12 In Articles

New Wheels…

Before I start this post I will give you a little background on what you are about to see! As you will see in our “About Us” column on the side of this blog, my husband is an Archaeologist. He is self-employed and has been for about a year now. However, for a reason unknown to us (perhaps a weak economy), it hasn’t been quite as lucrative as we had hoped. So, being the responsible, hardworking husband & father that he is, he has taken on a second profession… “Straw Man” (as in PINE STRAW). In the north y’all use bark chips to fill your flower beds; in the south we use pine straw. In a nutshell, he hires crews to rake and bail pine plantations (& occasionally he will attempt to assist with such duties to only be put to shame by them). He rakes on family land, his friend Neal’s land and he has several rented “fields” of Slash Pine. It has proven to be rather profitable for him and he thoroughly enjoys his work. I am growing to appreciate it because it does pay the bills. It does take him from home more than I’d like but “no pain, no gain”. He also supplies a TON of local landscapers with straw… which in turn we are able to trade for our personal yard services. This is a treat we never thought we would be able to have but trading is beneficial to both. If he could only find a “housekeeper” who needed straw and we could trade with her… hmm, maybe one day.

With that said, I will show you his new truck. He’s so excited he could hardly sleep the first night he got it. I really felt like he had turned into a 7 year old on Christmas Eve. His truck (a 2002 Ford F-150) was struggling to pull a full load of pine straw and eating up his gas… so he decided he needed something bigger (F-350 dually {as in dual rear wheels}), louder (diesel), older (1996), and with more miles (288,000) and he is in love. He called me yesterday on his way home and because it’s so big (50 ft long with the trailer) it doesn’t fit in our driveway. He asked if the girls and I wanted to come see it up close parked out front. How could I break his heart and say “no”? So out we went and here’s what transpired. Sorry it’s in 4 parts… I can’t figure out how to keep it small enough for YouTube so they’re all under a minute.

In the first video Justin refers to Turtle Man. If you haven’t seen it and are up for a little entertainment I suggest you watch.

We accompanied Justin on his “straw” delivery and had a great time. When we got to the neighborhood I was quite surprised at the response of all the neighbors. These people came out of the woodwork to buy pine straw. You really would have thought we were driving an ice cream truck with all the bells & whistles! We came home with a lot less bails and had a great time while we were there. The same event transpired this morning when we made a delivery to another cul-de-sac. The lady we delivered to made a few calls to all her neighbors and Justin had a lot of unloading to do! It’s fun to see him in action!

Justin in action with his #1 helper by his side

Our little outing put a dent in the trailer load

It’s late and I’m absolutely exhausted. Hope everyone has a very restful and blessed Sunday!

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  • ashley lynch
    May 3, 2008 at 8:44 pm

    Thanks Darby! Now my husbands wheels are turning! I just had to have him read this blog! Thanks for the great laugh tonight!!!!

  • Beth G.
    May 3, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    That is so funny!!! I miss pine straw. No pine straw in San Francisco! Probably somewhere but not like in the south.

  • The Allen Clan
    May 4, 2008 at 4:28 am

    i want that truck!

  • duchess
    May 4, 2008 at 6:32 am

    I need him to deliver that load of pine straw to my yard. You’d think that living in the Sandhills of NC (which is famous for it’s pine trees) and having a front yard with at least 24 of said trees in it I wouldn’t need to have any delivered. Wrong!

    My husband would love the truck by the way.

  • J
    May 4, 2008 at 11:56 pm

    Ok, you are crackin’ me up! 🙂

  • Carly & Garrett
    May 5, 2008 at 7:32 am

    Darby, this is too funny! My mom used to joke that “times were good” if all her flower beds had pinestraw!

    I think the “straw man” should get some custom mud flaps for the dooley…

    ~Carly

  • Becky Brodbeck
    May 5, 2008 at 7:07 pm

    I totally needed that laugh from your footage and the Turtle man-and to top it off he is from KY. Makes me proud:-) your new wheels look like something Ben would come home with…:-)

  • Lindsey
    May 5, 2008 at 7:15 pm

    that was too funny! do ya’ll live by the woodlands? that’s where i grew up in dothan. just curious… my mom lives in savannah and there are some “straw men” that come around her neighborhood too. glad he is enjoying his side profession!

  • Jennisa
    May 6, 2008 at 8:45 am

    Hey Darby…

    I’m designing her personal blog…crazy, huh?

  • Dena
    May 6, 2008 at 10:50 am

    How funny- Leslie is actually having pine straw issues today – Can gets loads like that all the time – wish y’all lived closer! I bet your flower beds have no straw!

    Really – a man with the biggest truck they make is in HOG HEAVEN!

  • In(side) the Loop
    May 9, 2008 at 11:00 am

    this is the funniest thing I have seen in a while. I am in love with your family! You are so hilarious. Thanks for the laugh – greatly needed it.

    Have fun at your party tonight!

  • Angie
    May 10, 2008 at 8:42 am

    Darby, I found your blog through a friend of a friend. I am interested in getting some pinestraw if it is possible. We need about thirty bales. My email is angiestjohn@yahoo.com
    Thanks