More on the gopher

Ok, so while I was inside blogging about the gopher, It was outside chewing on another tomatoe plant.

So I got the hose and decided to wash the little bugger out. It didn't work. The water kept going down. I had heard it wouldn't work, but I had to try. Also I was hoping it would at least bother gopher enough to send him some place else. I got out my shovel and started digging holes wherever a gopher hole was. The dogs even got in on the action. I made a mess and still I have a gopher.

I dug a trench around my tomatoe bed, I put shingles around them and buried them. Hoping it will turn the gopher in another direction. So far so good. But every day I go out and stick the hose down any new hole I find. This gopher has me insane. When we moved here I was so excited to plant a garden, the main reason was for fresh tomatoes. The thing I wanted the most is the one thing this beast has targeted.

My rock garden

So I have a small fenced in area in my back yard. I grow rocks there. I swear I am growing them. I have planted some vegetable there, but every time I water them, rocks grow. It's true. So anyway, there are some peas, onions, corn, strawberries, pumpkins, cantaloupes, watermelons, jelapenos, greenbeans, and tomatoes growing with the rocks. I had a thief in my garden two nights ago. A gopher. It came like a coward from beneath the ground and stold a whole tomatoe plant! It left only a hole where a plant should have been. Not even a leaf was left. I may have to start sleeping in the garden to protect my tomatoes. I only had 4 plants.

Crunchy towels

I remember when we moved to New Mexico as a kid and my mom made us hang our cloths on the line to dry. I hated the way it made everything all crunchy. Nothing felt soft. You had to dry off with hard towels. And it was always so hot to go to the line to hang or take off. Oh I hated it.
It's been pretty warm around here lately. I have been doing laundry early in the morning so the dryer won't heat up the house to much. But yesterday after I washed towels, I had a brillant idea, I have a cloths line. So yes, I dryed my towels on the line, outside, in the sun, to get all crunchy. And this morning when I dryed off with one of my crunchy towels I could smell 16 again. I could close my eyes and remember the old house, I could feel the way the swamp cooler made everything just a little bit humid. Never before have my towels smelt so good.

On the catwalk

I hadn't been to the Catwalk since I was in high school. The other day we took the kids and went for a hike. It was amazing. The trees shade most of the path and make you feel like you are in your own private world. There were wild mulberries growing off the side and they reminded me of Texas. We took off the well beaten path and found a little pool to dip our feet in. The water was ice. I could see my feet turning red right in front of my eyes.

The kids started out grumpy, they had stayed with a friend the night before, but the magic of the river soon changed their mood. By the end of the day they were all laughing and skipping down the path. Maybe it was just because they knew we were heading back to the food. I like to think it was something more.

My blue journal

When I was 10 years old my mom took me to a small book store on the "square" in a small town in Texas. They had little earsers shaped like animals and smelled like various fruits. I don't remember much about that bookstore, but I seem to remember that is where my mom bought me my first journal. It was blue with a silver unicorn on the front, I LOVED horses at that point in my life.
It took me until I was 18 to fill all the pages of that book. Some of my entries make me laugh, some bring back memories I had forgotten that I had. After filling these pages with my most personal thoughts, I made myself a journal out of notebook paper kept sercurely in a yellow notebook. That one only lasted a couple years. Still stored in a box in my garage. I now have a small pink journal with two little teddy bears happily hugging each other on the front. I believe my dad got it for me, right before I got married 11 years ago. It pages are slowly filling. I wished now that I had wrote more about my children, as they are growing so fast. I thought I would never forget those unforgettable moments, but there are so many and I seem to be forgetting some of them.
Today as I type I wonder if these words will replace my little pink journal. I seldom get it out anymore. And when I read it I feel silly, it seems as if I only wrote when I was upset. So today I write, type, my thoughts. I am happy, tired and hot, but happy. All my journaling started with a little blue journal that my mom bought at a small bookstore in Texas.

Thanks to my sister Alicia I decided to try this blogging site. So here it is. My blog for today. It's naptime. I would love to be able to lay down and sleep with the little ones, but the big ones are still running around, so I dare not sleep. I am so happy tomorrow is Friday, I need a weekend. I love what I do, but I sure get tired doing it. I know not every one can do daycare. I have been blessed with patience and find children to be little gifts full of energy, wonder, and endless possiblities. I find joy in being there for them and their parents. My "kids" are happy to be here, I am sure they would rather be at home with mom or dad, but since they can't I try to make them as happy as possible. I love kids.