Toil, Toil, Toil!

A very tired and crabby me hauling wood

Merry thinking she is cute catching us all sleeping. That's the corner of Matt's head on the far couch

Did I comment that I thought the African people toil a lot? Yes, I did. Well, I forgot about how much toiling the small farmer can do in Michigan in a cool, wet summer season. It has rained pretty much every day since I have been home. I can't keep up with the grass for starters. The hay season is becoming more and more frantic. So we are moving hay and moving hay and moving hay. The deal is great. The neighbor needs the old hay moved along with all the loose stuff so when it finally dries out they can bust their butts getting it all off and stored before it rains again. So we are getting a very good deal on the old hay and the loose hay is free. But it means heavy labor, really heavy labor.
The trees are growing and growing and growing. That is awesome but the tree trimming is not. The garden is doing very well, but so are the weeds due to the rain.
In addition there is the studio that needs to be finished, the painting that needs to be done, the wood that needs to be hauled and the list goes on and on.
Right about now I could use a housekeeper, and all the other hired help that the more affluent folks in Africa have. Oh well, such is life in good ol" Michigan with no hired help.
When I am not grousing about being exhausted, I really am proud of our place though. We bought it in 1992 and have worked really hard to get the trees to be so beautiful and the outbuildings so nice.