Bitter Cold A-Coming

     Last week we had record breaking or near warm temperatures here in Mississippi. This after just a few weeks prior record snowfall! Now the temperature is dropping like a paralyzed falcon and for New Year's Eve and day are supposed to have a "Wintery mix" of precipitation, freezing cold... Eve, low in the 20's or teens high of 34 Day and a deep freezing low that night. Into the low twenties if not teens again.
     We should be selling lots of soup at the grocery where I work... Hey! And it's on sale too!

     The best thing I can thank God for is that I should be the only member of my family out on the road during the less than pleasant weather. I lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado for six years so I know the main rule to driving on icy roads. That being: Think fast but drive slow!
     And I did go into my closet and pulled out my long drawers. Being a skinny old man, in 20 degree weather my butt cheeks would start chattering without them!

     Looking out my back window right now the low air is clear of the fog we have recently had but the sky is completely white with clouds, not a ray of Sunshine in sight.
    I'm just now praying that anybody who wants to stock up on vittles goes now and gets their dumb butts off the road and stays home unless they have an emergency... and then call 911!

The Book Of Romans

     Some of you who have visited my blog before probably know that I've been reading my Bible as of late. A few months ago while leaving the tool store I saw some folks giving away King James Bibles, got one and began reading Psalms, then went back and started "In the beginning..." reading Genesis. A month or so later, my Jehovah's Witnesses friends stopped by and after a brief chat they gave me The New World Translation Of The Holy Scriptures. It's just a more modern translation without all the  "thine, thee & therefore" which makes the KLV a little difficult for dummies like me to understand. I do keep a KJV in the car along with my New World just because some things I want to cross reference.

     To make a long story short, I am now reading the book of Romans in the New Testament. To show how little I knew about the Bible at age 58, I thought the book of Romans would be about the Romans still persecuting the Jews and especially Christians and beating them up.
     Yes, I did think this would be a rather odd subject to have in any religion's holy texts. It turns out that the full title of the book is The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans. A side note to anyone less learned in the Bible than I am,  Epistles aren't the wives of the Apostles.. Epistle is a fancy old word for a letter. Sorry, that was a cheesy joke, but I did hear a preacher on TV tell it first.

     Speaking of TV preachers, I do watch several quite often and others on occasion and have heard most if not all say we shouldn't but they do have favorite books of the Bible. Most all name The Gospel According to John.as either their personal favorite or as at least one of the best places to start a Bible reading or study. As much as I enjoy John, the Gospel of Luke has the Christmas story we all (or most) grew up hearing. That never gets old for me.  In the Old Testament I thought the Book of Lamentations by its name alone would be the children of Israel weeping, moaning and complaining to God for their sufferings. Surprise to me and perhaps you, it is absolutely beautiful! That said, I am presently about in the middle of Romans and can wholeheartedly suggest that any time you don't feel God's love or his presence near you it is a book to turn to.

     Always remember I love you. So much more importantly, God loves you!

Christmas Lights/ Winter Songs

     This year I actually did put up Christmas lights for the first time in some 20 years and remembered why I didn't for 2 decades. Yes, I will most likely be one of those rednecks who leave the lights up all year long!
   
     My bill paying workplace started playing what I call "Winter songs "just after Thanksgiving. You know, the songs about snow men, rein deer... nothing about the birth of the Christ child.

    As a veteran and redneck I bought red, white and blue lights but it really doesn't matter what if any lights we decorate our homes with.

     It's all about the one light. The light of the world.

     JESUS, the CHRIST

363 Days And "Lost Years"

     Here in Mississippi we have what we call either  "Sunday morning Baptists" or "back row Baptists". If you don't know what that mean, it's the one who show up in Church on Sunday to pay their guilt offering while sitting in the back row with Saturday night still on their breath.
     Don't get me wrong here now. I am not in any way judging those folks. But I was watching a preacher on TV today who mentioned 2 day Christians and I wanted to share his message with y'all.
He wasn't judging anybody but, I think, encouraging everybody. He said in his area he has a lot of once a week Christians but he also has a lot of twice a year Christians. Those who celebrate Christmas and Easter. The birth of Christ and His resurrection.

     That leaves 363 days a year (364 on leap year) to do what?

     To celebrate the life of Jesus!

     The so called "lost years"of Jesus's life aren't lost to anybody with at least a half a brain. He lived in an area controlled by Rome. His father was a carpenter or some translations say "craftsman" . In the area around the Sea of Galilee fishing was an important part of  the diet and economy so Jesus probably fished. Doesn't it make sense that He knew the Apostles or had at least met some if not all of them before He called them to follow Him?

     "The Lost Years"? At the wedding, Jesus told His mother, "My time is not yet come".
So why no mention in the Gospels of those 30 odd years of His life? Because He was becoming the man to fulfill the prophesies.
     Pretty simple, isn't it?

     So more than just Christmas and Easter celebrate His birth and resurrection. More than just every or the occasional Sunday go to Church... Each and every day let us celebrate the life of Jesus!

Happy Christmas 2017

     It's almost December 26, the day after Christmas but I've finally gotten to my Christmas post. I do have a Father Christmas outfit that I had planned to wear when out and about the week of Christmas but every morning save Christmas eve morning we had rain, I opted not to wear the outfit in the rain and get the faux fur trim all sloppy but the one morning I was able to wear it I was surprised at how many people I was able to make smile and holler, "Merry Christmas!"
 All except one dumb ass who said is I had a pointy hat I'd look like "the Grand Poobah" of the KKK. And I thought I was a redneck! I can only assume he'd never heard of nor seen pictures of the European Father Christmas.

     Anyway, this past Sunday I was invited to Mom's for vittles. She cooked a hen, tater salad, dressing, deviled eggs, etc. As usual, I made a ham. I injected it with Cajun garlic butter and cooked it with thinly sliced white taters, sweet taters and onions and mushrooms, all the veggies slathered with butter. Just for a festive touch I placed a few sprigs of fresh rosemary from my herb garden in around the whole tray. Mom and my brother, his buddy John and John's brother and I made up the whole crew and needless to say we'll all be eating leftovers for a few days. With all the food, I've had to put my beer on the back porch to keep the brews cold!

     Bella and Vlad, my Dachshund & Jack Russell Terrier gave me a present Christmas morning. A female field mouse made the bad decision to show herself in the kitchen. I heard Bella's jaws clamp down like a snap trap. Vlad got in on the kill but Bella was the main instrument of death. Once I got the critter away and chucked out, Bella and Vlad each got a reward n the form of a doggie biscuit.

     The temperature here has fluctuated crazily as of late, doing a swing of some 50 degrees F. We've had some rain but are still behind normal for this time of year. And we have had fog! The other morning when I got home and was giving thanks I, without thinking, said thanks to God it was only fog and not smoke like in California. The Thomas fire (the largest now going on among several) has gone from 4th to 3rd to #1 largest in that state's history in a week or so.

     Anyway, that's about all the news from here. God bless you all and remember the reason for the Season. It's not about a fat man in a red suit, a reindeer with a genetic defect or a snow man.
     It's about the greatest gift of all... The birth of a child in a barn who was laid in a feed trough for his bed. The gift of God's love to us all; His Son, Jesus Christ.

Fat / Hungry Kids In America

     I must admit that I am confused about kids in America, especially their diets.
Almost daily I see ads wanting people to feed the hungry kids, saying 1 in 6 go to bed hungry. Just last week I was a special report on the news that an estimated 65% of kids in the USA will become obese by age 35.
     Now, my math isn't great but 65% is close to 2 out of 3, right? Two out of three is four out of six. So out of every 6 kids in America: one is hungry and 4 are on the fast lane to obesity. So only one out of every kid is eating a healthy diet.

     I feel for the kids in Africa, Asia, India and all the world over who starve. But we here in America must do better for our own kids first. Parents, don't give in to your kids when they ask for all the crappy junk food. Look at them with an honest eye and ask yourself, "Is my kid getting a healthy diet?"
     Fast food is okay every once in a while but real home cooked food is what makes us real. Take the time to cook a real meal. I know....it takes time that you say you don't have. But aren't your kids worth the time and effort? The kiddos will not only get better nutrition form a home cooked meal but they will, more importantly, feel your love. You took the time to prepare a meal for them instead of just grabbing a burger from the drive through.

     It is true that I do not have children (fruit of my loins) to call my own. But if I did (and  still have hope God will give me rug rats if it's His will) I would spare no expense in money nor time to provide the very best for them.

Big Screen & Tiny Speaker

     I've been seeing many ads on TV for big screen televisions and decided I wanted a 55'  for my living room. Finally I saw an ad for a store just over a half mile away for a 55" for $299.00 + tax. I called to make sure they had the unit in stock and in less than 10 minutes was there at the store to pick up my big, bad boy TV.
     I'd already decided to put the TV on my mantle but after installing the feet found that the feet stuck over the mantle creating a rather unstable base. Being the crafty redneck that I am, I went to the storage building and woodpile for a remedy.  I found a 4" x 2" piece or particle board which I cut to 4 x 2 which was all I needed for a platform. Then to the woodpile where I found rustic braces which I like. Nothing more or less that a pair of about 2.5" diameter branches became the legs for my new redneck TV stand.

     The only thing that gets me is this... A television with a 55" screen has but a what sounds like a perhaps 1.5" speaker. So I have a ringside or 50 yard line  seat for when I watch wrestling or football but "nose bleed seats"  sound.
     I've an old set of 5 way surround sound speakers that I used years ago but have yet to hook up since I moved. Maybe I'll dig them out and see if they'll  hook up to my new big screen.

