“No more animals,” he said, and I understood. The pasture is perfectly filled with two highland cattle, three sheep, and two little horses. Our two goats live contentedly in the goat yard, their house the perfect size for goat dreams at night and standing side by side in the doorway on rainy creek valley days.

My work day was done. It was time to try and clean the red paint from my hands. It looked as though I had managed to get more paint on my hands and clothes than on the tractor parts, but that was fine.

I remember how I always looked forward to the times my Nana would come to our city house and visit with us. She was magical. She sang the most wonderful songs.

The weather has finally cooled, and the sky has been gray for the last few days, rainless, but gray. 

Folks who know that we lived in a 366-square-foot house for 12 years and then moved into our larger 930-square-foot log home, often exclaim, "Well, you two must certainly get along well." We smile.

Little Red is a special tractor. She is a 1945 McCormick-Deering 0-4 Orchard tractor, one of only 2,721 ever made.

I have never been a patient person; and at this late age, I doubt that patience will ever be a skill I'll master.

With gray in his beard, he passed away at the age of 63 in July of 1885. One and a half million people lined the streets of New York City to pay their respects. Two Union and two Confederate generals were among his pallbearers. Union and Confederate officers rode together in the procession that stretched for seven miles, all for a boy, grown into a man, who described his childhood as uneventful.

I was curious how many people now live without air-conditioning. I was surprised to learn that only 12 percent of Americans do. I have no doubt that you can imagine that I am a very thankful member of that 12 percent.

They are all of one court, the little king, the tall philosopher, and their silly court jester, three peas in the same, ever so special, creek valley pod.

Idioms have always fascinated me. They are phrases that are commonly used but mean something very different from their literal definitions. It's their popular use that imparts their understanding. I often wonder when they were first used, and why. 

If I could have written the story, a light rain would have fallen only briefly, bright blue skies would have been crossed by occasional white clouds, and the temperatures would have rested peacefully in the 70s, but I did not write the story.

It is time to close up the greenhouse. My garden starts are all planted. I still have a few marigolds to set out here and there, but not many. It is time to enter inside these glazed walls and get to work. There is so much to do.

Curly always follows Larry's lead. She will stand right beside him as Larry and I kiss nose to nose, but if I bend over for a Curly kiss, she ducks her head and quickly backs away.

The ants and rabbits have joined forces this year. They are my arch garden nemeses.