Ahhhhh.

I have been working myself very hard this week. The weather has been more than perfect for working outdoors. Moderate temperatures and cool nights keep the sweat and the mosquitoes at bay. Last week I started working on this huge garden project. It started out that I was just going to get the weeds cleared out and maybe move a few things around. It evolved into a major overhaul of the entire front yard.

Today I got it almost completed.

From this.

To this.

This unimaginable mess.


Became this!


I also added some new plants.


I also unburied this bench from under a mountain of weeds and coneflowers and moved it to a better place. Planted at its base are Lady's Mantle.


One of the biggest parts of the job was dividing about eleventy-billion green and white hostas and moving them to the edges of the driveway. I still have a load and a half of the two-toned green (Frances Williams I believe) ones to divide and use to edge the front (street facing) side of the big bed. You can see them as the big clump in front of the red shrub in the after pictures.


There are some areas that still need work. (mainly weeding)



This gigantic clump of ornamental grass was just three tiny little bits that I transplanted from elsewhere in the yard about five years ago. It is hiding the well.

This has been a LOT of work but it has really been enjoyable. The first weekend I started weeding it out I thought I was going to die! Every muscle and tendon in my body hurt. My toenails hurt. I had rug burns on my forearms and thighs from where I pushed myself up after bending over. By Monday afternoon I was in the groove. I still hurt but not nearly as much. I even got up this morning and took Maizey to the dog park with my friends for a long hike before starting in on today's work. I'm re-energized. I feel strong again. This is the best I've felt physically and mentally since I closed the store. A month ago I was plagued with continuous back spasms. Sometimes just yawning would set one off. I was worried that this would trigger them again but instead it seemed to have healed me. I'm on a roll and I just want to keep going and going as long as the weather cooperates. I'm sure I'll burn out eventually, I always do. But in the mean time, watch out, I have a weed whacker and I know how to use it.

(I should also take photos of the GIGANTIC weed piles we now have back in our woods and on the compost pile. I think the final count was 5-6 full loads in the John Deere wagon which I think is 3.3 cubic feet. All pulled by hand. Mine.)

Last but not least I have one other garden feature to share. Emma and a friend were playing "CSI" or "Criminal Minds/Profiler" or something one day over the summer. This little guy was their "victim". He is still chained to the address post out at the end of the driveway next to the telephone switch box and yes, he's wearing little red plastic handcuffs. I think I now know why our neighbors all think we are a little bit off. (Note to self: maybe it is time to increase the funds in the children's future therapy account.)