|
I'm back......and appreciate so much the encouraging comments left for me! It's almost as fun as receiving snail mail. Thank you very much. I have dial-up due to our rural (not for long, unfortunately) locale. So, I do not have the internet on all day. But I had thoughts all day about different things I want to write about and throw out for group rumination. I wondered if blogs are a vanity--"Gee, I think I'll talk some more about myself and go into great detail about my opinions on the issue of navel lint..." Then, I just decided to write about myself anyway, because the audience can quit at any time and it will not be painful at all!
Just a ponderance today: Why, when I put clean silverware into the drawer, do I find little dried bits of food in the silverware bins? How does this happen?
We swam today with friends, had a mediocre supper and passed two hot air balloons preparing for flight on our way to take our friends home. Now those are magnificent. Especially when you can get close to them on the ground. Just glorious in their robust colors and their rarity. We seems to have some regulars in this area. What a treat.
Yesterday we delighted in watching our mother hen eviscerate several tomato worms for her chicks. Yes, it was a little gross, okay a lot gross; but it was the glee of vengance.
My tomato plants, in pots this year while we prepare pasture for horses to come, were left absolutely bereft of any leaves. I went to bed--they were fine. The raccoon had left several green tomatoes on each plant, for now. I got up--there were multiple spikey, naked arms protruding from the pots. I knew at once!
Then you have to stand there, staring with great concentration to find them. They can be right in front of you, the absolute same color as the plant. If they weren't so destructive and vile, I would say they are evidence of an amazing Creator. But, they are clearly a product of the fall, blending-in in a way that must make the Dark One proud.
At our house, when you find them you have to yell, "Eeeewwwww!" Then we all gather around and say "Eeewww" together. Then we call for Dad. If there is no man present, you get garden gloves, preferably leather and flick the villian(s) into a box or bag to deliver them to the executioner.
They writhe. They try to shrivel up. But it's no use. Every now and then she will fling them in a direction that leaves them out of her sight--but not for long. And I smile. I smile as she gags herself trying to swallow them whole. I do not for one minute feel a bit bad about insect death--unless it's a walking stick or large moth or something attractive and harmless. (I even love those large black and yellow garden spiders that weave the amazing webs in the fall. I don't get within 3 feet of them, but I do "ahh" at them.) Meanwhile, Mama hen is flinging the victim back and forth, mincing him into chick-size bits. You know, it doesn't take Abeka or even Animal Planet to bring science right into the old backyard. I think J. Wile would be proud!
The big question: Do you eat a tomato left laying in the caged pot, but scarred with four sharp little claws? Pot-grown tomatoes are not going to produce nearly the quantity that we had last year, so full consideration has to be given to this situation. Currently, I'm thinking, even when it's ripe, I'm not going to eat it. Who knows where that hand has been??
With DH out of town, I have to do the night dog walks and the AM dog walks, so slumber calleth me. The dogs will be calling me no matter how much sleep I get or miss.
Thanks again ladies for the encouragement. Hope to catch up with your blogs soon. |
Comments
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by