Thursday, August 18, 2011

Of Haircuts and Worms


Of Haircuts and Worms



My daughter called me at lunch today to tell me about the pumpkin plants I gave her. She said they were infested with “cucumber worms”. This was our second day of the seminar to prepare us for the school year.  She managed to pick them off and salvage the plants but wanted me to know that my garden may have a problem.

 The irony in all this is that on the same day we had our plant swap, she brought me some worms to start my own bin with. I really should have waited since I didn’t have a bin set up, but I couldn’t resist the chance to start right away. I did the best I could with a plastic bin and some wet shredded newspaper. I was concerned it wasn’t dark enough for them, so I put it in a paper bag. I then gave them some kitchen scraps, but not much seems to be happening.

After work it was time for my son’s haircut. One of the issues that Asperger’s kids have to deal with is hypersensitivity. The last haircut was at the beginning of the summer. It was quite the circus! The clippers buzzed and tickled his neck so much that he wiggled and squealed through the whole thing. The barber was beside himself. After the ordeal, we gave him a nice tip.

They did do a nice job on his hair, and were very nice through all the frustration. So, we went back to the same barber this time. He didn’t recognize my son until he was already in the chair and had the smock tied on ready to go. He kindly, but firmly told my son that they closed in 35 minutes. Whatever haircut he had at that point was the one he was stuck with.

Well, I don’t know if it was what the barber said or the fact that he was distracted by the tv, but 15 minutes later he had a handsome cut for his first day of school. Hopefully, that is the end of the squealing haircuts!

When we got home, I found it had rained quite a bit today, so I went out back to check on my new rain barrel. I had placed it under one end of the gutter that protects our air conditioner.  I knew the placement might not be perfect, so was waiting for a good rain to tell me how I did. It was full to the top! My son and I tied a piece of screen on the top and it is complete. No more city water on my plants!

I checked the garden and found no worms. I did find one watermelon vine that something seemed to be eating, but I could not find anything on it. Not even with my glasses on, LOL!

The worms in the bin however, seemed to need a bit of attention. I pulled out the bin and they still seemed to be staying in the clump of dirt I got them in and were not moving to all the yummy scraps I put in there for them. The shredded newspaper also seemed dry. I poked around a bit and confirmed they were still alive. So I got some fresh newspaper shred, wet it and squeezed it out. Then I laid it across the mud and scraps to make it darker and damper. We shall see how they do.  If I am successful, I will have some lovely worm tea and castings for my food garden.

 Now if I could only find some time to work on that chicken coop.

“ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”                                  Isaiah  40:30 - 31

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