It was the usual Sunday morning routine once again--breakfast and then off to church.  This afternoon the weather was so warm it was back to shorts and tee shirts.  We looked at our schedule for this week and decided today was the only one with a large enough block of free time to make some applesauce.  John cut up the apples, cooked them until they were soft, then ran them through our Victorio strainer.  I filled the quart jars and then we processed them in a water bath.  We ended up with 14 quarts of applesauce.  That concludes our canning for this year.  In between the different steps in making the applesauce, we watched the Vikings win and the exciting finish to the Ryder cup.  Once the canning was done, we ate a late supper and watched the premier of the Amazing Race and the Eagles play the Giants.

We were up early this morning to head out of town to watch Josh's final football games of the season.  The Bears had some strong competition today, but remained undefeated for the year.

Josh (#81) on the ground after making 

a tackle

 

Josh pursuing the player carrying the ball

We stopped at DQ for some lunch on the way home. This afternoon John tried to do some tilling in the garden--the ground is so hard from lack of rain that he had to give up on that job for now.  It was pretty warm this afternoon and the ladybugs made it miserable to be outside, so we spent some time watching the Ryder Cup and college football on TV.   

 

JD needed some help in the shop early this morning.  Jo is now working full time at the school so John gave a hand with staining product.  He helped out for a couple of hours and then headed off to work with Matt.  The guys called it quits a little after noon as they ran out of materials--they'll be back on the job next Tuesday.  John's pretty happy to have a few days off to catch up on his rest.

I worked on the finances again this morning trying to find where I made a wrong entry and how to correct it.  It took a while, but I finally got everything straightened out.  I also spent some time today sorting through our summer clothes and deciding what we want to take to Texas for the winter and what we can leave at home.  Our weather has warmed up quite a bit over the past couple of days and should last through the weekend; however, after that, colder weather will be settling in for good, so we won't need the summer clothing any longer.

Along with the warm weather has come an inundation of ladybugs.  They are swarming everywhere and make it impossible to enjoy being out of doors.  The front porch floor is covered with them as well as all our windows.  Once the sun goes down, they disappear over night only to return the next day with the sun.  Can't wait for the colder weather to return so w can be rid of them.

 

 Our sunset this evening.

Since it was such a nice evening, John decided to head up to Clearbrook and watch the varsity football game.  I decided to take a pass as we will be heading out of town tomorrow morning to watch Josh play.

John worked with Matt again today.  Seems like there was more left to this job than he thought and will probably continue working on it next week.  Since it's the end of the month, I spent some time today working on finances getting them up-to-date and also did some straightening up around the house.

John got home a little earlier this afternoon so we could head up to Oklee to watch Hanna play volleyball.  The Bears won the first game, lost the second, and then came back and won the third.  The girls all played--Hanna scored 10 points in a row with her serve.

Hanna ready for action

 

Hanna making a great dig

We once again at a late supper and then watched some TV.   Hanna has only one more game next week and that will be the end of this year's volleyball season.  It sure has been fun traveling to the games and watching the kids play.

Our beautiful fall weather continued again today and according to the weather forecast, it should hang around through the weekend.  There is no rain at all in the near future--just sunshine day after day.

John and I had hearing tests scheduled with Beltone for noon today, so John went to work with Matt and then met me in town for our appointments.  My hearing tested out okay, but John's hearing was diminished in his left ear.  The examiner didn't think he needed hearing aids at this point, but suggested that he be retested in a year to see if his hearing changes.  When we were finished with the testing, John headed back to work with Matt, and I drove to Fosston to pick up a case of apples I had ordered the other day.  Our plan is to make some applesauce as soon as we get a block of free time.

After supper, we watched Survivor and the season premier of CSI before heading off to bed. 

Today we had a perfect fall day--bright sunshine and just enough nip in the air that you needed to wear a lightweight jacket.  The leaves are at their peak right now with their many shades of red, orange, and yellow.

Our day was a pretty quiet one.  John worked all day with Matt.  I headed up to Sara's this morning for a hair cut and this afternoon did some grocery shopping in Bemdji to pick up a few items we needed.
 Following supper, we watched some TV before calling it a day.

The strong winds returned again today, but at least the temps were much warmer.  We hit the low 70's this afternoon. 

John left the house at his usual time to meet Matt at the job site.  He said it got warm enough to work in their tee shirts; the only problem they had was the warmth brought the ladybugs out and they were swarming all over the house where they were working.

