Invasion of the Mole People

It's later than usual this morning when I go outside. It's foggy/cloudy early on as I sit and sip my English Toffee Cappuccino, savoring it...ok, dragging it out so I don't have to see what the Mole People did during the night. I know they've been there.

The "kids" trail me to the pea patch.

mow pepl' 'gain?
yup.
why?
dunno.
mom gonna sayz a swear?
dunno.

The little upside down red clay pot is tipped back a bit, and I can see a hole. Hands on my hips, I shake my head. The mint stocks that had still been over the pea seeds on the right side have been moved and tiny foot prints dot the soil. I had come to terms with their invasion but am still annoyed.

I turn away and walk across the yard to the garden boat, to raise the beach mats. The sun is shining now and it is warm. As usual I am taken with the beauty of the scenery. I wander around the boat and note that there are pods forming on what is left of the Alaska Peas that the cute little Island Buck Mule Deer didn't eat. Well, if nothing else, maybe I will get one feed out of them. I wander some more. The Tumbling Tom Tomato plant is absolutely loaded with newly formed tiny tomatoes! The Brown Berry tomato has one tomato ripening, and the Bull's Heart and Striped Cavern each have tomatoes forming too! That makes my day brighter.

Everything on the boat is lush. A busy honeybee is all over the Tumbling Tom. I make a mental note to definitely plant that tomato again next year; maybe several of them. There are small fruits forming on my Bush Pickle cucumber and everything else is doing so well. Plans take shape in my mind. Hmmmmm, if we cover the bunkbed frame with heavy clear plastic, and use a string of Christmas lights, I could use that part of the boat as a hotbed in late winter. Worth thinking some more on it. I wander on.

The "kids" are now sunbathing while I look at my plants in pots. Richard comes home and I drag him over to look at the pea patch. "Wow" he says "gotta be a rat". I bend down and move the pot. "Wow!" I say. The hole is really big under the pot, big enough for a cat to get through, should it be of a mind to. Or Mole People...

Richard wants me to go over to the other side of the creek to identify some plants growing in a field and I agree; maybe it will get my mind of the pea patch. We jounce down the rough trail in the old farm truck admiring the gorgeous scenery along the way. Arriving at the field we find the plants in question. Oh my goodness!!! There are acres of pink flowers and I pick a plant with tiny, bright pink blossoms. As we drive away, I wonder if the Mole People would like it. We come home to the internet, where I quickly find it is Centaurium muehlenbergii: Muhlenberg's or Monterey Centaury. The flower mystery is solved but why it suddenly showed up in that field remains unknown.

Now it is late afternoon and I am watering some of the plants in pots, the ones that suddenly look droopy. I debate with myself about watering the pea patch, then decide I will. After all, there are still some tomato plants and some sage and thyme. And dried up mint stalks. And a big hole in the ground...my face scrunches up.

I sayz a swear.