T-Day Update ----Day 19

We had a delightful time out on our friend's land and working in the garden plot. Dad had taken the two oldest kids to see a play with Grandma, so, Big Z was disappointed when at first he learned they wouldn't be there to play with. But, he got his muscles into work at pulling weeds and felt his disappointment fade away.

Weather was sunny with a slight breeze as we drove to their land. The youngest boy was sleeping when we got there. We caught Mom eating a sandwich, so, we joined her in conversation outside with the new little ducks, who've grown, I might add, quite a bit since we saw them at school last week. They were out in their own private yard with food and a bucket of water . . .

How fun they are to observe, their long necks moving in all directions, their inquisitive eyes following your every move, and their "quacks" constantly demanding attention. Once one of them climbed on the edge of the bucket of water, dove in, and began to swim by diving under the water and back up and trying to turn around and do it again. The most fun part of this was the bucket was as wide as the duck! Not much room to move around in!

As we got to work, my friend apologized for not having gotten a 'tiller to help with the task, and then she added, "I hear it's better to turn the soil by shovel." Big Z and I didn't mind 'cause we were there for the physical work and for the fun.

We got to work with our shovels and tools to get at the weeds and interlopers that have invaded the garden space since last season. Mom had already done quite a bit of work with her son before we arrived. It was beautiful out and we were content. However, Mom said, "Hmm. The farther I go, the more I like your idea of trying Lasagna Gardening!"

I laughed and we kept at it. We had our six friends, the Chicken Gals, helping us with each move of our shovels. They were after bugs and worms, and cluck-cluck-clucking with contented helpfulness. One however, found her way into a small raised bed with zero weeds, and she'd churned it up and was happily having a dirt bath, sprawled out on the soil and ruffling her feathers as she'd kick the dirt around. Her eyes were rolling in her head! Talk about a heavenly sun spot!

Eventually, a neighbor drove by, and he and my friend waved to each other since there are so few people on her little road. In less than a minute, the neighbor backed his truck up and pulled into her drive. He got out of his truck and walked over to the garden plot and asked her in a serious tone, "You need a rototiller?"

My friend looked at him with a smile on her face and said, "YEAH. I want one!"

He looked at the three of us with our shovels and the amount of space we needed to cover and he said, "Good. I think that would be good. What you're doing is a waste of time!"

I chuckled and begged to differ, "Waste of time? Nah, we're out here getting good exercise and having a lot of fun, clean fresh air and good conversation." He wasn't convinced ;-).

He said, "Well, follow me." And she did. They went to his truck and he unloaded the machine and brought it over to the garden plot and immediately sunk the tines into the earth, the machine bucking and moving all 'round the hardened and weed-filled beds. He stayed until he was finished and churned the earth until the 'tiller stopped its bucking and jumping around and instead plowed gently through the dirt.

Big Z kept at his work, dodging the machine as it came around to tackle the weeds he'd been working so hard on. He was wanting to use his muscles to "make a difference!" and began to express discontent this machine was going to steal away his fun.

Eventually, he took a look at me and called me over . . . "Help me! Help me get this out before he comes back. I WANT TO GET IT OUT MYSELF!"

I came over and sunk my shovel in along the edges of the huge pile of weeds, and that gave him the amount of help he needed to pull the roots free from the earth and move it away in the nick of time.

Finally, he expressed his exasperated fashion, "Mom. Why did he have to come here with that machine? He's taking away my work! I want to do this!"

I got close to him and said, "Listen, Z. You have to realize that this isn't your job. We're here to help. This is our friend's place. And, C's neighbor saw she could use some help with her garden. It was very kind of him to come back and ask her if she needed some help. This is his way of helping, and, she appreciates it very much. We'll still have plenty of weeds to pull when it's all done. This is his T-Day project, but he doesn't know it. He's giving his gift just because."

Big Z took it in, but I could tell he still wasn't very happy about that machine working faster than he could. When the neighbor took off, he motioned for our friend to come follow him to load the 'tiller it in the truck.

As he departed, we learned he'd just come back from his father-in-law's garden plot in a neighboring town. And, we had a new helper take his place: our sweet 2 year old awoke from his nap, wondering what all that noise outside was.

For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, we dug weeds along the edge of the garden, and weeds alongside the garden in the gravel. We visited and enjoyed each other. We got the rakes and pulled clumps of remaining weeds from the tilled soil. It was almost warm enough to feel a bead of sweat between the sun and our efforts ;-).

The boys fell into various other activities in between their visits to the garden patch: playing in a gravel pile with dump trucks and fun toys; getting the cap rifle out and making explosive gunpowder noise; eating their lunches together; grabbing the Harry Potter book and reading on the lawn; riding wheeled toys around a small cement pad; playing chase and telling stories. How delightful it was to have Big Z share this sweet time with this young'un. They were like peas in a pod, free from the sibling rivalry.

I enjoyed seeing the Big Truck in their yard, and it looked as if it is supposed to be there. We were going to take the topper off it so my friend could easily have the nursery rig pour rich soil into the back of it, but we didn't quite get to it before dark. Another time.

And, we didn't quite get to my donation for Locks of Love, though, as bedtime approached, and Dad came home with his friends, Big Z was getting excited about doing it with them. It didn't happen; it got too late.

When we came in the house, the boys played and read while Mom and I got in the kitchen to make some tacos and do up some dishes. We enjoyed our dinner and visiting and found some more baby chicks in the house, tiny and fragile under their yellow lamps. Big Z got to hold one who was quite feisty.

We gave our good-byes with hugs and smiles, and took one last look at our efforts in the garden patch with Dad and Big Z's friends. We came home well past bedtime, and readied for bedtime.

What a fun day it was!