Fall(ing) Apart

Inu stays old school warm

Our house was built in 1794.  Our well was built in 1990.  Our boiler was built in 2000.  Our dishwasher was built in 2009.  Guess which one is still functioning?

October has been the month of modern meltdowns.  Anything that operates with the aid of that new-fangled electricity all the kids are talking about has bitten the dust.

Two dog morning.  The pooches keep each other warm.

In response, I've become a world-class, boy scout caliber fire starter.  We've employed our resident canines as foot warmers.  My training as a douser begins in days and once I locate our next water source, an Amish hand pump won't be far behind.  Yes, we'll avail ourselves of modern convenience once our own personal Mercury in retrograde passes (or as my friend more appropriately calls it:  Mercury in F@!* You Grade) but our travails began on October 21st, the exact day of Harold Camping's rain-check rapture, and I can't help but take this seriously (and personally).   I'm not entirely certain that our four imploding Samsung large appliances aren't the stand-ins for apocalyptic horsemen.  So I'll continue brushing up on my old-school skills just in case a full-blown household appliance Armageddon is nigh.

The geese and Indian Runners graze in our meadow, patiently awaiting their new pond.

The unintentional benefactors of our modern amenity cataclysm are the water fowl.  I refill their many mini ponds daily (read crab-shaped kiddie pools and corrugated buckets).  The lack of plentiful running water has made this a colossal pain in my backside and led to my decision to dig a self-feeding pond immediately.  I dug a hole.  It measured 12" long x 6" wide and roughly 2 1/2" deep.  My back ached after such exertion and I'd only managed to shovel out a web toed foot bath sized pond.  I needed the big guns:  Kubotas.

Kubotas in action.  New pond being dug to the left.  Existing pond to the right.  I'd say we're heading for an upgrade.

Now we've got a gorgeous pond, raging hearth fires and defined biceps (from hauling all that water).

So not such a bad fall after all.