August 31

Well, that’s it for the month. We are gaining on the weeds, thanks in no small part to the herbicide killing the purslane. In the past, I got the impression that it didn’t. Maybe it only appeared to not kill it because there was enough fresh sprouting to camouflage the treated purslane. That’s the only thing I can think of to explain my error. Anyway, we are getting it under control. Now if I could just get my front door from sticking.

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July 29

There was .01″ in the rain gauge two days ago, .25″ the next day and 2.93″ in it this morning. It started raining while we enjoyed berries and cream and watched telebision yesterday evening and it was raining pretty good when A&R headed home. I offered to drive them. I invited them to spend the night, but they chose to borrow a golf umbrella and make a run for it. Poor Black Nose the cat. They carried him with them when they came to 1911 and he got stuck on the front porch when it started raining. They tried to carry him back down to 2005 under the umbrella with them but the last I saw of them all three were scampering across the prairie toward high ground.

It having been so dry for so long, seems a miracle we got such a good rain. It didn’t pour down hard like a cow pissing on a flat rock as it frequently does with thunderstorms. It’s frustrating when it rains hard briefly and then stops. As I said, it rained while we were watching television and I wasn’t aware of it. About 10:30 there was a lot of water running in the yard and not just in the dry creek bed. Later in the night I got up and the puddles had mostly disappeared. Then, when I got up this morning, there was water standing in low places around the yard, indicating it had rained enough during the night to saturate the ground. This is a reprieve from watering, at least for a little while and a much-appreciated break.

Abigail heads off to Lubbock next week to get her apartment squared away and handle other business. We’ve had a good summer working together and got a lot done. While there was no mowing necessary, there were plenty of other things to spend our time on. This was Abigail’s fourth summer helping me and she has practically gotten to the point where she gives me direction. It won’t be easy adapting to working by myself again.

July 27

Abigail and I spent this morning working at Wildcat Bluff. Last week, Regina the director asked if we could trim a hedge and Abigail took on that project today. Calling it a hedge might make it sound like something it’s not. It is a series of bushes, but I don’t what kind they are, certainly not something that would typically be used for a hedge. It was overgrown and had needed attention for a long time. Abigail, on her own volition, trimmed one side of it a couple of years ago. I had often thought I should clean it up but there were always things I felt more pressing. It had a buildup of leaves underneath and the odd yucca growing in it. Overall, it looked like a good place to harbor slithery things. I took care of the yucca and helped deposit the trimmings in the dumpster. The trimmer ran out of juice and so did Abigail by the time she had blown all the dirt away that came out with the leaves and other debris, but she got it done.

While Abigail was working on the trimming, I watered the butterfly garden and was rewarded with seeing the first monarch butterfly I’ve seen there. The garden is a designated monarch way station but has long been ineffective due to neglect. We have been trying to make it more hospitable to monarch and other butterflies, so it was gratifying to so one flitting around in the sprinkler apparently enjoying itself.

July 18

We got Parker married off Saturday evening. It was a nice ceremony and well attended, though it was held outside and started at 7 p.m., so it was hotter than the hinges on the door to hell. The bride was lovely and there was a gaggle of maids of honor and some questionable men standing by. Even the dog got in on the action. Terry walked it down the aisle, or maybe it walked Terry. Hard to say. It may have been some stray they grabbed at the last minute. There were several speeches at the reception. My favorite was the best man’s. Essentially, he said he was nervous giving a speech, had known Parker for a long time, yada yada and let it go at that. Jill drove in Friday for the wedding and drove home Sunday.

Abigail drove to Lubbock after the wedding to move into her apartment. Chris followed the next morning with a load of furniture she claimed from the loft above the shop. She got her great-grandmother’s dresser and rocking chair. She also got the chair that goes with the roll-top desk Genna had, which Kari uses. She also took an empty filing cabinet and an end table that went with the 3-piece set but didn’t use because it was too large. She seemed to be happy with her acquisitions.

July 8

We celebrated Abigail’s 21st birthday this week. It was a low-key affair despite being a major milestone in the Abster’s journey.

July 3

We got back in town Friday afternoon and Jill and I went to the Honda shop to retrieve her car. The A/C failed on the drive to Amarillo and, because it was Friday evening when she got here, there was no time to get it repaired before we headed for Red River. Jill took it to the Honda shop Monday morning before we left and drove the Pathfinder on the trip. That worked out well and with any kind of luck, they will have A/C for the trip back to Sachse.

Saturday, we had our 4th of July gathering. Wonder of wonders, it rained on us before we could get all the food out. The storm passed in plenty of time enjoy the late afternoon and evening. The rain had cooled things off nicely and we had a good time playing volleyball, visiting and eating. We had watered the volleyball court and it was nice and green, a contrast with the grass on the rest of the place, and very pleasant to play on. Some of us ate too much ice cream, but it was homemade, and we only get it once a year, so what the heck.

June 30

We spent a pleasant week in good ol’ Red River. As usual, we didn’t do much except watch movies, swim and eat ice cream. We went on a couple of short hikes, strolls, really. Vivian fished for an hour or less, but that was it. It was bone dry and hot when we left Amarillo but raining and chilly when we got to RR. The weather got better as the week progressed, but we didn’t mind the cool and rain. It was a refreshing change from what we were experiencing back home. All good things end, of course, and we eventually made our way back to hot, arid Amarillo.

June 26

This week at the Bluff, Abigail spotted a rattler when we were putting our tools up. She is always on the lookout, and it paid off today because the snake was close to where she was headed. Also, its markings made it blend into the ground well. We alerted the authorities and went on about our business. The rattler slithered under a building.

June 19

There was a dove up against the shop door surrounded by cats. They weren’t molesting it but were very interested. It had an injured wing, maybe inflicted by a cat but also may have been caused by a power line or some other obstruction the bird ran in to. I collected it and put it in a grocery sack. Abigail and I had a load to take to the brush site, so we took the dove with us and dropped it off at the rehab center on the way back. While we were there, we saw a pronghorn fawn(?) they were raising up to return to the wild when it got big enough. They said it follows them around all day and that there is a picture on their website. It was cute.

June 11

And so, the saga of Six Acres continues, though maybe a little less dry. It has rained a couple of times this month. No great quantities, you understand, but not nothing neither. The grass tries to green up, but then it turns hot and windy, and, well, so much for that. I was standing on the front porch, oh, I guess it was Thursday evening about 9:45, watching it rain and enjoying the cool air when lightning struck the south end of SA. Well, it seemed like that’s where it struck but it must have been farther away. The thunder, which sounded like the crack of doom, came on the heels of the flash so it was too close for comfort. The rain that evening added to the rain we got Wednesday morning for a total of .86 of an inch. We avoided any unpleasantness, such a hail and high winds.

Since it was raining Wednesday morning, Abigail and I couldn’t go to the Bluff so we watched a couple of movies down in the cave, trying to make the best of a bad situation. The week before, we took advantage of another inclimate morning to shred the cardboard the neighbors collected the last few months. Kari, Chis and I did that back in the winter but I guess there was more to shred this time because it took Abigail and I an hour and a half just to cut the cardboard into strips so it could be fed into the chipper. We spent another hour and a half Monday morning feeding the strips into the chipper and still didn’t finish. I made the executive decision that it was too much work for too little gain to try to shred the cardboard so the next day we took the remaining strips to a cardboard recycling dumpster. Abigail had managed to step in cat poop before we ran that errand and, though she had attempted to clean her shoe, the air in the cabin of the pickup was rather thick and we were grateful it was a short drive to the dumpster.