Friday, August 26, 2011

Sitting, Stitching, & Sleeping

This is how I spent my day yesterday & I think today will be a repeat.  John & I went out in the yard to water things on Wednesday evening.  It hasn't rained here for a while & everything was dry.  I am so dismayed to find that the flowers, trees, & bushes struggle in the hot temperatures & dryness but the weeds flourish.  I am particularly dismayed that the weeds are flourishing in our newly landscaped areas.  The owner of the landscaping company, Bob, told me that if any weeds should happen to pop up through the mulch I should just spritz them with Round Up & that would take care of them.  However, our weeds are apparently mutations of some sort.  They love to be spritzed with Round Up!  They love to be drenched it in!  I give them a good soaking & the next day I swear they are larger & greener than before & they have invited friends & family members to join them.  I am not happy with Bob's work.  The only thing I can see to do is scrape off the thick layer of mulch he put down, spray the weeds, & then put that black weed preventer fabric over the beds & replace the mulch.  That will be a huge job so it's not getting done anytime soon but I don't see any other way to fix the problem.

I'm actually leaning toward joining the NMG movement (No More Gardening).  I enjoy looking at pretty plants & watching the butterflies & hummingbirds & bees enjoy them too ... but I don't like putting hours of work (& money) into weeding & planting & fertilizing & the like, sweating in 90-100 degree temperatures, dealing with all sorts of bugs, & ending up with back pains & leg pains from kneeling & bending over only to have everything look nice one day & then a few days later it's looking terrible again.

Sorry ... got off on a tangent there.  How unusual for me ... not!  Lol!  What I was trying to say is that John & I went outside to water things & we spent almost 2 hours just watering the plants behind the house.  We still have to do the ones in front of the house.  The last time I went outside to water things in the evening I had difficulty breathing for about a week afterward.  It was as if a heavy weight was sitting on my chest.  At that time the neighbor next door was having his hay field mowed & I sort of connected my breathing problems with maybe that mowing releasing some sort of allergens into the air.  There was no hay being mowed this time though.  I know that Bob the landscaper mixed something in with the mulch & I'm guessing that when it's disturbed (like when watering) it releases something into the air that I'm allergic to.  Sigh!

Still with me?  Lol!  Okay ... so here I am having difficulty breathing & feeling very, very tired.  As a result I sat in my recliner most of the day yesterday & worked on my Thanksgiving needleroll.  I am excited to say that the stitching is almost done!  I have a few more beads to add, then I need to remove a few threads on each side to make a space to weave in the ribbon, & then the only thing left after that will be stitching up the seam & stuffing the needleroll.  I'm always a bit apprehensive when doing finishing work.  I'm always afraid I'm going to make a big mistake & all my work will be ruined.  Hopefully finishing the needleroll won't be as difficult as it seems   : )

So yesterday was spent sitting in my recliner & stitching interspersed with a few naps.  Today will be more of the same.  I am not trying to rush my needlework project but I am already wondering what project I will tackle next.  I have quite a few waiting in line ... not to mention the design ideas   : )

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend & that those of you on the East Coast will be safe from the storm.

2 comments:

Trace4J said...

My weeds have taken over too Shirlee..I have veggies growing in between. And I just really not much caring anymore..lol. Weeds have won!
Glad you are stitchin. What a good thing.
Hugs Trace
www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com

Diane said...

If you spray vinegar on the weeds, they will wither up and die :) I do it on mine, but the ones with the long taproots will take a bit more sprays. I hate to use toxic things in the garden with the dog around :) Hope everything is great other than the weeding. We're waiting for Hurricane Irene backlash in the way of rain/wind on Sunday, so I'll be (hopefully) finishing my ornaments for the exchange and working on other things!

Hugs to you and John,
Diane