Trying to get out and do some fun family time before work starts up again tomorrow, and for a family of four it was a full sixty dollars to do eighteen holes of Ship Wrecked theme outdoor mini putt. The greens were pretty rough, torn up & thread bare in a number of places too. Place was busy too. So I know at least one place that’s making some money these days. Almost all of the driving range slots were taken too. I don’t recall what a large bucket of balls goes for these days, but I’ll bet that pays pretty well after a sunny day around here.
Sunday-Funday is here and we are making the most of the time we have left with Mum here at our finger tips. Come tomorrow morning it’s just Daddy dearest and both kids, plus the dog. We ordered in breakfast, had a bit of a lie in, did some (expensive) mini putt, and then we will all head to the farm to walk the dog, and pull weeds in the strawberry patch. The new one that is. They let the old one go to thistles and then tilled it under because the weeds strangled out the strawberries so they could not produce any fruit. I’ve put hours over several weeks into upkeep on the older strawberry patch, but planting new is easier than maintaining what you’ve got, I guess.
But I digress. My wife’s family are big on farming, planting new stuff, just not weeding or maintaining fields in any appreciable way. By now the thistles in the pumpkins are over five feet tall. You can no longer use a weed eater on them. Far too fiberous for that. No trim line, wired or not, would stand up to the thickness of these “Day of the Triffids” like weeds. Pruning shears, loppers, an electric saw would suffice now. Hours of bending low and cutting them out might make pumpkin picking a bit more attractive come October. Seven foot tall weeds are not very picturesque during the golden hour of sunset.
Every fall, and early spring before planting they should go out there with a propane torch and blast the soil to kill the weeds, and their dormant seeds on the surface. Till it all then torch again. Then plant the pumpkins. I’m not talking about flame torching 1,400 acres, just the 4-6 they use for pumpkins. A near little wagon to hold your tank and a good long hose, and whoosh, off you go roasting weeds, weed seeds, and other such pests. Should give it a go at least once to see if it makes any difference for the harvest time, and all the folks whom come by for photos with pumpkins, sun flowers, and the colours of the turning leaves.
School starts in eight more days, so the kids are starting to get their back packs, pencil cases, and lunch bags sorted for a fresh new school year. Onwards & upwards! Looking for their glue sticks, rulers, pencils, crayons, markers, scissors and the like. They put a lot of effort into decorating their bags too. Individual key chains, and bits of flair which they adorn their zippers with. Puff balls, stuffies, sparkling things etc…
Which reminds me I need to go grocery shopping and start gearing up for packed lunches again. I’ve had nine weeks off of having to wake up & pack them / prepare them. Best to have a sit down and figure out what exactly it is they intend to eat for lunch. I get frustrated if they ask for things which are time consuming for me to produce, but they then don’t eat, and I have to throw out the next morning because it traveled to and from school and wasn’t even looked at. We have well traveled lunches around here. I’m feeding the green bin bags, and the dump as opposed to my kids. Not cool.
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