bejeezus seized
The Roman poet Horace suggested in an ode (c. 23 BC) that we seize the day.
Americans Robin Williams, Metallica and Green Day have recently reminded
us to do so. Well, boys, I’m glad to report that Jude and I seized the bejeezus
out of Sunday.
Saturdaywarmed us up. Jude went to the elementary school to buy fish compost
at a fundraiser. I dug postholes for our garden expansion. When she got back, we
planned to cut some firewood.
But first we went to Len and Bonnie’s to see their new waterfalls. Len is an avid
practitioner of bonsai. Here’s some of his work:
They’ve been redesigning a creek near their garden to expand the Eastern theme.
A highlight of the tour was Len’s homemade wine. It was such a highlight, in fact,
that when we left, I told Jude that I was unfit to wield a chainsaw. We went home
and watched some March Madness.
Sunday we started with woodcutting, returning home to prepare for our neigh-
bour Jay, who was coming to do Phase Two of our landscaping. In a few hours,
he changed this stand of invasive Chinese knotweed:
into this soon-to-be-mowable addition to our yard:
He did the same on the east side of the house.
Jay is coming back today to finish the biggest stretch, which runs between the old
garden and the stream we get our micro-hydro and domestic water from:
There were some remnants of hog fencing in those salmonberry bushes, which
impeded our access to a lovely ribbon of creek. Here’s what he’s done so far:
Jay has had to work around our phone line, which is literally a land line. We were
able to keep it in sight yet out his way until we got to this alder tree:
We don’t know how to get the cable out of the tree without servering it, but we
might be able to work around it. I’ll keep you in the loop.
When Jay went home, Jude and I finished a few more mini-projects, then went
in. It had been the first warm day (13 degrees C., 55 F.) of the year and we soaked
up as much of it as we could handle. Thoroughly wrung out, we fixed a pizza and
watched a recording of KU beating North Carolina to advance to the Final Four.
Perfect day, perfect ending.
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Anchor Struck 
I LOVED the bonsai – I’ve always envied those who have the talent and patience to do that! The pics of your farm are great – LOTS of work done by you, Jude and your friendwith the backhoe; what a wonderful way to start spring, eh?! Fish compose is the best – – remind me to tell you the story of the time we made fish compost from the remnants of some live catfish we got from a farmer who has 3 ponds full – – NEVER AGAIN – not with catfish, the viscious bastards!! Every time I read stories and see pictures of your little community, I’m reminded so much of my many happy years in the mountains of Arkansas and my wonderful group of friends up there. I do miss it in many ways, but the absolute lack of cultural diversity up there keeps me planted here, for now – I just got so sick and tired of seeing nothing but white faces all the time! It looks like some really fertile soil on your farm – that’s a real plus!! Are you planting a little orchard, too? Blueberries only take 2 or 3 years to put out a good crop. I’m planting flowers today, and getting tire beds ready for some veggies; the soil here is full of chat, since one of the buildings was a small cafe built in the early 50’s and there was a big parking area, so the soil is VERY thin. I just wrote a grant for 4 hoophouses spread throughout the Delta, and one of them will be right here, so that should satisfy my lust for year-round greens – if we get the grant, that is! Wish us luck!! Best to you both, Allen – I hope I can head up for a visit sooner rather than later!
We’re extending the old garden, which has 35 blueberry bushes, about 40 feet, so we can plant more. They seem to really enjoy the shade from mid-afternoon on. Did you ever go to that workshop about hoophouses?