Brown, brown, brown...

My brother, Jacob & my afternoon was filled with brown-ness. : ) Here's why:

We decided to paint the deck while the others were out in the hay fields. Here is what the deck looked like before we worked on it:

And, after 4+ hours and 2 gallons of paint, this is what our deck looks like now: (the corner looks like it's a lighter color in this picture, but that's just from the sun peeking through the trees!)

And one more picture... Thankfully, the paint was pretty much dry already when Miss Lou ventured onto it!

Oh, and the tall green plants in front of the deck are Spearmint plants. I had to break some of them off so I could paint the deck posts, so there was a pleasant aroma in the air while we worked. : )

We finished in time for a quick supper and then headed out to the barn, as the others weren't coming home 'til late again.

Mother and Andrew arrived at about 10:00 and my dad is still over by Hazelton--waiting for the hay to get enough moisture again so that he can bale. This evening, he loaded a load of sunflowers at a customer's farm and, if he isn't too tired by the time he's done baling, he'll head over to Enderlin with it and will spend the rest of the night in the semi. We all miss him so much when he's not home to spend the night with us, but there's so much work to be done at this time of the year that that's the way it has to be...

Now it's getting late again, so I'd best post this and get some rest! Here's a closing thought from my daily flip-calendar...

"When you have accomplished your daily tasks, go to sleep in peace, for God is always awake and guarding over you."