The President Is Coming To Mississippi

     President Donald Trump is supposed to come to Mississippi tomorrow for the opening of two museums in Jackson. . One is the Civil Rights Museum and many are saying they will either boycott his appearance if not show up in protest.

     Let me pose this question to all you who plan to boycott and/or protest....
     Are you or are you not showing the very same intolerance and/or hatred you claim to stand for?

     I'm just a redneck but I love (or try really hard to) everybody. I don't care what color your skin is. Your religion doesn't matter to me. As I see it, we are all God's children.
     Love him or hate his guts, Donald Trump is out President, Commander In Chief. If you cannot respect the man, respect the office he holds. I served 12 years in the U.S. military, some under CIC's I didn't agree with. But I always respected the office and the man who held it, no matter what I felt about the man as a person.

     How can you expect you to respect me if I don't show you respect?

Vacation, Snow & Field Mice

     Last week I was on vacation from my paying job and most else as well The only few not included were getting things done in the back yard and attempting to get my solar powered lights positioned to actually get some solar power.
     I got my (2) 10' x 17' portable garages completed all save installing the anchors. Somehow, I managed to get my 5 remaining vacation days, my 2 personal days and my 2 regular nights off all in a row for a total of 11 nights straight and it was glorious!

     I was picking green and ripe tomatoes & peppers from my washtub & barrel gardens, Mom's plum trees had not only flowers but a green plum in early December.

     The only down side was my brother and his mental illness. Kids, He ain't doing well at all so I ask you all to pray if you have 'em. The Doctors still can't agree what's ailing him. It seems at times he's got dementia, bipolar disorder and just... I don't know what else.


    I could have not asked for better weather for 90% of my vacation. For about 9 days we had sunshine, high temps in the 70's. The last couple of days we had fog roll in and things chilled down. Today, Friday, December 8 we had a Winter storm blow in, temps in the freezing range and right about 4" of snow!
     I'm just praying that the temps will get high enough that all the wet will burn off so I don't have to  drive to work tonight on icy roads. I spent some 6 years in Colorado so I know how to drive in snow and on ice. The only ugly thing is 99.9% of Mississippians do not!

     Others who don't seem to enjoy the drop in temperature are the field mice. They have invaded my home again. While I do have another pair of glue boards that I'll set tonight, I'll be getting more tomorrow and officially declare war upon them.

Shady Solar

     What a difference a few months ban bring in the amount of Sunlight one area receives! During the Summer my back yard is almost constantly from Sunrise to Sunset being baked in the solar light. Now it is almost always in the shade from my neighbors' trees.
     The east side of my house faces the street and I have one huge oak at the Southeast corner which all by itself is making placement of the solar spotlights in the front yard tricky. My fruit trees that I planted; one each apple, pear, Meyer lemon and olive are small enough still not to affect the Sunlight scheme at all. In the back yard my neighbors to the South, North and West all have large oaks and the Southwest corner has pines I'd estimate at being no less than 100' tall. So during the Winter I'll be hard pressed to find enough hours of Sunlight to charge the batteries of my solar powered lights in the back yard. Once we swing into Spring I expect the situation to change dramatically and I'll have plenty of Sunlight I'll try a few times to place the lights where they'll have at least some chance of charging but I believe my best hope will be for some of the neighbors' trees to come down.
     Meanwhile, I'll do the best I can with what solar energy I do get in regards to placing the lights. Perhaps when the oaks lose their leaves I'll get better results.
   
     Only time will tell.

Thanksgiving Day @ Mom's

     Yesterday I went down to Mom's for Thanksgiving and it was a mixed bag. Being with Mom and spending time with her and my brother was good but my brother's Alzheimer's is eating him up, aging him well beyond his years. He's never been known for a great attention span nor regard for the feelings of others but he is rapidly becoming your stereotypical grumpy old man.
     The most disturbing thing to me is his inability to see how some of his words to Mom hurt her feelings. We realize he doesn't mean to be mean or rude so we just try to accept that he he can't help himself sometimes.

     Enough of the not so good, onto the good stuff. Mom cooked a turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet taters, tater salad, corn & rice & cheese casserole, peas and opened a can of jellied cranberry sauce.
The ham that I bought had a packet of glaze with it but when I read the list of ingredients I saw stuff I couldn't pronounce nor had any idea what they were. So I just covered the ham with foil and put it n the oven at 275 for an hour then slathered it with plain honey and put it back in for another half hour. It turned out quite well for my first bone in spiral sliced ham.
   
     My electric carving knife worked like a champ! I carved up the bird and took the meat off the ham bone as if I knew what I was doing. For years I watched people using the electric carvers and thought the whole idea and process silly. Had I only known I would have bought one myself 20 years ago.

Thnksgiving Day Eve

     Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in the US of A and I'll be heading over to Mama's house as per usual.

     Allow me to stand on my soap box and preach a moment if you don't mind. It seems to me that Thanksgiving day has become sort of an overlooked holiday. It's the bastard child between Halloween and Christmas. So many decorate for Halloween and Christmas but Thanksgiving gets lost in the shuffle. The true meaning behind the day gets overlooked, doesn't it?  True, it's a time many of us get together with family members we really don't like, but for what?  To watch NFL football games between teams we otherwise wouldn't watch ? Or to gorge ourselves into a food induced coma?
     Or to give thanks to God Almighty who provides all we need?

     That said, I talked to Mama on the phone t'other day regarding the menu feast and she said she was expecting about eight folks to show. First thing I suggested was as I work in a grocery store
ore that offers for sale, the whole meal deal, I would order and pay for the whole shebang. Well, Mom shot that down as she was already getting the bird ready along with several sides. I then came up with, I could bring plastic forks, spoons, plates, cups so she would have to do dishes. Shot down again when she said, and I quote, "Mama don't do that on Thanksgiving".

     I was at my wit's end trying to figure out what I could do to help Mom out when Crazy Mike at work asked me about my Thanksgiving Day plans. I told him what all Mom was fixing and he asked about ham.  Last minute shopping got us a 7.93 pound, spiral sliced ham. I reckoned a near 8 pound hunk of hog's butt (minus the bone) and along with all the other vittles would be plenty for a sammich or 3 for everybody later.

     This morning (that is, Wednesday) I got a call from Mom and she said 5 of the 8 had come up with other plans so we're looking at dinner for 8 to try to be et by 3. Mom, my brother and myself.

     One last note. Last year Mom asked me to carve the turkey but the sharpest knife she could find was a wee paring knife. If you've ever (or never) tried carving a turkey with a paring knife, it's akin to my moving that truckload of sand I had delivered  with my shovel and wheelbarrow. Progress is SLOW!
     But I got what my friend, Gail calls "a God hug". It's when you see something you didn't know you needed or wanted but when you see it, it's a "Voila!" moment. I wasn't thinking about last year's carving ordeal nor how to make this year's easier but I passed a display of electric carving knives. It was once loaded with knives but was down to maybe 5 or 6 on sale for a mere $9.99. Needless to say, I stashed one and as I was making my last minute Thanksgiving Day purchases I passed by the display... it was empty! Had I not stashed mine I would have missed out.


     One last thing, if I may?  Thanksgiving.... Thanks giving.....Giving Thanks. Not only for the food we eat each day (our daily bread) but for everything God gives us each and every day, When Jesus broke the bread at His last Passover "And He took the bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying, "This is my body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me"

Give thanks to Him who deserves all our thanks. Remember the challenge of taxes? Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's.

Render unto God that which is God's......... LOVE!

Spotlights Received & Installed

     I received my solar powered LED spotlights the other day and wasted no time in installing the same. It's gonna take a bit of fine tuning to get them located where they'll get enough sunlight to keep the lit all night and pointed to where I exactly want them shining.
     The main thing is now I have a little light more or less where I wished and a little is better than none.

    Actually I need more AC (Alternating Current, not Air Conditioning) outlets around back and at least one out front. The only means I presently have of getting power to the back is one dual outlet and zero outlets in front.  There is a motion detector style spotlight by the side door (which is my main entrance) but it doesn't work.  I'll be on a week's vacation next week or the one after. I'm praying for the weather to cooperate so maybe I can climb my ladder and slap my meter on it with hopes of locating the malfunction and making repairs.

     To make a long story short, I just want more lights around my home.  There's a street light at the Northeast corner of the property, at the street (duh, at the street) but it doesn't put light where I want it.

    Perhaps after Christmas I can pick up Christmas lights on sale or at my favorite shopping place: curbside!

     Meanwhile, I continue to try to do the most with the least. It's not that I cannot afford to buy stuff (at full price) it's that I simply prefer not to when I can wait and get it for less. And as always with curb shopping I can possibly get it free for the hauling.

R.I.P. , Little Emily

     At my previous job I worked with two ladies named Emily. One was a "larger" lady near my age whom we just called "Emily". The other was a wee one we called "Little Emily". Little Emily was one some call  "Goth" or some other term for young uns who are into tattoos, piercings, and/or wearing black clothing and/or heavy mascara and such as all that. I'm sure you all know what I mean.
     I always thought Little Emily was rather off in left field with her manner of dress and all. I'm rather certain she thought I was a bit of an oddball, wearing either overalls or camouflage.
     We did share a particular bond, however, as we had the same birthday so we loved each other despite our differences.

     By now, most of you have noticed most of my references to Little E are in the past tense.

     I just learned today that Little E committed suicide yesterday. I knew she had been into drugs and was having problems therewith but I never expected this.  It's still hard for me to grasp that she's gone. I'll be trying to contact her ex husband and her parents to let them know that she and they are in my deepest prayers.

