Candy is natures way of making up for Mondays.
We awoke, had our “champagne”, worked on the current puzzle for a bit, and headed to the garden for a five plus hour planning/trimming effort!
We called England first and talked to Brian and Jan…they are heading “home” on Wednesday so we will see them Friday night at the Elks. We plan to buy a “Welcome Home Cake” to celebrate!
With extreme bravery I headed to the garden where there are many wild animals lurking. While planting the new corn, I heard something… sounded dangerous… I raised my machete in preparation for an eminent attack. Mourning Doves came to visit me! They were so close I could have touched them…they must have been hungry. Ah ha! I finally figured it out… I was NOT wearing my scarecrow costume! Placing the machete down but still close should they decide to attack, the iPhone became my weapon of choice!
They flew right next to me, looked up and said :Got any worms Mister?”
Little do they know how hard I worked to get the garden full or worms… my soil is a worms fantasy land. These two critters wanted to take the little worms away!
They stayed for quite a while and they did find some worms! Finally they flew off into the sunset together…perhaps they will visit again tomorrow? Maybe they will bring the worms back, one never knows!
They had no fear…me on the other hand, scared to death
Did You Know? The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove or the rain dove, and erroneously as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon or Carolina turtledove.
t is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure is due to its prolific breeding; in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year.
The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph). It is the national bird of the British Virgin Islands.
I planted 48 corn plants and in about 60 days we should be back in the corn business. We had corn for lunch today. We timed it…11 minutes from cutting the corn off the plant to serving it and three minutes of that was in the microwave…we be talking fresh! I picked two unicorns today!
I trimmed the pumpkins and black berries almost filling an 80 gallon can! The pumpkin vines are so prolific, they tried to breach the neighbors wall in three places but with my gardening skills, and the trusty machete, I beat them back!
We had lunch and then it was back to the garden where I worked until a little past 3:00 PM…by then the ol’ back was TIRED! Hello aspirin! Hello nap! The work was worth the effort as evidenced below:
We had two unicorns… Is that a Duelacorn?
After all the pulling and planting I washed down the garden and things are looking pretty good! The yard is made up of a large pool and the rest is vegetable gardens. We love working in the garden and the arrangement of the brick seating is perfect. I can sit and plan plants, pull weeds, and water.
Each of the beds is 4′ by 30′ and the one along the wall is 3′ by 75 feet
The center “finger” was where I did most of the work today moving several pepper plants out and replacing them with cantaloupe, tomatoes, and corn pictured below
The corn is planted in furrows so as it grows I can back fill the furrow with dirt to help support the cord as it grows
The straw is “aged straw” and forms the mulch keeping the roots cool and the soil moist. I added magnesium to the soil this morning to help with the growth..
The the back corner of the garden is where the current corn crop resides. There are about 40 plants so there are about 80 ears of corn yet to devour…we see corn chowder in our near future. As the corn gets removed, I take the remaining materials and either trash them or run it through the composter and add it back into the ground.
Tomatoes to the left; grapes and squash in the back; corn on the right.
The garden Gnomes belonged to Sue’s Mom and are 30+ years old…a little worse for wear but still manage to chase away the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, Dimetrodon, Diplodocus, Iguanodon, Pteranodon, Protoceratons and others.
The garden on the south side is doing well. We are going to have a load of figs and probably 10 pumpkins. Apples and even some avocado’s this year!
They are in hiding but pretty quick they will be too big to hide
The fig tree is getting quite loaded with fruit and it seems they all become ripe within a few days of each other meaning…get the fig receipts out and ready to go!
Figs by the hundreds!
Not too much color this evening!
I went off my diet and had a chili-size…damn, it was good! Washing it down with a gin and tonic was an excellent idea.
Did You Know? The researchers showed that during weight loss, 84 percent of the fat that is lost turns into carbon dioxide and leaves the body through the lungs, whereas the remaining 16 percent becomes water, according medical researchers.
When you lose weight, where does the lost body fat go? … This causes your fat cells to shrink. These metabolic activities also generate heat, which helps maintain your body temperature, and waste products. These waste products — water and carbon dioxide — are excreted in your urine and sweat or exhaled from your lungs.
Returning home, we lit up the oven, stoked the fire, and watched TV until about 11:30 PM. Tookies were excellent this evening. If all goes well, we plan to drive south and have lunch with Pete and Lisa to celebrate their anniversary tomorrow!
