During the week I was able to weed the front yard. My goal today was to do all the beds in the back yard. Ridiculous. Silly Moi!! There is a hosta bed by the patio, two planters by the patio, a bed of mint along the wall under my sewing room window, as you look down the hill there are 3 water breaks along the left back yard with a big bed at the bottom of the yard, a two tiered bed and a one level bed on the on the right side of the yard, an area under the trees where a concrete bench is, and down the hill by the altar there is a big flower bed on each side of the steps. Yep, ridiculous to think I could do all that in one day. Silly, silly Moi!!
I did get the bulk of the stuff up top done. Decided I needed some liquid and a brief break after 3 hours. By the time I hiked to our back porch, where I had something to drink at the ready, and sat on the glider I knew I was not going back down soon. A break was in order. I sat in the glider and as I drank colors seemed to be reversing themselves. Not a good sign. I went into the basement and laid on the sofa in the family room for about 30 minutes. I did go upstairs and get another bottle of water and a package of peanut butter crackers to replenish while I rested.
Two interesting items of note while I was weeding. The first was while weeding those mint plants. This year the wild onions decided they also needed to live in that flower bed. The saying, 'there must needs be opposition in all things" was what came to my mind. I always have to pull poison ivy out of that bed. But this year, the aroma of mint and onion made for an interesting bit of weeding I tell you!
Second, was while weeding the big bed below the water breaks. I was weeding along and then I noticed a snake. I only let out a modest scream. It was maybe 18 inches long and not a bright color. I seem to remember that the really poisonous snakes have a bright coloring or pattern of some kind. It froze at my scream and only moved when I wasn't looking. Grateful I wear a long sleeved shirt, gloves and long pants, socks and heavy shoes when I work in the yard. No bites from the snake but a little adrenaline from me.
After my break, I thought I would go back and weed a little bit more. As I walked down the hill I took some water with me for Claude.
You see, he came outside about a hour after me and was planting trees on the hill to go on either side of this path he has been working on for years. He planted two trees during the week and had four more to plant. He and the Jeep were at the bottom of the hill working on those four trees. I made it down the hill to him and asked if he wanted water. He commented that I was a life saver and he would love me forever. I knew that. I have signs to prove it from the past week!!
We sat in the grass on the hill and surveyed his work. He drank water and tried to replenish. He puts black rubber tubing around the tree trunk to keep the animals from eating it. We do have beaver in the creek who will chew a tree down and take it with them. Then there are the ever present deer. He said he forgot to bring his scissors down to cut the end of the ties he wraps around the plastic to keep them in place. I had scissors in my weeding bag. I got them and went to walk up the hill to cut the ends off the ties. That is when I realized I probably still was not ready to weed anymore.
Claude suggested I wait until he finished watering his trees and then he would drive me back up the hill in the Jeep which he brought the trees down the hill in. I agreed.
I walked to the bottom of the hill and got this great picture of our 'hill'. I am not even by the creek to take this picture. I am at the place where the hill stops and the flat part (flood plain) goes to the creek.
Claude did drive me up the hill. Not the gentle way. He drove down the flat to the property that is for sale. We own the empty lot next two us. But there is a path on what would be the next lot that goes up the steep hill through all the trees and onto the open ground. I had visions of that Jeep rolling over. But it didn't and Claude kept it going up the hill. As we got to the top, I asked him why he chose that route back to the house. He said if the tires were spinning on grass he didn't want it to be where we are working at keeping grass growing. So, a little adventure in driving a Jeep up a very steep and bumpy hill to end our yard work day.
The grass is tall on the flat and the hill. Claude's tractor has been in the shop. The transmission was leaking and had to be repaired. It has been in two week last Thursday and won't be fixed until next week. We hired a man to cut the top once and may have to have him do that part again. Claude goes out of town Wednesday for a week and the tractor won't be back until Wednesday or Thursday. I don't drive it at all so the grass will just grow until Claude comes home. He is really not looking forward to the struggle that will be cutting all that long grass.
We both came in and crashed. I just laid down and finished reading the Sonnets of Shakespeare. Now that is a contrast to weeding and planting trees!
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