Today I tackled the laundry, spent some time visiting with Jo when she stopped in to use my printer to make some copies she needed, and baked more bread and cookies.  I got the cookies done just before John got home and we had to leave to head up to Clearbrook to watch Sam's game.  The Bears had another bad time and lost 22-6.  Sam had a couple of nice punts and ran for the only touchdown in the fourth quarter. 

 One of Sam's punts

 

Sam's Touchdown run--just about to the goal line.

John and I ate a late supper when we got home and then spent the evening watching Monday Night Football.

Correction:  I've been informed I gave some bad info in Saturday evening's blog.  I reported the 6th grade Bears won 1 game and tied the second.  They actually won both games.  Sorry for the error in reporting the sports.  Thanks to coach, JD, for pointing out the error.

John has been battling a cold for the past couple of days so we decided to skip church this morning as he didn't want to spread his germs around to others.  He is pretty congested and does a lot of sneezing.

We spent a quiet morning just relaxing around the house and watching some of the Sunday news shows.  However, this afternoon warmed up very nicely and the strong winds finally died down.  We had another hard freeze last night that put an end to all of our flowers and garden.  John was feeling a little better, so we decided to dig up the potatoes and carrots as well as pull all the dead plants.  The potatoes turned out good, but the carrots were all soft and rubbery.  Don't know what happened to them, but fortunately we have plenty of carrots still in the freezer from last year.  We also pulled all the dead flowers, emptied the hanging pots, and took in the rain gauges.  

Red Potatoes

 

Onions

 

Russet Potatoes

Everything is out of the garden and now it can get tilled and put to bed for the winter.  While I was outside, I strolled over to the fence line to check the stock tank for the cattle.  Those by the tank posed while I took their picture.

 

Tomorrow is Rachel's 12th birthday, so she sent a text asking us to come up to their place to celebrate.  Sara served a real nice supper, but we didn't stay too long as the guys were heading out to bow hunt and John wasn't feeling quite up to par.  Matt called a little while ago and said he shot a buck tonight.

John and I were up and out the door by 8 a.m. to travel to the town of Erskine, MN to watch Josh's football games.  The temps were only in the upper 30's when we left home and the forecast was for sunny skies, strong winds, and cool temps for the morning.  We bundled up in several layers of clothing and donned our winter hats and gloves.  

The Bears won the first game quite easily, but the second game ended in a hard fought tie.  There was a little more hitting in the second game and some of the Bears sustained banged up hands and knees.  John and I were pretty cold by the time the games were over and were glad to get back in the car and warm up.  Since Matt and Hanna also came to watch Josh play, they joined us for some lunch at DQ on our way home.

John helping Josh loosen up before the first game

 

Josh trying to stay warm before the start

of the game.  You can see the wind blowing

the blanket.

 

Josh blocking his man

This afternoon John pulled the onions out of the garden and stored them in the garage.  There are only carrots and potatoes left in the ground now.  Once they are out, the garden will be done and ready for tilling.  With the colder nights, he thought it best to drain the garden hose and get the water to that spigot turned off.

We watched some college football this afternoon and this evening talked with Amy's family over the computer.  Caleb had a football game today and their team came away with a nice win.  While we wore winter clothes to our game, they were dressed in shorts and got sunburned.

Our days have pretty much fallen into a very dull routine--in other words, nothing new is happening right now.  John was up and out around 8 a.m. to work with Matt.  The guys quit early today because the varsity football team had a game about two and a half hours away.  Since John has come down with a cold, he decided to stay home and listen to it on the radio.  The strong winds and cold temps might have played a part in that decision as well.  We are forecast to have another hard freeze overnight with temps dipping down to 27 degrees.  We'll have to really bundle up for Josh's games tomorrow morning.

 I spent some time today working with a computer storage program and sorting through some of my many pictures on the computer.  I am trying to weed out the ones I no longer want and organize the ones I want to keep.  We the evening watching some TV and listening to the Bear's football game before calling it a day.

The weather continued to be windy and chilly again--we even had some off and on showers throughout the day.  It's the first rain we've seen in over a month.  John left the house by 8:15 a.m. to meet Matt at the job site.  The guys made great strides on the job today, but John told me this evening that the it will probably run into next week before it's finished.  Some windows had to be special ordered, and they have to wait on them to complete the job.

