“Rain, rain, come and stay, we could use a little almost every day.”
Those were my thoughts a couple of weeks ago when we were getting ready to plant our garden. We had not seen a drop of rain for almost three weeks, and our garden area was dry, dry, dry. Our hay crop, too, was badly in need of rain; it seemed to have aborted growth altogether.
We planted the garden anyway, and I was getting ready to go out there and do a rain dance. Someone once told me, that in order to be successful, a rain dance must be done while in bare feet. I tried that once and it didn’t work, but I was later to learn that the feet must be bare all the way up to the ear lobes.
I gave that a thought for a day or so and seeing it not a problem, due to our quiet, secluded area, I decided I’d invite all the neighbourhood girls and we could do a line dance. If enough showed up, we could dance completely around the garden, and should the weather be hot and sticky, we could go skinny-dipping in our newly dug pond. But, darn it, the rains came.
Yes the rains came, three days of off and on showers – what more could you want?
The garden popped up here and there all over, and the hay fields seemed to grow half a foot overnight. As my son tackled the repairs on the mower, rake, and baler, getting ready for the haying season ahead, I sharpened the hoe and punished a few weeds in the garden.
Our haying equipment, including the bale elevator, though old but in reasonable repair, was picked up at different sales around the country. As a result, no two pieces of equipment were manufactured by the same company.
So if a grease coupling was missed and a bearing worn out, it was a bit of a challenge finding the replacement part.
At intervals, in the in-between time, I’ve been busy stretching poultry netting over a new 400 square foot peacock enclosure.
It is, of course, dual purpose to keep the peacocks from flying out and the hawks and ravens from flying in. I just felt that these beautiful regal creatures need as much room as possible.
It would be nice if we could let the peacocks roam freely among the Boer goats where they pasture, but that will not happen until we find a new home for our two husky dogs. That is a must, as they are not compatible with either bird or small animals. They are sleigh- trained and have all needles. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, give us a call.
Right now I’m a gonna pig out on some fresh strawberries that I have just picked out of our garden. They go real good heaped on a thick slab of Chapman’s ice cream.
Take care, ’cause we care.
barrie@barriehopkins.ca
519-986-4105