Two days after this tranquil scene was taken, a dastardly crime took place. The photo above is of Barry's latest hobby, the growing of organic vegetables in a self regulating container: an Earth Box.
He had received the Earth Box joyfully and proceeded to put it together with fewer extraneous parts left over than his brother's new barbecue had produced. He had purchased soil and plants and had even made a proud video of the endeavor.
Then he had settled back in the righteous belief that he could now coast through the upcoming radiation and chemo therapies that awaited him, sure in the knowledge that at the other end, he would be able to walk into his backyard and pluck from his own plant nutritious, fresh tomatoes, peppers and strawberries.
Instead, below is the scene that awaited him two day's later--
The plastic cover had been ripped to shreds, the plants ruthlessly torn from their happy abode, the fertilizer had been EATEN, one tomato plant had been slashed to pieces and the bell pepper plant was missing altogether.
Barry was crushed, devastated, his dreams in tatters.
Who could have done such a horrible thing?
Well, here is one clue. The following is a one minute video of the crime scene including an interview with one of the suspects.
And here is a lineup of the most likely suspects. Please look them over carefully and then submit your verdict.
Let me know who you think is the guilty party.



Barry and the Earth Box to be continued in Part Three--coming soon.

36 comments:
Hee,hee. Have you seen Life of Brian where they go "It was her! Him,Him"
I think it was her..... Ahem,hem.
Has Linda got her book yet? Thought it might be healing, especially since Stuart has passed.xx♥
Well, it appears that I was away for Part I of the saga and being a gardener I am guessing that was for the best. Raccoons are our thiefs here, but they rarely do that kind of damage on just plants. What on earth did you plant for fertilizer anyway?
Was that the morning Lindsay came back in from outside with little white bits all stuck to her forehead? If she ate the fertilizer she hasn't shown any sign of sickness. I think it was nice of Lindsay to help you do your planting. You need to teach her how to mow the lawn. =D
It was an organic fertilizer that came as part of the kit, Tabor. I no longer have the bag to know exactly what was in it, but if Lindsay was the guilty party, she seems to have survived.
I vote for the squirrel. I have a planter of ivy where they love to hide nuts. I couldn't be Lindsay, it just couldn't?
Hmmm....unfortunately I think that Lindsay might need a good doggy attorney. Being an ex Public Defender investigator, I would be more than willing to do my part in in defending her against any and all possible charges. Please let her know that I will work for her pro bono and not to speak to anyone until I get there. Of course she will be claiming "not guilty". Those little white bits that she had on her forehead... nothing more than a little circumstantial evidence. Her defense will be....the raccoon did it. Rick
The question is what is "it" - or was it not? ;-)
Poor dog, must have been driven crazy by the fragrance of that fertilizer! Cow dung? I can see her throwing all that useless stuff out while digging desperately for more of those fertilizer goodies. Sue the company who so recklessly tempted that poor dog! ;-)
My cats have looked at all the clues and have decided that no self respecting cat would do such a thing. Their paws point to Lindsay!
This might have to be turned over to Elaine's cat Gray (A Scattering). Gray looks like a fair and just judge.
Uh oh. And your earth box was so darn cute, too. It was the racoon. He's the only one trying to hide in that mask.
I think it was the racoon too. No dogs or cats or squirrls have bottered my garden.
So sorry for your loss of veggies and hard work.
We agree with Willow - it was the Raccoon!
Sorry about your Earth Box, Barry.
Rot ro Scooby Doo. This is definitely a case for the Mystery Van.
I am thinking it might very well be Lindsay going through some depression issues due to your prior absences. One of our dogs used to take my sons socks and underware out to the back lawn through the dog door when we were gone and did not behave that way when life was all on schedule.
My nominees for most likely culprit in this crime would be the raccoon(so destructive!) or the deceptively innocent looking pooch! Time will tell!
I really enjoy reading your blog, you stories are always so interesting and well written!
FYI - You win the 'Lovely Blog Award', I have won this myself and in turn am nominating 15 others!
Oh Barry, that sucks, there's no other word for it! Maybe you'll have to put it on your deck next time - you can use a heavy duty garbage bag instead of that plastic cover and tie around it with some twine - it'll do the same job :)
I would say you probably had an invasion of raccoons, especially if the fertilizer was blood or bone meal. Lindsay probably wouldn't have still been interested as she was in teh video if she had done it herself. Arwen tends to destroy and then forget about it (sort of 'been there, done that'). She was probably smelling the offending raccoons.
I saw your package arrived safely on Monday, did you like it? I'm sorry it wasn't more :s
I hope you are feeling okay today, we're all still praying for you :)
Meg
I agree with Willow, it's the one in the mask. They are our least favorite messers with all things growing around the farm (although we don't have a dog).
