When it comes to “foraging”, I really have no shame.  Several years ago, we were in Joplin and found a business that had dozens of crab apple trees in their landscaping.

Crab Apples

The trees were so full of fruit so we asked if we could gather some and they said “Take all you want!” so we did.

Crab Apples

Most every time I leave home, I pass a pear tree that is full of pears.  I always ask Vince if we can stop and ask the people if we can have some pears and he won’t do it.  “I’m not begging for food!”  I don’t see it as begging.  If they’re not using them and they’re going to waste, why can’t I have them?

Today I was so tired and decided take a nap.  The minute I got in bed, I remembered those pears and I said . . dang it . . if Vince won’t ask them if we can have some, I will ask them.  I got up, got in the car and went to the pear tree.  I asked and the lady said “Take all you want!”  I took her some eggs and offered to bring her a pear cake or pie but she said she didn’t eat much sweets.

Pears

Several bags full of pears came home with me.  They’re small and hard . . good for canning and baking.  Poor tree . . probably hasn’t had any fertilizer or extra water in years and years.

Banana Nut Bread and Pear Cake

I came home and cut up enough of them to make a pear cake.  Tomorrow I will cut the rest of them and can them and the best part . . I will save all the skins, cores and parts I don’t use and start a making of pear vinegar . . my favorite fruit vinegar!

Some day, not any time soon I hope, we’re going to sell our place.  You know . . old folks can’t live out in the middle of nowhere forever, but I figure we have at least 20 or 25 years before we have to think about it.  Just think of what will happen in the next 20 years!  We might even get rid of the 18 year old Chevy S-10 pickup and buy a new truck!  Stranger things have happened!  

Anyway, I was thinking last night that when we do get ready to sell our house, the potential buyer will come and they will ask if we have scorpions, rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, and all those bad things.  They’ll be just about to decide they don’t want to live here and then . . they’ll see my garden plot.

Garden

And they will say “Oh!  Look at all that dark, rich soil in the garden!  We’ll buy this place!”

See . . I don’t have any problems at all being out here by myself all day.  I can carry on conversations with non-existent people 20 years into the future!  

Seriously, do you know what some folks would give to have dirt like this in their garden?  It’s pretty amazing to find it in this area.

Farmer Vince

There’s Farmer Vince in his green . . well, it once was green . . it’s kinda faded to something I wouldn’t really call green any more . . t-shirt.  We still need to get the PVC pipe out of the ground now that the new fence is finished but there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Dry Ground

As good as my dirt is, when it gets this dry, it begins to crack.  I hate seeing that but can’t waste water just to keep the ground from cracking.

This evening I will get the cauliflower transplanted, even though it’s a bit early, and plant carrots, beets and lettuce seeds.  I love working in the dirt!

Yesterday, the nice UPS man came driving up.  He’s the same driver who was here Friday evening when we were getting ready to go to the game.  I’d be real happy if we could have him every day but I’m sure we won’t.  Mr. Grump will be back!

Anyway, guess what the nice UPS guy told me?  We were talking about the football game here Friday night.  Everyone in this area talks high school football from August til . . when does it end . . November??

I’m having a hard time getting to the point . . and this is not even part of the cat bungalow story except that he delivered it!  He told me that his niece was one of the cheerleaders on Friday Night Lights!  Isn’t life out here in these woods just amazing?  I learn so much when I’m least expecting to learn anything!

The Cat Bungalow

The UPS guy said “That looks like a very nice cat bungalow!” and I said “If you’ll take the cat, I’ll give you the bungalow too!” but he wouldn’t and I wouldn’t have even if he’d said he would have.

Cat Bungalow

Vince put it together.  I was kinda expecting Boots to think it was the best thing since sliced bread . . but then he probably knows nothing about sliced bread.  He was interested but not overly thrilled with it.

Cat Bungalow

We moved the longarm farther from the wall and put the bungalow in front of the window.  It should be much better to climb up the steps of the bungalow than going up the drywall with his claws . . that’s what I would think.  He would probably have been way more interested if he didn’t already have those three deep windows where he sits to look out.  On one of the windows, he gets there by hopping onto the ironing board and then into the window.  On the second window, he climbs onto a sewing machine and then hops into the window but this one, he really was having to climb straight up the wall . . which didn’t bother him nearly as much as seeing the claw marks in the drywall bothers me.

I would have made this room larger had I known how many toys and bungalows and other stuff it takes to try to entertain a cat.