Tis A Strange World ......

The heat and humidity have sapped my strength. It has also brought some strange folks about, too. I don't officially open the store until 11AM. Until then you can find me at work in one of my gardens. Weeding and edging, transferring seedlings to better spots and mowing. Sweeping the pool surround, emptying trash cans, scrubbing toilets and showers, mopping floors or doing my laundry. I like to stay busy. I really earn those hours from 11 until 7 when I am in the store with air conditioning. Lest you think I am leisurely sitting around, playing solitaire or reading ...... this is when I sneak in some housework and sewing. I sneak out to the clothesline and hang my laundry and sneak out later to remove it and fold it. Usually takes 4 or 5 trips in and out to hang one load. I can't hear the buzzer outside, so I grab a handful and run out and hang it, check the store and repeat until I am done. I figure it can be counted as exercise. Keeps the old heart rate up.

The rest of the time is spent either waiting for or waiting on customers. Yesterday I woke to a wonderful overcast sky. A promise of rain was in the air and I had planned on painting a sign. Rain and paint aren't such a good combination, so I decided to build a little garden plot, instead. I had asked Harvey, handy man extraordinaire, to add a piece of fencing to block the view of the collection of junk visible from the pool that he who will accept whatever another man is tossing away had accumulated. Harvey is a new tenant. Being a carpenter, he has skills with which to barter for rent. He helps mow, too. But ........... if he keeps mowing close to my trees and breaking branches and skinning trunks, he might not be long for this world! There are some places that are not to be trespassed upon in this land of kampground gardens. One should not presume to weed-eat my tall grasses ...........

But, anyhow, I dug a trench and created a border, using the stump ends from the trees at the stave mill. This is where they make the staves that are used to make whiskey and wine barrels. When they get the trees in they cut the ends off to have a straight edge. You can purchase these for a nominal fee. We buy them by the trailer load and use them for landscaping. They are of varying widths and I have found that you can break a round in half with a few good whacks from a good sized hammer. I put the flat side in the trench and end up with a sort of scalloped edge. Very rustic and biodegradable. Last season we had used a roll of heavy duty weed fabric to create a shade topper on the pavilion. It withstood storms and wind quite well, but the weight of the winter snow did it in. It was hanging down in a ghostly fashion and would have created the perfect atmosphere for a Halloween party, but we had to remove it. Harvey was about to toss it in the dumpster when he was told that I wanted to save it. He was doubtful that I would find a use for it, but I did indeed use it yesterday. I stole a clump of day lilies and thinned a bed of marigolds and manged to fill in a narrow little bed about 20 feet long. Got the mulch on just as it started to rain. The mulch is free. The local utility company had men out clipping tree branches in our area. We let them park the big equipment here and they gave me all the cedar mulch they made from the limbs. Barter, again.

I am getting older and yesterday was a challenge to get it all done, so when the rain came down I had intended to lock up and take a nap. I took a quick shower and answered all the phone messages that I missed. The phone rang as I was finishing up. Is your pool open? Well, no, it is raining and the forecast is for a thunderstorm ......... Really? Before I could lock the door and retreat to my lair, I see a car coming in. Swimmers. Ummmm, are you open? We got some other people coming, cause today is my daughter's birthday and we want to have it here. It? I have had these people here before and let's just say they aren't overly educated. I try to discourage them, but they are persistent, so I let them pay and explain that if lightning should occur, they will have to get out of the pool. Only one other child showed up for this event. They had been out there for about an hour when the mother came in and told me that she had purchased an ice cream cake and that it was melting! Gee, think it could be because it is hot outside? I suggested that she bring it in and let me put it in the freezer for her. Never got my nap.

I am sitting here at my desk, resting and reading, having accomplished all my domestic tasks; and I hear the buzzer. The door is closed, but not locked. The air conditioner is on and I want to keep the cool air in the building. The man is standing out side the door with the storm door open with a look of confusion on his face as I open the door for him. He is looking for a site for the evening. I encourage him to enter the building and shut the doors. I present him with the registration form and he says he will need to go get his glasses ........... I tell him not to bother, that I can fill it out for him ( so much quicker if I just do it). Name, address, etc. Then, how many people. Two. Well two, if you count my little dog. Just me and my little Yorkie, but she is like family. Okay. I love my dogs, too, and find this to be an admirable quality. As I am finishing his credit card transaction and chatting with the man, he tells me that "she" had wanted to drive on to Kansas, but that he was tired. I am confused now. Does the dog talk? My dogs can let me know what they want, but I don't think they know which state we are in. Well, Wall-E, the wonder dog, does. But he is exceptionally smart. The only thing I am thinking is that the man thought I would charge extra for his wife. Tis a strange world we live in.