     I really wish I had something pleasant to share with you all, but today I simply do not. We, yes I do now that I think on it. No matter how bad you think things are for you, remember that all the bad thoughts you have are put there by Satan, the great liar and deceiver. Our Father, God, Jehovah loves you and me no matter what we've done. He sent his son, Yeshua (Jesus) to pay for our sins. We don't have to pay for our sins as Jesus paid already for them in full.

Waste Not, Want Not

     I do enjoy making my own bread and pasta and I hate wasting anything.
So what do I do when  drain the water off of a can of canned beans, beets or any other canned veggies? I pour it into a quart jar and put it into the refrigerator until I need water in a recipe. I figure that water that the canned veg has more nutrients and vitamins than tap water does so why not use it and get all the good out or our dollar spent?

    I very seldom buy canned fruits but if you do, why not save and use that juice in your cake, cookie and other sweet cooking? A friend of mine who bakes a lot of cakes uses the juice from canned pineapple to add moisture and flavor to pineapple cake. instead of pouring it down the drain

     We paid as much for the juice and/or water as we did for the fruit and/or veg in the can. Why pour the juice/water down the drain?

     Not long ago, I had canned beets and saved the juice thereof. Next time I have any other canned veg, I can add that water to my jar of otherwise wasted goodness. As so on. I can either use it as I get it or save it until I have enough to make a batch of veggie infused pasta or bread.

     All I am saying her is this....We paid as much for the water in the can as we did  for the veg or fruit. Don't pour the juice down the drain. It still has good stuff in it. We have room in our fridge for a quart jar to save the probably best part of canned goods! Don't we?

Tomatoes, Okra & Cold frames

     I'm still harvesting green tomatoes here and they are wonderful & delicious fried. I can't believe my best tomato harvest of the year is green ones in November!
   
     I am also still bringing in okra seed for next Spring. I've harvested almost a quart and a half of seeds and have more ripening on the stalk. By the end of picking and such I expect to have a quart and 3/4 if not 2 whole quarts. If there are any like me who waited last year until all the seeds sold out of the stores, I just may become the okra seed Baron if my area!

     It's still too warm to actually install my cold frames but I have them set up and in place for when Winter does arrive. For some reason, I cannot seem to grow a head of lettuce nor any member of the cabbage family: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc... greens just don't seem to work for me, at least not yet. Perhaps I'll have better results in Winter.

     My yard, especially the back yard when walking around is like the dark side of the Moon except covered in grass. By that I mean that there are so many craters ans uneven areas. Many I believe are caused by the rotting stumps of pine trees that my neighbors tell me once lived here.
     Come Spring I'll be ordering a truckload of what the lady at the company calls "brown dirt".  I reckon that's just what she says it is... dirt! Anyway,  it'll fill in (hopefully) all the holes and I can more or less level out the yard and make a better garden for years to come.

Field Mice & Outdoor Lights

     It seems with the cooler weather coming in, the field mice are reappearing in my home. I've already caught a trio on glue boards in the past week or so. I'll be purchasing more boards in the near future as well as resetting all my snap traps.

     I'm thinking that one of the reasons I have mice coming in is the lack of light in my yard, especially in the back.It seems the folks who owned my home before I bought it didn't spend much if any time in the back yard after the Sun went down. The back of my house is shaped like the letter "L" and the only light is right by the back door which is in the crotch of the "L" so there is zero light back there much past the back door itself, even past the edge of the deck is darkness. It's like my late Dad called, "Black as Cody's ass". I don't know who Cody was but seems he had a black ass.
     Now I enjoy being outdoors as long as it isn't what I call "Ass Biting Cold" or "ABC" for short. I have only one dual outlet for electricity on the entire back side of my house and none on the front. There is a single bulb light on my front porch but it casts little light there.
     Rather than run extension cords all across the front and back yards I have opted for the most safe and I believe logical alternative, solar lighting. Tonight I went online and ordered five each 2 piece solar powered spotlights so within the next week or so I should have myself 10 lights in total.  The first pair will be in the front yard, one each aimed at my front door and one at the side door. In the back yard I plan for one aimed towards the back door, one at the gate nearest. One towards the Northeast corner and another towards my storage building Four down and 6 to go...
   
      I'm fairly certain that most of the vermin are entering my property from the West side,  a some 90' border. On the other side of my fence is as wilderness of overgrown shrubbery and briers that I fight a never ending battle trying to keep to a minimal amount of encroachment onto my land. I spray, lop, prune but the weeds and other assorted unwanted flora return bringing with them undesirable fauna.
     The critters most likely invade under cover of darkness so I'll use the last 6 lights to light up that fence line like Time's Square in New York City!

     I tried talking to the folks that own the property back there a while back but they wouldn't answer the door nor reply to notes I left asking them to call me. I may try knocking again to ask if I can cut some of the crap down and hopefully make it more difficult for the critters to pass to and fro.

     I'll keep posting re: lights, mice, etc.
     Love and Shalom to all,
     Merlin

Malachi 4:6

      I'm still reading my Bible (more or less) daily and have recently finished the Old Testament and gotten into the New.

     For those unfamiliar with the last verse of the Old Testament (King James Version)  Malachi 4:6 says: "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

     I am by no means trying to claim to be a Rabbi, Pastor, Preacher, Bishop nor even anyone who can quote book, chapter and verse of the Bible to anyone. The only one who knows me better than I do that is the Lord Himself.

     Let me say this if I may:
     No matter what troubles you, no matter what ill comes your way, be it sickness, finances, family, anything. Put it  in God's hands.
     I heard a preacher on TV the other day say more or less "Jesus paid the price for our  (MY)  sins. If I keep worrying  that means I don't believe Jesus' blood was price enough to be paid".
     Jesus paid the price for our (MY) sins. All we have to do is believe in Him and God's grace. There is noting we can do to earn our heavenly Father's love and grace. Jesus died for us. He paid the price of sin for us. All we have to do is love the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit... and each other!

Fried Green Tomatoes, Now?

     By my count it's a mere 10 days from Thanksgiving Day and I'm  fetching in fresh off the vine green tomatoes from my barrel gardens to fry. If you've never had a fried green tomato, you are truly missing out on something special! The thing that blows my socks off is this. Green  tomato season is normally late Spring to early Summer when tomatoes are just (normally) getting large but still green. My large (frying size variety) maters are just now getting to the pick and fry stage.

     I'll not complain. While I did have to wait an extra few months to fry me some green tomatoes, they will be extra special. All good things come to those who wait. Not many get fresh home grown fried green maters on their Thanksgiving table!

Veterans' Day

     We recently celebrated Veterans' day here in the good old US of A. I am proud to say that I am a veteran of our armed forces. I did 5 years active duty US Air Force, 4 US Naval Reserves and 3 US Army National Guard.

     To all my brothers and sisters, active duty, retired, discharged, whatever... I love you all!
I never saw any action other than a few bar fights in Bossier City, Louisiana. My active duty years were 1977 - 1982, just after the Vietnam War and military personnel were not very popular among nor appreciated by the local civilian populace. But I'm not complaining, just stating the facts.
     It does my heart good to see America honoring her fighting men and women once again, as she should.

     I don't feel in my heart that you have to agree with our country's policies, foreign or domestic to love our country. But if you do or don't, you should respect and love the brave young men and women who put their lives on the line 24/7 so you can sleep peacefully and in comfort.

     Here's a challenge for any and all who have ever spat upon or yelled at a service man or woman returning home from a conflict overseas...     Buy the best sleeping bag and tent your money can buy. Get the best camping stove and food you can cook on it. Now, go out in your back yard and spend a weekend. How many of you can take 48 hours without the comforts of home?

     When I was in the Army National Guard, we went to camp Shelby, Mississippi for our 2 weeks a year. After I'd been discharged for a while I saw a report on the news that some honcho from the state penal system visited and said that the conditions there would be declared unsuitable for criminals to be incarcerated there.
     What? Criminals deserve better conditions than soldiers? Soldiers volunteered to protect you and me. Criminals are those here at home we need protecting against!

     I'll get off my soap box and quit screeching now.
   
   

Portable Carports

     Some of you may recall a while back I bought a pair of 6' x 6' greenhouses. Well, recently I saw an ad for a 10' x 17' portable garage. Me being the inept computer operator that I am, I mashed the "order" button twice and ordered 2 of them! Oops!
     It seems the good Lord was watching over me as He always does. My yard & garden equipment that I wanted to protect from the elements filled one pretty much up so I have the other set up as my sanctuary where I can go when I need an uncluttered area, out of the elements to go clear my mind and talk to God.
     I still need to cinch down the straps, batten down the hatches and such but the pair of  10' x 17' structures went up amazingly more easily than the 6' x 6' duo did. Admittedly, the covers did blow off a few times before I managed to install temporary tie downs but there was no damage done. All I had to do was hoist the covers back into position.
     I have several 20' x 20' blue tarps that I'm thinking of using to cover the 10' x 17's just as an added layer of protection and insulation (one blue 20' x 20' per).

     All things considered, I believe things are going to work out just fine with my new (and improved via red neck improvising) structures.

     As per usual, it was an ordeal for me to get onto this here blog page to share this with y'all so you better enjoy it! LOL
   
     Love always,
     Merlin

Secrets & Sales

     First thing is "secrets" in the trash tabloids. It seems more than stupid to me when I see that tabloid headlines of So and so had a "secret" wedding, baby or whatever.
     If it was such a secret, how did it make front page news in the tabloids?

     Second is "sales". As I do work at a grocery store, I see so many ads saying "up to".....Most say "up to" 99% cleaner or faster or whatever. I never see any stating "No less than".
   
