Tis the Season

Has it really has been two months since my first blog? I wish that I could say that it has been that long since farmville... Our garden has been harvested, it is well frozen over. The war with the voles was fun and I think we may have won since there has been no sign of any burrowing creature for several weeks.



The Vole War:

My dear husband (heretofore known as dh) came home one day in early October with small bale of straw. I was so happy to have a nice decoration to put near our front door along with a scarecrow and pumpkin display. I soon found out there was a higher purpose to his recent acquisition. After 21 years of marriage I have learned that once my dh makes up his mind to do something there is no stopping the man. He and I both agree that you can take a man out of Cambodia however you cannot take the Cambodian out of the man. I cannot fault the guy after all he is a Pol Pot survivor and there are some kind of jungle warfare techniques that he will not surrender to mere childhood memories.



So it came as no surprise that I found him stuffing every small orifice in our yard with straw then pouring gasoline over the openings. I became an unwilling accomplice to his action as the fires were lit and the smoke began to rise. At one point we discovered what the term spontaneous combustion means as one small opening suddenly burst into flames without even one touch of a match. During this process I nervously eyed the neighbors windows hoping and praying that they would not have the privilege of viewing our most exiting yard work ever. They must have done a rain dance because we had a deluge of wonderful fall rain less than 10 minutes after the fires were lit and all ended well for us... perhaps it was not so great for the Voles but that was the point.



The entire process was repeated two day's later with all the enthusiasm of a 16 year old son. It made for a great family night adventure. So now when I go to look out onto our yard I see small areas of blackened grass along with a deteriorating garden, terraced lawns fruit trees and plenty of fall foliage.