The rainbarrel is here!
Shortly after delivery to our front door, I cut open the box, pull out the rainbarrel, carry it through the house to the back patio, and put it in place.
Ooh, I like it!
Immediately I take a photo to send to Nancy in Florida.
The grapes are ripening.
And, darn, something is attacking them. What, I don’t know.
I see no worms, fruit flies, lizards or birds munching on them.
Of course that doesn’t mean they aren’t.
Bats during the night? The heat during the day? Who knows. I’m going to pick some today before it’s too late.
Anyway . . . .
I’m very pleased with the rainbarrel.
It’s looks natural and right in the spot I’ve chosen for it.
Mike the roofer continues to work on the roof, a few hours now and then, whenever rain, 100+ heat, and the more pressing needs of others don’t keep him away.
Both Mike and his helper are up on the roof this morning.
The rainbarrel will be installed when Mike replaces the fascia, flashing, gutters, and downspouts. At that time I’ll take photos and write about preparing a raised platform for the barrel, inserting the spigot, and a bunch of other details. . . and, of course, follow up when water flows into it in a downpour.
By the way . . .
Reggie and Roger have bones and toys for chewing. Roger also chews on sticks. Now that the mesquite tree is dropping dried pods, the boys chew them, too.
I checked online to see if this is bad. “Only if they eat a lot of them.” After all, mesquite pods are an important food source for coyotes. And people do eat mesquite powder
Remember this?
The bird nest I discovered in our big mesquite a while back?
While trimming a branch yesterday, I notice another one! How did I miss that?
This time I get a glimse of the homeowner.
“What the heck is that?”
The house is almost completely empty of furniture. The floors are tile. You can imagine how sound is magnified with all these hard surfaces.
Well, I’m in the kitchen with Reggie and Roger when we perk up our ears at the sound of scratching.
Immediately I visualize a huge rat.
I run into the living room toward the scratching.
Behind the glass of the fireplace screen is a frantic little bird, fluttering and flailing in an attempt to escape.
Poor thing!
I open the glass doors and she flies to the living room window. I take a couple photos, then fetch a dish towel from the kitchen.
I wrap her in the towel and carry her to the porch. Her heart beats so hard I can feel it through the towel. But when I open the towel, the bird is motionless.
Oh, no! Did it die of fright?
Instantaneously, the delicate creature comes to life and flies away. Across the yard she flies. Across the street she disappears among tree branches.
We have a bunch of finches and sparrows that live on our property.
Another essential purchase . . .
Recent tasks around the yard make me realize that Nancy and I need a garden cart. It isn’t smart or easy to heft large bags of heavy yard waste, piles of rocks for landscaping, soil amendments, mulch, stones, trees to be planted, etc.
I research online and decide on a cute but strong Gorilla Cart.
You can see it here: Garden Dump Cart
Even though many Amazon reviewers complain about their difficulty assembling it, I decide to tackle the job myself rather than pay someone else to do it.
Gorilla Cart assembly is a topic for a future post. Will it be The Thrill of Victory?
Or The Agony of Defeat? Stay tuned!
The condition of the box upon arrival is poor (above). Nevertheless, I dive into the task!
Watermelon wars!
Grocery stores in town are competing for offering the lowest price on watermelon. I love watermelon so much that in the summertime I eat it every day.
I buy the little sweetheart and the big mama, too.
The lowest price I’ve found so far is $2.97 for the big seedless variety. I like that the melons are grown in Arizona!
I record my obsession with melons in the October 12, 2017 post, “Green River Melon Fever.”
Countdown to the reunion!
With Nancy’s and Marg’s arrival date set for August 18th, my motivation to get projects completed increases.
I’m very busy lately, jumping from one project to another: painting, weed-eating, tree-trimming, emptying the Best Little Trailer and bringing everything onto the patio or into the house for cleaning, sorting and organizing, assembling the Gorilla cart, and trips into town for supplies and visits to the library, although I haven’t had time or interest in movies the past few days. Plus the usual tasks of grocery shopping, laundry and house-cleaning.
A daily thundershower is in the forecast for every day this week, along with cooler temperatures with highs only into the 80s.
I love it here.
rvsue
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