Goodbye garden


Black rooster
Turns out this is definitely a rooster. Switched at hatch? (Click to enlarge)

We had some really nice fall days this week and Joyce and I took advantage of one to tear down the garden.  In past years we’ve shredded the tomato vines, okra stalks and so on but this year Joyce wanted to try loading it all up in the pickup and taking it to the dump, the theory being insect pests and such would be removed from the garden rather than allowed to possibly survive in the compost.  Time will tell whether that works out but it’s worth a try.  We filled the pickup to capacity with the garden detritus and also the pond grass and cattails I pulled a couple of weeks ago plus the sunflowers we grew here and there.  We trucked it off to the dump only to find that there was a line of trucks and trailers half way to Canyon waiting to to weigh in.  The dump has one set of scales and vehicles weigh when they come in and again when they come out so they get a net weight of the load to calculate the charge.  Our stuff would not have been charged for since it is the kind of thing the garbage trucks would pick up along the street but it appeared we would have to wait in line anyway both coming and going.  We decided to take it to one of the brush sites instead.  Though the load was pretty brushy, we figured it would be construed as yard waste, which is supposed to go to the dump.  That’s why we took it there in the first place, but, under the circumstances, we felt justified in bending the rules a little.  The first site we visited was closed because they were in the process of shredding the accumulation but the second site was available and we were able to handle our business without interference.

Last Sunday afternoon the Abster showed up wanting to hang in the cave.  It was a pleasant afternoon so I suggested we hit a few golf balls first.  She was amenable so we grabbed the clubs and my bucket of shag balls (where did those range balls come from?) and strolled out to the pasture.  Somewhere I read that when teaching a kid to play golf it’s best to start from the green out.  We’ve been to the practice green before so we practiced chipping.  Li’l r showed up after we had hit a few balls and joined in.  I know I don’t really qualify to teach someone to play golf but I do know which end of the club to hold and maybe I won’t teach them any bad habits.  Abigail did just fine, about what you would expect from someone trying it for the first time.  Rebecca surprised me, though.  No, she didn’t chip well.  In fact she could hardly hit the ball because the club she had, though it was a kid’s short iron was really too long for her.  The thing that impressed me was that by the time we were done she was assuming a pretty good golf stance and club grip without me coaching her.  When it was my turn to hit I asked her to watch and make sure I didn’t look up too soon and she got that down pretty good, too.  Maybe she picked that up herself.

It rained as forecast here in the Amarillo desert Saturday morning. Just a sprinkle of course but rain it did.  I’ve been pedaling my mountain bike from one end of SA to the other moving water trying to preserve our trees.

Abigail played a double-header Saturday.  She hit .500 in four at-bats and drove in three runs.

We need a scarecrow for the front porch to keep the doves away.  From time to time the population of some species of insect or animal will soar far above the normal for whatever reason and this year it is doves.  They’ve discovered the cat food Joyce leaves on the porch and leave their nasty droppings when they raid it.  You’d think the porch kitties would keep them at bay but apparently that isn’t in their job description.

 

2 thoughts on “Goodbye garden

    1. I think the conflict is mounting with Rojo instigating it. He’s still bigger but may not always be. I mentioned to Joyce that maybe it would be better to have Chris kill and eat the black rooster while it was still young and tender but I don’t think she like that idea. Stay tuned.

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