Category: SA Times

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It had gotten a little dry around SA but Thursday night there came a nice 1-inch rain followed the next night by another 3/4’s inch so the place was looking pretty good on the 4th for our little get-together.  It was the usual suspects which meant a lot of kids to take advantage of the water slide and blowup pool.  The afternoon was warm and sunny but pleasant in the shade of the bois d’arc trees.  Those so inclined played volleyball before hotdogs and ice cream and many, though not all, of the same crew played more after ice cream.  The elderly groundskeeper, in a rare moment of clarity, sat out the second session so that he might be able to get out of bed the next day.  Tino the dog was so exhausted by it all he was barely able to take nourishment.  Both managed to live to fight another day.

Sunday we grilled steaks for Abigail’s birthday dinner.  Her birthday isn’t until Tuesday but we wanted to celebrate while everyone was around.  It was nearly mid-afternoon before we sat down to eat.  Dave needed to get on the road home so we didn’t want to wait until normal dinner time.  When that rolled around we just had birthday cake and called it a day.

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Things have returned to normal on SA and the Golden Spread, at least for the moment.  We haven’t had rain for a couple of weeks and the grass is not growing like it was.  I’ll still need to mow in the coming week but, if it doesn’t rain, I don’t expect  to have to mow again for a while.  Before June is over I will have spent over 16 hours on the mower and that doesn’t count the push mower, trimmer or edger.   I’m not feeling sorry for myself.  I know there are probably Chinese guys who have no yard to mow,  I won’t mind a little respite, though, especially since there are so many other things around the place that need attention. Continue reading “Normalcy” →

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It wasn’t easy but I finally finished mowing and trimming the place about 4 o’clock Friday afternoon.  Abigail was having her drama class, including teacher, over for an end-of-school party and she wanted the place to shine so the pressure was on.  Truth is, I wanted to get it done even if there were no party because, though I mowed the south end a couple of weeks ago, that was, well, a couple of weeks ago and the grass it be growing.  My John Deere is a sturdy fellow but I still had to mow at a slower rate than normal and in some places slower still.  Since I mowed the north end earlier in the week, I had the satisfaction of having the whole place mowed up all at once.  Unfortunately it looks like I’ll need to go over it again in the coming week. Continue reading “The Emerald Isle” →

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So far this month, approximately  1,466,330 gallons of rain have fallen on Six Acres.  That is 50% more than all of 2011, the worst of the recent draught years.  Though our temperatures remain mild, any savings on A/C bills will probably go to gas for the mowers.   No complaints, though.  This deep watering was much needed.  The mosquitos teetered on the edge of extinction but have made a nice comeback and have been removed from the endangered species list.

Early in the week we got to see a performance of Tom Jones by Abigail and her merry band of thespians.  It was entertaining.  The next day they, along with the rest of the city’s eighth-grade theater troops, performed for the judges and I’m told they got the highest score the judges give any group, not to say other schools didn’t do as well in the scoring. Continue reading “Recharging the aquifer” →

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Most of the week was devoted to mowing the south end.  Kari was having a bible study at her house and wanted her place mowed.  No problem.  I was going to mow it anyway.  It only takes around three hours to mow the south end but it takes at least that long to trim it.   That may not sound like a lot of time, but that’s a net figure.  Add in time spent spraying weeds and a morning spent working at Wildcat Bluff and it seemed a lot like work.   Wednesday I was rained out so those net hours were compressed into four days.  However, even if I do say so myself, by the time I was finished the south end looked like J.A. his own self was back in action.  The north end will get a similar treatment in the coming week. Continue reading “the Alibates” →