Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board
Yard
lighter:
I've been faffing about, lining up projects and things to be planted... trying to suss out where to plant what while my back is unhappy.
Yesterday I spent about half an hour each on a pole saw, blower and weedeater, but not happy with how my back was feeling. As I went from job to job, not accomplishing a lot, but something, I checked my rain barrels... .made sure they still have mosquito rings and found something floating in the one by the firepit. I took two sticks and pulled it out. It was pretty heavy...... could have been an otter but I think it was a very large squirrel. DO we have otters in this area? I think we do. The neighbor said he saw 2 at the nearby pond.
I'm cleaning the back porch today. Lots of hummingbird activity after refilling the feeder. They chirp, or click sort of. I've never heard them make noise before, besides the large insect noise of their wings.
It's a tad breezy..... sunny. Getting sort of hot. I'm really going to miss this cool weather.
Cleaning out old candles, and candle holders, taking down cobwebs... getting outdoor shower up and running today.... cleaning windows. Yup yup yup.
Lighter
Hopalong:
Lighter, you sound like my dream of productive me, who lives in an alternate universe. I'll bet your place is magical.
I decided I didn't want the responsibility of bringing in a fig tree every winter. So M is planting both of them at his place. I doubt they'll thrive as he has very little sun. (My primary objection to the idea of living there one day. I'll wait for our own place but SOME Southern exposure is a deal-necessity. All that's off the table for now, whew.)
Anyhoo. All kinds of stuff happened in my yard today. None for me. But my guy returned with three helpers to plow through my big list: cleaning all patio and porch planters and refiling with fresh soil so I can plant flowers in them (and cherry tomatoes). Cleaning and refilling birdbaths. Forking and mixing and liming my compost bins. Hollytone on the blueberries, boxwoods, hydrgangea and azaleas. Watering everything. Mowing and blowing. That's it but it felt amazing.
One downside was I was on the patio trying to talk Esteban through my detailed list, which he kept interrupting to translate instructions into Spanish, and to make sure he got it all I was really concentrating hard...and then it hit me that I was on my smallish patio with three guys, maybe four, and although nobody was in my face, nobody was wearing a mask, either. Could have kicked myself. Not going to freak about it but did call M to confess, as we've kept our careful pact for so long now. Sigh. All that vigilance is exhausting for my old brain.
Worth it all, I hope.
hugs
Hops
PS M said not to worry about it and he'd risk death to come over and hug me anyway. Awwwww.
lighter:
Hi, Hops:
I'd like to think there wasn't any danger of catching Covid on your patio. I think I'd be more upset IF I knew anyone in my area who had had it. Anyone in any of my groups. I'm less worried when outdoors. Especially on breezy days. I had a chat with a neighbor earlier..... it was so nice to sit and catch up. It didn't cross my mind we might be downwind from each other. That USED to drive me nuts. Not so much anymore. It's nice M wasn't upset with you.
Getting your planters and patio cleaned up sounds wonderful. It feels so good to have things clean and tidy for what comes next. I'm a little surprised you can't just plant the darned fig and leave it. I have one that was a seedling when I planted it and it's as big as a small shed now. Hardly any care at all. We get lots of figs every year. Yummy.
Do you have many blueberry bushes? Do they give you lots of berries? That would be so great to have a hedgerow of berries. We used to go to a local blueberry farm and pick tons to freeze and make cobblers and blintzes.... they're closed now. Those bushes were huge... jut rows and rows of them. All different kinds.
I finished most of the back porch cleaning and celebrated with an outdoor shower this evening. I missed seeing the sky and trees, but the candles made up for it.
If you aren't going to move in with M.... is there still house hunting in the works? This might be an OK time to buy. I get the feeling househunting isn't on the list of priorities right now.
Lighter
Twoapenny:
The gardening activities and humming birds sound lovely, Lighter. Sorry about the dead whatever it was though. That bit not so nice, but everything else sounds so lovely, especially mention of candles and an outdoor shower :) Sounds like heaven. I'm glad you're being careful of your back. So easy to overdo it and pay the price the next day. Even sweeping is hard on my lower back, it feels sore very quickly; we've only got a little yard to sweep but I try to do it once a week so that it's only ever a small job to do. I tidied up my little patch at the front of the house. It did occur to me that I could just cram the whole space with tubs; it would make it easy to re-arrange from time to time and it's so small I can reach each part of it from the outer edge so I'd be able to water everything easily. There's a path that runs along the side in between all the houses and it's just used for people to store their bins, but there's moss growing on the bit by my place and it looks like it might lead you away to a magical fairy garden. I've got half an idea that once my garden's looking nice I might try to brighten the alleyway up - give it a good sweep, pull up the weeds and plant wild flowers at the end - there's a long patch of bared earth that just sits there so I wondered if I could cover it in seeds one year and get meadow flowers going there. It is all used as a dumping ground; people chuck their fag butts over the fence when they finish smoking and loads of rubbish gets dropped when the bins are emptied so I don't know if I might get a bit precious over people making a mess out there if I tidy it up. I'll give it a think.
Hopsie I'm glad that you got so much done yesterday and it's nice that M is wiling to risk death for a cuddle :) Lol. It's easy to forget, my friend was saying that she went to take the delivery off the driver the other day, just old habit, he sort of shrieked and jumped back and she felt terrible and was apologising endlessly. It's a new and uncomfortable habit to cultivate, isn't it. We all forget sometimes. I find myself touching my face a dozen times a day, even though I know I shouldn't.
Hopalong:
Well, Lord, if we can't touch our faces inside our own houses....sigh. Don't ask me about dry noses.... Love the yard plans, Tupp, I hope you'll cover it with tubs of flowers and vegs! Superb fantasy. I hope you can realize some of it. And tending your alleyway would be a great way to practice NOT getting steamed about other people's inconsiderate/stupid/uncivil behavior....bring out your inner Buddhist.
Lighter, I have 5 blueberries, which I consider miraculous. I planted six, never watered or weeded or cared for them for two years. They're not big (maybe 2 feet max) and I have no idea about yield yet. By the time I'd wonder (they're way back at the end of the yard) I just figured the birds had enjoyed themselves already. This year I might see if I can find a small stretch of bird netting to increase the chances.
I have so much weeding to do and it's a battle with my knee/back/laziness to do it. But it's ready to be tended and if I want to, I'm well set. I want to do no more, keep it as minimal as possible. I'm already overwhelmed with what to choose for planters, and just have old seeds to work with.
(Nope, house hunting's on long-term pause, I think. I'd rather wait for more compelling conclusions from our therapy and not rush it. It felt too anxious before so it's a relief. Plus, I'm not up for all the work of it, nor is he right now.)
hugs
Hops
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