it’s still there, still full of hay. the boys even raked the weeds into a pile by themselves. they tried to pull the retard act first though. at first i left them to it and when i go to check on them bryce is running around, headless, smacking the rake into the ground like a hammer because for bryce anything with a handle is a hammer. and jake is combing a suddenly very stylish tuft of grass like it’s his hair. gently, carefully. wow. that is some unique retardation you’ve got there, jake. “myuhhh.” this might actually take all week. okay. so i told them they could fuck around and act like retards for as long as they like, i didn’t care if they were stuck there for next three days. they could, also, just get the raking all done today and go home to do whatever they wanted. it was done by lunch time. i was fucking flabbergasted.
on the way home i noticed something bundled up in bryce’s jacket. i also noticed earlier that he’d been digging up random potatoes i’d missed from the garden and was super stoked about finding these surprise potatoes. fair enough, who wouldn’t be? so i asked him what he had hidden in his jacket? nothing. show me? so he opens his jacket and there’s three potatoes in there. why are there three potatoes in your jacket? he’s hiding them from his mum. okay. why? so she doesn’t take them and cook them. okay, sounds reasonable. they’re yours then. what are you going to do with these three potatoes? take them home and plant them. huh. cool. he’s smuggling potatoes out of my garden to grow his own. that’s genuinely bad ass.
we were going to sow a bunch of corn but it’s still too cold. the soil outside needs to be at least 16c for corn to sprout. if i had enough trays and somewhere to put them i’d start them sprouting now. i’ve got 76 leek seeds in trays that should sprout any day now. 12 pumpkin seeds, 5 of which have sprouted already. and a bunch of cottage garden flowers in trays that have sprouted. the carrots i seeded directly in the garden have sprouted, so have some of the broad beans. but not the onions or beetroot. i get a little bit obsessed with monitoring seeds. even if i’ve only just sowed them a day before i’ll check the next morning to see if they’ve sprouted. it doesn’t make much sense. but okay.
the old bugger got out of hospital last wednesday. i didn’t go to visit. he was staying with some friends. i’m glad i didn’t visit. i think it’s all been a bit too much for him. he seems better now. he called on friday and he had no idea what was going on. he didn’t even know what day he’d gotten out of hospital. he wanted me to take him down to pareora on saturday to pick up his dog, who’d been staying with a friend. when i said i’d take him he seemed less stressed. but still not himself. my nana has dementia and sometimes when you talk to her you can tell she has no idea what’s going on but smiles and nods and pretends to understand what you’re saying, just trying to keep up with a conversation but not actually knowing what the conversation is about. last friday was the first time i’ve talked to him where i’ve had that same confused old person impression.
jimmy and my neighbour, jimmy’s cousin were here friday night. he wanted to go whitebaiting. he’d caught 4kg at a smaller river earlier in the week. we caught 0kg. fucking around in the waves right next to the mouth of a river is, objectively, crazy enough during daylight. at night time it’s a different type of lunacy. it’s also illegal. you’re not supposed to catch any whitebait past 9pm.
i took the old bugger down to pareora to get his dog on saturday. i filled his car with petrol and got some groceries for him. he seemed a bit more like himself in the supermarket. abrupt. impatient. stomping down the aisles and smacking things off the shelf with a crutch. do you want some help getting back in the car with your crutches? no, fuck off, i’ll whack you. righto, fair enough.
he rang just before, he has a doctor appointment later this afternoon that he wants me to drive him into town for.
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