Past Posting Updates

I thought it would be nice to provide you all with updates to some of my more recent posting, as I'm sure you've all been chomping at the bit to know...

"Whitey" Update:
Whitey remained on premise with us for a full week before being relocated. He behaved during his stay but more importantly during his transfer and release! He happily made his way out of the trap, checked out the area and scampered off. Hopefully we took him far enough away that he won't be back.

"Freeze / Frost Occurrence Data - Potatoes" Update:
Our Yukon Gold and Red Norland seed potatoes have been removed from the refrigerator and placed in a warm window. They'll be ready to plant outside in about a week.

"Spring Gardening Itch" Update:
Our tomato results are appalling. If you recall we planted a total of 100 tomato seeds approximately 6 weeks ago. Well, of the 100 only about 30 sprouted of which we have about 12 remaining. Of the 12 only 4 have grown their second set of leaves - the plants are tiny, tiny - pathetic. They're just about to receive their walking papers to be relocated to the compost bin. Lesson learned - waste of time and royal pain in the ass to start seeds in doors unless you're equipped to do such things, which we're NOT. Local nursery here I come!

"Colored Easter Egg Egg, Our First" Update:
Only one of the two Americana pullets I bought last fall lays blue eggs. The other is laying a whitish colored egg - she's defective. However, on a positive note we're getting on average one blue egg a day now, bringing our daily egg total anywhere from 4 to 7 eggs a day now. Gonna need to up my cholesterol meds real soon. I sure would hate to be relegated to Eggbeaters...

"Chain Link Kennel" Update:
The pair of Muscovy ducks have been sold. Although, we carried and cared for them throughout the winter they had to go. Ducks are messy and stinky critters, which I new but under estimated. The latter wasn't too bad during the cold winter months, however, with the arrival of Spring and warmer weather this was changing. We decided to air on the side of caution and find them another home before becoming a BIG, stinky problem.

Oh My Ach'n Back

After 8 years of living here at the ole homestead, I finally devoted some time and tended to our raspberries in a way that should have been done years ago. I edged the beds, pulled out the previous owners soaker hoses, tightened the cloth line supports and spent many hours on my hands and knees weeding. Once this was completed I spread two heaping wheel barrels full of rich, dark compost on the beds.

The wild critters, i.e. wild rabbits and slugs (insects), have almost no place to hide now. The new raspberries plants can sprout and grow without competing with weeds, flowers, rocks and other obstacles.

I'm hoping this all means a bumper crop of delicious raspberries this year, as well as years to come - mmm mmm good!

The "Egg Beater"

Here is a picture of my new (new to me) commuter vehicle!

2003 Toyota Corolla LE Sedan

28mpg City - 36mpg Hwy

*******

Bought Saturday 4/17.
Picked up ready to roll Monday 4/19.
First trip to and from work Wednesday 4/21.
Priceless!

Today's Commute Experience

Today's morning commute to work -

Once I made it to the highway I set the cruise control at 68MPH, turned up the radio and settled in for my 70+ minute commute to the office.

At 6:45AM, for some reason, there was an unusually high amount of traffic on Rt. 495, especially since it's April vacation for the grade schoolers here in New England. The traffic also included more 18-wheeler type trucks than I'm used to navigating through. Okay, so the ride was gonna be a little more stressful than I'm used to; I turned up the radio.

At one point I moved into the high speed passing lane to do just that, pass. There was a string of trucks all queued up and taking over the middle travel lane - they're forbidden to drive in the high speed passing lane, and there's just too many vehicles making there way onto the highway via the on ramps, so the big trucks are better off staying in the middle lane; I get that, I do but still hate em.

Anyway, even though I'm now in the high speed passing lane, I'm NOT going to punch the accelerator, why? So, like the little engine that could I was making progress at passing the big rigs. When, low and behold, what to my wandering eyes should appear but some banana eating douche bag in a big gas guzzler, half SUV half pick up type thingy-ma-bob, riding my rear bumper! C'mon dude, where the "F" do you want me to go? Can't you see I'm stuck here and riding my ass is NOT going to help matters? You can get as close as you want, still not gonna move over - I can't!

