Working for the work week

I was almost happy to get to work Monday morning. It would be the first rest I had had in days.

There was a AKC Fair at the state Fair Grounds and they were offering dog chipping for $20 less than a similar fair taking place in Clayton.  Rocket and I got up early and thought that if we got there early enough we could get in and out quickly.

Everyone had this brilliant idea. No one got in and out quickly. We all waited in line to wait in line. Dogs aren't big on lines or waiting. An hour and a half later Rocket had been in his words "violated" and I had peace of mind. it was hot, we had a long walk to the car and we got stopped every five yards by people wanting to see and touch Rocket. His head is now huge.

We made it home, feeling very much like pop stars, and Rocket needed a nap. While he slept I broke up with the garden. It was time, it just wasn't productive anymore and I had gotten out of it what I needed. It knew what it was signing up for, this was a summer romance and I was hitting the road once school started.

i didn't pull it all out as there are a couple of tomato plants with some nice looking not-quite-ripe yet fruits hanging on and so I want to give them a chance. It was a very bad year for tomatoes and I'm hopeing add to the few I was able to get harvested.

After looking at what I had wrought there, I turned my attention to the melon patch.

I only really got a full grown melon, one that looked grown but wasn't and several immature specimens that ended up as ice cream. I'm not buying this variety again. Next year I'm going with a traditional oblong variety. Above, "before". The five  melons that were far enough along in production, are going to be turned into jam and jelly.

After. I had forgotten about my goose and its gosling. I kept the sunflowers because they're still pretty.

What I deemed "not pretty"

Before I even started on the garden, I mowed the lawns, both of them. And then the garden and then laundry, all the laundry. I probably did yours too. I did laundry that I had been trying to forget about but I decided I needed the laundry hamper that I had kind of consigned to be in the basement. I didn't want to have to buy another because I was afraid of what might have taken up housekeeping in the sheets and towels. As it turned out, if they were there, they aren't there any longer. And now I have lots of fresh bedding for Rocket and my hamper back.

Oh, and when I got tired of being outside, I blanched and put up the rest of the veggies, and I mean after they were blanched  I cut them up and placed them on cookie sheets so they were freeze indivually so they would be easier to use and give me more options. So, yeah, the office was a nice change of pace.