the Taylor Swift song here...."Hi. It's me. I'm the problem, it's me."

Jean Luc Picard is staying in the coop part of the little coop/pen combo because his legs aren't work well. He can sorta drag himself around. BUT, he always wants to eat and drink and crow. Do I expect them to give him water and food? Because getting it to him is a bit tricky but not hard. And, in nature, he wouldn't be able to get food/water so he would pass. Then, I have another hen who is not eating well, but I put her in the pen thing that we made for the picked-on banty hen. She seems happier there. But it's one more situation the animal caregiver has to deal with. Nothing is easy here. Again..."Hi. It's me. I'm the problem, it's me."

One of Tom's co-workers gave him a couple of ripe tomatoes. I feel a little shamed because I don't have any yet. Aw well. They'll be nice on the burgers tonight.

Jennifer, I cant say that being nice is the problem, it's more like the song verse that you posted, Hi, its me, I am the problem. It is easy for me to find time to do for others, when I cant even find the time to do for us.

I won't go into details about what happened, but I thought that I might b having a stroke. It was very scary, and I still don't feel well, bur I have to cut back, there is no need in me planting so much of the stuff that I can't even give away. We still went to town to buy supplies, and bought a bushel of sweet corn. We don't need the extra work of putting the corn up.

I told Madge to contact her kids, and, at least make a plan for moving to northwest Arkansas, or northeast Oklahoma. We have lived our life, and we need to be where her kids can come and visit, but not have to take care of us. I know that I wont be happy anywhere I cant have a garden and equipment to fool with, but I am becoming unable to do those things anyway.

I appear to have had heart problems all of my life, but all of my body is wearing out now. I would like to spend the rest of my life seeing Madge extra happy, and I think that she would like to be close to her kids. If I am not living on this farm, I may as well live on the moon. I am not man enough to keep this place up anymore.

Larry I am so sorry for this chapter of your life. At least you and Madge will be together.

Thank you, Kim, everything is fine, we are just getting old, it happens to most people. I don't like sitting here seeing everything go to pot around me, but that too happens sooner or later for most of us. It make me sick just to look at the garden, what I can see of it.

Larry, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. But, if it gives you joy seeing Madge happy, then that is huge. Even if you move to a small place, you'll probably find something interesting to do.

I'll make a new thread.