Tuesday Twitterdeedum

I spent some fun time yesterday with one of my SHS Class of 1965 classmates and friends, Donna.

She'd never been to Western Pleasure Guest Ranch, and since we've included them on a list of possible venues for our 50th-year reunion in 2015, she wanted to see the place.

On the way to Western Pleasure, we stopped off at the Lovestead, which Donna had never seen either.  During that visit, I learned that Donna had ridden horses in her younger years----a Morgan and an Arabian.

Seems funny that we can know someone for so long and continue to learn interesting new facts so many years into the friendship.  Donna enjoyed getting acquainted with Lefty, and he didn't mind the company either.

We moved on to Western Pleasure, took a tour and then had lunch at the Pack River General Store, where I have discovered the BLT caesar salad wrap.  As one staff worker noted to me last week, that wrap can become addictive.

Very good as is everything there!

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Uneventful.  That’s pretty much the headline around here this morning.  The sun is shining.  Leaves are turning.  No good news or bad news from what's left of the garden.

Looks like a pleasant, relatively low key day ahead for which I've assembled "the list."

"The list" helps me remember all those little "to do" chores that don't take much time but that do often get overlooked for days on end in the grand scheme of life.

My current reminder sez:

• Sasha's letter
• Photos to enlarge
• Dirt to dog kennel
• Woven wire to dog-run shelter
• Fill gas cans for lawnmower
• Etc. Etc.

Sasha's letter will be completed today.  It's a light edit and among the "urgent" things on the list because she'd like to use it in a few days.

I've picked a few photos from Ireland that I'd like to frame, so my trip to town today will include a stop off at the Wal-Mart enlarging machine.  I'll probably pick up a few more frames also. 

It's kinda fun seeing such good memories in a more tangible state.  

When I saw "dirt to the dog kennel" on the list, my morning brain felt a bit groggy.  

Why the heck would I take dirt to the dog kennel?

There must be a reason, I thought, or was I so tired last night that I simply wrote down the wrong words?  That DOES happen occasionally.

After a sip of latte, however, the lightbulb flashed on.  Oh yeah, there IS a garden area around the dog kennel, and it does desperately need some new dirt.

Have I ever got a supply of lovely dirt this fall!  

After that wearisome job last week of removing the tangled up jungle of pumpkin vines from the manure pile, I took the tractor and loader and worked the pile.  All contents have decayed enough to provide a wonderful supply for adding some nutrients to the garden spots. 

So, the first project involves depositing a new layer on the area around the kennel. Maybe my chard will grow better next year with the extra shot in the soil. 

Woven wire to the dog shelter out in the run.  

I won't even describe how it's gonna be used.  Let's just say it's a "Marianne band-aide" until I can get someone to construct a real roof over the shelter where these days tarps have to do the job.

But I've got an idea, and it may just work.  I'll report results just like I promised a few months ago when I purchased those three recoiling garden hoses.

All three still work just fine.  None have blown up.  Nary a problem with any of them.  

One has been used for the deck flowers, and every morning while watering, I rejoice the fact that the hose is so easy to store inside the little deck hole with slat door that Amos constructed for me.

Two recoiling hoses are attached to the long stretch of over other garden hoses which I lug from manure pile to the big garden.  They've been dragged over sharp rocks, run over a few times and even stretched. 

Three months later, they're as good as new.

So, I'm thinking the recoiling hose concept has probably gone through some perfecting over the past couple of years.  Highly recommended. 

Finally, in this last part of September, it looks like I can get away with mowing my ever-lush lawn just once a week now instead of every three days.  

This has been an unusually moist year for the grass around this place.  It just grows and grows, but the cooler nights have finally slowed it down a bit.

And, since all the gas cans are empty, I'd better get 'em filled up for the next mowing.  

Soon I'll have to go to Pac West Parts to pick up that part which Tony is welding back together for the lawnmower pickup bag.  Earlier this summer, I collided with an apple tree with the bag connecting with enough force that an important piece broke off.

Neither Tony nor I have been in a big hurry to get it repaired, but with leaf pick-up coming soon, I'm sure he'll have it ready to go. j

I'm sure I can add a lot more to "the list," but I'd better tend to what's on it for today.

So, on an uneventful morning, I'll just wish everyone a happy Tuesday.