As a surprise, Will’s daughter, Jenna, drove up from Illinois to visit us! Fortunately, we’ve gotten over the rain and are having beautiful fall days. She can stay a week, so Dad gave her the tour of the homestead on the back of the ATV. (What trail?) Bump, bump, bump. Duck the branch! She got to pet the horses, mule, and cows, see all the gardens, taste test tomatoes, and is now helping do computer stuff which she’s very capable of (and I’m not!).
Yesterday, our helpers, Sherri, Dara, and Mike came out and helped pack seeds in the foggy, wet morning, then went out and picked beans in the afternoon. I’m shelling beans every day as they’re still kind of damp from all the rain we had. Pole beans are drier, so that’s what we’re working on right now. Meanwhile, I set about seeding out more tomatoes. As the sun has come out, the tomatoes are ripening very fast now. I sent Dara and Mike home with a crate of tomatoes for her to can.
In the evening, we took our daughter to Ziegler Cat, where David works to tour the facility. She works for Komatsu in Illinois so is interested in that type of business. It was fun, exploring all those huge machines, from the giant haul trucks they use in the iron ore mines to the loaders with huge buckets.
Tomorrow, I’d like to take her up along the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to see all the lakes and fall colors. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate! — Jackie