Since the warm weather seems to have gone for good, I started sorting through the summer clothes and deciding what needs to be stored here and what will got to Texas.  

John got home from helping Matt a little early so we could eat supper before heading up to Clearbrook to watch Hanna's volleyball game.  The Bears struggled tonight winning the first game but losing the next two.  This was their first loss of the year.

 Hanna spied me taking her picture

from the stands and gave me a nice smile

 

Our day was mostly cloudy, windy, and chilly--we even had to give the house of shot of heat this evening to take the chill off.  

The weather didn't deter John and Matt from working all day.  They managed to get a side or two of the house sided and hopefully can get the majority of it completed by Friday.  Today I did some house cleaning and finished making the spaghetti sauce I started yesterday and got it into the freezer.

Our evening was spent watching the premiere of Survivor and the finale of Big Brother.  












 

Not much new happening around here.  John left early this morning to work with Matt as they continue prepping the house their working on for siding.  They think they'll be able to start that portion of the job tomorrow if the weather co-operates.

I spent today finishing up the laundry I started yesterday and working in the office cleaning out more files and beginning to sort out what paperwork, etc. we'll need to take south with us.  Some time was spent in the kitchen frying up a couple of pounds of hamburger to use in spaghetti sauce; however, I ran out of time this afternoon and will have to put the sauce together tomorrow.

When John went to come home from work yesterday, his truck wouldn't start, so the guys gave it a jump start so he could drive it home.  It seems the battery (which was in the truck when we bought it years ago) will no longer hold a charge and needed to be replaced.  Right after John got home from work this afternoon, we headed to Bemidji and the Fleet store to purchase a new one.  We also made a quick stop at BK to grab a late supper.  As soon as we got home John installed the new battery in his truck, turned the key, and it started right up.  Now it's good to go for the winter.   That pretty much covers our day.

It looks like our cooler weather is going to settle in for good--the high temps this week will only be in the low to mid-50's.  Our first hard frost is expected this evening.  

John left around 8 a.m. to work with Matt on his siding job.  This particular job will probably last most of the week.  I spent my morning doing laundry and cleaning out some files in the office.  It had been a week since we did grocery shopping and we needed some fresh fruit and milk, so I decided to take a run to Bemidji and restock the pantry.  My first stop was the local grocery to pick up a few items found only there and then I hit BK for a late lunch.  From there it was stops at the gas station to fill the Honda, Subway for some subs for supper, and then on to Wal Mart before heading to Bagley.  John got home just as I  finished putting the groceries away.  Right away we bundled up in hooded sweatshirts, heavy jackets, and winter hats to head up to Clearbrook to watch Sam's football game.

I must say, it got pretty cold before the game was done.  It was windy with the temps dropping as the sun went down.  Sam had a good game, scoring a touchdown, but the Bears still lost.

Sam getting ready to tackle

 

 Sam carrying the ball for a score

Sam getting the pitch-out

We ate our supper of subs when we got home and then spent what remained of the evening watching more football on TV.


 

Today was a pretty quiet one for us.  We opted out of our morning walk in favor of sleeping in a little longer.  John will be working with Matt this week and wanted to get as much rest as possible.  Following church, we ate lunch and gave the TV remote a workout by switching back and forth between the Eagles and Vikings games--Eagles won, and Vikings lost.

When the games were over, John headed outside for a bit to finish cleaning up the wood from Matt and getting it ready to burn.  Since John needs to take his lunch this week, I baked some cookies for him to pack.  

The pond in the pasture to the west of our house has completely dried up, so the farmer who rents the pasture asked it he could run a hose from our house to a stock tank so the cattle he moved into there can have some water.  There is still plenty to eat in the pasture and he doesn't want to haul the cattle out and feed hay until it's absolutely necessary.  John gave him a hand getting the hose and tank set up and will keep any eye on things until the cattle settle down.

We spent a relaxing evening watching TV--John, the NFL--me, Big Brother.

We skipped our walk once again as we needed to leave the house by 8:45 a.m. to get into town in time to watch some more football.  Since it's getting light later and later, we usually don't have enough time to take a walk, get cleaned up and eat breakfast, and leave the house to be on time for these early morning activities.  As we were driving into town, it was amazing to see how much the leaves have turned over the past few days.  The Maples are beautiful with their bright red and orange colors.  Even though the calendar says Fall won't officially arrive for another week, it has arrived in full force here in northern Minnesota.  Today was just about perfect, warm temps in the low 80's and no wind.  This is the last warm day--the forecast for the next ten days calls for high's only in the mid 50's with a low one night of 31 degrees.  That might be our first hard freeze of the season.

