Oh, My Aching Back

Do you remember the last time you worked so hard and got so hot that you began to chill? That was me today. All the landscaping in the front yard has been in dire need of new mulch. First I had to pull the weeds before fresh mulch could be laid down. I've been asking and asking hubby to go get a truck load because it is so much cheaper than buying it in bags or having a scoop delivered. I knew it wouldn't be that expensive picking it up, and I knew the nursery charges $25 delivery fee plus fuel charges. I was right. The cost of a pick-up truck load of mulch was $13. Had it been delivered it would have cost about $45. To me that was a needless expense.

Hubby helped unload about 4-5 wheel barrels of mulch and then said, "Why don't you finish this tomorrow". I wasn't about to quite. He of course went inside because that was enough exercise for him. This was about 1:30 this afternoon. It took me until 6:30 to unload the mulch and spread it around the beds. In this picture you can see I lost a shrub this past winter. When I replace it I'll need to trim one shrub to the same height as the new one. It never ends.

A neighbor drove by and stopped and told me she thought I looked like I was about to drop. Boy, was I ever. Today has been overcast and a little cooler than the past several days so I thought this was the perfect day to do this job, but I was expecting more help. Not being use to such physical activity I got so hot that I began to chill. I knew if I didn't take a break I may collapse. I went into the house and laid down across the bed for about 20 minutes. I knew if I laid there much long I wouldn't get up, so I went back outside and began again.

Once all the mulch was distributed in the beds, the next part was the clean up. Hosing down the sidewalk and driveway took another half hour. After I put all the tools away I went straight for the shower. I was planning on taking a long hot bath but I was too tired to even draw a bath. We have a jacuzzi tub which would have felt wonderful. After my shower I immediately put on my pj's and crashed on the sofa. I sent hubby out to pick-up something for dinner. I didn't have enough energy to even fix a sandwich.

I noticed something weird growing on my two trees. In the middle picture it's the tree on the far left. Tomorrow I'll be cutting a piece from the tree with the weird growth and take it to a nursery to find out what this is and how to treat it. I sure hope it's not bagworms. Seems like I can never finish a project.

One little gardening tip I got from one of my neighbors is to put newspaper down on the ground before laying the mulch. The newspaper helps prevent weeds. I'll let you know it it works.