Vanishing garden, Becky, Brittany

Last night was FBI so I did not get re-dressed for feeding. Mama was ready to go out when I got home and said she did not need the help so I settled in a chair to nap for a few minutes before going to class. Mama and I were both dragging from Sunday night sitting up with Becky as she and Mike waited on a ride home. I never did get to rest because after Rosie pooped right behind the chair I was resting in – the nasty smell of that was inescapable and the cleanup was disgusting – Mama came in and told me that the garden was gone. I could tell by her voice that I needed to get up and go out and look; even though I was not dressed for it. I was still in my office attire. When I got to the garden it was painfully obvious what she was talking about.

The raised bed was empty. The pots where we had tomato plants blooming and growing little tomatoes, the strawberry bed that had been loaded with ripening fruit, were all gone. Completely, totally gone. One of the plum trees was almost denuded and the other was nearly so. One limb of the pear tree that was bent over by the pears ripening on it was eaten away all the way back to the tree. Even the asparagus did not escape the onslaught. It was all gone. Bare ground, bare branches, bare beds. It was easy to see where a cow or cows had nearly flattened the fence to get in. Mama was almost in tears. I was most upset over the strawberry plants that I had tended for two years to get to the point of really setting fruit. We put the cows up in the barn lot – where they will stay - for the next couple days so I can repair the fence.

 The best way to get them to move is the promise of feed so that is what we did since that is what they expected. It was funny to hear Mama talking mean to her herd. “You don’t deserve any feed after what you all did. I don’t know which one of you ate my garden but I am really mad at you.” And so on. In their defense, I could have taken the time to set out a bale of hay for them on Sunday but I wanted them to eat what they had before doing so. I will set one out tonight but I will also reinforce the garden fence before I let them go near it again. Trade Days is this weekend so we will buy the plants to repopulate the garden – maybe even to make it better than it was before, just three weeks behind where we were on vegetables and two years later that we were on strawberries.

Becky and her crew made it to Hot Springs at about 8 am yesterday. For the moment (or for the next several weeks), their PT Cruiser sits in the carport taking up Victoria’s parking place. The only issue we will have that I can see is getting the mower out of the carport. Fortunately, there is a gate wide enough to accommodate the mower at the back of the carport. Mama will just have to go the long way around to get to the yard to mow: which she intends to do this evening if the rain holds off. Please continue for Becky and Mike. I will not suggest how to pray, just that you pray. It is difficult for those who know how to play church to realize how far away they actually are from the Lord.

Brittany and Andrew will be flying to Kansas sometime in the middle of the month; which is only two weeks away. I have not heard, but I can imagine Brittany is a bit stressed out. I am not too worried about Brittany but I pray hard for Zoe and Soe. I told Mama I will laugh for weeks if the twins turn out to be boys. But we will celebrate healthy twins because of the miracle it is. Pray for them to find a good church in Wichita. They will be there for several years.

Lots of changes coming this year.