After a mile or two of this rump riding I HIT the brakes hard. Two things I'm certain happened immediately after that - one, the banana this jerk-off was eating got jammed down his throat as he reacted and hit his brakes. Second, that he shit himself, if even just a little bit! Yup, I woke his sorry ass up. He backed off immediately at that point. You see it was a matter of will and I was NOT moving for that pencil-neck-geek, I was determined to stay right where I was. He'd need to wait till the opportunity presented itself to him so he could GO AROUND ME, which is exactly what happened and off he went. At that point, I signaled and moved into the middle travel lane.

What an ass-hat! I was hoping to see him on the side of the highway in some ditch but no such luck. Just glad he had to sit in his soiled panties all day :-))

**NOTE: I'm NOT advocating violence, nor am I condoning this type of behaviour. Actually, pretty dumb especially at 70MPH but very satisfying just the same.

"Whitey"

Nope, I'm not referring to James "Whitey" Bulger, the reputed mobster who's on the lamb, and also on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

I'm referring to monsieur skunk, pictured above, who's attraction and love of peanut butter has landed him in his current dilemma. I don't believe that white skunks are rare these days but certainly unusual and quite attractive.

I'm sure this dude has some counterparts, or partners in crime if you will, still on the loose but that'll come to an end soon enough.

You see these foraging critters have been doing a terrible number on our lawn - holes dug everywhere in search of one of their favorite morsels! They're after grubs, which apparently we have a lot of and have been raising unbeknown to us. Now, some might argue, get rid of the grubs and your skunk problem goes away. Although, this is true the damage they're causing now needs to be addressed now before they ruin the entire lawn, so we don't have the luxury of waiting until the grub solution kicks in.

Now comes the tricky part, the "skunk relocation" program. Keep your fingers crossed that Pepe here doesn't decide to give me, and the surrounding areas, a parting gift...

When Flour is NOT a Flower

While attending a Marriage Weekend, Walter and his wife, Ann, listened to the instructor declare, "It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other."

He then addressed the men, "Can you name and describe your wife's favorite flower?"

Walter leaned over, touched Ann's arm gently, and whispered, "Gold Medal All-Purpose, isn't it?"

And thus began Walter's life of celibacy.

Celibacy can be a choice in life, or a condition imposed by circumstances.

Thank you sir may I have another

For those of you who do not realize -

"It’s time once again to pay the man -- the taxman, that is -- and many noncustodial parents have more reason than most taxpayers to dislike April 15. That’s because, according to the Internal Revenue Service, child support payments are NOT deductible expenses to the noncustodial payer. Nor does the IRS classify support payments as taxable income to the custodial parent who receives them."

"Thank you sir may I have another"

In the rated PG version of this saying - Chip (Kevin Bacon), while being paddled as part of his Omega initiation in the oh so famous movie Animal House, says "Thank you sir may I have another" after each spank.

Of course in the noncustodial parents scenario we're not being paddled if you know what I mean!

Not Handy At ALL!!

Came across this vehicle at the local playground the other day. Although I am only somewhat handy, I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that is NOT the proper way to fix a broken side view mirror, right!!

C'mon, anyone in the somewhat handy category, would know that the proper way to fix this side view mirror is with Duck Tape, daaaaaah!!

Freeze / Frost Occurrence Data - Potatoes

Trying to determine the recommended planting time for your climate? Looking to plant potatoes for example? Since it takes potatoes two to three weeks to emerge from the ground, the earliest you should plant seed potatoes is two weeks before your last anticipated freeze date of 28 degrees.

Click here - Freeze/Frost Data for the Freeze/Frost probability tables for your state.

FYI regarding potatoes since we're on the subject - Seed potatoes should be stored in the refrigerator. About a week before your planting-out date, bring the seeds out of the fridge and place in a bright warm window for about one week. This will help break the spuds dormancy and assure they will grow quickly when you put them in the cool ground.

Also note, buy certified disease-free seed potatoes. Planting potatoes from the market is a gamble. Besides the disease problem, potatoes, are often treated with chemicals to inhibit sprouting, so they may not grow well.

Grow your potatoes in soil with a pH between 5.0 and 6.0. Don't plant your potatoes where tomatoes or eggplant were grown the year before. These are in the same family as potatoes and can attract similar pests and problems.

We have two kinds of potatoes we'll be planting this year - Yukon Gold (my favorites) and Red Norland. Getting excited, can't wait!

Pimp'd My Ride

I installed a fancy brush bar on the front of my lawn tractor yesterday. Cool right?! Be honest, you're jealous ain't you?! Now I can't be stopped if the lawn gets too high.

Lawn cutting #1 of the season has been completed...