I'm so tired it hurts to move.

No, it's not from working in the vegetable garden, it's from cleaning closets.  Two of them.  Filled up half a dozen garbage bags with stuff like old clothing and video games that haven't worked since my boys (now grown and married) were kids.  Found cool stuff I'd forgotten about.  Got it all back in (minus the 6 bags full), in orderly fashion.  Took more than 6 hours. 

During this cleaning frenzy, while some subconscious part of my brain was free to roam, I had an epiphany of sorts.

You see, lately I've been working on digitizing some camping-themed embroidery designs.  When I get a few done, I think I'll embroider them on some towels for our camper.  I've finished a raccoon, started an opossum, and plan to do a skunk, a squirrel, and maybe some ants and/or mosquitoes - all things that can plague you on a camping trip if you don't play your cards right. 

So while I was cleaning, it occurred to me that it is pretty weird (but mildly funny, in a twisted sort of way, don't you think?) that instead of doing pretty flowers, or S'mores, or campfires, I'm decorating my space with little thread idols of things that irritate me.

And then it hit me - the thing about the Babylonians and their hemorrhoids.

Okay, let me back up.  You might not know the story. 

Back in Old Testament days, the story goes that the Babylonians swooped in, wreaked havoc, and carried off the very Ark of the Covenant as a spoil of war.  What did God do?  Among other things, He struck the Babylonians with piles - hemorrhoids, if you must know.    And what did the Babylonians do?  They saw a connection between the Ark and the discomfort in their hinder parts, and after making little golden images of their piles and putting them in the Ark, they put the Ark on an oxcart and sent it up the road.  (I don't believe the scripture says whether or not this was a viable remedy.)

I've always wondered why the Babylonians made images of their hemorrhoids as offerings.  I would've shot for something impressive or beautiful. 

Or would I?  ;)

On the garden front:  it's probably down there drowning.  We've had a lot of rain.  Over the weekend, I managed to get cages around the tomatoes and do some light tilling to dig out the weeds. 

Fertilizing and Critter Watch

Butterbeans up.
Green beans up.
Purple hull peas up.
Cucumbers up.
Tomatoes blooming.

All seems to be well in the garden, except that (1) we're getting a lot of rain, and (2) there's a critter running amuck. 

In spots, my garden is still muddy from the last rain, and it's supposed to rain for the next three days.  I temporarily hilled up some dirt around my tomatoes, and dug some hoe-trenches running away from the hills, hoping to run some of the water away from the plants.  I also side-dressed the butterbeans and green beans with a fairly light dose of 6-12-12 in the hope that the coming rain will melt it nicely into the soil. 

As for that critter....  Whatever it is, it appears to be dragging a tail behind it.  It doesn't appear to be eating anything. 

Yet. 

I bet it likes tomatoes and squash.

This may mean war.

 

 

Purple Hulls and Rain

Hear that thunder? 

We've got rain this morning.  Needed it to bring up the seeds we planted last week.

Tuesday I planted 3 rows of purple hull peas.  I'll wait about two weeks, then plant 3 more.