August 27-28, '10

We finally got a little relief from the heat with near record lows for Thursday and Friday, and dry air – we were able to open the windows Friday night. By Saturday though, the temperature was back up to 94. Unfortunately still no rain, so it was another watering weekend. (On the way out we stopped and bought a couple of watermelons from a fellow in Springdale who said he had not had any measurable rain in 5 weeks.)

2009 Rain
Sally found the record I kept of rainfall last year: May 9.5", June 4.5", July 6", August 2.5", September 1.6", and October 12 inches. What a difference this year.

Septic Tank
I brought some roofing cement out and got the lid sealed. Then I scrounged for rocks to build a box directly over the lid so whoever has to do this next want have to hunt (as I did) for the lid. Once I got the box built and filled in, it was just a matter of shoveling and raking all the fill back into the hole. It was so dry the dust flew everywhere. I ended up with a quite a mound, I suppose because of the space displaced by the boxed area full of rocks.

Garden
We had seen and picked off a few of these tomato horn worms (AKA tobacco worms) in weeks past, but this week there were 15 to 20 of these creepy things. They are so hard to spot because they blend in with the leaves. You can certainly tell where they have been though, because the leaves have been stripped and you just have bare stems.

We just got a few peppers, some black eyed peas that weren't quite ready, and fewer cherry tomatoes than in past weeks. Sally had me pull up most of the summer spinach, and she pulled up the zenias that were growing or falling into the lanes. A few of the bok choy seeds she had planted the weekend before were coming up (which surprised me), and she planted more of those and more lettuce. She really wants the garden to look nice for when Amanda is here. Of course we ran the sprinkler for hours.

Water
Once again I was constantly moving the sprinkler around. I actually forgot and left it on the newest maple out front overnight. There's a huge green patch leading off from these trees that have received water.

Apples
There were none on the ground, but some rotten spots were on a few on the tree. We picked maybe 5, including the ones with bad spots. They are still too green. Keeping our fingers crossed that we will actually get some ripe ones.

Water Bars/Cattle Guard
Saturday I repeated the process from the week-end before – harvested a load of dirt, hauled it up the hill, built up a couple of water bars, and attempted to clean out from under the cattle guard.

One difference this week was that I was able make use of the front D-Ring kit I had ordered and installed in the bed of the Tacoma. Toyota put them in while I had it in for the floor mat recall. They are frame mounted tie-downs, like in the back of the bed. I don't know why they aren't standard. Without them you just have the plastic clips on the rail, which I don't trust with any weight. This time I was able to rope the buckets, and keep them from sliding back and pinching against the tailgate. That means I can open the tail gate and take the buckets out one at a time without having to lift them over the side of the truck. Anything to make this process a little easier.

At the cattle guard I dug out and poked around each end trying to find an opening I could use to rake out the loose dirt and rock that has filled it up (it really needs to drain water underneath). But I had no luck as it seems to be sitting on large rocks the full length. I could dig out a rock, but I don't think I could ever get it replaced so that it would be helping to support the weight of big trucks (like the propane or septic tank trucks that drove over it the week before). So I did as the weekend before and loosened some dirt with the pick, used the blade of the adz to lift small portions out at a time, and got exactly 4 buckets worth. Its going to take a long time to get the job done this way, but I am patient.

Weed Eat
I had trouble getting the Poulan running without the choke on, but finally succeeded. I then began to tackle the weeds between the barn and the bluff. Half way through the fixed line got too short and I had to stop. I wish I could find another decent head for it, but I also need to figure out how to get it running good.

Tender's Bath
It was time, so I put on the spray nozzle and bathed the boy right there in the back. Once done, he likes to run around. But then his wet paws mix with that bone dry dust to create dirty, muddy paws. He got watermelon for his reward, which I think is an all time favorite treat for him.