Digging And Tilling

Where would we be without our son Travis and his wife Geli? They came over yesterday morning to help us start getting the garden ready and to plant several trees. As I’ve told you before, the land here has a lot of clay in it, and when you try to use a shovel, it’s almost like digging into concrete.

But nothing stops Geli. She’s one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met, and she used a post-hole digger and a shovel like she was born to it. I guess since she grew up in the country, she was born to it.

Between her and Terry and Travis, they dug nine holes and planted two apple trees, two peach trees, a nectarine tree, two fig tree, and two blueberry bushes.

Here is one of the trees and one of the blueberry bushes ready to be put into the ground, along with fertilizer and amended soil to help them grow.

All three of them were more than tired by the end of the day.

Part of the time while the ladies were digging holes, Travis and I were playing on the tractor, tilling the garden. Because of that same hard clay soil I told you about, it took several passes back and forth to get things dug up and turned over.

Travis says Dad has the best toys, and anytime I ask if he wants to drive the tractor for a while he never hesitates. He’s actually a lot better at it than I am, but let’s not tell him that.

It looks like we’ll be ready to start planting anytime now. Thanks, Travis and Geli, we really appreciate all of your hard work and everything you do for us.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of Callie And Natalie’s Dutch Family History by Darlene Miller. When nine year old Callie and her five year old sister Natalie go to Pella, Iowa with their grandmother they wear period dresses as they learn about their fourth, fifth, and sixth great-grandparents, who arrived in Pella in 1847. Other true Dutch stories are about more great-grandparents who immigrated in the early 1900s. Enjoy their experiences as they see, hear, and taste “all things Dutch” as they travel through Pella.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the airplane. The pessimist invents the parachute.