Persimmons and Possums Post

Let's see...what happened today? Well, it was another sunny day. T-shirt weather for the kids across the street. I really should go out to the "garden of death", remove the deceased, dried up plants from their pots and change the dirt in most. The same soil's been in them for about 10 years. But I'm just not in the mood anymore than I am to tackle the sink full of dishes that's sat there for a week now. Sigh.

The dishwasher beckons. I use it to store my mixing bowls. It was new when I moved in and has never been used so I'm kind of fearful of running it. Who knows what hoses have dried up and cracked in the last five years? But it's probably about all that'll get the dishes done. Again, sigh....

Last night's dinner was another salad. Trader Joe's Chicken with Golden/Red Beets, Balsamic Vinaigrette and a lump of what was supposed to be feta cheese. I've had almost every one of their pre-packaged salads by now but never this. Holy smokes, the dressing reeked of anchovies! While I don't mind anchovies, this just totally masked any taste of the salad ingredients and was unexpected. It was ghastly to the point that I tossed 3/4 of it down the drain.

I've shopped at TJ's since the mid-1980's and there's been only three things that I returned. The rest of my dinner was Havarti on crackers. So consider yourselves warned. It's still re-visiting me. As a result, I emailed them with my experience.

On a happier note, it's persimmon season! Delightful! TJ's has them for sale at just $0.59 each vs. $1.29 each at Albertson's. Since the season's only about 6-8 weeks long, I purchased 6. The fuyu type was what was available...my favorite. You can eat them just like an apple. The flavor is so pleasant, not overly sweet or tart. I feel like I have a gold mine in my fridge!

Pure Gold (photo source unknown)

Last night, I went out to the garage for something and Blue went out into the yard. Suddenly he went nuts. He'd found the opossum in the yard. Yelling "come" had no effect nor did "leave the possum alone" or "cookies/treats". Silly me...he was chasing a four-legged moving"toy" with (unbeknownst to him) a lot of really big teeth!

Suddenly I looked to my left and there it was just 3 or 4 feet away and closing in on my bare feet (was wearing sandals, but still, bare tootsies). EEEK! I grabbed a saucer from a clay flower pot and flung it at the nasty looking rodent, knowing full well that I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if I tried. Just wanted him to run away.

Source:  Gary Randall

So today I called the police dept. since the city I live in has it's own animal control service. Two solutions, should you need them are:  Critter Ridder which comes in spray and and granular form. The officer said to spray the perimeter of the porch and yard. One drawback..."your dog might not want to go out". So much for that idea.

The other solution is pie tins containing some ammonia. Apparently, they don't like the smell. So I'll be hunting this down in my cupboard. Can't recall if I have any.