Snif.
Steve and I did hurry through town and when we got to our destination the man was waitng for us and he walked up with his stethoscope around his neck.  I opened the hatch of the same blue station wagon that earlier in the morning had carried a repaired rear tractor tire.  I had been happy then, just gotten off work, a tire so big it hardly fit in the car, fixed for 40 bucks, heading for home and bed.   I told the vet that we were probably too late, but that I would appreciate a pronouncement.   It took him 30 seconds and he confirmed.   My mind went back to the morning, coming home, splitting a bottle of wine with Steve, sitting on the porch, throwing the ball for the dogs, the usual.   Just thinking about it makes me happy, two dogs, brother and sister, inseparable from birth, one black one white: Blek and Dekker, always playing, playing their routine. You hold the ball, Blek yelps, you throw it, they race, one gets it, than they form a tower, leaning on each other, giving the ball back and forth, and Dekker will drop it close to my feet, and then we'll do it again.   This morning the "ball" was just a shred of 3 square inch left over from an old basketball. 
When I woke up this afternoon I went to the bathroom, numero dos, I sit and sure enough Blek and Dekker come to say hi and inspect progress to see if they can drink from the bowl yet.   It happens regularly, they just snuggle for a minute and go their own way again.   15 minutes later Nathan calls me, he was over mowing the yard, and said there was trouble, and there was.   Blek had been hit by a car and was laying in the ditch, breathing but not moving.   I picked her up, moved her in the shade and she seemed to come around a little. Bruised tongue hanging out of her mouth.  Eventually she tried to sit up but surely her rear legs were not moving.  She flopped down and I put her in the back of the blue station wagon.   I took Dekker along, he is looking lost, and so am I.
 
I had to go to work and left Blek at the house: Pablo and friends have buried her.  Thanks boys.

Bizar weather, 55 degrees at night in July! Whodathunkit? 
I really did it this time:  I maxed out on the gardening for a little bit, so it is with great joy that I am going to Holland for 10 days to help celebrate my mothers' 75th birthday.   Didn't realize it, but even something you really enjoy can get old if you don't take a break.   Old...  I am getting older and functions disappear, universe looking for entropy.  Waterlines break, tractors fall apart, the usual, still.  THe question has the answer in it:  is it possible to get ahead in strong headwind?  Learned a lot again this year, and it is not over yet, and things are getting together, but I AM SICK of it right now, going to close down the shop a lit

Went to kayak on the Missouri, now that does clear up your mental sinusses!  Got all kinds of ideas for fun.  Trying to get the motor boat going, finally,  (BOAT: Bust Out Another Thousand).  More combustion engine, more stuff that disintegrates.
Working on fun things these days: building a water feature (= a pond) between my living room and bedroom: reaching new heights of ridiculosity.   So from the kitchen to the bedroom there is now a small 6 ft long board outside over water.  That should teach me not to drink too much before going to bed.  We'll see, it was a skeeter haven anyway so maybe a few goldfish can improve on it.  I do have fear of the dogs using it as a their personal hot tub but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. (Tickets on sale shortly to admire the handywork)?  The kids are still around, fun to be boss, expensive, but fun.  Justin went digging for the latest broken water pipe and did find it at 4.5 ft deep.  Just his head sticking out in the distance.  They finished building the lean to, put up some more shelves and eventually we'll have us a retail area.  Vince, as in Vince, brought over a 1949 farmtruck with hoist bed, (everyone needs one of these), and the kids ripped up the old floor of the bed, it really was rotten.  Now the king (that would be me) can pay for new wood and labor to put it in and then we may just get some bulk compost, wood, gravel, straw and other necessities in bulk.  We did start fall plants, some of them are up. 

The tunnel trelliss system worked like a charm, really happy with that.  I had an incling that cucumbers will climb by themselves and that has been confirmed.  They do,it picks easy, they produce thickly and straight.  
Saving seeds on the string beans, should have plenty for next year to do them outside.  Something to be said for saving your own seed, not being dependent on someone else and keeping it local and such.  Strawberries, the everbearing ones, are not everbearing this year, haven't seen much of them.
Steve Wood as in he who could, stopped by on his way from Urbana to Dallas.  Good to have friends! 
Steve had sent me a Coleman Fuel Lamp for my birthday:  04 66 it says on the bottom, and he lit it for me.  Fascinatingly bright and the mantle is so delicate a butterfly could fly through it.  Also, if you read a post below here , there is mention of a blue station wagon.  It has been around since the day of JFK it seems, it was a gift from Steve and it has been around the block a few times now.  It has dents that have all kinds of history to me, but the other day it was in that car with Steve in it that we had more history.  

Deja poo:  where you think you have seen the same shit before.