Welcome back to fall and a couple nice “summer days”. It’s a damp 47 degrees this morning which is certainly not the worst it could be, but enough to be uncomfortable. But, I have outside stuff to do today so I hope it hurries up and warms up a bit, although it is only going to about 62 today. 

Yesterday I finally got off of my duff and went to Lowes and bought the blocks and lumber and peat moss and a bag of soil and horse manure and set up my new raised bed. It should not have been as involved as it turned out to be but —- it is what it is. I had made up my mind that I was going to go to the Lowes on the east side of town because I was Ted to surprise Ms. Kate and go to Mike Libs candy store and get some caramel apples for her. She loves those silly things. So I started out there but when I got there, they had none. So, I decided to go to his brother’s place, Stephen Lib’s, and see if they had any. For those who don’t know, Mike Libs is the “poor brother” of the family. He’s a great guy but has had to constantly move to find a place for his business. He’s been in his current location for several years now. It isn’t “fancy” but he does a good business and the prices are reasonable. Stephen Libs has the “fancy” place and has been in his location for years. His prices are high but he has a much larger selection of chocolates and candies. For instance, had Mike had the caramel apples yesterday, they would have been a little smaller and would have cost about $4.00 each. My bill yesterday would have been about $12.00. However, at Stephen’s palace, the apples are slightly larger but they charge by the pound. I ended up paying $30 for three apples. But, the season is short, and Ms. Kate loves her caramel apples, so it is worth it to me. But, back to my story. ——

I got my apples and then I went to Lowes. They didn’t have what I needed. So, I came home, gave Ms. Kate her apples, and grabbed a bite to eat before heading out again to the Lowes on the west side of town. I picked up my garden blocks that I needed, a bale of peat moss, and a bag of soil and hose manure, paid for that and then drove down to the other end of the store to get my lumbar. 2x12x 8ft are heavy and of course they were up high. I could reach a couple but one of them was warped. So I went to the service desk and asked if I could get some help. They called for someone and I went back to the section and waited, and waited and waited. I only need a total of four boards and finally a young lady showed up and between us, we got the boards down and on my cart. I told her that I need two of the boards cut in half and she said she would call somebody to run the saw and do that. I went on back to the millwright section and waited, and waited, and waited for at least thirty more minutes. They had made a total of five announcements for someone to come back there before someone finally showed up and did the two minutes worth of work that was required. 

I got home, unloaded the truck and got the raised bed put together. It was threatening thunderstorm and the sky was black but —- God held the rain and storm off until I got the last of the peat moss raked out. Thank you very much God. Today, I’m going to rake up a lot of these leaves and put down a really good layer of leaves in that bed to serve as much over the winter. Once I have that done, I will go buy my Miracle -Gro garden soil and put that in. It will settle over the winter but will be ready for planting come spring. 

That was my yesterday, and my plans for today. I hope your day is full blessed and I pray that you have a marvelous weekend. Peace.