So what else is new?

Whew! It got away from me yet again! All I can say is .... I've been busier than stink! A lot of what I've been busy doing isn't really note worthy, but it kept me occupied, nonetheless.

And things are very good in my life. They really are. You know how it is sometimes when you go through a long period of ickiness, and then all the sudden  you realize that it is all past? That's where I've been the past week. It feels really good, let me tell you. All the junk from the office, the broken friendship, the fire and evacuation, the wreck and trying to add physical therapy into my schedule finally worked its way through the sieve, and I threw out the chunks left in the strainer! Again, I say .... Whew!

Last week there was a fluke that made me a happy beneficiary. A few weeks ago I was trying to get permission to load some straw into my truck and bring it home. You see, four bales rolled off the trucks taking them to a field where the helicopters picked them up and dropped them in the burned areas of the forest to mulch the land and begin the healing. I actually saw them fly off. Thank goodness I wasn't in their way! These bales are  huge, over 2000 pounds. You know, 6' or 8'X4'X4'.  Even in my sturdy truck, a flying ton can be fatal!

Anyway, the bales stayed there beside the highway for a couple weeks, and I began calling the Forest Service to see if I could take one of them. By the time I finally found the right person to talk to and was given permission to take what I wanted, I went out with a friend to do so. AND THEY WERE GONE!!

Then last week, the same friend talked to some people in the field near our homes where the bales were stacked. They were finished dropping from that area, and he was told we could pick up what was on the ground. There was a lot there. So he went to see how much trouble it would be to pick up, and there was a crew there. They were loading one single bale left behind and they told him that they would put it in his pickup bed and he could have it! Deal!!

Next we backed our trucks up to each other and broke about half of the bale off and into my truck bed. He took his part and put it down in his horse stalls. I brought mine home to mulch my little grassy patch. I asked a teenager to help me get it to my back yard, because I can't back my truck up there. It's a steep uphill. Long story, but the kid didn't make it here, so Sunday I  unloaded it myself. Do you know how many garden wagon loads it takes to move 1000 pounds of straw from the truck bed up that steep hill to the back yard? Aw, c'mon, guess!! OK, OK, quit sniveling. It was about 15 trips I made.

It actually wasn't as bad as it sounds. I'd take three loads, come in the house and rest, hydrate, cool off for 30 minutes or so, then go out for another round. Spreading it was a cinch. A broom rake scattered it lickety-split.

Originally, I was going to have the half bale till fall and let the mulch work over the winter, but when we transferred from his pickup bed to mine, we couldn't keep it together, so I had loose straw. I knew I couldn't keep it from molding because I couldn't keep it off the ground as I could have done with the bale. Oh well, now I don't have a couple months to fret about it and dread it!!
Here's Jazmyn enjoying the padding .....

She loves to stretch out in the grass, and hopefully this will help it to thicken and make her even happier. Since I took the picture, the grass has popped through at least twice that much. I think it is going to be fine.


The next thing was waiting for the rain. It was either rain or watering it so the grass underneath wouldn't die. It did rain a little that night, not a lot, but I thought enough to get by. On Monday, there was a little more rain, about a quarter inch. And yesterday I got 1.2 inches of rain, so it is all good.

There was a little left in the truck when I was done, and I was trying to find time to clean it out. This evening I raked it out and put in in my "garden" out front. This soil around here needs all the mulch and help possible. Hopefully the cacti and other native plants will think they are having a feast!

I had lunch with a friend from high school yesterday. Well, we weren't friends back then. He was sorta the class clown and irritated the snot out of me back then. He and his wife spent the summer here in Ruidoso, and we just discovered our proximity recently. He suggested lunching together and talking about old times. I was frankly a bit hesitant, because I wasn't sure I could stand that much time with him! You see, at all our class reunions, his behaviors tended to be the same as back then, the cut-up, the obnoxious one. But I agreed.

And guess what? One on one, he was very different! We had a nice lunch and a great talk. It was really pleasant. We talked about so many things .... old times, how our lives have gone, our kids and grandkids, the upcoming reunion, etc. And speaking of the reunion .... it's our 50th. 50th!!!! Hard to believe. Anyway, I'll see him again next month, and we've agreed to be sure to find time to spend together, along with his wife and perhaps some of our other friends, to continue out talk. 

And I learned a lesson. Always remember that people can change, so don't hold onto old, ominous thoughts. Give it a chance.

I think I am going to open the blog again. All of you should be getting notifications of posts soon. I'll hang onto your email addys, and if I have to go private again, I will put you back in the "VIP section"! LOL! Don't you feel just so very special?

Gotta run. See you all soon!