Why Can't We Just Get Along?

In 1977, the Commodores released a song written by Lionel Richie called "Easy."  This was a smooth Motown song about the end of a relationship and that instead of being depressed, he was going to be "easy like Sunday Morning."  I like that song, except our Sunday mornings usually aren't easy.  While we do sleep later than we do on weekdays, we get up and get the chores done, feeding animals, milking cows, opening the nesting boxes, and filling water troughs while rushing to get back inside and get dressed and make it to church.   

Saturday Mornings are much more easy, but the three syllables in the word Saturday don't flow as well!  Saturday morning we woke up and did the normal chores at a slower pace.  The weather was one of those perfect, cool, blue bird days.  I planted a row of turnips in the garden.  I have not been able (yet) to develop a taste for turnips, but I like turnip greens.  We grow them for our cows.  They really dig 'em. 

I joked with Tricia that the weather was so nice that it was time to do some spring cleaning in the fall.  Our springs are very short.  We move from winter to summer so quickly, there's hardly any time to do spring cleaning.  Might as well do it now.  We put together a shelving unit for the garage, cleaned out junk from the garage, patched holes in the walls and primed the holes.  I found a hole behind some junk where rats had eaten a passageway into the walls!  I put carpenter's glue on the some steel wool and patched up that hole.  I was a little disappointed in Big Boy, our Great Pyrenees guard dog and Ginger, our hunting cat, for letting the rats do this literally right under their noses.  How could this happen?  I walked outside the garage and got my answer:

Asleep on the job

Well, ain't that a kick in the pants?!  Sleeping on the job.  That's exactly how the rats gained access.  I thought dogs and cats weren't supposed to be friends?  Big Boy and Ginger dispelled that stereotype by cuddling up together for a snooze in sunlight filtered through the remaining leaves on the pecan tree.  Seems like they are getting along just fine, right?  I had to go get Tricia to show her that dogs and cats can be friends.

I wanted to also show you something else in our backyard - our Cassia tree.  Every year at this time it blooms with beautiful yellow flowers.

Here is a closeup of the flowers:

The bright yellow color is certainly an eye catcher against the blue sky and brilliant sun.

There's only two weaknesses with the cassia that I can find. 

#1 It does not handle freezing weather.  It will die back down to the ground, but always sprouts back up from the roots.
#2 Its root system is incredibly week.  The entire tree will fall over with the slightest wind and rain.  We have both of our cassia trees staked with t-posts and rope to keep them from falling over.

It was an enjoyable weekend.  I hope you enjoyed yours!