We'll be leaving tomorrow.

All those little spots down there are oil wells. They cover the land all the way to the horizon and keep going for hundreds of miles

10/8/08 Wednesday
Well we’re leaving for Toledo tomorrow morning. Both of us have been busy preparing for this trip. Cherie handled all the detail things like arranging for Rascal and Trixie to be kenneled as well as car rental, hotel reservations, and a whole list of other things I’m lost on. The other three dogs we will let run free. They were strays when we got them so should be fine. I’ll make sure they have food and water. We called Mark and Pam to let them know we are going and asked them to come and pick as much stuff out of the garden as they can so it doesn’t go bad. They will look in on the dogs as well. The cats will have the run of the house and all the food they could want as we will pour out a twenty pound bag for them to eat on. We will leave a bucket under the leaky faucet in the tub so there will be plenty of fresh water. That and a big bag of cat litter in two bins should do the trick.

I’ve been focused on the farm, doing things that I would be doing anyway, trying to mow weeds and keep up with the garden. The pumpkins are pretty much done for, a total loss. If I get five regular pumpkins out of the hundred and twenty plants I’ll be lucky. A lot of this stems from the five days I was gone to Toledo for Eileen’s funeral. Just five days at a crucial time, it rained and the squash bug population just exploded along with the weeds. I’ve been trying to catch up ever since. So what will this six day trip bring? I’m afraid to find out. The fall planting of blackeyed peas is starting to produce. Those are some hardy plants so I’m not worried about them. They were our best money maker for sure.

I just got back from working for the old man. We repaired part of his cattle pens. I noticed some plywood had blown out of the window at the building I’ve been cleaning for him so will run out there right now to fix it. Then it’s getting ready for Toledo for the rest of the day. We are both looking forward to it and could barely get to sleep last night as we kept checking to see if we forgot anything that needs to be taken care of. If we did we’ll remember when we are twenty thousand feet in the air on the plane. I think we did fine.

Got to go folks. I’ll try to keep y’all up to date on things.