Flowers fade away and rooms get rearranged

I’ve been getting our garden in order, with vital assistance and encouragement from young Alfie. I’m very pleased with how it is turning out, and looking forward to tasting the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors.

Rats, redux

The exterminator seems to have done the trick, as we’ve seen nary a sign of rats since he visited. Alas, both the exterminator and the city’s environmental services department confirmed that we should avoid birdseed feeders in the future. However, suet feeders seem to be OK, since they don’t result in accumulated seed debris for rats to munch on. So, we should continue to enjoy the woodpeckers, cardinals, chickadees, and their kin.

Rats!

This morning, while enjoying my coffee, I glanced out the kitchen door at my backyard and marveled at the Disneyesque scene: a pair of Cardinals and a Carolina Chickadee were taking turns at the bird feeder. A rabbit was hippity-hopping across the grass. A chipmunk scampered among the shrubs. I actually let out a blissful sigh.

My reverie was soon interrupted by a horrifying sight. A small brown rodent with a long hairless tail peeked out from behind the downspout, and then boldly strutted out to nibble on the remains of sunflower seeds that the birds had dropped. For a few minutes, I tried to convince myself that it was just a field mouse. Then I got a better look. Eventually the small rat was joined by another somewhat larger specimen.

Tomorrow, the Orkin man will come and bombard the place with various potions that, he assures us, are harmless to humans and pets. The bird feeders will have to go away, at least for a while, though I’m hopeful we can put them out again once the rats are gone.

Cultivating my garden

The backyard at our new house is coming together. We got a table and chairs for the deck, and a charcoal smoker, so we can now enjoy delicious meals al fresco. We’ve put out some bird feeders, which have started to attract some plumed patronage. This morning I saw a red-bellied woodpecker at the suet basket, and young Alfie saw an unidentified bird at the seed feeder. We’ve also got a composting bin, and young Alfie and I have gotten started on the process of turning our yard clippings and kitchen scraps into nice rich dirt in which to grow some vegetables.

Housekeeping

Slowly but surely, we’re getting our new house in order. After living in an apartment for 3 years, I’d forgotten just how many small but cumbersome chores homeownership entails. And here, unlike at our Philadelphia house, we’ve got a garden to keep up as well. I look forward to growing some herbs and vegetables, but there’s lots of work to do (and, of course, equipment to buy) before that.

Moving woes

Having heard nothing from the moving company since our belongings left San Francisco on June 15th, I gave them a call today to check on the status. They told me that our shipment arrived last week and has been in storage. Of course, they were supposed to call me when it arrived, so that I could arrange delivery. In any event, I called the warehouse, and they told me that the earliest they can make delivery is next Tuesday. So, we will have to do without our belongings for another week, and we’ll have to pay for storage in the meantime. Double-plus bad!

On the upside, I was delighted to find that our new house came complete with a pet — a goldfish that the former owners left behind in the backyard fishpond. Perhaps I’ll get a couple of bluegills so that I can get young Alfie started on the angling habit.

Countdown

Today is moving day. I was up pretty much all night with the last minute packing, so I’m about to keel over. But the movers are doing all the heavy lifting today. So far everything is right on schedule and going smoothly.

Closure

The house closing went off without a hitch this morning. So I’m now an official Greensboro tax payer, if not quite yet an actual resident.