Stinky Emilio Takes a Walk

This evening I put the leash on Ulani, but it turned out to be her alter-ego, Stinky Emilio, who joined me on our walk.  I decided we ought to write about our adventure together.  Here is our conversation.

ME:  Stinky, what should we tell our readers about our walk?

SE:  Dead raccoon!  Dead raccoon!  Don't forget about the dead raccoon!  Boy it smelled great!  It was a dead raccoon!

ME:  Yes, it wasn't very big was it, but I'm sure when you put your big nose right on top of it, it must have smelled quite a bit.  Is that what you've been smelling in the ditch the past few days?

SE:  There's poop in there!  Cat poop!  And raccoon poop!  From a dead raccoon!  Let's go again!  And don't pull my neck off this time!  It smelled great!

ME:  I think we might walk a different route tomorrow.  Maybe we'll go to the park.  Would you like to go to the park?

SE:  Go!  Park!  Go!  Park!

ME:  We'll see how the weather is, ok?  In the meantime, is there anything else you would like to share about our walk?

SE:  Bunny!  I chased a bunny!  A white bunny butt!  It was a bunny!  Then it was humongous!  It was a humongous bunny running through the cornfield!  Huge!  I made it grow!

ME:  Well, Stinky, you know what really happened, don't you?

SE:  Really?  It was real!  It was a bunny!  I chased it!  Then it was humongous!  Oh, it was a terrific time!

ME:  Stinky, the bunny ran into the undergrowth and it was just coincidence that a deer was on the other side.  That wasn't a bunny tail running across the field, it was a deer.

SE:  Bunny!  Huge, humongous, it smelled great!  I smelled bunny!  It smelled great!

[This exchange continued along similar lines for a few minutes.  No need to transcribe her entire, misinformed discourse.]

ME:  Stinky Emilio, I noticed that your chest and legs are full of sticky-plant.  (Ed. note, Stickiass plantias.)  Where did you pick up all those sticky little green balls?

SE:  It was the bunny!

ME:  Never a dull moment.

In the garden, guard down

 

Two of the raised beds in the vegetable garden have been completed.  Originally they were framed with 2x6 lumber.  My property, however, sits on a former wetland and while the ground has been drained, the water table remains very high.  Long time readers of this blog will know that I have had all sorts of water problems, months of flooded beds that turn to cement as their minerals stratify.  

So this year I resolved to add a second round of 2x6s in an effort to separate the planting level from the groundwater.  Have been having trouble with the garden tractor, so getting the surrounding grass mowed, and hauling the dirt from the driveway where it was dumped (way up front there, near the house!) back to the garden area has been a major challenge.

Last week the mower was returned to me in fully operational condition.  I have superstitiously decided that the way to keep it working is to run it every day.  Every single day.  Now there is progress to show for it!

This morning I planted tomatoes and peppers, despite the fact that we are expecting 92 degrees this afternoon.  Tomatoes and peppers live for heat, right?  I watered them in very well.  Then I decided to work on mowing back more of the grass in this area.

This particular tufty area has been bothering me for a while.  It was actually the very first raised bed I built here, my first summer.  I planted garlic here that autumn, and got a nice harvest the following July.  But I used "one-by" stock to frame it, rather than "two-by".  And the frame quickly fell apart.  Since by then I had other raised beds, this one became the tufty area I walked past to get to the vegetables.

Well not now that I'm on the Daily John Deere plan!  I gingerly removed the remaining wood, hyperventilating at the threat of snakes.  Don't misunderstand -- I am glad that snakes live in the garden.  They eat the bad guys.  But hard as I try, I am creeped out by the slithering.  And the silence.  

As it turned out, no snakes today.  So that was good.  I began going over the tufts, back and forth to remove them.  I was feeling pretty good about this morning's progress.  Not even 10 am and things were looking quite neat!  And apparently some garlic lingers in the bed -- the mowing was fragrant.

Until suddenly the blade stopped with a clunk.  That is never good.  I turned the mower off.  I rocked it back and forth to make sure it wasn't hung up on something stuck in the ground.  Then, after confirming that the blade was turned off, I turned the engine back on and drove it off the tufts.  And this came along.

It's a wad of chicken wire.  Caught in the blade.

That's why I'm inside blogging.  [Expletives deleted.]

Around Busy Solitude Farm Today

A little surprise!

This beautiful iris was also a surprise -- it rode in on the Lenten roses back in March!  Lucky me, I hope it will be happy under Oskar's memorial tree.

 

And the Lenten roses continue to bloom -- over two months, and transplanted in full bloom.  Amazing!

 I think this robin is a baby -- doesn't it look like a baby face?

 One clematis is covered in buds and seems like it will explode into bloom in a week or two.

 

But this one has a single blossom on it.  How can it be unhappy when its partner is doing so well?

 After startling Ulani, Luke settled in on the lawn chair with me.  Love his color in this light!

And in the barn, the chicks are really feathering out now.   This little girl actually seemed to enjoy being held and interacting with me.

 At one point I wasn't sure I'd be able to safely grab her and put her back on the ground!

 She skittered across my shoulders, escaping my grasp.

Then she told me a secret, right up in my ear.  After that we were fine and she went back to the flock!

And the ducks?  They don't so much enjoy being picked up.

She tried to bite the camera!

Oskar's Jahrzeit

It's the anniversary of Oskar's death.  I took this photo of him enjoying a meaty raw bone from Local just two days before he died.  He was happy.

He lived a good long life.  He was loved, and cared for, and his needs were met.  So many dogs do not have lives like Oskar.  I made a contribution in his memory today, so that some unwanted dogs might be a little more comfortable.

I still watch his video sometimes.  I don't always cry now when I watch. 

 I still miss him. 

Napping

I just love ducks.

Now that the terrorist raccoon has been taken away by Berrien County Animal Control and, sort of sadly, euthanized, things are more peaceful at Busy Solitude Farm.  We are on guard, don't be fooled, but without an immediate threat everyone is getting back on routine.

Today, in fact, it was so warm that I turned off the red heat lamp in the babies' pen.  They slept the day away, as did Luke, Barnard and Ulani.  My own nap was only half an hour, but a happier 30 minutes did not exist in my day.

A nap is a beautiful thing.  For girl and duck.