Oh no!! Hmmm... Lindsay acted quite aloof in the video, but maybe she's a good actress??
And P.S., I tagged you in a post I wrote Monday, titled "10 Juicy Tidbits"... :)
J
Well, if the fertilizer was horn meal or shavings, then I think Lindsay should talk to her attorney ... my neighbour's dog used to eat that out of the flower beds all the time! They just can't help themselves! Although cats find the smell intriguing, I don't think they would carry off the pepper plant. And this isn't the time of year for squirrels to bury stuff. The racoon would probably rather rifle through people's garbage - I don't think they go for health food!
This was a lovely post, Barry, such fun!
But I am sorry your plantation is wrecked - if you give it another go, try liquid fertilizer, such as Guano.
I say it was a conspiracy, all of 'em, except the cat. She meerly watched the mayhem.
Now I wonder what character did in the beans I planted some weeks ago.
Well...this reminds me of my Augie Doggie and the day he "helped" me plant my annuals.
It was a warm May Sunday. I had just picked up about a dozen pink petunias. Augie was snoozing on the back porch. I carefully prepped the dirt, dug little holes, plopped the pretty little plants in, rearranged the dirt, stood up and admired the beauty. Out of the corner of my eye I see a brown streak racing toward me, it's Augie wanting to play! He dives past me into the flower bed and grabs one of the dear little petunias and takes off with it.
I started to chase him around the yard to get it, which turned into it's own game for him. He rough housed the poor plant, threw it up into the air, grab it and run...
Because of that incident, these days,Augie watches me garden from the inside of the house. ;-)
So maybe, just maybe, a playful dog may come up with her own little game...I'm just sayin', I'm not pointing paws at anyone in particular...
I would like to respectfully submit another suspect--a deer. I tried to grow strawberries once and had them torn to bits by deer. I'm interested to find out whodunnit!
That was so sad, I loved your first video and the earth box was doing so well.
I dont know about racoons cos we dont have them in GB. I dont think a cat would do that sort of damage so I think that it is either the squirrel or Lyndsey.
I am thinking Lyndsey may be prime suspect because the earth box was getting your attention, it did smell of you and you have been out of routine recently.
Not sure.....
Hmmm, if it was Lindsay, you need to feed her more LOL. The plastic being totally ripped off, would point to a bigger animal? Hope you're not going to keep us in suspense for a week! By the way, next week I'm gone to the mountains, far from any electric device
Ah I feel bad ... but I must admit I laughed.
I'm thinking Lindsay was having some fun ... I'm sure she thought she was just helping.
I look forward to part three.
We went through that so many times in the past we just gave up pets. These days we just enjoys the ones we go to see. Of course I have to keep an eye on my gold fish and Koi. Birds and cats you know. I would guess the raccoon also, due to the mask. Love your stories.
QMM
umm Barry ive never seen a raccoon just heard about them but he looks guilty!!
p.s. Lindsayn is a good dog! =0) She would never =0)
Having just read "Marley and Me", I'm tempted to blame Lindsay, but she does seem like a pretty placid creature. It couldn't be the cat, and the squirrel seems too small. So, I'll go with picture #1.
Both Cuppa and I howled at your video, but despite our choice of vocalization, we still don't think it's the dog.
Otherwise, I hope that you and your treatments are okay.
My dog would have gotten into there in an instant if left alone. Fertilizer to roll in! Too good to be true!
It's the raccoon for sure.
Oh Barry X:-(
But don't give up, we have the same problem up here in the hills with our wildlife (ie) Possums, birds, a fox even stole my neighbors chooks the other day... So up here we have our vegie patches totally enclosed in wire... You may have to look at a rabbit hutch type structure for yours?
(Ps)I bet it was that little guy up tha tree! He LOOKS guilty! Lol!
oh and hEE! hEE! i like Rick's response! X;-)
Awe! Barry I am sorry to see your plant box in shreds.
I vote for the Racoon! He looks like he has been
up to no good... up in that tree and all. Lindsay could
never have done that! However, I think Lindsay may know who did do it... you should bring her in for
questioning. :0)
hugs~kimme
non of your suspects, it is a bear. LOL
My vote is for the guy wearing the mask (raccoon). I believe they often put bone meal or other things into the soil which attract wildlife.
Well, this cracks me up! I was impressed with your Earth Box video (watched the whole thing, waiting to count Lindsay dancing in and out, with you earnestly explaining things in the foreground). And now this! The minute you saw it you must have been disappointed, but immediately looking forward to the blogpost it would produce!
My verdict: it was the work of squirrels. Lindsay is innocent. And the raccoons just look guilty.
They all look suspiciously guilty.
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