Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

We got a bit over an inch yesterday. At about one-tenth so far this morning. There IS water in the hole in the ground, lol. Needs more, more more!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

No rain today. None. Zip. Nada! Actually ok with that as I spent most of the day at a car show with DS and DDIL. They have two show cars now and entered each of them in 4 classes. They came home with 7 plaques! All were either 1st or runner-up. In one class DS's car beat DDIL's car and thats the only reason they didn't have 8 winning plaques. It was a fun day, but it was damp, dreary and a little cold.

Monday is supposed to be a big rain event with predictions of +/- 3 inches. I'm ok with that! Picked up 12 bags of gravel today to put on the spawning shelves that bulldozer guy cut into the side of the pond for me. Apparently bluegill like to spawn in gravel beds so now they've got gravel. I've just gotta figure out how to get it down into the pond - on the shelves - without tumbling down the wet sides and never being able to climb out. Gumbo is slippery when wet, lol. If I'm missing for a few days ya'll send help!

I need to put out a round bale tomorrow so I hope any rain holds off until I get that done. It's muddy enough that I'm going to make a mess with the tractor. Oh well - goats gotta eat.

 

[flowerbug]

perhaps leave it in the bags and tumble it down the slope to the shelf? maybe take a rake anyways to pull it down? dunno for sure. piece of metal may help it slide better.

 

[baymule]

Gumbo clay is more slippery than calf snot on glass! Then it adds insult to injury by sticking to your boots. With every step, your feet get bigger until you have to stop and scrape it off. I don’t miss it! Got a tree near to the pond where you can tie onto and wear a safety harness to get you back out of the hole?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

With every step, your feet get bigger until you have to stop and scrape it off.

I've heard it said that you know it's gumbo if you get taller with every step! Truth! I've been living that for the last couple days, lol.

New round bale put out this morning. Goats love me lots right now!

I got the 600 lbs of gravel unloaded. It's in the front-end loader on the tractor for now. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow and if the spawning shelves aren't underwater, I'll still be able to get them set up. Correctly, I hope!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Wellllll, it happened. I knew it would happen at some point and it happened this morning. For some unknown reason I decided to climb to the top of the gumbo mountain to check on the progress of the grass seed. I did NOT descend into the pond to spread gravel - that would be akin to suicide or an even funnier escapade than I already experienced.

Trotted right up the side of the gumbo mountain....my guestimate is that it's about 8 foot tall. I was careful and walked in the bulldozer tracks because they make cute itty bitty stair steps. No problems going up. I tried not to walk around tooo much on top lest I track away grass seeds on my boots. Said boots at this point were at least 3 lbs apiece heavier from the gumbo mud that was hitching a ride. However, I was feeling pretty pleased at this point because I see sprigs of green making an appearance. Ok - I went, I climbed and I saw what I wanted to see. Perfect, right?

What I didn't count on was the descent being so exciting! At this point I'm not really walking on the treaded bottoms of my boots - I'm walking on a 2 - 3 inch buildup of gumbo clinging to the bottom of my boots. And guess what? Gumbo is slickery! Took about two steps thinking "I got this." I didn't. THIS - got me!

Feet decided to go way fast down the slope - almost like mud skiing. At this point I've already figured out that this isn't going to end well, lol. Decided to cut my losses lest I start rolling down and pick up mud on the way like a giant mud ball. I figured no one would ever be able to dig me out of a mud ball composed of me in the middle and about 3 feet of mud all around. PLUS - had I started rolling I would have rolled not only down the mud mountain, but across the 10 ft flat buffer and right on down into the pond, perhaps never to be seen again! Only thing to do was to drop my a$$ down into the mud and hope it would act like a giant brake! Sorta worked. Until I tried to get up again. Lather, rinse, repeat...sigh!

The good news is that I made it! Undressed on the back porch and have the washing machine going. Is it too early for a bottle of wine?

 

[FarmerJamie]

Pictures of the pond? Not the gumbo mud monster....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

The pics are very deceiving - it's hard to get size perspective. But, here ya go!
11/10/23

11/11/23

11/13/23

I need to remind myself to take the pic from the same place every time so that I get the same perspective every time.

 

[FarmerJamie]

COOL!!!!

 

[flowerbug]

i wonder who here hasn't ended up butt planted in some mud sometime? i know i've done it myself, your description of gumbo clay is pretty much what we have here except it's the northern kind that's called, um, clay. sorry, my smart-ass came out there. glad you did not get hurt.