Taming the Jungle

Yesterday was spent doing more work in the garden. Crowd control. So many weeds sprang up in the month we were gone and then were well nourished in the week or more of daily heavy rain. It was daunting. However before we left we realized our weed whacker had died and so that was one of our first purchases upon return. I don't usually like to do the brick driveway that way but sometimes it's a necessity. When I first starting pulling the weeds about a week ago, my right thumb went slightly black and blue so hand pulling had to slow down.


Then there is the front yard. Very very small (~20x20)fortunately with a cover of pachysandra under the flowering cherry tree. Well the pachysandra is now being covered with ivy which is being covered with variegated vinca. And..the pin oaks are springing up in that density, and I have finally come to realize the two I had let grow have to be cut. There is no way they can survive there without doing damage to the sidewalks and the house foundation in time. They were to be moved to the back when they were smaller but we missed that window. Such is the nature of gardening.


Dick spent most of the day putting the icing on the cake together - a new grill to replace our older one which blew over in a wind and had also lost its auto ignition.
Dick also (!) cut the back grass when he was done and I got exhausted just watching him. By late afternoon we realized we would have to pass on a party on the Eastern Shore. A test of the new grill with hamburgers, As Time Goes By and our serious yawning set in shortly afterward. Bed really felt good - bed and the air conditioning.

And how has YOUR weekend been?

The Best Laid Plans..

So much for the great day with my Artist Way peeps. The cat had done his regular barfing during the night AND in the a.m., and I woke up with an upset stomach. Fortunately, mine was just pain which I attribute to too much falafel the previous night. By mid morning I felt ok, and with the increasingly hot weather we were getting, it was a day to work in the garden. Do some planting, come in for some water, do some weeding, come in for some water. Repeat repeat repeat. I used to like gardening as recently as my 40s but then it suddenly became work, not joy. I don't know if I could live in a condo or aparment - easily - but lately it has just been a case of keeping the jungle under control.


I would be happy to grow vegetables but the trees I planted for house shade work all too well, and we have almost no sun in the backyard except for the deck. Yes, containers but they seem to dry up and out when we go on vacations. Are there drought resistant vegetables?

Well, my movie is still to watch, and my right hand has computer mouse finger as well as weed yanking aches in my wrist and shoulder. Sounds like a hot shower, some Aleve and an early night. I bet I don't toss and turn! Not what I planned for the day, but not a bad day in the end.