Friday, May 30, 2014

The Cure

An afternoon spent going in circles (on the mower) is the perfect antidote for a morning spent in the city.  It calms the mind and soothes the soul.  Now the front and side yards look just as good as the west field.  The back and back side yards were the last done before and are still neat and tidy.  It's not surprising that a good deal of what had been green is going brown, but brown isn't nearly as pretty.

The pomegranate plant is more a bush than a tree.  It seems to be making up for years of inactivity by throwing out dozens of blossoms and is busy setting fruit.  The plant itself is lush and green.  Camille showed me her pomegranate twig, planted two years ago.  She was thinking it might be dead or dying.  I told her not to give up hope.  They seem to be slow starters.

Asking someone to tend the goats is asking a huge favor.  I'd explained the system to Cam and she's done it before, but one never knows what goats will do.  With only me here, the girls are not well socialized and are easily spooked by the presence of strangers.  Given the change in sleeping arrangements, Cam was able to get Inga and Sheila in and milked without too much trouble.  They both stood and shook while Cam did the deed.  Tessie needed time and coaxing to come in, and Cindy was a real butt-head (literally) as Camille was leaving.  "You are not our Mom and you do not belong here.  Get out now!"  Camille had to swing a rope around to keep the self-appointed herd guardian away so she could get up the hill.

Number Two Son was just finishing taking down a couple of big limbs from the oak over the woodpile when I returned from the valley.  They were so heavy, they were threatening to split the trunk.  His girlfriend was acting as unpaid helper, throwing the leafy stuff over into the pen and making the goats very, very happy.  By next winter, the big pile of rounds will be seasoned and ready to split for firewood.  That will make me very, very happy.

The activities of the afternoon cured the "trauma" of the morning, so it was a good day after all.

1 comment:

Kathryn said...

Glad you got some balance to your day and that it ended on a high note. Kudos to Cam!