Redneck Swimming Pool

Phil, finally feeling better, went to the lower pasture. We need wood chips for the soon arrival of our new chicks and ducklings, and for our composting toilet, let alone for mulch and general happiness that a quantity of wood chips offers.

He ended up chipping a portion of his discard pile from the sawmill. Which generally required first cutting the strange shapes with the chainsaw. After several hours, his fingers felt like they were vibrating constantly, so he quit for the day.

Joe had gone down to watch him. Joe sits in the truck, and while waiting, found a pair of Phil's sunglasses. He was quite pleased with his appearance.

Happily, he came to help me. I had contemplated trying to plant the remaining 450 comfrey root cuttings, but that sounded a bit much. But at about 5pm, with 300 more in the ground that afternoon, I decided to press on, just to get it done. It was with great relief that Phil came. He would dig the holes, and I put the cuttings in and patted them down. So those 600 are done, and take up a bit more than a quarter of the greenhouse. I may have been able to finish it on my own, but I would have been under-the-table tired, and dinner would have been a questionable proposition.

Early on in my planting, I uncovered a largeish spider carrying an egg sac the size of a small grape. In its fright, it dropped the egg sac, so I returned it. With a possessive, impatient gesture, it grabbed on again, and then crept along with me for about five rows of planting. It was using my rock, weighing down the measuring tape, as its shelter. But I think after the shelter moved repeatedly, it gave up. I saw it running toward the back of the greenhouse.

Happily, some of the blackberries in the greenhouse are blooming. Maybe we'll get some fruit yet this year.

Since I had done school work with the boys, there were eager to keep a low profile: who knows what other assignments I might come up with to occupy their minds? Phil had pulled a stock tank up, and the older boys played in their for a few hours. I think it could rightfully be a redneck swimming pool: we are all quite sunburned on our necks at this point.