Planting time

On the way home from work tonight I decided it was a good time to plant my garden.  Irv was at work, the weather was beautiful, I didn't have any homework to do because I'm on spring break, and I didn't have anything else planned.  (What do people do with all their spare time if they're aren't taking classes?).

I took my seedlings outside and planted all 72 of them--zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, lettuce, and pumpkins.  I figure some of them won't survive, but I'm going to try anyhow.  Irv found this red plastic at the store, it's supposed to keep the roots warm so the seedlings have a better chance of surviving in cooler climates.  We'll see if it helps.

You may notice something new with my garden this year.  Yes, an automatic watering system.  Thanks to my sweet hubbie who extended the sprinkler system out to the garden.

After planting my garden I went out to the barn to feed the horses and while I was there I decided to muck out the stalls.  I was in stall #1 happily mucking away when out of the corner of my eye I detected movement.  It wasn't Jasper who was in the stall with me chomping down on his hay and oats, it was an unwelcome intruder.

You would be very proud of me because I didn't even scream!  Instead, I took time to look at him to see what kind of danger I was in.  When I decided he was safe enough I tried to encourage him outside with the muck rake.  No luck though.  Then I had second thoughts--maybe I should kill him.  Several options ran through my head.

Option #1  - Grab a shovel and chob his head off.  There's no shovel in the barn so I'd have to run up to garage and get one--for sure he'd be gone by the time I got back.

Option#2 - There's an ax right outside by the water faucet.  That would work, but I'd have to get within three feet of him.  No good.

Option #3 - I've been working on my shooting skills.  I'll go get the shotgun and shoot him.  There's only one problem, Jasper is in here with us.  What if I shoot my horse by accident?

Option #4 - Just go get the camera and take a picture of him.  This guy doesn't have a triangular-shaped head or any rattles so maybe he's okay.  Why kill him and make a bloody mess?

I was afraid Jasper might freak out if he saw him, but oh well--I needed to go get the camera so Jasper was on his own for a few minutes.  The intruder was still there when I got back and I still couldn't convince him to leave. 

I guess that's the end of me mucking the stalls for the rest of the year.

Lucky snake!

Comments

Brenda Hammer said…
You are so much braver/nicer than me! Last week I was doing some yard work and first thing I come across is a snake. I tried to encourage him to leave by throwing a plastic bucket at him. This only made him mad and he started hissing at me. That was all I needed to chop his head off! The only good snake to me, is a DEAD snake!
May 1, 2012 at 8:54 PM
Yogi♪♪♪ said…
I'd of run and called Irv.

Now Heather is going to want raised beds like yours. Why did you have to post pics? What did I ever do to you?

Looking forward to seeing you guys in AZ.
May 2, 2012 at 4:58 PM
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