Service with a smile...

Living on my own now, I find there are things I can't do. Usually involving lifting, or climbing. That's when I call in the troops. Than and Collin are always so willing to help me, sometimes even riding their bikes over to take care of an SOS from the cabin. Even when they just come for a visit, they walk in the door asking, "Do you need us to do anything, Grandma?" How cool is THAT?!

The last load of firewood needed to be put in the woodshed (front porch). Carrie came over with the pickup and the punks, and it was done in no time at all! With lots of horsing around and laughing, as usual.

The guys stayed for the afternoon, doing a short list of little things that it's nice to have help with. I don't bend over too well, and kneeling - well, my knees just say NO. There were a few things that needed caulking - all I had to do was mention "caulking gun" and they were all over it. I think it has something to do with that hunter-protector gene males come with, which is directly programmed with the word "gun". Collin got the pesky little crack around the door jam that you never realize is leaking air until the temperature drops below 40. It's been in the 30s mostly, so high time to get this done. Thanks, Col. He got the window in the bathroom, too.

Than grabbed the gun to seal up the base of the walls around the back door landing. A good rain storm showed us that the water would find it's way underneath and sneak into the back porch. Not on Than's watch!


Remember all those pumpkins? And all those pumpkin innards? Collin tackled separating the seeds from the pulp and strings - not as easy as you might think, especially if you have an aversion to slimy seeds. He was a trooper, and as soon as Than finished his task, he sat right down to help. They are so funny, chatting and joking together - it's always a revelation to listen to them. They make any job fun.

One of the little jobs I had sitting around for the past month was getting the leaves stripped from the dried basil. I love to do this job, it smells sooooo good! Basil is my all-time favorite seasoning herb, which I believe I've mentioned a time or six.

Than made short work of this little chore. I was sad to turn it over to him, but so happy to get it off the list...

When all the leaves are off, I crumble them up more...

and store them in a glass jar. Labels are important with dried herbs, they all tend to look pretty much alike at this stage. But take the lid off, and you immediately know what you have - there is just nothing to compare to home-grown and dried herbs, the fresh flavor and scent is awesome.

I finally have a porch with huge windows to keep herbs growing all year. At least, that's the plan. In Washington, this would have been guaranteed. Here, with our months of below-freezing weather, it will be a challenge. But for now, the plants I potted up out of the garden are settling into their new home, and we'll just have to see how they do. The guys packed in 6 of the cinder blocks from the dismantled garage foundation, stacked them for supports, and put the planks on for a shelf. Pretty nifty!

This is just an afternoon's sample of how spoiled I am having the boys live just around the corner. Not only do they answer an SOS from the cabin promptly, they do it with a smile and throw in the entertainment free.