Back to my homestead in South Africa.
It was becoming quite a struggle to keep relations between Skramunkel and Nina on good footing, but it was wonderful to watch the horse kind of amble up to the fence, then as inconspiciously as possible try different angles with her head to try and get it through the chicken wire fence, and when she was lucky enough to find a small hole, she would grasp a big mouthful of Nina's veggies, close her eyes in utter delight an chew with such utter content, that I felt like taking a mouthful as well.
But I could not leave her to destroy the children's garden, so I kept her mostly in the camp on my side. My roses of course was another of Skramunkel's delicasies, and she would just wait until a rose is fully opened, then she would pull her mouth in a classic Angelina Jolie pout, and pluck the rose neatly from the bush.
By now another evil destroyer of my peace and tranquility had made it's appearance on the scene! I had taken so much care in preparing my veggie patches, and after nursing my seedlings to the stage where they could be planted out, I was very excited when at last they were all in the ground, standing up and looking very strong and healthy.
About a week after planting out the seedlings, I went to water them one morning very early, but to my astonishment found all of my beautiful plants lying limp and flat on the ground. I was in tears, but also very non- plussed, as there was not a mark or any sign of worms or other insects having filled up their tummies through the night. However, when I looked for the cause, I found that all the soil was taken away beneath the plants, leaving a lot of tunnels running criss-cross where my lovely veggies should have been growing strongly.
I immediately thought that it was moles, but there was no molehills anywhere, and that was quite strange, so I hopped into the little Sparkie and raced down to the co-op for assistence in this time of bally stress! My trusted guy there laughed when I told him about this strange phenomenon, stating that it seemed like my pests were nothing less than an army of cricket moles, a small mole that eats the earthworms that kept the soil aired and healthy, but he assured me that the stuff he would give me was quite efficient, and that within three days the poisonous substances would disappear. I was desperate, so I chose to believe him, as he had never let me buy anything harmfull or unneccessary.
This stuff was very poisonous to start off, that had to be pushed into the tunnels, and then watered. All this had to be done with heavy precaution, and also with a mask, as the fumes caused heavy hayfever, according to the co-op guy.
It did NOT help! The moles hid somewhere untill the fumes abated, while I thought they had all expired, and bought some more seedlings, planting them with a wee bit of concern, and they indeed grew to quite strong plants before one morning I found them all quite ruined again!
I was devastated, as the snails had also arrived from the strawberry patches that I now guarded with vicious intent to kill them all!