     So isn't saying, "Up to"- he same as saying, "We're no worse than"?

Send The Sea Bees To Puerto Rico

     Watching the news after the hurricane in Puerto Rico I see most of the island still doesn't have electricity. Some piss ant company, I think, out of Montana? got a multi million dollar contract to restore power there and from what I see on the news are doing a less than fantastic job.

     My solution is too simple to be put in action. Back in the mid to late 1980's I was in the U.S. Naval Reserves as a  "Fighting Sea Bee". Sea Bee is Navy speak for C B or Construction Battalion.
     We have hundreds, if not thousands of Sea Bees in the Reserves and/or Navy Guard who want and need real life training.
     The Sea Bee motto is, "We build, We fight!"

     Instead of spending millions on inept civilian contractors, why not spend our tax dollars training our military men and women to do the jobs we pay them to do? Send the Sea Bees and/or the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild Puerto Rico's infrastructure? Puerto Rico gets their lives rebuilt faster and our military gets hands on traning?

Garden Things

     Hard Okra:
I mentioned earlier how difficult (nigh impossible) it was to find a packet of okra seed late in the okra season last Spring To avoid such this coming Spring I decided to let my first okra go to seed. Bad idea on my part. I had plenty of small okra pods on my plants just the other week so I harvested what we refer to as a "mess" of them. Kids, they boiled up like a pot full of  hickory sticks!
     I reckon the lesson I learned is to harvest eating okra early and make seed from later pods.
The one good thing is that I've almost a quart of seeds already for next season and plenty to share with anyone who waits until the stores sell out.

      My other "garden thing" is all the dried out okra pods and other things I would normally just toss into my compost buckets have found a new process that makes them easier to break down. It is so simple that I am surprised hat I never thought of it before yet it makes the breakdown process so much faster. I set one small section of my back yard apart and every week or so I toss my soon to be compost there. Then I run it over with my lawn mower (with a bagger)... Then it goes into my compost buckets. The compostables then break down so much faster.

    If you compost, try it! You'll love it!

Halloweed ?

     Just before Halloween I saw a news report of people putting marijuana laced candy in kid's Halloween candy sacks. Now I'll be brutally honest here. Back in the day, I would have loved me some pot laced candy but here and now in 2017 I was shocked to see that there is actually pot laced candy for sale (I don't know where, nor do I care to know) but it's out there and looks nearly like normal chocolate bars!
     It's probably too late for this heads up for this Halloween, but all you parents out there PLEASE check all the candy your kiddos bring home!

     I remember back when I was trick or treating, we'd get homemade candy apples and popcorn balls. We'd gobble them down with nary a care in the world.

     It is a totally different world we live in nowadays. I reckon all I can say is hope for the best in people but always beware of them you don't know.
   

Why Me, Lord?

      I have no idea why, but it seems when I have more than just one thing I want to share with y'all it takes me a week or more to be able to get onto my blog. Maybe it's just God's way of seeing how badly I want to share.
     Anyway, I finally got back here and have several things to pass along from a bit past Halloween.
 I'll be posting them in order as I remember them.

Finally Using My Metal Detector

     A few years back I bought a metal detector @ half price clearance sale at that store everybody in the USA claims to hate but shops at almost religiously, you know the one I mean. I thought I would use it at city parks and such to see could I find lost jewelry, coins, et cetera. Long story short, it got set aside and pretty much forgotten until a few days ago.

     I went out to do a bit of mowing in my back yard the other day and had scarcely gone 40 feet when my mower keeled over and died. A quick check revealed that a bolt that holds the handle to the body had fallen out. On my mower, the handle must be fully extended and locked for the motor to run. Without this bolt in place, my handle was neither fully extended nor locked.
     I knew it was futile, but I attempted a visual search  and ended up  taking the bolt from the opposite side and hitting  the road searching for a replacement. After 2 hardware stores and 1 lawn mower parts house I came home empty handed.

     Then came my "eureka"  moment... my metal detector! I knew I had one but the grand question was "where?"..... It took me a couple of days to locate the little device and you guessed it, the batteries were as dead as dead could be.
     The machine requires 2 each 9 volt batteries so I bought 4. Hey! That's the way I roll! If I need 2 now, I buy 4 so I'll be ready next time.

     Anyway, to make a short story long, I slapped the new batteries in, calibrated my detector using a bolt of near the same size and went out searching. It took longer to replace the batteries than it did to find the bolt. I did pick up a lot of small "trash" signals which makes me think... how many tons of assorted metals are in my back (and/or front) yard? I'm sure there is a piss pot full of scrap such as nails, beer cans. I've found a plenty of that by visual only. Believe it or not, I have even found rail road spikes, which it rather freakish considering I worked a few years for a rail road repair company.
I pulled and drove my share of rail road spikes, believe me.

     I'll continue scanning the yard with the metal detector just because I am a curious sort of geezer and who knows? Perhaps some day I'll actually get my old butt out to the parks and such to see if I can find a fortune!

77 To 57 & Vlad Going Crazy

     Today's high temp is supposed to be 77 F and tomorrow's is forecast to be a mere 55 F, a 20 degree drop in 24 hours., more or less as a high. After almost 3 months of near high record temperatures, we're expecting our frsrt frost of the year this coming Sunday morning.

     Yesterday late morning I was parked on the sofa, watching the idiot box when my boy , Vlad the Jack Russell terrier came running in yapping and doing his "crazy dance". I asked him what he wanted, he answered but as usual I didn't understand what he was saying. First guess, I fed him and Bella, my Dachshund and they were happy for  moment. Then Vlad came back dancing and telling me something which I again didn't understand. I filled their water bowl and again they were content... for a moment.
     Later when I went to take some clothes off the "redneck dryer" aka clothes line, Vlad waited until I got to the line then jetted past me as if he'd been shot from a cannon!
     That's when I knew he was feeling the season, that the heat wave was past and he was ready to run crazy! He would run crazy past me and I would call to him

, "Run crazy, boy!" and to Bella, "Run crazy, Get Vlad!"
     After about 10 minutes or so, I'd had enough of running crazy so I called them in.
It was no more than 2 minutes after we came in I looked around for Vlad and Bella and found them sacked out in bed, awaiting Papa to come lay down with them.

     It's getting a bit nippy here come evening time to sunrise so I've turned my heater/Ac unit to "heat". In the daytime, it's still comfy with doors n windows open but we need a bit of heat to sleep.

     Who knows? Maybe I'll actually begin cooking indoors soon instead of on the grill or smoker.

Almost A Heart Attack

     Five nights a week I drive past my Mom's house on my way to work and 5 mornings I drive past again on my way home.
     This morning I almost had a heart attack when I saw a fire truck parked in front of her house, lights a-flashing. First thing after I screeched my car to a halt was notice no doors were open, no lights on at Mom's. I went to the fire truck and could find no one inside. By now in a near panic state, I spotted someone on the front porch of Mom's next door neighbor's house so I scampered as briskly as possible over there. The fella there was a member of the local fire department. I said, "Hey! That's my Mom's house you're parked in front of... What the Hell is going on?"
     Turns out they were responding to a call from Mom's neighbors's house but when they arrived, a school bus was parked there so the fire truck parked in front of Mom's. Mom would have slept through all the noise had it not been for her little dog, Gracie.

     Needless to say, when I got home I fell to my knees and thanked God Almighty that my Mom and brother (who lives with her) were okay.  Then I asked Him to watch over the neighbors for whom the fire truck was actually called.

     I have called Mom and my best friend regarding the whole false alarm ordeal and then as even now telling you all about it, my heart raced as it does now.
     My brother is 60 years old and has Alzheimer's and is too blind to drive. Mom is 79 years old and is his full time care giver as his medical insurance don't cover mental, So you know in the time it took me to pass the fire truck and stop my car, 1000 worst case scenarios were put in my mind by Satan.

     All I can say, beloved children of God, when all else fails... put it in His hands. When times seem their worst remember that the children of Israel were 11 days away from the promised land when their faith failed them. Whatever happens, make use of your wilderness that He sends you though.

Tilting The Kilt

     I've always been a bit of a free spirit, you may say. I believe it was even before my teens I gave up wearing skivvies, under britches, drawers, whatever you may call them.
     Aye, I became a "free baller".

     At any rate, I believe it was late July or early August I found kilts for sale on line and ordered 5 of them. Upon first wrapping myself I was in love with the kilt. True, here in Mississippi I was attacked my fire ants, mosquitoes, assorted biting critters not to mention saw briars, poison oak, ivy and sumac... all sorts of vile flora and fauna crept up my kilt but  manned it out! And I loved it! Mowing my back yard was first then I became confident to go out front kilting.

     Now one thing comes that I cannot take in my kilt. 'Tis the cold! I'm wearing shoes in the yard and britches! No more bare foot, bare chested, kilt only outside, my loves!
I still put on the kilt of a warm afternoon indoors and who knows ? Maybe next Spring I'll sport the kilt when out shopping? Hey! Not many 58 year old men have the legs to sport in a kilt! I am by the grace of God one of the few. Now it's just up to me to go out in front of God and everybody sporting the kilt.

Used To Be Cheap

     Back in the day when I still had lots of black hair and my whiskers had color, I enjoyed foods that were less expensive than they are now. Today these cheap eats are swiftly becoming luxury items, at least to my budget.

1 Round steak:  When I was in my teens, this was considered the worst piece of a cow, about the same price as bologna which is made of whatever falls on the butcher house floor. Last time I looked it was right at $5.00 per pound. My parents would toss a couple pounds of it (round, not bologna) into a slow cooker with onions and such and serve over a bed of white rice and feed our family for near nothing. Boy, howdy! I could eat near my own weight in that!

