Closer to done...

If you can believe this, we're still working on our deck.  We haven't worked on it for about a month actually, as we've been busy with everything else, but recently (this morning) Andrew's been cutting the boards and I stained the cut ends.  Now we're finally ready to screw/nail them down and then have to do one more coat of varnish.  We still will have to redo the lower part with steps and everything, but at least the big part will be done!

We were so hot after we stopped with the deck, so I decided to wash my car and Andrew (after fixing something on the header?) washed the tractor with the pressure washer and Jacob then used it to wash his pickup....   It felt so good to get sprayed with cold water!

Andrew helped me move the big sprinkler in the garden, then noticed the small oscillating sprinkler that was in the junk pile, as it had been stepped on by a cow last year sometime when the cow went through our garden.  :(    He was able to straighten it out and it works again!  Then, he put a new hose-end on one of the leaky garden hoses, and then it was time for lunch. 

My dad was hauling grain almost all day, then worked on welding something that broke on the big square baler.   The boys went over to the Hazelton land after lunch and raked up and baled the hay in our land-lady's farmyard (she doesn't live out there anymore, so the grass just grows and grows).  Mom and I cleaned the house and Mom did some reorganizing in Dad and her' bedroom, then trimmed back some of the houseplants that were growing wild, almost.  I watered the house-plants and my fish...   OH, and I picked a gallon-pail full of peas, took the ends off, blanched them and put most of them in the freezer for use later.  I did make a stir-fry with carrots, walnuts, and peas that turned out well.  The boys did chores this evening and then we had a yummy supper consisting of the stir-fry I just mentioned, meatloaf, cocoa-milkshake, and zucchini chocolate chip cake for dessert (it took 4 zucchinis to make, that's how little they were!).  :) 

I guess I'd have to agree with those of you who commented that baby snakes probably aren't cute, although I don't think I've ever seen one, so I'm just guessing.  I do think baby mice are cute though and ALMOST find it hard to call the dog when we find a nest of them....    I just think it's so amazing how God created a certain living thing to look like the living thing it came from, just in much smaller proportions, and yet everything's there and, with proper care, all the parts of it's body will grow.