John and I spent the morning in at the Bagley High School football field watching Josh play.  The 6th graders remain undefeated and continue to improve more each week.  Hanna also had a volleyball tournament going on in the Bagley high school this morning, but we decided to watch Josh as we haven't missed any volleyball this year.

Josh blocking his man

 

Josh carrying the ball on an end around play

 

 

Rachel, Matt, John, and JD (coach)

watching from the sidelines

This afternoon, John took some time to start the job of cutting up the old siding that he and Matt dropped off at our place.  While John was busy with that, I worked on updating finances and working with a computer program for backing up my pictures on line.  Will have to see how it works out and if it makes it easier to organize the photos.  We took several breaks during the afternoon to watch some college football and ended the day by watching a few more games.

Not much happened around here today.  John was up and out the door by 8 a.m. and spent the entire day working with Matt.  They kept busy prepping a house for siding.

I took care of some household chores and made bread as we were all out.  John was tired tonight, so we skipped the varsity football game--it was an hour and a half trip to the game and it didn't start until 7 p.m.  Matt kept up us updated by text on the game--Bears lost big time.  Glad we didn't go as we would have gotten home pretty late and have to be up early tomorrow morning to watch Josh play.  Just spent the evening watching a little TV before calling it a day.

It was actually cold this morning when we left the house for our walk--the thermometer read 34 degrees.  As we walked down the road into some lower lying areas, we could see frost on the ground.  Our area is in a frost warning for tonight.  Saw a flock of geese flying south, so I guess fall is truly here.

Leaves in the yard and down in the woods 

are beginning to turn

 

After eating breakfast, John headed up to Matt's to split more firewood.  He then hauled it all home and got it stacked.  While he was busy with wood, I printed off all the recipes I had put on the computer, but still need to get them organized in my binder.

Hanna had another volleyball game this afternoon.  This time it was an away game in Red Lake Falls, which is a little over an hour from here.  The girls won the first game, lost the second, and won the third.  Hanna did an awesome job today with a couple of long streaks serving the ball.

Hanna returning a volley

It was almost 8 p..m.by the time we returned home, so it was a late supper this evening while we watched the NFL game on TV.

 

Today we were back to cooler temps when we took our walk.  We no longer have to concern ourselves with the deer flies which makes it very pleasant for walking.   We saw a few geese flying around our fields this morning, so I guess it won't be too long before we start seeing the larger flocks stopping in before heading south.

After breakfast, John did some cleaning up in the garden.  He pulled out all the cucumber vines and removed the lattice he had for the vines to climb.   Matt stopped in for lunch, and then he and John unloaded some old wood siding Matt removed from the house they are residing.  When that was done, they headed back up to the job site to tear off more siding and then John hauled it back to our place.  He will burn it in our outside wood furnace.

The kitchen was pretty messy and sticky after finishing up our tomato juice late last night, so I spent some time this morning getting it cleaned up and back to normal.  The rest of my day was spent working on recipes and I finally got them all entered on the computer.  Now I need to get them printed out and put into a new binder and that job will be done.

We didn't have any games to attend this afternoon, so we were able to have supper at home and enjoy a relaxing evening.


 

After such a busy day yesterday, we spent a much quieter day today.  We got our morning walk done and then John spent the morning picking more tomatoes from the garden and then getting them ready to put through the strainer.  I spent some time sorting through old recipes and getting them onto the computer.  This is a job I have been avoiding for quite a while and decided now was the time to tackle it.

This year's tomato crop has been on of our best ever.

 

We had to take a break in the juice making to head into town where we met up with Dave and Valada Sandwick for lunch.  They will be leaving this Friday to start the journey back to Texas.  It was good to see them again and to catch up on what has been happening with our Texas friends.

When we returned home, John cooked the tomatoes and veggies and when they were soft enough, let them cool before putting them through the strainer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The juice from all the tomatoes and veggies

We decided to wait until we got home from Hanna's volleyball game before doing the final step of putting the juice in the jars and the water bath.  Hanna played well and had some good returns.  The Bears won two out of three games and continue to improve with each one.

