Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Score: Moles 0 - Peggy 85

After work today, in the vanishing light I got all the last of those remaining 85 molehills stomped down, raked flat and sprinkled with grass seed. As I walked around on what is left of my lawn, I could feel the tunnels just under the soil collapse beneath my feet. I just know that when the sun sets, those industrious moles will be out there, repairing the damage my feet caused. That's okay, I've called time on the mole party in my front lawn! Now that I have done this, any new molehills that pop up can be tackled easily.

I was sent an e-mail by Big Biker Bob down in Cornwall. He forwarded some information about buying mole repellants and traps online. Thanks Bob!! I may buy something to aid my quest to rid the garden of moles.

We never used to have this much of a problem with moles, but then our old cat, Big Jim used to hunt them. From time to time, he'd lay a dead mole on the back step for us. Moles are beautiful animals. They're so interesting to look at. Having said that, I'm a bit NIMBY * about them.

While I have been up to my eyeballs with work, the weather has been sunny and dry. It figures, doesn't it? When I'm driving around, seeing my customers and looking out windows at the warm sunny day, the only thing that runs through my head is that I could be out in my garden. It is SO unfair that the weekends are wet, windy and horrible and the weekdays are bright, sunny and dry. I heard the weather forecast for the long Easter weekend (I've got Friday and Monday off) while coming home tonight and it wasn't good. We're supposed to get snow. *sigh* With this in mind, I had to get out to the front lawn and tackle the remaining molehills. I didn't want another week to go by with this particular job hanging over me. I felt like I couldn't move forward until the molehills had been managed.

While spreading grass seed in the fading light of day, I could hear a woodpecker in the trees across the road and the springtime call of the curlew down at the bottom of the field behind the house. Because we live so close to the sea, I actually see these beautiful wading birds all year round, but it is in the spring that they come back to the stream at the bottom of the fields near our house, I can hear their cries. Have a look on the RSPB site at the curlew. There is a great recording of the curlew that I hear when I'm out in the garden. I really love this time of year.

As the weekend forecast is bad, I got a lot of stuff picked up around the outside of Whitelees and what is left of the last delivery of firewood stacked neatly against the house. Well, if we're going to have one last blast from old man winter, I'm ready.

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* NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard

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