Shrooms


Greetings from the SA rain forest.  We went much of the week without seeing the sun while getting a couple of inches of rain.  That is significant for this part of the world and I think the rain was fairly widespread, just maybe not at the same time.

Monday Doc and I tackled the easement along the northeast quadrant and were lucky to dodge most of the rain while getting the job done.  The weeds were so bad along there that it was difficult to keep them form migrating across into SA.  Besides not really being keen on the job, there was no easy access so I had put off cleaning the strip up for, well, I had never cleaned it up.  Some of the neighbors do a little mowing once in a blue moon but mostly the area is out of sight and out of mind for them.  One of the worst patches of weeds was behind the house of a woman who I think is single so I had no hope she would ever maintain her stretch of easement.  I tried to keep the weeds sprayed but they got away from me — drastic action was required.

That involved breaking the chain link fence so we could get in and out.  We pulled and/or chopped the weeds and loaded them in the pickup.  Russian thistle or tumbleweeds were the main offender and some had grown so large as to pass for Christmas trees.  That patch didn’t get cleaned up after last summer and probably prior years as well so there was a lot of old weed as well as new.  Anyway, we got a big load in the pickup and headed for the dump before lunch.  It had been threatening rain all morning and was sprinkling on us as we left for the landfill.  Luckily it wasn’t raining there when we arrived to dump our load, but it had been so there is still caliche falling off the bottom of the pickup as it dries, making a mess in the shop.

After lunch we took a second and last load to the dump.  There were only small weeds left and we planned to use the trimmer on them when we got back.  We discovered, though, that an inch of rain had fallen on SA while we were gone (it still wasn’t raining at the landfill) so we had to call it a day.

I’ll have the groundskeeper put in a gate along that stretch to expedite maintaining the easement going forward.  It will be easier to keep it cleaned up than fight the weeds it insists on sharing with SA.

Kari and her friend Brook were walking Tuesday morning and got caught in a downpour.  Kari said there were areas where stepping off the curb to cross the street nearly got them swept off their feet.  Abigail had a game in Hereford that evening and Kari was concerned about getting in a cloudburst somewhere between.  There had been problems with flooded underpasses along I40 in town.  Any heavy rain was going to cause flooding because the ground was saturated.  I went with her and we didn’t get rained on.  The Lady Rebels easily dispatched the “Herd” in two games.

Joyce finally picked the giant watermelon that grew all summer on the mounds.  It was as big, 38 pounds, as any we had last year.  She agonized over when to pick it, not wanting to be too early or too late.  She asked for my opinion but I wasn’t much help.  It had some signs of ripeness but not others.  It turned out to be quite tasty, maybe a little past perfect but still a good watermelon and Joyce shared it with Barbara and the neighbors.

The grapes are sweet now and I’ll harvest them week after next.

I think I saw a bunny on the south end the other day.  Others have claimed to see one but I hadn’t.  It was only a glimpse of color I saw but I’m willing to bet that’s what it was.

Oh, and the weather has been to the liking of mushrooms.  They are growing all over the place.  I’ve even seen a fairy ring with some old fairies sitting around singing show tunes.