Hanna reaching up to tip the ball

over the net--scored a point with this move 

Hanna making a good save

 

 

As we slide into fall here in northern Minnesota, we have to wait until a little later in the morning to take our walk as it doesn't start getting light now until 6 a.m.  In mid June it began to get light around 3 a.m.  When walking out here in the country, one must be able to see if there are any wild creatures around that might give you trouble--wouldn't want to run into a skunk in the dark.

We had a very busy day today.  After our walk, we ate breakfast and then got ready to hit the road to Grand Forks.  Sam had a football game this afternoon in Fischer, which is only 16 miles from GF.  John and I thought this would be a good time to do some grand kid birthday shopping as well as look for a pair of golf shoes.

We arrived in GF around noon and stopped at Culver's for some lunch before hitting a couple of stores and the mall.  Our final shopping stop was Sam's Club.  We had some time to kill before heading to the game, so we stopped at DQ for an ice cream treat.  While we were heading back across the river to MN, Matt sent a text saying the game had already started--they began 45 minutes early.  Thank goodness, we were only 20 minutes away.

John and I were very surprised when we got to the field.  Sam was the quarterback.  He did a great job considering he didn't know he was playing that position until he was getting on the bus to the game.   Sam had several nice passes and ran for a touchdown. The Bears won the game with a score of 16-6.  We stopped at a McDonald's with Matt's family and the team for a quick bite to eat before hitting the road home.  Like I said at the beginning, a very busy but fun day.

 

John and I spent a pretty quiet Sunday.  After a busy day yesterday, we slept in this morning then ate breakfast and headed off to church.  Since this Sunday kicked off the fall season, there was a potluck dinner after church.  Following a delicious meal and some good visiting, we headed home to watch the Viking's first game of the season--it was certainly an exciting one with a win for the Vikings.  Sorry to say Green Bay didn't fare as well as the Vikes.

It's going to be a busy week.  Between football and volleyball, we have four games we can attend.  This evening was spent watching some TV and getting birthday cards ready for the mail. 

John and I were up early and out the door by 8 a.m. to drive an hour or so south for Josh's football game.  Josh is again part of the elementary football program for fifth and six graders.  There were approximately 12 teams in attendance this morning with six games going all at the same time.  A game consists of playing 15 minutes on offense and then the same time on defense.  The object of the program is to introduce the boys to football and teach them the basics of the game.  The Bears had a great day, winning both of their games.

 Josh carrying the ball on a running play

  

Josh (#81) blocking

We stopped at the DQ for some lunch on the way home and then made a couple of other stops to do some browsing at a gift shop and to pick up a few groceries.  After we got home, John went up to Matt's to fill up a couple of containers with sand from their old sandbox.  He plans to store the potatoes and carrots in the sand after he digs them up in the garden.  While he was there, he also cut up a little more firewood.  

I had a little problem with our new computer this afternoon and spent some time with the Geek Squad getting it fixed.  It's potluck after church tomorrow, so my next job was making a pasta salad to take.  Our evening was pretty quiet--just watched some college football before calling it a day.

John was up and out of the house nice and early to meet up with Matt and head off to the job site.  The guys got the window trim, both inside and out, installed, painted and lacquered.  There are just a few finishing touches to be done, but Matt will complete them next week.

While John was gone, I tackled a few household chores--changing bed linens and doing some cleaning.  John worked the whole day and made it home just in time for a quick supper before we headed up to Clearbrook to watch this year's first varsity home football game. The Bears were victorious after a defensive battle winning the game 8-6.  It's hard to believe we were running the AC a few days ago and  wearing winter coats and hats to the game this evening.  Our cool weather is suppose to hang around a couple of days before the warmth returns.   

The weather really changed overnight with the today's temps only reaching the low 60's--it was back to long sleeved shirts and jeans.  As John and Matt were on their way to the job site this morning, it started to rain. They had planned to paint the window trim, but since there was no place out of the rain to work, they decided to call it quits and returned home.

By the time John got home, there was a break in the weather, so he decided to go back up to Matt's and cut more firewood.  He hauled it home and then got it all unloaded and stacked.

We needed a few items from the grocery store and since John will be working with Matt tomorrow, we decided to head to Bemidji.  Our first stop was BK for some lunch, and then we hit Wal Mart.  We got home in plenty of time for supper and then drove into town to watch Hanna's volleyball game.  The Bears had two easy victories and, once again, most of the points were scored on serves.

