Fireants Poop and Cigarette Butts

Today was the first warm weather we have had in about a month. I kept telling myself that when it warmed up I was going to give the dogs a bath. But like all items on a non-existent to do list... it NEVER got done. So what did I do.

Well, the True Green Chem Lawn guy came out. Now, before you get too excited, let me explain. As you know I am NOT a fan of chemicals, and I have always thought that the company name "true green chem lawn" was an oxymoron... BUT after two years of battling with fire ants biting me and then all last summer dealing with Braden getting bit (even when wearing shoes) I decided to bite the bullet and call someone to come out... which they did... this morning... at 7:45am..... whatever!

The man left without saying goodbye. And since I was nursing I couldn't tell if he had done the back yard. So I called him to inquire about what had been done. Good thing I did... it turns out that "yes" he did do the back. During our conversation I asked him how long we had to stay off the yard... he said "well, this treatment needs water, but it is okay to walk on after it dries". OH? Water? Was someone going to tell me that it needed water? I wondered how I was supposed to know this since I only found out because I CALLED HIM.... whatever. So I ran the sprinklers.

In the afternoon when everything had dried I let the dogs out to go potty. I noticed that some of the granules had gotten on the back porch. I thought "I really should clean off the porch". Since winter had come and Mason had left I had not really done anything to the outside living areas. So on went the gloves out came the paper bag and I started to put all the dried leaves and grass and yuck in the bag. Which then led me to the flower beds. Took out the dried leaves, fixed (or at least attempted to) the edging bricks. As I walked out of the back yard to do the front stoop I noticed that there were granules of this junk all over the driveway. No big deal you say? YES big deal. That is where the bikes get ridden and Braden lies down and colors with his chalk and so on and so forth.... So out came the hose and the broom.

What started out as a quick clean up project ended up being an hour long wash down of the driveway and front walkway ....I couldn't stop once I started. I just kept puttering around spraying and sweeping ...

My dog Calhoun eats my other dog Chloe's poop. I am totally disgusted by this. Apparently it is very common in the dog world. Nonetheless .... I am totally disgusted by it. So twice a day I pick up the poop in the back yard. My dogs have an area that is fenced off from the large play yard area. Even so, sometimes they find their way into the big yard and leave a surprise for us.

On one of (what I call Easter Egg hunts) I noticed some poop behind our storage shed. I didn't think that much about it. Until the next day I found poop there again. This time it looked like it had come from UNDER the shed. Every day I looked and everyday there was the poop. Real old looking dried up poop coming out from under the shed. And then it stopped. No poop. Then a week later it started again. Then no more poop. Then poop. You get the idea. Two days ago there was poop. Today - no poop. WHERE IS IT COMING FROM! it always looks old and it always looks like it is coming from under the shed.

With dried leaf bags and poo pick up bags in hand I head towards my trash can at the curb. (yes I keep my trashcan at the curb, because I NEVER remember to set the trash out) I look down and see 4 cigarette butts in my front lawn. I see them from time to time. I remember when I first moved to Abilene and didn't know our neighbors I though they had a smoker in their house that would just throw the butt onto the ground as they drove into the driveway. Then I thought it was a service guy (meter reader or something) who just happened to finish a smoke while checking my electricity usage. But I was wrong on all counts. The cigarettes appear the day after trash day. They come floating down the street on a currant of wind and land in the crevice of my driveway and lawn.

Just another Tuesday ....