snake in the grass

It was one of those days today.  I thought things had been going rather too well lately.  I started to have my suspicions when I lost the car keys. 

I didn't notice at first what had disappeared.  I noticed what had appeared instead.  A pile of junk items which were all very familiar, because their usual home was next door in the allotment I had just acquired.  Then I saw the beaten up old concrete encrusted barrow from next door by my heaps.  Then it hit me - THE GREEN CHAIR WASN'T THERE.  Instead there was the pile of junk.

I had a feeling I was on borrowed time with it.  I'd tried to contact the owner to see if it was ok for me to adopt it, but the phone number didn't work.  So I thought I would give it a loving home anyway, as it was lying on its side in a most forlorn way, surrounded by junk.  I tied a note to it explaining my actions, in case it was wanted.  Just as well as it turns out.  So, I was fostering, not adopting. 

It was an unusual and stylish chair from the late 50s Eames era.  I loved the way its green plastic string, which formed its body support in the manner of sunrays, became luminous when the sun shone on it.  Ah well, salut green chair I shall miss you. 

I returned the junk to the allotment which had belched it up.  It left me rather crestfallen and unmotivated about the whole land expansion idea.  The new allotment really is a dump.  I chopped back all the mugwort stems and similar today to see just what I'd taken on.  There are four old car wheels with tyres, a child's plastic table and chairs, two beaten up barrows, a pile of broken bricks, and everywhere covered with weeds and grass. 

I had an informative chat with my mate Brian, who is now a neighbour as well since I've taken on the new allotment.  He said what I needed to do was spray the whole lot with weedkiller.  He also told me that he is growing the very long stemmed wheat that I have wanted to grow.  It's ideal for corn dolly making.  I do love the whole ritualistic and primal corn dolly creative process, but haven't been able to make one properly since the farmers started growing short stemmed wheat. 

I proudly showed him my comfrey crop in the new allotment, and he said he hated comfrey, because it harbours snakes.  His mate was bitten by an adder as he backed into a clump of comfrey while strimming.  Dearie me.  I'll be much more careful in future. 

The other misfortune today concerned my apple crop.  I was disturbed to discover that several of the apples had large nibble holes in them, some with droppings on.  It was unmistakably a mouse.  So, I'm in the process of moving my whole crop into the garage at home.  It makes me wonder who I will be sharing my shack with in the winter.