 Hanna returning a volley

 

 Hanna keeping her eye on the ball

Since Hanna's game was right in Bagley, we were able to get home nice and early and have a relaxing evening.  We're glad about that since we have a varsity football game to attend tomorrow night and then have to be up bright and early Saturday to travel to Josh's game.

We skipped our walk this morning as John had to meet Matt at 8:30 a.m. at the lumberyard in Clearbrook.  Since Sam is back in school, Matt recruited John to work the next day or so on a job replacing some windows, trim, and installing a screened door.  They should get the job finished up tomorrow if they have enough materials.

While John was gone today, I tackled the office again and gave it a good cleaning, got the desktop cleared off, and the finances brought up-to-date.  I also took a break in the afternoon to run up to Sara's for a haircut. 

John got home early, so we were able to eat supper on time and then spent the evening relaxing and watching the first NFL game of the season.

After being preoccupied with canning over the last couple of days, it was time to catch up on some other household chores.

We took our walk nice and early while it was still cool, and following breakfast, I got busy finishing up the laundry I started yesterday.  With that out of the way, I tackled the office.  The desktop was littered with receipts and mail that needed to be sorted.  I got the finances brought up to date on the computer and  most of the desktop litter sorted and put away.  Still have a little more work to do in the office, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

John spent his day picking more tomatoes and changing the oil in his chainsaw.  There's going to be a big change in our weather with temps only in the low 60's, so he wants to have the saw ready for cutting more wood now that it's going to be cooler. 

We were just thinking about supper when Matt called and said Sam had a football game late this afternoon.  Somehow it didn't get on the schedule and the visiting team was on it's way to Clearbrook.  John grabbed a quick bite and headed up to see the 7th and 8th graders play.  I was in the middle of something and couldn't leave with him.  He called and let me know when Sam's game was beginning and I drove up to the school to watch that one.  The Bears lost the game, but Sam managed to score some extra points and caught a pass.

Sam (#4) breaking a tackle

 

Clearbrook Bears trying to block extra point

 

Sam running to make a tackle

 

  Sam breaking open for a pass

As soon as the football game was done, we walked into the school for Hanna's volleyball game.  There wasn't too much action tonight as the Bears won the first two games and mostly all the points were scored on serves--not much volleying back and forth.  Hanna had long serving runs in both games.

Hanna serving

 

 Hanna focused on the action

Once John and I returned home, we spent the remainder of the evening watching some TV and working on the computer.

 

The strong winds of yesterday died down overnight so that made it a little easier walking this morning.  It clouded over this afternoon and we received a brief shower, and I do mean brief--it barely got the sidewalk wet. 

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, we have tomatoes ripening and needed to decide what to do with them.  John did some searching on the internet and found a recipe for tomato/vegetable juice he wanted to try.  We didn't have all the ingredients, so he made a quick run into town to get what we needed. With the recipe's different steps, it took most of the afternoon to make the juice by the time we chopped the vegetables, cooked them, put them through our strainer, and then processed the jars in the water bath.  Since we have plenty of tomatoes, peppers, and onions still in the garden, we'll be making more juice in a few days.  There is one more item we want to make and that's applesauce.  We are just waiting for the bulk apples to arrive in the store.

In between steps for making the juice, I did some laundry and we also watched the PGA.  Our weather warmed up into the low 90's this afternoon, so it felt good to stay inside and keep cool in the AC.  With the garden just about done and the grass brown from lack of rain, the outside chores have slowed down quite a bit.

 

The temps were a little on the warmer side when we took our walk this morning; however, the strong winds were still hanging around and that made it pretty comfortable for walking.  

We ate a leisurely breakfast before getting cleaned up and heading off to church.  It was noon by the time we got home and we were just finishing up lunch when we heard a motorcycle pull into our driveway.  It was Carol and Leroy, John's sister and brother-in-law.  They had bought a brand new cycle and decided to take a ride over our way to show it off and to visit.  They live over an hour away from us, and as Carol still works almost full time, we don't get a chance to see one another very often.  We had a good visit catching up and talking about our gardens.  

John and Leroy looking over the bike

 

Carol and Leroy ready to ride

 

John picked the last of the pickling cucumbers the other day, so we decided to make one more batch of bread and butter pickles before the cucumbers went bad.  That's the last of the pickle-making for this year.  Now we have to figure out what we're going to do with all the tomatoes that are ripening.