Saturday

We were due a good productive Saturday to catch up on yard work and prepare the place for the colder weather. We were very fortunate today. The weather was sunny and brisk and drew us all outside after our late breakfast of omelets, fruit and toast. I had errands to run and things to do inside, but they went undone. The girls will have to wear their summer sandals one more time to church. We all worked in the yard most of the afternoon with the kids doing jobs like hauling sticks and picking up little pieces of chewed up trash and toys that Kona has strewn all over the property. They worked hard and later in the afternoon when their friends came calling over the fence, they played hard. We had the whole neighborhood here at dusk.

Zig and I (mostly Zig) got a lot done in the yard and it's really beautiful right now with all the changing colors. I cut back a lot of the plants and shrubs for winter and alternated my work with naps in the hammock. Zig never stopped, of course, and was busy hauling loads and loads of leaves and other yard waste to the compost pile. This is his "yoga" he says. I came to appreciate the ATV as more than Zig's big toy. It makes the work so much easier and fun. We were able to haul so much in such a short amount of time because there was no tarp and dragging piles across five acres. We just loaded the piles up and drove to the next one. I took the kids on rides all over the property in the new trailer Zig bought a couple of weeks ago. After scoffing at this surprise purchase for several months, I must say, not only is it incredibly useful, it's a whole lot of fun!

Mostly it was just good to be home, to be working together, and to feel the satisfaction of a much better looking yard at the end of the day. I figure it's more lasting than the satisfaction I feel after cleaning the house, because the little ones can't tear up the yard near as fast as they do every single inch of the house. Everyone got a good long bath tonight and the before Sunday "treatment" and all collapsed into bed, Zig being first. Gotta love Saturdays!