2 Citrus: What is going on here? I know California is burning and Florida is flooding but citrus prices went ape shit before then.

3 Avocados:See # 2 above.. Avocados don't begin to ripen until they're picked so why are they now over $1.00 each?

4 Bacon: Bacon, to a redneck is a food group all unto it's own....    But $3.79 for a 12 ounce package?


     I just thought about this... why is grass fed beef so much more expensive than corn fed? Corn fed is fed corn that ranchers have to buy but grass fed eats grass that just grows. Maybe after the corn season the corn growers could let the cattle rancher have the corn stalks for the cattle to eat. If cattle won't eat it I'm sure hogs would and bring down to cost of bacon.

     One last thought regarding meat...bison were here long before cattle. Back in the 1970's there was a bit of interest in bringing back native grazers like bison.  Whatever happened to that?

     One last, last thought about meat. I'm hearing a lot about feral hogs here in the USA. Give me a dead wild hog or 2 and I'll be one happy redneck!

Harvest Ending & Planting Starting

     It's late October and I'm still bringing in green tomatoes to fry and okra seeds to store. I'll be setting up a cold frame or 2 soon and starting some starter beds for cacti inside the house.
     It's a never ending story here at Merlin's Garden trying to start a business doing things that make me happy and I can actually make some little money doing.
     While a grand dream is to be able to do this for a living, it seems Satan is always putting obstacles in my way. Now it seems one step forward and two steps back. But the Lord is always by my side and I see this time as His leading me through the wilderness. I just pray my wilderness doesn't last 40 years.
     I heard somewhere that if the children of Israel had taken a straight path it would have taken them 11 days to reach the Promised Land. Even after 40 years, after all that 1st generation had passed away, their sandals were still not worn out.

     Meanwhile, here at Merlin's Garden, I take each day as God gives me. Blessed.  Yes, some days I want to give up and cry and wallow in self pity that things ain't going my way. Instead I stand up and be joyful that things are going HIS Way.
     It's not how many time we fall that matters. It's how many time we get up.

Banking Issues

     I'm starting to think that banks and money aren't really worth all the hassle and we should just go back to the barter system.
     The Sunday before Columbus Day here, I tried to use my bank card to add air time to my cell phone. For some reason, the transaction wouldn't process. So, on my lunch break I drove across the street to the local bank branch ATM and did a balance inquiry. I almost shat upon myself when my balance was reported as $0.00 ! As soon as I got home I called and killed my card just to make sure my balance didn't go any lower. Monday was a bank holiday (Columbus Day) so it was Tuesday morning before I could actually call the bank. The nice fella there told me, "the system was probably down" for whatever reason but I did, in fact, still have my money.
     I still had to go back to the bank to fill out paperwork for a new card (which still hasn't arrived in my mail to date), an ordeal which took around 60 minutes. But I have to wonder... How many other bank customers were put through more than I was ? As in, parents needing formula for babies and such that didn't have access to funds from 12 AM Sunday to 9 AM Tuesday.

     So while awaiting my card, I'm using checks. The other day I wrote a check at the grocery store where I work. As soon as I get home, I get a call from the store saying they can't find my check. In retrospect I should have said "Not my damn problem, is it?" But nice guy that I am, I got back in the car and went back to write another check with the promise that one or the other would be reimbursed to me. I get there and my friendly cashier tells me that she'd found my check.

     How about we all go back to the barter system? I know that's not gonna happen but we can all try to make life simpler for all with just a wee bit of effort.
     One of the fellas I work with does scrapping and recycling for extra money and is seemingly doing quite well at it, by the way. His day job produces quite a bit of scrap metal, all of which he fetches to the scarp yard. Whenever I have or find some, I give it to him. In return I get to pick through whatever is in his truck for tidbits I can use for my projects.

     Give some, take some. I've found that if I make life easier on my fellow human being, life turns out easier for me as well.

Mowers

     I always though electric lawn mowers were for "Save the Planet" dweebs and geeks. Well, I am now a dweeb and/or geek. Since I moved, I have bought 2, count them, TWO gas powered mowers. I have used only ethanol free gasoline in them... Neither has lasted a full cutting season. So
I decided to try electric.  I won't mention the brand name, I'll just say that it is the ugliest shade of piss green/yellow in the world.
     I am happy with my ugly electric mower! A charge will cut either my whole front and some back or whole back and some front. No more pulling on the wretched cord for longer than I actually mow, it is SO quiet that I can actually think while I work... At first I thought about buying a spare battery so one could charge while I use the other but the battery recharges faster than I do.

     It doesn't cut a wide swath but so long as I don't let the grass get knee deep it does just fine & dandy by me. So don't be afraid of your neighbors thinking you a dweeb or geek. Consider an electric mower. Hey! My weed eater is electric and so is my chainsaw.
     Maybe I'm a 3 time dweeb and/or geek.

Hotter To Colder

     For the past few months it's been hotter than normal here. Now the little gal on the weather says next weeks we're gonna be colder than normal. I do declare, the weather is crazy, not only here but it seems world wide.

     Halloween is a mere 8 nights away and I'm frying green tomatoes from one on my washtub gardens. Also still harvesting okra pods for seed for next year,. I've filled almost two 16 ounce cups already and still have many more to gather as long as the wet weather don't come in and mildew/mold them. Last spring I was hard pressed to find even 1 packet of okra seeds. This coming Spring I should have plenty to share.

     I also last Spring planted some pineapple crowns to see could I get them to grow as well as my Mom did with hers.  She even had 1 make a pineapple a few years back! I was still living in the trailer hood but her plant got so big she threw it into the ditch behind her yard to be shed of it! But back to my plants, I have a dozen or so pineapple plants now in my living room
     I also have 3 date palm tree seedlings that are doing fair to middling. Just buy a pack of dates (with seeds, not pitted)...eat the fruit and spit the seed into a cup of dirt, add water and wait. I got all my seedlings started from the first pack of dates I bought. The grocery had some organic dates on sale that I bought along with some later dates and so far, no seedlings from them. As I recall, it takes a few weeks to almost a month to see any germination.

Growing My Own Potting Soil

     I've been growing my own potting soil here at Merlin's Garden. . I burn most of my bills and other mail which may or may not contain sensitive info hackers can use to get my money along with scraps I trim from bushes and bits & pieces from my wood working projects. To these I add my home grown scraps such as egg shells, veggie scraps and such. The main ingredients are dirt from my digging projects, dead potted plants my neighbors throw away and coffee grounds form work.

     All you need to start your own compost project is 3 buckets. Add coffee grounds, tea bags, crushed egg shells, dead flowers & such. Then dump from one bucket to the other daily, keeping 1 bucket empty.
     Before you know it, you'll have a bucket full of 100% home grown potting soil better than any store bought! Poke a few holes about 1" above the bottom of 1 bucket, add some seeds and you have your own container garden, perfect for tomatoes, eggplant or whatever makes you happiest.

Man Playing God

     In the book of Genesis it says that the Lord GOD made all the plants and animals each according to its own kind and saw that it was good. HE saw that it was good and He blessed them.

     Now we have all these genetically modified organisms or GMO's filling our grocery shelves and pantries. Heads up... If you don't see a non GMO label on the front of a package, look at the fine print on the back. So many will state, "May or may not contain genetically engineered product" or something similar.
     This is just my feelings on GMO products... God mage each plant and animal to its own kind and it was good. Man with his genetic tinkering is bringing in to being things He never intended. The famines and diseases foretold ion the Old Testament will come to pass due to man playing God. At some point (soon) all the GMO and hybrid plants and animals man has made will fail to catastrophic effect.

     Later the Bible admonishes against men wearing women's clothing and vice versa. Now again, this is just my thoughts on that. I think that the Old and New Testament writers were inspired by the Lord God, Jehovah. Inspired though they were, they did not, could not grasp the idea of trans genital changing surgery. While back in they day, there were eunuchs, I can't see anyone wanting to be eunuchized (I just made that word up). The Lord God made man and woman, man made eunochs...
Genesis 1:31 King James Version... "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good". .... Let me repeat that.... "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, IT WAS VERY GOOD"!

    How can man, even though made in God's image, do better than God, our creator?

Coast to Coast Calamaties

     It seems things are wild here weather wise in the USA.
Texas and Florida were both hit with major hurricanes and a minor hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  All my local are got from all the storms was just a bit of wind and rain, thank God!
     Meanwhile, California is in flames. Last I saw on TV was some rain finally came to the West Coast to assist the fire fighters. God be with all the folks affected by the storms & fires and with all those helping the victims.

     Another calamity, this one man made happened in Las Vegas.... "Sin City". Some crazed man went on  a shooting spree, killing many and injuring so many more and affecting lives across the USA and world wide. Last news report I saw, nobody knows why.
     Just as a side note, I do believe in our right to keep and bear arms but nobody needs that many firearms (modified) to protect himself, family, etc... Fully automatic weapons, "bump stocks" and such should be regulated, registered, etc. in my opinion.

     But back to the natural and man made disasters... We all need to pray for and support the survivors and families thereof. I heard on the radio some of the hospitals in Vegas were giving care for the shooting victims free of charge. Hope lives in Sin City!

     Not bragging, just stating the facts, I have been dumping my change and some few extra dollars in the hurricane relief jars at local stores. When the tornadoes ripped up my neighborhood where I lived at the time I gave not until it hurt but rather until it felt good!

Some Catching Up To Do

     It seems I have some catching up to do... It also seems I am still having computer malfunctions as it took me some 15 minutes to get back just today.

