It is now late summer, not early summer. The fireweed is close to topping out, and some leaves on lower bushes are now yellow tinged. And, yes, it is now dark for a few hours at night.

We are somewhat ready for winter. We have hay in the barn, wood in the shed, fish in jars, and berries in the freezer. Somewhat ready. We will need two more loads of hay, another cord or two of firewood, more fish, and more berries.

Today Pete’s with a friend, working on the old truck. The old truck no longer seems like a good deal. Pete and friend have put endless hours into it, attempting to fix a leaky something or other.

Stormy and Buckwheat mix it up

I had planned on getting all the animals out, but my plan did not come to fruition. Pete left, and I came back inside and saw that the house was a mess. The deal is this – Pete, in taking on many tasks, becomes somewhat mindless, leaving a lot of things left to be done. When I get to the point in which I can no longer handle, say, a sink full of dirty dishes or a pile of woodchips in front of the house or mounds of dirty laundry or a grungy kitchen floor, I take matters into my own hands and take care of these things.

I am most motivated to do this when I have friends coming over. We are having visitors on Saturday which is why I cleaned up today. Pete won’t have the time to lend a hand tomorrow. He is taking an online class, and because he went fishing yesterday and car repairing today, he will have to catch up on his backlogged work tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and there is the garden. We are in the midst of a heat wave, well anyway the Alaska version, so all the plants in all the gardens are going to need watering.

Clean up took the entire day, so I did not get the horses out. Nor did I get the dogs out. I feel bad about this, but the alternative would have been to continue to wallow in this piggy nest. I don’t do wallow very well.

This doesn’t happen often, if it did, I would have to part with the animals. They are a huge responsibility and I take great pride in their care. But every so often I like to ride the horses and play with the dogs.

If there is one saving grace in all this, it’s the Dolly Lama. We have had this pink hand cart for several years, I think we got it in Butte, Montana. I recently figured out that I could put five gallon bucket on it, strap them to the frame, wheel it around, and very easily to pick up manure. It’s fast, efficient, and saves on physical wear and tear.

I wonder why I didn’t think of this years ago. I’m glad that I recently thought of it. The Dolly Lama will be a mainstay until winter is here. Then we’ll resume using the sled.

Next: 211. 8/1/20: Among Friends