New friends

I've been very busy, picking and preserving last of garden produce before the hard frost.  We got the predicted frost last night, and I was glad that there were baskets of tomatoes, peppers and kaprao holy basil for tulsi tea in the garage.  The greens will do just fine in this weather, and I expect to be picking cabbage, kale and collards for at least another six weeks.

Roy and his son Sean are here visiting from Maine.  Roy wants to help out here on the farm, wants Sean to experience farm life.  They are both enjoying themselves, and Sean is taking to this place like a duck to water.  Yesterday while I was canning tomatoes, Roy built a new gate for the chicken run.  It is a work of art.  I was going to get some lumber to frame the gate, and then Roy said, "You have a lot of saplings around here.  Would you mind if we cut some of them down for the frame?"  Would I mind?  Hardly!  Off we went in search of some long, narrow and straight saplings for the frame.

I was canning tomatoes while they worked on the gate.  Sean came inside to ask if I wanted to go along on a walk to find a final sapling, one with a hitch in it, that could be used for the handle.  I was at a point where I could take a break from the tubs of tomatoes, so off we went for a second walk into the cottonwood stand down by the pond.  We found several candidates for the handle, and Roy cut the two best possibilities.

By suppertime, the gate was complete.  It is a work of art! 

The finished product, handle and all!