Planting peas

8/19/08 Tuesday
The rain is gone and the sun is back. It’s still going to be a relatively cool day by Texas standards, only going into the low eighties, if I remember right. I’ve been out since 7:30 this morning planting blackeyed peas. I was hoping to get a lot of that done yesterday but we ended up spending an hour or so trying to catch a dog that showed up. This one looked like a Yorkie or something. I don’t really know what a Yorkie looks like but my brain came up with the name so there must be some kind of subliminal connection. It’s small with long white hair though the hair is no longer white due to being very dirty. It has a collar on so we think it belongs to someone and ran off. It was walking down the middle of the highway and running all over but when I tried to coax it close it would just run. I watched it run around all day and when it started to get dark decided to try and catch it so it wouldn’t become coyote food or road kill. Cherie got in the car and tried to head it off as it ran from me but that didn’t work. After an hour of this I was huffing and puffing and the dog disappeared in the brush so we gave up.

The last time I planted the peas I used Matt’s seeder and it went quick. However this time I am doing it different based on what I’ve learned and looking at Matt’s garden. Because I’m making “hills” (or whatever you call them) the seeder wouldn’t work so I’m doing it by hand. It’s 11:00 now and I’ve been at it three and a half hours and am not quite halfway done. I tried using the little camp stool but even bending over from that was quite painful so I ended up sitting on the ground and scooting my butt down the row. It’s a pain day. I’m taking a break now to let the back ease up and take a pill. I’ve also got to take these jeans off and pull the stickers out of them and my ass. This sticker grass is a curse for sure and will be a constant battle. Eventually I hope to get them under control but am not terribly confident about it. In the meantime they are everywhere so scooting my butt across the ground isn’t much fun.
There is already lots of the stuff I recently planted coming up. The rain sure helped and I suspect that if the weather stays away from the hundred plus dry heat things will grow much better this time. I think these are green beans.

By the way, Stanton had a big event that got some national attention in the stupid criminal category. Some guy runs into the drug store that fixes those fantastic burgers I’ve written about, waving something wrapped in a sweatshirt around and telling everyone to get on the floor. Of course the fool chose to do this right a lunch time when the place is full. The newspaper article said that some thought it was a joke and one guy kept eating saying “There’s no way I’m gonna let this hamburger get cold”. The would be robber demanded pain killers from the pharmacist, who only gave him two bottles, and ran out. He had his car waiting right outside the door with the motor running for a quick getaway. Unfortunately he had locked his keys in the car so took off running. There aren’t many places to hide in a small town like this so it didn’t take long for the sheriff to find him. He evidently was waving his arms at the sheriff and got shot in the shoulder. It’s sad to see what drugs will do to someone, making them lose all common sense and the ability to even think things through. I know for it is a battle I’ve personally fought several times. By the way, alcohol is a drug too and just as addictive as others can be. Just had to throw that in because so many don’t recognize this because alcohol is legal.
More beans coming up

I just heard a commotion outside and that little Yorkie was just run off by our dogs, so at least it’s still alive. It’s too bad ours didn’t accept it for that makes it harder for me to catch the poor thing. I know, I’m a big softy but don’t apologize for it. I think I’ll run to the grocery store to see if anyone put a lost dog poster on their bulletin board.