Dependents

 Gary is definitely on the dole.  (This would be his "selfie" if he just had thumbs.)  Acres of weeds and seeds and he comes in for breakfast nearly daily.

A little late with the evening feeding, I was surprised in the near-dark to find that Morning Mouse had brought a friend in for dinner; there were two in the bottom of the barrel.  MM jumped right into the bucket for a ride out, but Friend needed some convincing.

How do you know your strawberries are getting ripe?  You watch the ground squirrel who comes creepy-creeping around the deck to check on the plants for his share.  He won't take a bite until the berries are ready.  He's taken over for the blue jays who used to be my guide for ripeness.  (Haven't seen many blue jays lately, come to think of it.)

NASCAR was the perfect excuse for inertia yesterday (I was tired).  Good weather beckoned, however, so I hooked up the trailer to the little tractor and hauled a mountain of pulled weeds over to the burn pile in the afternoon.  It would have taken many trips with the wagon.  Bess and I took a trip to the feed store, where they'd gotten in a supply of seed potatoes and onion sets.  In addition to the grain I'd gone after, I came home with three pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes and ninety tiny white onions.  It's a start.  Before I can plant, though, I need to put more dirt in the big barrel Deb cleared.  I've planted potatoes directly into the ground in the past.  Gary's relatives and the ground squirrels dined well that year.  I've enough dependents, thank you.