     I heard a preacher on TV not long ago saying that when things seem worst is when God is closest to you as that's when Satan is working hardest to get you back. Well, if that's the case, the devil is working overtime on me as of late. Therefore, God is tight by my side! Amen!

     It's like one step forward and 2 steps back trying to even sign onto my blog here. But no worries.

     It was, I think, mid August when I started having internet provider issues so it's been since then that I've been able to post anything at all. When I finally got back on I saw I have 3 followers. Grand deal and welcome!

     As I mentioned last time, August 11 was my boy dog, Vlad's birthday. I gave him & Bella, my she weenie some canned food and some other treats so it was a good day for them.
     We had a wet August for Mississippi and not too horribly hot, heat index in the 100 - 110 F range but typical.

     September 4 was Mom's birthday and the 10th was mine. As usual, my supervisor @ work screwed up my vacation request so Mom & I had our birthday dinner a week later than planned.


     My herb garden produced spectacular results! Basil (2 varieties), Spear and peppermint, dill, oregano, etc. all grew to mammoth proportions. I let them all go to seed and while they were in flower, the butterflies were flocking to my back yard. Also, maypops (passion flowers) volunteered in my grape arbor and I let them do their thing. I couldn't count the caterpillars consuming the leaves on the maypop vines. I don't know what critter they will become but I reckon I will know soon enough.

     Okay, this post has already become longer than most so I'll sign off before I bore you.

God loves you all and so do I!
Merlin

I AM BACK!!!

     Woo, Lord, it has been a time since I've posted and I have missed it!

I had a problem with my internet provider and it has taken quite some time to get them and myself back to blogging status. All Io can say is "God bless" and I have much to share with y'all!

     The first thing I missed sharing with you was Vlad's birthday back on August 11, my boy turned 9 years old.
     The second is Mom's birthday is September 6 and mine is September 10.  We went and had a happy lunch at a catfish joint here in Pearl, Mississippi after finally getting my brother's disability payments approved.
     That road trip was an adventure all unto itself, believe me!

     It has been in Biblical terms, a walk through the wilderness as of late but the main thing is I am finally back on line so I can share with you once again. I am beat down to my socks from work and trying to get back on line so I'll keep this post rather short but I do ave much to share with you all. I'll get you up to date and keep you posted ASAP.
   
     I love you all!
     Merlin

Wet July

     It's been a wet July here in Mississippi and I have no complaints. My herb garden is doing great and my others are hanging in there. A while back I talked to Mr. Mack across the street and he said his brother is in the dirt business. I've about gotten all of my truckload of sand where I need it so a truckload of dirt will be my next major project
     If Mack's brother can save me a few dollars on a truckload of dirt, I'm all for that. I'm still working on getting my riding mower/garden tractor running again. Having that on my side would make moving a load of dirt so much easier than moving the sand by the wheel barrow load was.

     I saw on TV a while back a show about a fella who got some plastic buckets and offered them to his neighbors to put their kitchen scraps in. He collected and replaced them with fresh buckets every week. He then composted the scraps and sold the stuff (mostly back to his neighbors).
     That sounds like something I could do easily enough (and so could you). I'll ask the ladies in the bakery department at work to save their buckets for me and ask my neighbors to fill them for me. Regular trash pickup here is Monday & Thursday, bulk pickup of furniture, appliances & tree trimmings is Wednesday so I reckon my pickup on Saturday would work best for all.

     I've met but 4 or 5 of my neighbors since I've been here and 1 has already pissed me off. Anyway, I'll either print or hand write enough cards to cover the 11 houses on my cul-de-sac and pass them out, see what response I get and go from there.

Butt Shopping

     I heard a new term today called, "Butt Shopping". It's probably not what most of you think but it perfectly illustrates the difference between men and women.

     A married couple go into a furniture store. While the wife looks for furniture they'll have for the next 20 years, the husband looks for the closest comfortable chair to sit in while she shops. 

     He is butt shopping!

Play Sand & Jerky

      The store where I work is clearing out all their Spring stuff. They got rid of all the remaining seeds and veggie plants before I knew it. Next year I'll talk to the old gal in charge of that department so perhaps I can purchase the leftovers at rock bottom prices.
     Anyway, the formerly $3.99 sacks of play sand are now $1.00 each. I fetched home 6 sacks today. I may get more tomorrow but 6 sacks of water soaked sand is about all I felt like dealing with today.

     I've been seeing all kinds of jerky on the store shelves as of late. Back in the day, there was only beef jerky. Now I see beef, turkey, pork, bacon and even (how nasty can this be?) veggie jerky. To make a long story short, my store now has pork loin on sale for $1.77 a pound. I bought a small one to freeze semi solid,  cut off the fat cap, marinade and put on my smoker to try to make pork loin jerky. IF my first attempt proves worthy of eating, I'll break my dehydrator out of storage and start cranking it out in quantity. I reckon a couple hours on the smoker to flavor, then finish in the dehydrator. Jerky is like candy to bearded rednecks!

Reading The Bible

     I've recently begun reading the Bible during my lunch breaks at work. I'm into Exodus now. The first plague God put on Egypt was turning all their water into blood. I tell you what, even God would have had a job turning my heart hard after that!
     Anyway, I was talking to a friend and she said, "I wonder what they drank during the 7 days God kept the water as blood".
   
     I pondered this for a few hours and came up with several possible answers.

     I know the Egyptians made beer and wine and pickles so beer, wine and pickle juice (vinegar) are my first idea. Then I know they had livestock so there was milk but after less than 7 days with no water all the beasts' teats would have dried up.
     Possible answer #2 is go down to the land of Goshen where the children of Israel dwelt and try to kiss up and beg a cup of water. "You know, I always thought Pharaoh was a butt hole, I never liked him and they way he treats you all."
     The last answer comes as a joke about the mentality of good old Southern rednecks like me. "god wouldn't have ruined the sweet tea they just fixed and put in their refrigerator, would He? I mean, that would have been just spiteful!"

July 4th & later, 2017

     July 4th was Independence Day here in the U.S.A. Some of my neighbors shot off (illegal in city limits) fireworks, there was a huge display at the base ball park but I and mine slept through it all.
     I spent most of the day July 4th moving sand. Ergo, I have almost all of the truckload I bought shoveled and wheel barrowed to where I want it. It has been a mighty task, I must admit with all the rain we've had as of late.

     The other day I saw my neighbor, Mack out cutting roots of a Bradford pear tree he'd had cut down so I went over to chat. Seems his brother owns a dirt pit and hauling service so Mack will ask his brother about bringing me a load. I think the folks what brought me the sand want some $150.00 for "brown dirt". If  Mack's brother can deliver for $149.00 you know I'll save a buck!

     I'm still trying to get my riding mower/garden tractor running again. Even with a fully charged battery, it never seems to have enough voltage or amperage to crank so I'm thinking about taking my truck battery to try and jump start it.

     None of my gardens are doing exceptionally except my herb garden. The rest are doing fairly to poorly. I've started a dozen or so more cups of assorted tomato seeds. The amazing thing is what God plants in my garden or back yard. Where I had my ducks & geese I have bountiful things  never planted. The sunflowers probably came from their feed. But squashes, tomato and watermelon? I have no idea who other than God could have planted them where they are doing so much better than anything I myself planted.
     IT seems almost like Biblical gifts sideways that where and what I sow in my gardens, I reap not. Where God sows, I do reap. He does indeed work in strange and mysterious ways .I'll not question Him nor His ways. I'll just accept His blessings when and wherever I  find them.

     I'll work more on getting my mower/little tractor and my tiller working again. I've a trailer to haul dirt w/ my tractor. With my tiller I can turn the soil (and the "new dirt" ) . All I can ask is God bless the soil and my efforts.

Bibles

     A few weeks ago I was at the tool store. Upon leaving I saw a trio at a van with a sign "Free Bibles". I stopped by, we chatted for a bit and I left with a King James  that I keep an my car and have been reading on my lunch breaks.
     
     Last week my Jehovah's Witness friends stopped by and we met and talked as we always do. One asked if I have a Bible and I showed him the KJV in my car. He said he had a New World Translation of The Holy Scriptures that I could have if I wanted it. Now, I don't agree with the Witnesses 100% on everything but I jumped on this "plain talk" version of the Bible like  duck on a June bug. After all, the KJV was written some 500 years ago. I must admit some of the vernacular can be puzzling.at times.
     To make a long story short, I've been reading my"new" Bible at lunch breaks bit at times I will go back to the old standard KJV when I guess for lack of better way of saying, "I need to hear the word of GOD.

    I'm not gonna preach and tell you to read the Bible. All I ask is this:  Open your heart to God and Jesus. Love one another as you would be loved.

LOVE!

Volunteers

     After all the work and money I put into my veggie gardens I seem to have best results from what God plants Out back where I had my ducks & geese, I never dropped a seed. Yet I have sunflowers, and one each tomato and what appear to be squash and perhaps watermelon growing stronger than anything I'm tending.
     I'm just mowing around them and letting them do whatever God wants them to do. Also I have a few stalks of corn where I had bird feeders that are SO much taller than the corn I planted.

     In a pair of my raised beds I've planted herbs & garlic. All over my bit of property I find wild garlic growing, well wildly. Whenever I find it I pull it up and replant it in my garlic patch. The regular garlic is quite larger but the wild stuff is native or at least has been here long enough to know where it wants to grow. I believe in  a few years I'll have a strain with the size of domestic and the hardiness of wild.

