Happy 1st Furlough Day!

Furlough Rantings..

I'm covered with poison ivy rash and feeling quite irritaable, so I wrote this poem to vent about the upcoming furloughs.  The image pretty much sums it up.

(Cartoon: John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune)

 

We’ll cut your pay by 20%,
That’s what they said to me
It’s been signed into law – we have no choice
Here in the land of the free.

We know there is waste, yes, waste galore
But to cut all the waste would be “hard”
You see all the people who feed on this waste,
would hate us, and then we’d be barred.

Barred from the jobs that we’ve so come to love
The ones where we “serve” all you folks
And from which during crises we “recess” for weeks
Ignoring your pleas, sneers, and jokes.

So the easier way is to blame all our foes
Those parties – the ones we abhor
It makes no difference on which side we stand
Pointing fingers is what we adore
“They’re being unreasonable,” one side will accuse
And a similar volley comes forth
“My way or the highway,” we cry from on high
And rational discourse is scourned.

So you’re stuck they informed me
With wasteful expense - like bridges to nowhere and such
Those folks at Citizens Against Gov’t Waste
Can just hide in the bushes and watch
Watch while we take the easy way out
And penalize all of you schmucks.

All you folks who work hard every day of your lives
And struggle to make your ends meet
No matter how much you protest and complain
Our ineptitude still reigns supreme
So we’ll cut your pay while we golf and cavort
And we’ll leave it to you to survive
We’ve exempted ourselves with a process well-honed
Have no worries - we certain to thrive.

It’s really your fault – you must be aware
After all you’re the ones who did vote
We’ve structured this thing so there’s nowhere to turn
From each side you will surely be smote

Until you despair and throw us all out
And take back what you’ve given away
This waste and this graft will continue to shine
In the land of the free and the brave.

Habitual complaining.....

I have been so disgusted by our ineffective elected officials and their willingness to let good hardworking people suffer rather than do their jobs and trim the fat from our national budget.   This morning I read these quotes from Pope Francis regarding the dangers of constant complaining.  Then I looked out at my garden and the new life springing from the soil and considered the great time my family is having working together on this project and I realized that these ridiculous furloughs may turn out to be one of the nicest things we have ever lived through together.  Furlough Schmerlough!  I really needed to hear this message this morning.

They were afraid. All of the disciples were afraid,” he said. As they walked toward Emmaus and discussed everything that had happened, they were sad and complaining.“And the more they complained, the more they were closed in on themselves: They did not have a horizon before them, only a wall,” the pope said, according to Vatican Radio.The disciples had had such high hopes that Jesus would be the one who would redeem Israel, but they thought their hopes were destroyed, he said.“And they stewed, so to speak, their lives in the juice of their complaints and kept going on and on and on with the complaining,” the pope said. “I think that many times when difficult things happen, including when we are visited by the cross, we run the risk of closing ourselves off in complaints.”When all people can think of is how wrong things are going, Pope Francis said, the Lord is close, “but we don’t recognize him. He walks with us, but we don’t recognize him.”Like the disciples joined by the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, people can hear beautiful things, but deep down, they continue to be afraid, the pope said.“Complaining seems safer. It’s something certain. This is my truth: failure,” he said.But the Gospel story shows how very patient Jesus is with the disciples, first listening to them and then explaining things step by step, until they see him.“Jesus does this with us, too,” the pope said. “Even in the darkest moments, he is always with us, walking with us.”Complaining and griping — about others and about things in one’s own life — is harmful “because it dashes hope. Don’t get into this game of a life of complaints,” he said.— The Catholic Sun

Planting Update

One hundred forty-seven onion plants and fifty strawberry plants have been planted.  Light rain is forcast for this Easter afternoon - perfect for the new plants.

At this point, all the existing garden beds are full.  Next we start on tilling, amending and building more beds.  I'm actually very grateful for the furloughs...my family is working hard together to accomplish this goal...very satisfying.

At long last...cold frames!

We were given these storm window panels several years ago.  The intention was to use them in cold frames..but they just sat in the basement gathering dust.  So I guess I should be grateful for the upcoming furlough days...without them I wouldn't have these beautiful cold frames.

And so we begin...

Ok - so we've been "playing" at gardening for over nine years now.  Now that the sequester has gone into effect and we will experience a 25% net reduction in income due to furloughs, it is time to get serious about producing as much of our own food as possible.  Better late than never.  Hopefully, keeping this blog about our gardening efforts will serve to keep us accountable throughout the season.

This past weekend we started seeds of  lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, lavender, sage, oregano, and broccoli.  Hubby is building a cold frame so we can get some of the early spring veggies off to a good start.

The garden is in shambles...but the rosemary, sage, thyme, and lavenear which was planted last season has survived the winter and the fall broccoli (which I neglected to pull up) is showing signs of growing some early new buds.  It will be interesting to see if we can harvest anything from our "has been" broccoli plants.

It's a gray, rainy day, but I will try to get a picture of the "garden" -although it has been so neglected, it hardly qualifies for the title.