ooo Adam, that must have hurt

Saturday morning I took a spill. I stepped on some boards awaiting to be used in our new fence that were lying on the back patio. Something slipped and I did a face-plant on the concrete. It was NOT fun, but no skin was broken, no blood spilled, nothing was even scraped. Eventually I gathered what was left of my dignity and with Sailor's help got uprighted again. But I noticed soon after that my rib hurt. I have a bruise under my right breast, and it hurts to breathe deeply, laugh, cough, sigh or sneeze. Hiccups are bad too. It also hurts to lie down. This does not contribute towards good rest.
I cannot help but think of how Adam must have felt when he awoke to find a missing rib and a pesky woman by his side. But I am glad God created woman. I sure love being by my husband's side and sharing this life with him.

In other news, I would like to talk about our amazing tomato crop. We are enjoying many bowlfuls of tomatoes every day. We have had many BLT's, tomato salads and other tomato dishes. Our latest recipe uses our Champion juicer. I send about 6 large tomatoes, 3 stalks of celery, 3 anaheim peppers, a tiny piece of jalapeno pepper, parsley, garlic and 6 carrots through the juicer, and after Sailor adds some good spices, we have a pretty delicious V-7 drink. We have plenty of canned tomatoes, so we are using them fresh and loving all the delicious fresh food from the garden!

Finally, I noticed the neighbor dog barking more than usual lately. He had pretty much shut up since we installed that fence. We were enjoying much more privacy, since he didn't announce our every move. But lately, no matter what I did, he barked. What's with that? I finally looked over to see two eyes and a nose peeking under the fence! Upon closer examination, I discovered the stinker had dug a grand canyon on his side of the fence and under the fence and now had a snake's eye view of our yard. This dog is really bored. I picked up my weapon of choice, the spray hose, and gave him a good face wash, but that didn't stop him. I plugged it up with pieces of rock and concrete, thinking the problem was temporarily solved until Sailor could do something more permanent.
Later that day, I went outside to gather carrots and found a neighbor cat running away and barking coming from the fence. I picked up the spray hose to chase the cat off. I saw what I thought was our orange cat chasing him, but when I looked around the tree, it was a cocker spaniel! Did I mention the neighbor has 8 dogs? I sprayed him and he scampered to the fence to a second hole! Stupid Golden Retriever had dug a second hole a little to the east of the first! It wasn't big enough for GR to fit, but the cocker could fit under and was enjoying his new-found playground. I waited until Cocker was half way through, struggling to fit and gave his butt a good long wash while he scampered to safety on the other side.
The second hole was larger than the first! But worse, the rock pile under the first had some noticeable gaps. Upon closer examination, I realized some of the rocks I had placed in the hole were gone. I placed another piece of concrete in the gap and watched as GR carefully pawed it until it came to his side of the fence, then I peeked through the cracks to see him pick it up with his mouth and move it a yard from the fence.
::eye roll:: I have a formidable contender here!
Sailor saved the day that night when he dug a trench on our side and poured concrete, then built it up to almost meet the fence. Upon talking to the neighbor, he told us that he had seen the hole and had filled it up twice, thinking it was fixed. They had also noticed GR standing on the picnic table on his hind legs and leaning on the fence so he could see us. Neighbor moved the picnic table away from the fence to the middle of his yard, but that didn't stop this bored dog. The next time Neighbor looked out, he saw GR balancing on his hind legs on the picnic table, now in the middle of the yard and barking. He couldn't stay in that position long without losing balance, but he was still trying to see us. I think the neighbors are frustrated by him, but also mildly amused. It is a bit funny, if you think about it. That is ONE.DETERMINED.DOG! The Neighbor's daughter says "he is so smart, he is stupid!" That makes sense to me. I think I even made that comment.
What next? I cannot grow bushes fast enough to cover the gap 6 feet above ground, so I am not sure. But Sailor says he will lay concrete under the existing fence and in the future will put that down before he builds the rest of the fence. More expense and work. Yikes!


::shallow sigh:: ouch, ouch, ow

have a nice day
~a