a great saturday

I ended last Saturday realizing I had a great day.

Melanie and I headed out to the temple for a service project. It was our stake's turn to clean the temple grounds. That is one of the most pleasant assignments to join in on. It reminds me that I could do a little more to make my own yard pretty. Well, in all honesty, I don't do much with our yard, but it makes me wish I did.

After we finished a couple of hours of work there, Melanie got a ride home, and I drove farther east to the Apache Junction Tractor Show. I don't know how going to a Tractor Show added to an overall great day, but it was kind of fun. (Don't tell Dave that or he might get me a pair of overalls and want me to attend all of them.) I was expecting a small gathering, like a local club . . . but no. There were hundreds of people from far and wide displaying and driving their tractors and farm equipment and implements - old, new, rusty, restored, refitted, etc. Most of the interest was centered around the machinery that was perfectly restored, or the machines that were the most rusty. And there was also a lot of interest in the exceptionally large/tall machines and the cute little miniature ones.

I realized there was a dress code that I missed on the information flyer. Apparently you should wear suspenders or overalls. I'm not entirely sure the requirement would be to wear suspenders, or if it is just required to have a big tummy, thus needing suspenders. Either way, lots of big hefty suspenders. The women's requirement would be fanny packs. I showed up with neither. Next time I'll know.

I hope these didn't sell. I would hate to think there are men out there wearing John Deere tighty-whities.

But I did find that there are men willing to drive around sitting on a toilet selling drinks out of a bathtub.

I don't know what this was, but it was kind of like a Segway . . . balancing on 2 wheels as it drove around. Kind of cool.

It was a long way from nowhere so we were limited to the food for sale on site for lunch. We settled for a sausage on a bun loaded with onions, saurkraut and mustard. You need a plate and a table for food like that. Our food was wrapped in a napkin and we were eating out of the palms of our hands. All three of us had mustard stains down the front of our shirts at the end of lunch. But it was delicious. Dave had two of his tractors out there and he and his dad drove them in the parade. (Yes, there was a tractor parade - awesome!)

Then back at home, I had been dreading some yardwork that needed to be done in our backyard. But I realized today that I simply don't have the right tools to make it an easier job. I stopped and got a few hand tools and then enjoyed the cool afternoon temperatures and worked until after dark and the garden is starting to look lovely again. I can't imagine why these delicate little flowers survived the freezing temperatures last month, but this big hearty bush died through and through. Go figure.

It was such a good backdrop for photos of our girls and their boys . . . we don't have many good photo backgrounds in our yard. I hate to lose a good one. I've got to get something planted again right away.

The only thing that went wrong today is that I accidentally gave away all our irrigation water. I didn't read the schedule correctly and my neighbor a couple doors down got a nice yard full of water that she didn't order. Dave had the garden all tilled and leveled waiting for a deep watering from the irrigation today. Oops.

I spent the late evening printing up a quick reminder flyer for some activities in RS and got to bed before midnight.

It was a busy day, but I went to bed happy. Life is good.