Some random things from my world right now

Cold, wet, and dreary days have finally arrived for the season, making it quite difficult to become excited about performing any work outside. The amount of rainfall received over the last couple of days has been substantial, meaning the entire backyard is a complete mess. However, since that's where Jude's pen is located, the trip to let her out twice a day still takes place regardless. A break in the weather allowed for a few photos to be taken the other day, and this first one is of the 4 compost bins that have been filled so far. With plenty of UCG's still available (in the clear bags in front of the bins), layering the remaining 2 bins to the right should take place once their contents have been removed. Man, I dread it - because it's hard to hold a dogfood bag open, then place a shovelful of finished compost inside. Some help would certainly be nice, but that's not about to happen.....

Photo below - At my place of employment, a guy spends a little time each day cleaning up the "back forty", and was about to put some special pallets into the large dumpster headed to the area landfill the other day. Well, a quick glance revealed to me that these were no ordinary pallets. On top of each was a shallow "box" that was created by butting pieces of thin, galvanized angle iron - then nailing them to the pallet. The original design was intended to keep a box of some kind from shifting during transit, but I knew what my intentions were...ha! So, I asked the guy to load them into the back of Big Red, and they went home with EG. A new work table for outside will eventually come from the steel next spring - especially since there's already a little stick welder on hand. I'll have to post some pics of it for Kris, but not of me knocking myself in the head with it. Ha!

I also got around to installing a couple of wheels and tires onto one of the coldframes, so that relocating it wouldn't cause any stress on my problematic back. Oh yeah, i'm sure it looks pretty funny, but just had to raise one end - then roll it wherever I wanted. Some detachable handles will be added later on for easier maneuvering, because it was not the easiest thing to steer with nothing in place. The axles will need to be cutoff some too, and of course flat washers with cotter pins installed, also.

Once in place, about 2-3" of homemade compost was layered inside, then carrot and napa cabbage seeds sown. (Napa cabbage seeds shared by Thomas) This should provide something from the garden when the other things have completely played out, and also give me a reason to go out there everyday during the months of February and March of next year.

In other news, my (almost) 77 year old Daddy (that's what we call our fathers in the deep south) has recently shown a great interest in sharing stories from his childhood, and what it was like to grow up in such hard times. He was born in 1934, and as you can imagine - times were brutal. Anyway, I have created a blog for him to record everything with, so that us children (4) and his grandchildren (5) can read about his experiences for years to come. It's sole purpose is for keeping in touch with memories of where we came from, and in no way would I ask you to read - or even follow it. To make it easy on his part, I am the administrator of the site, and correct any grammatical errors before anything is posted. (I think he needs a new keyboard or something, because his drafts have capital letters all over the place!) Anyway, if you would enjoy hearing stories about life in rural Alabama during this period of time, then I encourage you to read some of his entries. You'll quickly realize that we take alot for granted these days, and might even learn a thing or two. Anyway, the site is Accounts from my life, and you're welcome to visit it. I'll have to remember to put some old pictures on there later, too......

Well, that's about it for today, take care, and happy gardening!

EG