On weekends, Second Son and 2-1 stay over at Grandpa and Grandma’s house from Saturday night.
Even on Sunday mornings, they wake up around 6 AM and start their activities right away; it has become a habitual routine.
On this particular day, even before 7 AM, they began installing additional LED lights in the work shed, which serves as their play area.
By 8:30 AM, after completing a stage of work and taking a break, they heard Grandma calling from outside.
Apparently, she wanted help with Grandpa’s task. It seemed to be a quick job, but perhaps she thought it could be risky to do it alone.
Upon hearing there was still time, they idled for about 10 minutes.
Soon, metallic clanging sounds were heard from outside.
Looking out from the work shed, they saw Grandpa tossing small metal parts into the mini truck. They approached and struck up a conversation.
Second Son: Hmm, earlier Grandma asked me to help with something. What was it about?
Grandpa: Oh, yeah. I’d appreciate some help attaching brackets to the greenhouse.
Second Son: Alright, got it.
When he doesn’t fully understand what’s going on, Second Son tends to proceed with the assigned task without questioning further.
He hopped onto the mini truck loaded with brackets, and Grandpa drove them to the field.
By the way, the recent summers have been scorching.
We’re expanding the vinyl greenhouse.
Upon arriving at the field, Grandpa said, “Here, put the burnable trash around here into this bag.”
Second son, who came to help with miscellaneous tasks, was handed a garbage bag. Moreover, what exactly “the trash around here” refers to is unclear… All I see is dead grass?
When asked if I should put dead grass in the garbage bag, Grandpa said no, and while collecting a small amount of trash hidden in the dead grass, Grandpa started moving as if planning something.
It seems that next to the previous greenhouse used for seedlings, Grandpa is planning to add a larger greenhouse.
In cases where there is financial flexibility, it’s common for farmers to hire professionals to install large greenhouses. However, at Grandpa and Grandma’s house, DIY is the norm despite the scale of the operation.
Amidst the heat, Grandpa is preparing for autumn. Carrying a stepladder, he and Second son attach parts to secure the frame of the greenhouse here and there.
Despite reusing parts from the past, there’s always the usual effort to straighten out distortions and other tasks during installation.
Although it was anticipated to be a “quick job,” it ended around noon (laughs).
However, it seems that the plan wasn’t to complete the greenhouse in a single day. Grandpa will leisurely continue the work, lifting only the frame and taking his time for the rest.
Around the same time, 2-1, who was playing games in the separate building, was borrowed by Grandma for pre-Bon festival grave cleaning.
In the remaining time, Second son, who had planned to make a smoker for camping, found himself more exhausted than expected from the outdoor work in the scorching sun. This led to an unplanned afternoon nap after lunch.
Ultimately, around evening, after scouting for materials at the home improvement store, he realized he couldn’t find the time for the project, so he decided to postpone it.
While out, he also did the shopping for dinner as requested by Grandma.
The dinner made by Second son was clam rice and sautéed young chicken with curry cream sauce.
Ignoring compatibility, the combination of Japanese and Western cuisine aimed solely at preventing summer fatigue and increasing appetite surprisingly received high praise from 2-1号. He ended up taking more than half of Second son’s portion, and thus, this week’s rural living came to a close.
Only a few days left of this summer.
