It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

1. Digging up Scouring Rush from the ditch and planting it on our property.

Close to my roses.

Let me tell you, these babies spread prolifically! They were starting to invade the rose bed so Ma had to DO something. The first mild-mannered attempt at control--popping them off at the base--merely produced 5 or 6 new shoots from the original stem.

Okay then. We know THAT doesn't work.

I decided it was time to get tough. As in poison. ROUND-UP poison.

Of course, it being the end of summer (several weeks ago), and Wal*Mart being at least 4 months ahead of real time (I expect the spring couture at any moment), they no longer stocked what I wanted.

To their credit, they had a few clearance items that included poison ivy specific Round-Up. Said it was good for "invasive" plants. It was beginning to sound almost appropriate.

So today, after literally weeks of sloth and potato chip decadence, I managed to don my work cloths, even remembering where they WERE, so I could accomplish donnage.

Taking my trusty pruning shears, I nipped off each trespassing reed, then squirted 3 or 4 good doses of poison, right down the ol' gullet, as it were.

Pretty satisfying, all in all.
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2. Cutting herbish sprigs, and then hanging them up to dry, in the kitchen. My friend, Vici Tyson does this, though I gotta admit, it looks a whole lot better hanging from their rough hewn beams than the goofy, heart-shaped knick-knack beside my stove.

Dried parsley is supposed to be green, right? Well, mine is turning yellow, with definite leanings toward burnt umber.

And when you sniff it, there's a distinct odor of stinky socks. I don't recall smelling this when I open a bottle of dried parsley from the store. Maybe they dye the stuff, I don't know...
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In other news, our land-line phone seems to be fixed! We'd noticed that every time it rained, things got dicey. A partial ring, and then nothing. Basically, no calls were getting through. I could have been offered a book deal and we never would have known, ha, ha.

The magic man from Quest came by, in his magic van, sporting his magic tools. Besides a short near our place, there was a terminal box down the road that had a few issues. A mouse had gotten inside and chewed away some of the insulation, so that every time it rained, a short occurred down there, as well.

Just one of the many perks of livin' in the country. The excitement never ends.

Sometimes, it never begins, either.
 

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