Wednesday, April 24, 2013

winding down

It is Wednesday, April 24, and I just finished 18 holes of golf with Craig Waggaman on the River Course. I played pretty well, missed four short putts, but hung close, took the lead for the first time on 17 and then won 18. I treated him to lunch and it was a fun morning. After a quick nap, I rode my bike for 7 miles along the river and then headed to my office. Mark and David came over on Sunday and David finished up thinning the trees near the smooth coneflower and Mark treated the two bridges, the porch, the shed and I treated the wood by the gate. The greenhouse is producing and the new lettuce is fine and the peas are all doing well. The strawberries have a lot of flowers. The orchard trees are loaded with flowers, and I will put a grease band around the sweet cherry to protect it from ants. My schedule in the fall had to be changed so I will be teaching 5 days next semester, with a 12 pm MWF 200. The advantage is that I will have Monday and Wednesday early afternoons free so golf will be easier.

Friday, April 19, 2013

second bombing suspect captured

Friday, April 19 and I only have two weeks left of class and one week of finals. My teaching went well this week and I don’t have too many poems to read this weekend. The big news is that they captured the second bombing suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. That is a great relief. Things in the hollow are fine. I took out the solar charger pole and cut the ground so all is covered now and seeded. I also scraped a path to the shed and seeded that. With rain the last couple of days, the grass should do okay. The heavy rain today beat up my road again so I will be out on the tractor in a few days fixing it. I found out the propane people came and now I have 92% in the 100 gallon tank and 90% in the 500. My road is much safer. Gyorgyi’s visit with Andrew, Sylvia and Laura on Wednesday went very well with the bluebells at peak. Gyorgyi wasn’t feeling so well so we went back after a quick viewing. I got to play a quick round of golf and shot a 43 with my driver working extremely well. I hit one on the first hole that went close to 200 yards, very unusual for me. The Coleman and Nan Lacy reading went well, with about 25 people in attendance.

Friday, April 12, 2013

the house is almost completely clean

There was an incredible rain last night and my road is a mess again. Oh well, it is good to have rain. I took a hike this morning to the orchard and the trees all have leaves starting or out. The solar charger is dead so I shut it off and cut the wires so I will be able to drive my truck right up to the shed. I will get rid of the rest of the wires soon. There really is no need for the electric fence anymore since the trees are all at least seven feet tall. There is going to be plenty of fruit this summer. No asparagus yet but bloodroot, rue anemone, cut leaved toothwort, spring beauties in the hollow with ground ivy up by the orchard. Dutchman’s breeches and twinleaf along the pasture road. I got my check from the feds so now I shouldn’t have to touch the equity line until September, when I return from the Alaska trip. I should get 1450 back from the Savannah trip and then I will get 3800 from Maymester. I played golf and shot a 46 on a very sunny and slightly windy day. Later I watched Tiger shoot a 71 with a really unfortunate break on the 15th hole when his third shot hit the pin and bounced in the water. He is three behind Jason Day so he still has a good chance. On my way out I rode my bike in the second pasture and it was quite beautiful with the twilight coming in softly. I have almost finished cleaning the entire house with the new Dyson vacuum. It has amazing power and all I have to finish is the bathroom. I got rid of all the books that I can’t keep because of the dust and mold, so I can now open up the guestroom again.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

savannah and the return

I am down in Savannah, having given my paper on Cooper (with an audience of 4). I also rode my bike out to Forsythe Square even though it rained a little and is still overcast. Tomorrow I will be playing golf at the Sanctuary Golf Club with Marv and Joyce, and then have dinner with them up in Beauford. Yesterday I visited my aunt Theresa and Joyce and Marv in Goose Creek and had a nice lunch. Driving down to Savannah was tough in the rain but when I got close I saw a sign for the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge and the rain stopped so I rode my bike along the canal there and saw several alligators along with herons, egrets, anhingas, and red winged blackbirds. My book selling didn’t go well. Most of the books were too damaged so I only got 40 dollars for the twenty they could use, and I donated the rest. I am going to donate all the other ones when I return home and then vacuum the house real well. My asthma is subsiding, due most likely to the medication and not being at home. David is coming out this coming Wednesday to work on thinning the trees near the coneflowers. I will stay with him until 1:45. Gyorgyi called me and I am going to see her and Andrew, Sylvia and Laura the following week. That should be fun. I found out that the propane truck almost tipped over trying to come to my house (that is what did the damage to the road). I was able to switch tanks so I will try to get a delivery when things really dry out. I could get another 100 gallon tank if I run low but with the weather finally warming, I think I will be able to get through till June. I think I am going to call Mark to help me get that culvert working again. That would be a big help, but I have to wait a while for things to dry out. This is an addition to the earlier stuff. It is April 10th and David came and worked on thinning the trees in the coneflower habitat. I worked on the road this morning, clearing a lot of dirt so the propane truck can easily get up. I will address the wet stuff and the culvert at a different time.