Feast or famine

For most of the Northwest, it hasn't rained a drop since mid-June.  It's very dry after the wettest winter on record.  The green grass is history, but I'm still trying to keep the surface somewhat moist to "activate" the mole deterrent scent.  So far not working, and they are happily constructing new mounds on top of the ones I shoveled off yesterday.  The container directions say "be patient."

From the Old Farmer's Almanac:

• Moles are often mistaken for rodents, but they are actually insectivores. Their diet includes insect larvae, spiders, earthworms, and lawn pests such as slugs and grubs. They do not intentionally eat plant material.
• To meet their high energy requirements, moles eat just about 24/7. They often consume the equivalent of 60–90% of their body weight in a single day and may tunnel 100 feet in the process.
• Moles are well adapted to the darkness of subterranean living. Nearly blind, they compensate with their keen senses of smell, hearing, and touch.
• As they dig through the earth with their large, shovel-like forepaws, their tiny eyes are protected from dirt by thin membranes. Their nostrils face to the sides of their pointed snouts to avoid being clogged, and they lack external ears.
• They make themselves at home in lawns rich in grubs and insects.  

Anyway, there are worse garden plagues. And a least we're "rich in grubs and insects."

It's going to be another lovely weekend.  Ho Hum. How quickly we take great weather for granted.  The annual West Seattle Street Fair starts today, and I always walk down to the Junction and make the rounds.  I've been doing that since the 1980's, when it was still called a sidewalk sale, and frankly, more fun.  Then on Saturday afternoon we're going to a Gilbert and Sullivan production at the Seattle Center with some friends we haven't seen for a long time.  Sunday-- a day of rest, except perhaps for John, who has a big home "technology" job coming up.  More on that later.

Have a good weekend, dear friends and family.