The Grass is Greener…

When I bought my house, the area behind my house was an overgrown field full of weeds and shrubs.

I had cut a path to the back forty to give me a place to dump weeds, food scraps, grass cuttings, etc.

I’ve done nothing special to the path except to keep it mown.

Why does that path (that no one can see except me) look nicer than my front lawn which I cut and use weed-and-feed on (and the whole world can see)?

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Bent

To put it mildly, my property has quite a few obstacles on it (read: rocks, stumps, etc.).  Every year since I’ve lived here, I’ve gone through at least two or three sets of lawn mower blades each season (read: bent the @#$! out of them).

I swore that this year was going to be different.  With the gorgeous spring we had, I took advantage and cleaned up as much as I could, making every effort to remove any and all obstacles I could find.

I did great!  Mowing season started in April this year and I didn’t have to replace a mower blade at all this year!

Until today.

Yeah.  I wrecked a blade on a stump that must have grown when I wasn’t looking.

I almost made it the whole season.  Almost. 

Wordless Wednesday

This ‘n That Tuesday

• I’m not digging the new Doctor so far. And they changed the opening music – I like the original better. I know it’s only been the first episode, but I really don’t think that Matt Smith fits the part. The story was good, but I want David Tennant back. Wah!

• I think I may have beaten the starlings this year… so far so good. So far no starlings in my hallway. So far no starlings in my dryer vent. So far no starlings in my shed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

• Why do guys all think that anything having to do with farts is funny?

• The garbage man isn’t going to like me tomorrow. I’ve been busy cleaning up my yard this week. Anyone who knows my property, knows that the previous owners left a lot to clean up. I do know that they did clean up a lot, so things could be a lot worse, but there is still a lot left… This year I’m going to make an extra effort to get more cleaned up than I normally do. With the nice weather, I’ve made a lot of headway – yay me!

• I’ve been hitting a lot of good numbers on my odometer lately. Today I passed 151515

• After a lot of experimenting, Downy really is the best fabric softener – it gets everything way softer than any other fabric softener on the grocery store shelf. It is more expensive, but in this case you get what you pay for. The only thing with Downy tho’ – don’t pour it directly on your clothes because it will stain them…

• My seedlings are doing good so far. The only things that haven’t come up yet are my pumpkins, watermelon and peppers. If they don’t start coming up this week, I’m going to put in some new seeds…

Piggy Bunny Rabbits

Isn't it amazing how nice your lawn looks right after it's cut - no matter how many weeds there are?

The barn swallows were swooping away as I was mowing the lawn today. I haven't seen those guys in a long time. They are so much fun to watch as they go after the bugs. They make me smile :)

I realized for the first time today that the half-tree that came down last week also took down a big chunk of my pear tree that was next to it :( I hope I will at least get some pears this year. I won't be able to really tell until I get around to cleaning up the dead-fall first. Maybe I'll have time this weekend.


If you look at the tree standing on the left, you can see where the tree split...

It must be because of the holiday that there are so many police cars around the last week or so. I'm seeing them *everywhere*.

I wish it would stop raining. My basement is never going to dry out at this rate.

Does anyone out there want a couple of rabbits? I have two in my yard that won't leave my garden alone. I've never had such a problem before. The robins and I used to share the strawberries - there was plenty for all of us. Not this year. Piggy Bunny Rabbits have spent all their time the past couple of weeks eating them all. The Piggy Bunny Rabbits have also eaten my peas, beets and lettuce. I've always had rabbits in the yard, but they never bothered my garden before - I don't know what's changed. I planted my corn, green beans and cucumbers late, so they haven't come up yet - but I need a plan to save them now. I'm thinking of trying a small electric fence around the garden. I have a solar panel kit that I picked up a couple of years ago for another project that never came to fruition - so I'm thinking of trying to use that to set up something. I have to do something soon - otherwise there won't be a point of me having a garden. Except for my peppers and tomatoes. They haven't touched those. Yet. And why don't the eat the weeds?

Busy

It's been a busy week - I can't believe it's Friday already...

With the weather finally breaking, my list of Things to Do has quadrupled. Not that I'm complaining. Most of the things on my list are things that I like/want to do. I just need more time to do them :)

I started getting my garden ready for planting. Hopefully I'll get my lettuce and peas in next week. I'm also thinking that the raspberries I pulled out are going to haunt me for a long time to come. They came out relatively easy (prickers notwithstanding), but now I'm seeing little baby plants popping up in undesirable places. I think I'll be pulling them for the rest of the summer. I figure I'll wait another couple of weeks before getting the rest of the garden planted. The weather has been so iffy lately, I don't want to take any chances of a freak frost coming. I hate the idea of losing everything and having to replant - ugh.

I did some other weeding and got some spraying done. I have some exciting plans for sunflowers this year. I hope it's going to look in real life as good as it does in my head.

I got my grass cut for the first time this year and rolled the lawn.

My sister's baby is due very soon and I've been working hard on finishing up the baby quilt for the little princess before she arrives. I am such a procrastinator - I've known the due date for almost nine months and I still wait until the last minute to get this done. Why do I do that???

I have a busy/exciting weekend ahead - or at least it will be if everything goes according to plan. I feel like it's over already - Argh!!!

Chives

I have to believe that chives are one of the most obnoxious plants in the plant kingdom. Round-Up doesn't kill 'em. They are a pain in the you-know-what to dig out. And if you do manage to dig deep enough to get to the bulb, it inevitably had babies. Millions of babies. So many baby bulbs that it is virtually impossible to pick out each and every one, which ensures that no one can ever totally get rid of the damn things.

The people who owned my house before me must have liked chives and planted them somewhere. Over the years they spread and are just about everywhere. Fortunately, in the lawn they are only noticeable in the early spring. Then they stick up like alien antennas all over. When I cut the grass the first time of the year, I end up smelling like onions until I shower. I don't like onions.

It's keeping them out of the garden and flower beds that is going to be the bane of my existence.

Ugh.