Burning Candles and Baby Watch

You’d think I’d be used to this by now.  But I guess the feeling stays with you – same as riding a bicycle.  Well – in this case – I’d say it’s more fitting with trying to get back into a pair of roller skates and pulling off that dance routine you still remember inside your mind.  Reality can have you falling on your butt at the age of 53 before you reach 50 feet of the floor.  Forget the jumps and spins.

Yesterday was Patty’s Due Date – according to all the calculations we have from the prior Vet’s guestimations.  We have no baby yet.  And I’m a bigger wreck than I was a few weeks ago.

At this point – I’m putting my bet on the 26^th – when the Full Moon arrives.  And so far – I’ve only gone as far as drinking Coke.  No liquor.  But then – anyone who knows me - knows that I don’t mix with Coke.  And anyone who’s been around me lately – knows I’ve been nothing more than a Coffee – Tea – Water and Milk Drinker these days.

So the Coke is a bit off my norm.

Dwayne and I are burning a couple candles at both ends here these days.  We’ve been incredibly busy – as usual.  Almost like overnight – Tax Day and Spring showed up at the same time.  And the Days Off fell halfway in sync.  So the month of April is push time for us now.

The new veggie garden area has been in the top 5 of our List for this year.  We managed to get this far during last round of Days Off.

The goal with this effort was to put an end to all the weeding.  The massacre from weeds was just too much.  Especially with the way my health had taken a turn south.  And it worked out for the better anyway – allowing an easy area for our cattle.

We tried buying topsoil from one individual.  A Willow tree had fallen over the pile of soil after our first trip over there to check things out.  We’d had storms arrive in our area that did quite a bit of damage.  The soil was wet and heavy.  By the time we fought to get the truck bed emptied – we only had one bed filled. We can only hope tiny Willow stems don’t decide to take root.  We were totally disappointed.

I remembered buying the garden bed mixture in 2005 – we used for a flower bed at the first house we’d rented before buying this place.  We’d purchased it at Out of Eden Garden Center in Maryville.  Three scoops filled the truck bed to the brim.  And it was just enough!  Props to those 2002 ¾ Ton Dodge Ram 4x4 trucks!  It would have been nice if they came with extra muscle on 2 legs.  But we were happy enough that we didn’t have to pay for delivery!

And in 2007 - We purchased a mixture of garden soil and mushroom compost for these beds that we built at the rental where we lived before buying this place.  This time – we went to a different garden center out on Hwy. 411 - going towards Townsend.  Sadly – that one closed down about a year or so later.  But I remembered that we’d purchased 4 scoops – 3 garden soil and 1 mushroom compost.  The lady at the center had warned to always go a 3 to 1 ratio whenever using this particular compost.  We had them deliver this load.

We amended with 2 scoops from the Co-Op in GreenBack in 2008.  Easy Sailing that year!

After discussion to come up with a ‘ fix ‘ for our disappointment and our goal – I made a phone call to Out of Eden Garden Center in Maryville.  Brandon gave me prices and told me about a 50/50 mixture they have – specifically for raised garden beds.  We decided it was worth the drive down a straight highway to get some good quality garden soil mixture from a familiar source.

And we were not disappointed!  But we will have to pick up another scoop for the last bed filled – after we harvest the spinach and lettuce so we can plant Okra and beans!

The mowing has begun – as of this past Sunday.  Setting the cutting to 4 - I was able to get out there and knock down the massive bed of weeds we’re dealing with – just like everybody else.  Seems like every year has a different surprise for Spring anymore.  Last year – it was the ‘ Attack of the Clover ‘ – enough to bring concern in the minds of cattle ranchers!

When I set the cutting level to 2 and began running over the area again – the belt fell off when I had to stop and move something.  Dwayne set the belt back on when he got home and finished up the areas right around the house that are too steep for me to mow.

Yesterday – I went ahead and hit all the paddocks.  The late winter has affected the oncoming of the spring grasses.  The cattle have enough that they’re slacking on the hay quite a bit.  But I could see where clumps were growing over a foot in areas.  And they were hindering all the clover and other grasses that need to come on in.  I cut at level 3 – and only because we have rain coming today – and again in a couple days.  I’ve always had good luck with a nice fill of grass when I keep up with the mowing here.  The more I mow – the more it grows.

I managed to get started on cleaning up the flowerbed that runs along our driveway.  But I’m really discouraged by what I found.  All the amending we did last year seems to have been washed out by all the rain.  Before I add anymore soil – I’ll be picking up some landscaping bricks to set in properly.  Hopefully – that should cut out over half of the cost for replacing a bunch of dirt every year.

The other big monster tackled was the Little Yard.  April is growing like a weed!  Dwayne finally saw the light.  Taking her through the gate over to the section of clover next to the barn – twice a day - was eating my time.  And she is becoming more demanding.  Dwayne doesn’t enjoy being around 2 females when they start bickering.

He moved the fence out to extend over to the other paddock – giving April all the Clover area.  Doubled her space!  The ‘ Hole ‘ is completely fenced now – with a 4’ gate to access.

The only thing left to do - for a while now – is tie her up to the mower and start dragging her all around the yard!  Dare me?  Ha!

I had tried convincing him that we needed to run the fence that way when it was originally put up.  I lost.  Moving it yesterday – kicked his butt!  I had to help him get a couple posts out.  And that was no easy task.  It took the 2 of us – a rope – and another post - to ‘ Redneck ’ those raw cedar posts out of that hard clay soil!

The end of the day included cheating.  I ran to Domino’s Pizza to get supper.  Dwayne had finished getting the fencing clipped to the posts and had the gate installed by the time I got home.  We began watching ‘ Avatar ‘ while eating.

And then – I went in and set up the jet tub for my husband – and refused to take “ no “ for an answer!  He slept like a baby.  I was up at 4:30am this morning.

He snores, too.

And I love him.