Straight As A Crooked Arrow

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, I was up early to start work on my edging project.  Not really .... although the puppies have me up at 4:30 every morning now, I would really not have to actually DO anything until around 9:00.

With this weekend heat, I knew I had to be out early, so I donned as little as possible, keeping the neighbors in mind, and headed outside at 6:00.  Whoever said the desert had DRY heat is a liar.  It's so humid that five minutes outside and you become a soaking wet mess.

I keep telling myself I should put this stuff off until winter, but that's when it's cool enough to wander about the country on an adventure.  I decided to give it an hour.  Here's the result.  About as straight as a crooked arrow can fly, but not TOO bad a line for not having a string to stretch out.  It's about 60 feet long.

In no time, my wheelbarrow broke.  I was using it to haul the dirt to a big hole on the far side of the yard.  They don't build them like they used to folks.

I've stepped in this 6" deep hole a dozen times and almost twisted my ankle.  It's now full to the brim, but needs a little water to compact it.   I'm sure that bermuda grass will cover it quickly.

If you look over the fence, you can see the agricultural project I had going to feed the deer.  This was all dry desert when I left before the sprinklers got stuck in the open position.  Actually, it's a good example of what the early Indians saw before the Cattlemen arrived.  Much of this desert area was covered with this kind of grass, not the scrub brush you see today, the result of overgrazing large herds.

My hour up and literally dripping with sweat, I took a quick shower and headed off to my favorite fast food joint ... Dairy Queen ... just because it's less than two minutes from my house.  That's when I ran into this rain cell.  When it pours in Arizona, it POURS!!  It is however, a cheap car wash if you need one.

I was back home by 9:00 enjoying the fruits of my labor.  

For dinner the other night, I wanted to barbecue two pork loins I had in the fridge.  I came up with a really tasty marinade of soy sauce, honey mustard and spices and set about heating up the grill.  YIKES!  It was a mess from the last thing I cooked.  With no brush to clean it up, I smashed up a piece of aluminum foil and did the best I could.

Medium low was the desired temperature.  I really did turn it down, but it wasn't having any of it.  I couldn't see any difference in the amount of flame when I turned the knob.  I closed the lid and hoped for the best.  In fifteen minutes I turned them over ... a little toasty on one side.  I adjusted the flame even lower, or at least I tried to.  

Another ten minutes and I figured I better get them off before they became burial material.  Sure enough, they were overdone, although still very edible and quite tasty.  Unfortunately, they left a big mess on the grill for me to clean up ...... next time.

Yes I do have those grill mats, but they have to be cut to size, which I couldn't do on a hot grill.  Also "next time".  In fact, I'm going to cut them to size the minute I finish this blog.

They keep moving the HOT weekend back, which now appears to be happening on Tuesday.  I possibly have company coming today and am meeting with the HOA about my awning project in the late afternoon.  Then it's off to Home Depot or Lowes (whoever is closer) for some brick.