Monday was a busy day for our family. Plans were made for Terry's siblings to all meet up together to help clean up Kieth and Idris' yard. It just so happened that I had peaches and pears ready to bottle that day, so I didn't make it to the work party. I felt bad not being there, but couldn't let my fruit go bad.
I didn't send Terry off on his own though. Thomas and Dana helped a lot and 3 of our 4 children still at home helped, and even the "Root Beer Float Gang" helped, so I felt like I had been represented well. Connor stayed and helped me for the first part of the day and then went to help them after lunch.
They pulled weeds, pulled out trees, painted walls, and .... I'm not sure what all. The yard does look different though, and it's easier to see the road as you drive out of the yard. Now we won't feel so threatened by unseen passing vehicles as we leave the yard.
.
The
Root Beer Float Gang is a group of friends that got together to help a neighbor in need. Chase works for a man who lives by us and they needed some extra help one day. He called a few friends to come help (without pay) and they spent several hours of hard labor trying to get an overgrown shrub that was almost wrapped around a building pulled out. They then came to our house to enjoy some
root beer floats. The first group included about a dozen kids of high school juniors, seniors, and some graduates - most of them are friends from band, and they enjoy being together. They have worked and come for
root beer floats several times now, all without pay, and have dubbed themselves the
Root Beer Float Gang! The number has dwindled by half, but they still have a great group. School starting up has cramped their style a bit too, but they continue to plan a couple more work parties.
I bottled 41 quarts of peaches, 14 quarts of pears, and even 13 quarts of tomatoes. I guess I did help the family a little, by sending a salad and crackers and cheese dip for their lunch.
