Get In Line

David and I got the harrow untangled without too much trouble and I ran it around the paddock like a mad woman this morning, watching those annoying tufts of grass tremble in Georange's wake. It appears immensely improved after one go round, so I hope that weekly dragging will keep it looking more fresh and tidy. Here's a picture of some lines:

Things are starting to happen in the garden now. Radishes are coming up in earnest, as are salad greens, spinach, potatoes, peas and onions. Although we amended the sandy top soil we bought last summer with lots of composted horse manure, we weren't sure whether it was nutritious enough to sustain such life. These lines are very heartening:

Finally, the Powers That Be are replacing the water line along our street. This involves a lot of heavy equipment (or doozers as David and I refer to them, in honour of Fraggle Rock), much to Titan's distress. On the night they delivered the equipment he was inconsolably afraid, jumping any old fence that got between him and perceived safety in our shed. Given that this work will be ongoing for several days we conceded by cutting a hole in the side of the shed so that he can use it for shelter. He looks very miserable in the following picture, but it is not because of the road work...it is because Raven is holding him hostage inside. He is afraid of her (smart dog) and she enjoys tormenting him. Tonka enjoys eating.

J-J-J-Jenga!

Is anyone else a fan of this "great game with a strange name"? It was a favorite of mine as a kid, and I very clearly remember a series of TV advertisements set to the following jingle (I would link to a video for you, but this is the first time that YouTube has failed me):

You take a block from the bottom and you put it on top

You take a block from the middle and you put it on top
That's how you build the tower and you just don't stop
Keep building up that tower putting blocks on top
It weebles and it wobbles but you don't give up
It teeters and it totters but you build it on up
Till someone knocks it over and that's when you stop
But you can start all over putting blocks on top

That's what was running through my mind this morning when I put Georange (pronounced gee-orange) through his first paces by turning the contents of the manure bins. As in "you take some poo from the bottom and you put it on top, you take some poo from the middle...". The exercise went quite well, and I was getting proficient with the loader by the end of the first hour. I only dumped one bucketful of manure backwards onto Georange's hood and I only gave one of the fence posts a solid whump and I only removed two big chunks of earth by misgauging the position of the bucket. So far I am impressed with how easy and intuitive the machine is to use.