Wednesday, September 9, 2020

From the back porch - September 9, 2020

Do you know what these are?
No, not limes. 

 No, not green eggs. 

Hint 1: Primarily used for hurling at the heads of your siblings and cousins. ;) 

Hint 2: Seed pod of the Tennessee state wildflower. 

Yes, they're Maypop seed pods. The Husband found these dangling from a fence row as he was mowing the field Monday. As I sat here looking at them, I wondered why they're called "Maypops." Clearly, they are not present in May. I looked it up and found a couple of answers: (1) if you step on one, it may pop; (2) the plants pop out of the ground in May.

I vote for #1. 

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My vision for a fall garden is not coming to fruition. Yesterday, I discovered what is happening to my sweet peas. Deer. I saw their tracks. Buttheads. They'll probably start on the purple hull peas next. 

Most of the broccoli, cabbages, and brussels sprouts have drowned from all the rain, even the store-bought plants. I found TWO carrot seedlings among the grass. I'm scared to pull up the grass for fear of dislodging any remaining seeds that might sprout. 

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I got brave yesterday and went to a beauty shop to get my hair cut. Haven't had a haircut in a year. It's a short haircut. Hopefully, it will last another year. (I hate going to the beauty shop.) 

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Early this morning, I took the top off the Wrangler and intend to drive it to work. today It hasn't been driven in several months (tags expired in January 2019). I crank it, now and then, just to keep the battery up. When The Husband tried to crank it Monday, it just went "woomp." He boosted it with the battery charger, and it's alive again. I shall get new tags, first thing, when I get to town. Hopefully, if some observant Deputy tail-gates me and discovers the truth, I will be able to sweet-talk him/her out of a ticket with The Grandson Story. 

I parked the Wrangler two years ago, intending to save it for The Grandson.  He and I have ridden hundreds of miles in that Jeep, top down, radio blasting.  When he was still little enough to need a booster seat, he asked me, "Grandmama, can I have this Jeep when I get big?" I laughed and said, "If I still have it when you get big, you surely can."   I'm trying to make good on that promise. 

It needs a new transmission. When idling at a red light, it wants to GO, and if I don't switch it into neutral right fast, it will quit (but cranks right back up). I had a guy look at it.  He said, "Yeah, you're going to need a new transmission, eventually.  But I'd just keep driving the sumbitch until it won't go, THEN I'd put a new transmission in it."  Sage advice.   I've got three more years until The Grandson turns 16.  

It needs a new top, too. It currently wears its third soft top (this Jeep is 22 years old). The Brother-in-Law somehow came into top #3 for free, and gave it to me because it didn't fit his Wrangler. We'd just bought a new top, and so top #3 sat in a box until last year, when top #2 rotted enough that one whole side tore off when I was trying to take it down. Top #3 was half dry-rotted when we took it out of the box, and it doesn't quite fit my Jeep, either. The back window won't zip all the way shut - I suspect it's not even the original window. This summer, as we were sitting on the back porch, The Husband suddenly exclaimed, "There's a bird in your Jeep!" We ran out there and opened the doors. There was bird poop, old and new, all over the place.  Come to find out, a wren had built a nest behind the spare tire and had been doing her business inside the Jeep for quite some time.  Gah!  I was so disgusted.  We taped the back window shut with black duct tape to keep the bird out. The poop came off the neoprine seat covers fairly easily. Hopefully the disinfectant killed all the creepies.  If it didn't, I shall blind them with sunlight today.



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