The Real Trooper

Ok... so I was a bit premature in crowning myself as Pinedalian Trooper. My sweet neighbor is the one that has stolen my crown. She called Sunday (a full day after all fish fertilizer and guts had been completely done away with) to say that her house was swarmed with buzzards and that the smell outside was sickening. I don't know what happened as it really didn't smell too bad at our house come Sunday. But... needless to say our free fertilizer is just not going to work unless we intend on having a few acres of buffer between us and our nearest friends. However the military may be in contact with me to help design a whole new line of weaponry. Its disappointing, but at the same time relieving. I've started researching compost tea more and that also looks like a viable option though maybe not quite so high in nutrients. That would entail very little stink, very little stewing and an occasional stop by our horse-loving friends for a load... or even just a bucket or two would last several weeks. And they're open on nights and weekends.

In garden news, the okra is really starting to put out now. I'm getting at least a big handful every day now. The cowpeas are doing great too. We have beautiful yellow flowers all over the loofah, but no fruit to be seen yet. I planted some beans and tomatoes in the okra bed... and those are not doing so well. I think I'll rip them out to make more room for the okra. The spring garden is basically spent. I'm still pulling a few green beans off and the peppers are fruiting well now, but our expansion is going to require everything to be ripped out within a couple weeks. I'll stick the peppers in pots and pull/mow the rest. My tree guy said he'd be by as soon as he had a load of decent wood chips for me. I hope its soon! Though... I do have to confess... expanding and reconfiguring the garden at 7 months pregnant was a bad idea. Yesterday I put in a single bed (after doing normal chores and mowing almost a half acre with a non-riding mower) and by late afternoon I could barely move. Randy came home to find me wadling SLOWLY around the house. I'm still feeling it this morning. Maybe a delay in the wood chips will keep me from feeling like it all has to be done at once. Though I'm not getting any smaller... and doing it at 8 months pregnant probably won't be that great either. How did the pioneer women do it?

On that note, quick story... yesterday while I was shoveling compost into a wheelbarrow at 2:00 in the afternoon with sweat dripping off of me, a man in an air conditioned city truck pulled up and rolled his window down and said, "Ain't you had that baby yet?" I don't know this man at all, mind you. I smiled as politely as I could and said, "No, I still have 2 more months." "You're HUGE!" Again, smile and refrain from launching a shovel full of horse crap right into his face. "Yeah, I get big. Happens every time." "My daughter-in-law is due next month and she's half that size." At this point I'm really wondering what in tarnation gives this guy the nerve to criticize my belly. Does he have no fear of a large, hormonal pregnant woman with a pointed shovel? "Well, my last one was a 10 pounder." I say, trying to laugh but wanting to ask him if he's accusing me of being a lazy blob. He's still sitting in his air conditioned truck and I'm still shoveling compost. "Wow. Well, good luck to ya." Yeah, thanks. Your "blessing" is very much appreciated. And come November when I still look pregnant, you can come back around and tell me how your daughter-in-law left the hospital in normal clothes. Word to the wise, when in doubt over what to say to a pregnant woman, go with things like, "Wow, you're glowing!" (even if its just sweat). Or how about, "Gosh, I don't know how you do it all." (even if the house is a wreck and the lawn is up to your knees). I mean, come on. Just be nice, ok?