How My Gardens Grow

     We've lately had gully washer rains here.  But I've filled my herb garden with an assortment of plants that seem to be doing quite well except my peppermint which fizzled out rather quickly. I sowed a handful of dill and fennel seeds as well as a sack of leek bulbs and a head of garlic broken into separate cloves.
     Most on my tomato plants are doing fair to middling.  Corn and okra are sprouting  but so far peppers are all no show.  I'll sow another bunch of seeds for them PDQ. I ordered online and have received 1/4 pound of Salsify (Oyster Root) seeds which I'll probably give one entire 6' x 6' raised bed to.
     I have volunteer sunflowers and even wheat in my back yard where I had the ducks as well as wild garlic all over the place and a patch of dewberries at the front door.
     When I lived in the trailerhood, I had a small garden patch. I tossed an overripe tomatillo into the dirt and Lo and behold soon had a half dozen or so tomatillo plants. I bought one of the fruits the other day so I'll just slice it up, place the slices and cover with dirt to see what happens. As happy as I am to see something I plant grow, I think it's even better when God plants a seed in my garden and it thrives. I don't recall where all my dill came from in the 'hood but it was spreading across the yard, the base or mother plant had a trunk almost 1/2" thick. Whenever I mowed, the whole yard reeked of pickles!
     I've some 1/2 dozen or so bundles of catnip that I've harvested and dried, at least another 2 bunches ready to cut and a pair of 4" x 16" or so planters of roots I've pulled. When I'm certain they'll survive, I can separate them into individual cups for sale.

     The store where I work marked down all their 40 pound sacks of topsoil  to 2/ $3.00 or $1.50 each and I fetched home 8 sacks or 320 pounds (as marked). Some had taken on some water and were more than the poundage marked. I just looked at the added water weight as water I didn't have to add myself. I got 1 sack for each 6' x 6' bed, by the way.

     I'm looking at perhaps another month until I get my truckload of sand shoveled and barrowed to where I want/need it.  With all the rain we've lately had I reckon it won't be long after that I'll order a truckload of brown dirt. Hey, that's what the lady who answered the phone called it! I've been marking where I bog down in the back yard and low spots up front.

     If I want to work in sunshine but it rains, I say.... "I wanted sunshine but GOD wanted rain. Am I gonna argue with Him?"

Home Gown Tomatoes

     My neighbor mowed down and killed all my volunteer tomato plants so I'm forced to try and grow some by work again. I'm not mad at my neighbor. She said she and her family didn't eat them.
     Anyway, I went to she seed & feed store and bought 3 or 4 different varieties of seedlings as well as another 3 or 4 of seeds. I'm just gonna let em go do their thing. If they wanna cross pollinate and make a whole new hybrid "Merlin's Mississippi Maters" that's fine and dandy with me.

     All the corn seed I can find are hybrid varieties. Not surprising as corn is actually one of the oldest hybrid crops known to mankind. I got 1 pack each of one early variety and one of a later breed for my corn patch. As with the tomatoes, I'll let them do whatever God wants them to do.
     My corn seed went into the ground a couple of weeks ago. My assorted bean seed went in the other day as the corn seedlings were a few inches tall.  As with the corn and tomatoes, they are free to make whatever bean grows best for me. Once the beans are sprouted I'll stab in a few seeds of green and yellow zucchini squash.
     The corn gives the beans something to climb on and the squash shades out the weeds. The American Indians used this technique for ages before Columbus arrived so it is a proven method.

My Dad's Birthday

     Today is June 4, 2017. My Dad would have turned 79 today. I'm not going to grieve over my loss but give thanks to God  The good times we had together outnumber the bad, although most were just okay, I guess. I'll thank God that Dad passed away quickly. His health was failing and the last thing my step Mom asked him was, "Roy, What's wrong?"  He said , "I don't know but  it ain't good". Those were his last words on this good earth.

     I'm also thanking the Lord my Mom is in good if not great health for a lady her age. She'll be 79 in September, 4 days before I reach 58. She's having a rough time caring for my brother, her son who is a mere 2.5 years older than I am. He can take care of his basic staying clean and such but that's about all he can do. He can't cook, wash dishes, help clean house nor do yard work. Actually, he can't do any kind of work. Mom is fighting the system to get him on disability but "the system" keeps rejecting.

     Enough of the grumbling. I've made a decision that when my knees and/or feet hurt instead of whining, I thank God that I still have and can feel them. Sometimes I will say, "Thank you, Father. I am really feeling them tonight!" Last night I was actually to the point in my knees I prayed, " Father, if You don't mind turning it down just a tiny bit?"

     Back on the home front, I've been getting happy in my gardens. Yesterday I planted bean seeds in a fine and lovely mist rain. I came inside after the task was completed to rest a bit and was thinking, "Fella, you reek and them britches you have on are filthy! The dirt under your nails (finger and toe) makes you look like a grave robber."
     The back door was open and directly I hears water gushing off the roof. I fetched a towel, tossed on the washing machine right there by the back door and went and took a God shower. I did keep my shorts on during my God shower. Not out of modesty but because as I said before, they were filthy.

     I've been watching religious programs on TV and listening to praise songs on the radio as of late. Some rabbis and preachers touch me more than others. Some songs by some artists I like more than others. For now, I'll not endorse any given preacher nor rabbi. I'll not tell you what songs move me.
     I will ask this of you, however. If you've tried everything else and aren't happy, try GOD. Give Him a mere 30 minutes a day surfing the TV or internet to hear His word.
      I started by finding what I thought was a like History Channel series about Jesus and now I am hooked. I feel saved and blessed by God's grace and Jesus's blood.

My Jamaica Friend

     Last night at work a customer asked me if we had any Jamaica jerk seasoning.  As I led him to over to the seasonings section we got to talking and he told me he was from Jamaica. He was getting ready to cook some ribs then shared with me a "secret".
      Precook your ribs then mix barbecue sauce with Jamaica jerk and apple sauce. Cool and cut your ribs apart, slather them with the sauce, put them in an aluminum tray and cover with foil then put them in the oven.
     The he said, "Jesus Christ, man It's so good!"
     I got to laughing so hard I forgot to ask him how much barbecue sauce, jerk seasoning and apple sauce.

     He comes in every week or two so next time I see him I can ask amounts and try it for myself. I know the apple sauce will be sweet and I've heard (even from him) jerk is spicy so it ought to be pretty damned tasty.

Memorial Day 2017

     Monday was Memorial Day here where we give thanks to all those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who gave all for their and our country.  Sadly, for most civilians it is just a day off of work with pay and a  time to cook out and party down. As a veteran myself, I take a somewhat more somber look at the day. As the saying goes: All gave some, some gave all.

     During my daily prayers as I was asking God to remember my fallen brothers and sisters in uniform, I cried.

     Later in the day I got my fingers and toes in the dirt of my gardens and felt better as always happens when I do such. All the herbs in my herb garden are doing well save the peppermint which is nigh onto dead. I bought a big pot of rosemary normally $9.99 for $3.99. Saturday I'll go to the hardware/garden store that has the 50% off Saturday morning sale and see can I replace the mint. While there I'm gonna stock up on cactus and succulent seeds to add to the store for my little greenhouse/nursery business.
     Meanwhile, I've been harvesting and drying catnip for sale. I pulled up a few plants and roots and potted them to sale as live plants as well.

Planting Gardens

     Well, I'm nigh ready to seed the last of my eight 6' x 6' raised bed gardens. We're said to be in for today and the next 3 -5 days to be rainy. Today lived up to expectations. I bought 6 bags of compost/manure mix, 6 of topsoil and 2 of potting soil this morning and got the c&m mix dumped. Tomorrow I hope to plant seeds and add the topsoil.
     Some of the older beds have gone to seed already, mostly assorted greens so I'll let the seeds dry then fetch them in for next season. For me, it's not so much as the reaping of the harvest as much as it is getting my fingers and toes in the dirt.

Castor Oiling My Eyeballs

     My brother is being seen by a butt load of Doctors all up, down and across the state of Mississippi. And they can't seem to "agree on the color of shite" as Mel Gibson said of the nobles in Braveheart.
     Either his eyes aren't sending the information or the information from his eyes isn't reaching his brain but to the point, he can't see worth a tinker's damn.

     Our Mom, actually the best computer person in our family at age 78 is always looking up stuff on the computer. It seems she found that not only being an effective laxative, castor oil is said to be good for lubricating the eyeballs, staving off and possibly preventing cataracts. I'm always one for "old school" remedies, myself. At last eye Doctor's visit I was told I "may have the possible beginnings of cataracts" and do have "floaters" in my eyeballs. Floaters are, as best I understand, little pieces of crap and crud that have broken loose from somewhere on the inner eye surface and float around in my eyeball juice. Side note: nowadays, castor oil ain't that easy to find. Anyway, I've been putting a drop in each eye (as Mom does for brother).
     When I wake up, my eyes do feel less scratchy and dry so that's a good thing. If you do decide to try this, only do it right before bed as in my experience, the oil will blur my vision for a while.

     Last note, make 100% sure you use castor oil. Perhaps some other oil would do no harm and possibly even be better but this is the only one my Mom has suggested I use so I'm going with that!

Lots And/Or Little Going On

     Either lots or very little have happened here as of late, I'm not sure which.
The first thing is I've decided to quit complaining about the pain in my knees, feet, back or wherever hurts the most at any given moment. I'm going to start thanking God for my aches and pains. I've worked 57 years to get them and they remind me bot only am I still alive but I've got all my original pieces and parts, save tonsils and adenoids which were removed some 40 years ago.

     The second thing is I've been distributing the truckload of sand to where it is most needed in the front and back yards. It still  hasn't fully dried so some 10 to 12 wheelbarrow loads are about all I can manage in one day.

