Death to Weeds! Nuts to Squirrels!

I think we need more cats. Mousers. Well, squirrelers, actually.

I'm sitting at my computer, watching the rain bucketing down quite briskly over the deck and the neighborhood beyond. In the foreground, the deck planks are littered with spent hazel nut shells. In general, I like squirrels. But I was also hoping to get to try some of our own hazel nuts. At this rate, I don't think there will be enough left to ripen enough to try. So far since we moved into the house, Tinka's killed one mole. Juding by the way my potted plants in the carport keep getting knocked over, she seems to have skirmished with squirrels, too. But I'd like to discourage the squirrels a bit more thoroughly. I wonder if I got a kitten whether Tinka would teach it to hunt?

I did get a bit of yard work in this morning, back when it was still fine out. It turns out that letting Sarah out into the fenced side yard so she can see me and be able to truffle around on her own while I do stuff works out pretty well. So this morning I tried out our new Grandpa's Weeder tool. Man that works a treat. Center it over the taproot of a week, step on the lever to sink the fingers into the earth, and then just lever the whole weed out of the ground. I love good tools. I also love the carroty crunch-rip of hearing a weed root let go.

The bonus is, the tool also works really well for spearing up half-rotted windfall apples, of which there are an appalling number still strewn around the yard. I didn't get up half of them, but at least with the weeder I don't have to bend over for every single one, just the ones that look like they might be good enough to salvage.

It is kind of nice, though, having a big old window just by my workstation to watch the rain and smell the wet summer through. And hear the long, moaning lovesong of each passing freight train, of course.