Rain and Bumblebees

 I woke to a nice cool morning. I ventured out with the the canine contingent and encountered a swarm of bumblebees right outside my back door.

See those two on the fence? Looking at me!

The azalea bush is resting just above the ravine and at the back of the house near the back door. It is outside the fence, but the fence will not contain the bees. I know you can't see in this picture, but the bush is alive with bumblebees. They have taken up residence here. The only thing that might make this particular bush different form all the vegetation here is the fact that I toss the mop water on it! My mop water usually has dog pee and bleach in it!

After my bee discovery, I gathered my tools and headed uphill. I planted 11 cone flowers along the drive two days ago and they need to be watered religiously to get a good start. They look a little dismal, but next year they will be blooming in full force.


I rescued a pot in the clearance section. It had lots of spent blooms and brown leaves. I removed it from the confines of the pot and carefully untangled roots, removed dead or dying leaves and blooms and split it into 11 rooted stems. Next step will be weeding around them, applying a layer of cover to prevent weeds coming up and mulch.


The big lily that used to reside by the the propane tank found a better home. It looked like maybe a tree had been there before and was somehow uprooted, leaving a gaping hole.. The lily was big enough to make the hole look almost deliberate. This area will also need to be treated and mulched.


The sky was overcast, but the cone flowers and lilies were in the sun and I was soon drenched in sweat. I turned my attention to my "stairs" and path to the She Shed. I put the "steps" in some time ago and carefully pounded stakes in front of them to keep them from slipping while being stepped on. I have no problems gong up and down, but realized a handrail would make one feel more secure ascending and descending.

I have some 4 foot fence posts left from the dog yard. You know, the ugly green metal ones. They are nice and sturdy, but unappealing to look at. Unfortunately, I didn't plan the locations  with much thought other than that they needed to be reachable from the concrete "steps". 

They are not in a straight line. I had no intention of using straight lumber, but one of the small trees I cut down with my handy dandy chain saw. I covered the ugly green fence posts with lengths of tree branches. Looks rustic and makes the "posts" much beefier. 

I pulled out a few possible candidates for the top rail. I was pondering how much bend I could force into the tree without compromising the strength of it when it started to rain. What a fine how-do-you-do. I felt like I was getting something accomplished and then the rain that has been forecast for the last 10 days finally arrives!

On the bright side ..... rain is good for all the newly planted cone flowers.

Comments

  1. ValJuly 3, 2022 at 12:12 PM

    Heh, heh! Those bees are giving you the stink-eye! I love your handrail!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy's KlotheslineJuly 5, 2022 at 5:21 AM

      I want the bees to live, just not right outside my door! Having been stung once, I am being cautious!

      Delete
  2. Kathy GJuly 3, 2022 at 2:53 PM

    I hope that bumblebee bush is far enough away from the door that they won't develop an interest in getting inside your house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy's KlotheslineJuly 5, 2022 at 5:23 AM

      They do get on the porch. I am cautious, but they pretty much leave you alone as long as they don't feel threatened. I don't want them to die.

      Delete
  3. Joanne NoragonJuly 3, 2022 at 4:22 PM

    That will be one fine hand rail.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy's KlotheslineJuly 5, 2022 at 5:24 AM

      I am quite proud that I didn't spend one penny on it!

      Delete
  4. RiverJuly 4, 2022 at 1:04 AM

    I love the handrail.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Retired!

Image
  Let's see if I did this right! Hopefully I will be able to add some pictures. Only one way to find out .... This is where it all started. On a rainy day in October, 2021. The first view of the rest of our lives. Here he is, the love of my life pondering this property he had proclaimed to be over our budget.  Here is the front view. The drizzling rain makes the house look like it needs a good power wash. Not to worry, we have one. While I am not a big fan of the screen door entry, this can be changed. This is the view that convinced HeWho proclaimed this property to be over the budget I had set to make an offer that very day. You can't see it from this picture, but a trout stream with rushing water hides down below. I will eventually get a good shot when I finally start to make some steps down to the water. We are old and do not want to fall and suffer any broken bones! The area behind the stream is never to be developed. This existing tiny shed will become my sewing room. I ...
Read more

Bittersweet

Image
  While awaiting the newest stove delivery I have been working in my She Shed, but the last several days have been overcast, damp and chilly. This has kept me inside. I tired quickly of Netflix and TV in general. Idle hands make me anxious, so I employed the help of HeWho sits and got down all the boxes of photos to sort. I have been saying I would get to them one day when I had nothing to do ..... Strolling down memory lane with each stack. I kept stopping to text pictures to my kids and laughing with them. Then I hit a stack that made me profoundly sad and happy all at the same time. It was pictures with my sister on a cruise with her friend that became mine, too. We had so much fun despite me being homesick. Here we are departing. The winds were high! This is my sister. My big sister, always ready to take care of me. My only sibling. This is Gloria, partner in crime to my sister's antics when I wasn't around. Three three of us indulged in a rum drink called "the Love Co...
Read more

Final Chapter!

  So, you may recall that the delivery did not happen on Tuesday, but was supposedly changed to Thursday. I was skeptical. I was right to be skeptical. HeWho patiently waits on hold, was told that the stove had yet to arrive from Atlanta. They were unaware that he had been notified by text that the stove had arrived in Murphy the day before ad was ready for pick up. When he confronted the store manager with this bit of information, the excuses began once again. The delivery truck was already out for the day and nothing could be added. The stove did not arrive before 6am and therefore could not be added to the day's deliveries. Judge Judy is apt to tell a witness that if you tell the truth, you don't have a need to remember what you said earlier. Finally, HeWho has had enough! He told the liar on the other end of the phone to cancel the order and refund our credit card. I was listening and can tell you I have never heard such relief in a man's voice as the liar's had. He...
Read more