     I'm still putting seeds in the ground in my raised bed gardens. I almost waited too long to buy okra seeds. I went to at least 3 different stores looking and finally found one packet at where other than the store where I work. I'll make sure to let a few pods of my crop go to seed so I'll have plenty next year.

     One 6' x 6' raised bed is dedicated to herbs this year and hopefully most of the plants will spread, be fruitful and multiply. I'm gonna make another bed of the Native American "Three Sisters"... that is, corn, beans and squash. As I understand, they planted corn first. After it sprouted to give the beans something to climb on, they planted the beans. Lastly, they planted the squash to shade the ground to stop weeds from growing. Hey, I like corn, beans and squash (not all in one pot)!

May 21, 2017

     A lot of nothing some would say has been happening here but I'll post an update anyways.

     Mike and I seem to have been butting heads at work as of late. He had a special needs daughter, some 8 years of age or so. The other day she passed away. While Mike and I had our quarrels, I never wished his daughter any ill. No parent should ever have to bury a child. But God's will always be done. You know? Maybe I finally figured out why God never blessed my with children of my own. He knows I would not be able to handle the loss of one.

     On  happier notes, my baby wrens fledged and flew away the other day.
     Of the herbs I planted in the garden, all survived except the spearmint. I put out a fistful of dill seeds and am hoping they'll sprout.
     I planted tomatoes and peppers in another raised bed and most seem to be faring well enough for now.
     After what seemed a fruitless search I found a packet of okra seeds at (believe it or not) the store where I work. And it was the very last packet!
     Yesterday I got 5 bags of topsoil and 5 bags of compost & manure do I can load up another raised bed garden or 2.

     There is no better mental therapy for me than getting may bare toes in the dirt and digging my hands in, feeling the miracle of life that God has given us.

Vlad & His Toys, Wrens & Too Many Irons In The Fire

     I've concluded Vlad, my son, my boy dog loves and hates his toys. Not long before I got him I found a stuffed tiger. Not long after I called it "Poor, poor Tiger". First Vlad ripped off his nose, then tail, ears and eyes. I actually felt sorry for a stuffed toy animal. Then Gail, my friend gave us a stuffed toy duck that quacked when squeezed. A few weeks later I woke in the middle of the night and stepped on something that was hard, plastic feeling and made a queer noise. It startled the crap out of me. It was the quacker that Vlad had ripped out of the aptly now named "Poor, poor duck".
     When we moved into our house I found a football which Vlad loved to run after, shake violently and finally "kill". Ditto with a soccer ball and a frisbee. Last week I found another soccer ball in the neighbor's trash. It only took Vlad "The Impaler" to kill that soccer ball.
     The boy is hard on his toys!

     A family of wrens has built a nest in the ledge of my office bathroom window. Bug eating wee birds, they are most welcome additions to our family. It sounds as if the bairns are nearing time to fledge. The last brood didn't survive the fledging stage so I'm guardedly optimistic about these.

     I've come to realize the main reason that I'm getting so little done as of late is that I'm trying to do too many things at once. I need to step back, take a deep breath and prioritize things. Then I need to tackle one project at a time. I can't be the only person who tries to do everything at once but I (we?) must realize there is only so much we can do solo at a time. My greenhouse project was a 2 man project with a few stages that would have been easy with 3 men. I did it all by myself. Let's take a reality check, okay? If we ask our neighbors for help in something it is not failure or weakness on our part. It is success and strength to admit and accept our limitations.
     I thank God every day for His help in everything I do and ask His help when I see I need it. When I see my neighbor trying to do anything they can do but struggle with, I run over and offer my help.
Right now I need a bit of assistance in getting my priorities right, tackling one project at a time.
I'm trying to take on at least a dozen projects now so it's at least 12 against 1  for me getting anything done. I'll take on one smaller project first and cross it off my list. There are larger projects that I know will take some time to get done so once I complete a small, I'll chip at a large then move on to another small. All the while, more projects will come along.

     One day at a time.

Mothers' Day 2017

Sunday was officially Mothers' Day here in the USA, I don't know about other countries. Anyway, I work Sundays so Mom and I usually do her day on one of my days off. This year it was yesterday.

     I've mentioned that my brother has Alzheimer's or dementia or something else that the doctors can't seem to agree what it is nor how to best treat. But yesterday I had a couple of errands to run before taking Mom out for lunch and brother came along for the ride and to get him out of the house for a little while. First we stopped by one store to exchange some sheets I had bought that were total crap. They ripped as I was pulling them out of the handy little zipper bag they came in. I paid an extra $6.00 and some change for 2 new sets of Queen size sheets. I know many of you will find them quite tacky but I opted for leopard print sheets. My favorite colors are camouflage followed by earth tones then animal prints. I figure the leopard prints will blend good enough with my camo.
     Next stop was to buy some britches for work. Mom said she needed a new shredder as hers had crapped out on her and Wally World had britches and shredders. Perhaps not the most traditional Mothers' Day gift but something Mom needed and I could afford so I paid for her new shredder.
     Lastly, we went to the Chinese buffet and chowed down. Mom and I got all we needed and brother got out of the house which he needed. All got fed so it was a blessed day. The only hitch was when we went to WW, brother said he'd wait for us by the door while Mom and I did out 5 minutes of shopping. When she and I got back to our rendezvous point, he was nowhere to be found. It took us about another 5 minutes to find him as he'd wandered off. For a moment, I must admit I was getting a bit irritated at him but then God told me that he can't help it. Thankfully, he no longer walks fast so he didn't wander far and at least remembered where we were to meet back up.

     It's been hard on Mom taking care of a 60 year old son who can't do for himself. I pitch in when and where I can but what we can't do, GOD does.

Taking Time Off From Work Perhaps

     At my full time job I have 80 hours (10 days) vacation time and 16 hours (2 days) "personal holiday".
     I've mentioned before the neurologists aren't sure if my brother has Alzheimer's, dementia or something else. Anyway, I'm thinking of taking my personal days off  for  3 day weekends so he and I can take a little road trip up to the old homestead where our Dad grew up.  While there, I'd love to dig up a couple sassafras trees, native persimmon trees, blueberry bushes and maybe huckleberry bushes for my garden. Maybe getting his ass off the sofa and working a shovel will help work his brain as well as his muscles.
     I know I'll never own any acres of the old place but I'm thinking if we filled the bed of his truck (it's bigger than mine) with plants and dirt from there at least I would have a truck bed full.

     Many times when we were young, Dad drove us up to the old place via the Natchez Trace. It's always been a relaxing drive or ride for me depending where I sat. Thinking back, we've never gone past the Jackson to French Camp part of the road.  I'd love o some day take the whole road. I think it runs North to South from Nashville to Natchez. I don't think Kenny, my brother has ever taken the whole road either. I am quite the history buff so it would be a peachy time for me to take the old road from top to bottom. That could be something he'd enjoy as well. I'm thinking get on the Trace in Jackson and take pictures at every historical marker on the right (Northbound) side to Nashville then Southbound markers on the way back. From Jackson to Natchez take photos of markers Southbound then catch the rest on the Northbound trip home.
    Even if he never regains his memory, it would be something I could share with our family as a brother road trip, eh?

Neighbor's Chickens Are Gone

     After having to give up my ducks and geese, I really looked forward to hearing my neighbor's rooster crow each day.  Now, I had never met these people nor seen their crop of birds. All I did was hear the cock crow. If I couldn't have my birds I was so happy to hear theirs raising Hell and singing their songs.
     Well, it seems somebody complained about the "noise" and I haven't heard to chickens for a while. You know, it's funny in a way. I'd gotten so used to hearing them that it took a while to notice that I wasn't hearing them.

    I'm sure them that had the chickens are in a sour mood over having to be shed of them as I was over "the Quack Pack". Perhaps I can locate them and see can we join together to get our birds back or maybe raise quieter birds such as quail.

Snap Traps V Sticky Traps & Our Apple Tree

     All who (at least claim to) know me know I like the old fashioned, simple things the best. Also, I prefer the most humane way of dispatching pests, except maybe cockroaches, skeeters and other noxious insects.
     To wit, my mouse problem. Some would say snapping their little necks is mean and/or cruel. I personally feel it's more humane than letting them get stuck to a glue trap. Certainly better than poison which induces a shutdown of their organs along with internal bleeding. Not to mention one or both of my canine kids could eat a poisoned mouse and fall ill if not die.

     Well, my problem is field mice. Larger than a house mouse but not more than a weanling rat. Snap type mouse traps are too small to whack more than 1 in 10 . Rat snappers are too big to be set off. Therefore, I am forced to resort to glue boards. I'm using the approximately 5" x 10" boards.
     I chucked out a pair of boards last week with a total of 5 mice on them. Sooner or later I'll be shed of the mice I have but remain ever vigilant.
     I put all my dog and cat food in an insulated ice chest. No, I don't have a cat but Rupert, th hedgehog and wee Elsa, the ferret eat it.

     One last note, I did buy us a Granny Smith apple tree Saturday. It was a bit over $26.00 after taxes but as Vlad and I enjoy the fruits better than any other apple it was money well spent. I did look at all the trees there also. Not at height but rather at the diameter of the trunk at the base. Yes, indeed I picked the fattest one!
     I dug out a hole a few days in advance. It came a gully washer rain which filled the hole near to the brim with water. Anyway, I slopped most of it out, added the tree and back filled the hole with a mix of sand,potting soil and a bit of  coffee grounds and tea leaves from work. Hopefully in the next few years Vlad and I will enjoy our own home "growed" Granny Smith apples.