Stuck In A Holding Pattern

 Still a work in progress, landscaping my She Shed "yard". But I made it all the way to the end!!!! I lost count of the number of bags of mulch I have spread. The past couple of days were spent on 7 bags and I have finally finished! Not that I won't pick up a few more bags, you know, just in case ...

It goes without saying that I will never really be done. Gardens never are. But now this one is established and will be easier to fill with tons of color next year.


You can see the beginning our our drive here. That sign says PRIVATE DRIVE. I put my chainsaw frog in front of it and today I will put our house numbers on it. I would have preferred a dog with very short legs, but the guy making it to pay us back for letting him have some downed trees said he had no idea how to make a dachshund, hence the frog. I am still confused about it, because if you can do an eagle, a cardinal or a frog, why can't you do a dog?


Another view of my efforts later in the day when I hiked up to enjoy the view of my efforts. Next will be the rocks in the ditch, that grass is a pain to cut. The drain pipe starts just below the steps and having rock near my steps will help define those steps to the She Shed. Without the steps, one would have to navigate the slope, or walk all the way up and then back down to get to my oasis.

I don't know what this week holds as far as doctor's appointments go. We both will see our family doctor on Monday. Last week had HeWho at the cardiologist twice for scans and a stress test. This was to determine whether or not his heart is strong enough to withstand the pending surgery on his legs. I sat in the waiting room for two hours freezing on Wednesday. I would have left in search of coffee and something to occupy my time, but HeWho seems to covet my car keys! By the time he was finished, he found me walking around the parking lot aimlessly trying to warm up. I only get chilled when I am doing nothing.

Thursday had us rolling out of bed at 6:30 AM again. I was etter prepared and quickly put the batch of peeled tomatoes with the chopped onion and garlic I had prepared the night before in the crockpot to make some tomato sauce, while I was savoring every drop of my coffee. I dropped the man off for his stress test and went on to pick up more mulch at Walmart. It was early, the store was not busy and I had time to wander through the garden center and see the poor condition of the plants that were left. I treated myself to a Crepe Myrtle tree for only $16.00. This is a splurge for me. It wasn't even on sale! But I wanted it and I have big plans to propogate more trees from branches. It involves a whole orange peel and some potting soil.

The garden center register was unmanned. I would have preferred to get the mulch first and then meander through the store. I had hours to kill and wanted to get done, then hit some thrift stores. The problem being that they would not open until 9:00.

At 8:30, having plundered through every clearance section in the store and remembering to pick up shoelaces for HeWho breaks them frequently, I headed to the register. The helpful associate (this is how Walmart refers to the workers, thinking that calling them associates gives them a team feeling) at the register had no clue how to look up my mulch. He looked to be a lot older than me and wore glasses. He did not move fast and seemed a bit unsure of himself, so I figured he must be new to this Walmart association. I told him that the book next to his register should have the bar code for mulch in it. He looked and looked, with the book a few inches from his face, then left to check all the books at the surrounding registers. No, I am not kidding. When he finally returned, as other shoppers were lining up behind me, he asked if I had checked to make sure the mulch I desired was in stock.

To his dismay, I had. I even told him that other Walmarts were out and this store was the only one I knew that had it. He was in a quandary, as he realized that I would not be talked out of my mulch. "Do you remember how much it is?" he asked. I told him it was either $2.54 or $2.47. So he rang up my six bags at $2.54, despite my suggestion that he page someone from the garden center or a CSM. I was tiring of this by then and said okay, only to find out later that it was $2.47. I figure 42 cents was a small price to pay in order to be released from that register.

But, wait, there's more! I paid for my purchases and said to the elder associate that I would like for someone to load the mulch. A look of sheer panic greeted my request. He suggested that I might load it myself before finally admitting he had no idea how to accomplish finding someone to help me. I looked at the line of shoppers waiting not too patiently and I apologized to them.

Then I asked the man if he knew how to use the phone to page someone, then I walked him through it and I heard the page for help in the garden center to load mulch as I pushed my cart out the door. At one point, I just wanted to step back to the register behind me and do the deed myself, but they frown on that. I did it once in a K-Mart and freaked everyone out. I had dinged the little bell in the paint department and tired of waiting, I hit 9 on the phone and paged for help. Most big store phone systems are the same.

Anyhoo, I walked to my car that I had parked conveniently close to the garden center. I had to fiddle with the passenger seat to get my tree in the car, then the other container plants with tiny white flowers surrounding a blooming red vine went into the back seat, as well. I could see the mulch from where I was. After I loaded my car I drove to the stacks of red mulch. No helpful friendly associate in sight. The mulch is outside and the recent daily rains have soaked into the bags, making them weigh twice as much.

After waiting and even asking for help again, I loaded them myself. My anger gave me strength! But my hands got filthy and I was sweating buckets by the time I finished. I had jeans on, so I wiped my gritty paws on my pants, just like a man!

I drove back to the office and picked up HeWho handed me an appointment confirmation for the end of this month. Great, I suppose this means that we will have to wait until then to get the cardiologist's approval for surgery. 

In other news, while the rest of the world seems to be withering in extreme heat, here on my mountainside, I am enjoying wonderful weather. Day temps in the 80's and nights are in the 60's. Don't hate me!!









Comments

  1. When I bought the little window unit at Walmart when our air conditioner died I managed to get it off the shelf and into the basket because it was just a controlled fall. After checking out, the person at the entrance who is supposed to greet you and check your receipt on the way out was a man. I commandeered him to go with me and put the thing in my trunk.

    That garden is long! That's a lot of work and a ton of mulch.

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    1. No greeter waited to tell me goodbye as I walked out the store, or I might have done the same. The greeters of late have either been handicapped or a lot older than me. Tomorrow will have me back getting more mulch. I noticed while watering that the colors seem to not match, despite getting "red" every time. Maybe next year I will buy the expensive stuff to go over all the mismatched color.

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  2. So even in retirement you can't get away from frogs :-)

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    Replies
    1. They all came with me. The people who bought the park changed the name and I didn't want to burden them with my decor.

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    2. I'll have to remember to look for new signage the next time I'm driving that stretch of 70.

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  3. Every day I am admiring how yo are turning your new home into your vision.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, but i do need something to fill my time with!

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  4. Your oasis is gonna be purty! I love how you did that guy's job for him. You need to get a cut of his paycheck. Next time you have time on your hands, you can hang out in the Walmart garden center, and help people load stuff. They might give you a tip!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I try to educate those around me as much as I can. I stop at actually doing the job for them, no tip would be enough!!

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  5. I am very impressed with how pretty your gardens are becoming and even more impressed that you loaded the mulch yourself!

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    Replies
    1. Next year will be so much better. When I am really mad, I get strong!!

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  6. I am very interested in your propagation technique using the orange. Have you ever stuck a rose cutting into a potato?
    Are you planning stepping stones through the middle of that long bed? How about a bench for gazing. I admire your work ethic.

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    1. As I understand it, you cut the orange in half and take the fruit out, then fill each half with potting soil and tie the halves together around the branch you want to cut off. I forget how long you leave it before the roots will start to form. I might add some cinnamon, too. It is rumored to be as good as rooting hormone. No stepping stones. The slope is hard to see i the pictures, but I would need to dig a level "ledge" at least two feet wide. I was doing that the day I hit the yellow jackets nesting underground. I stopped! Maybe at a later date. There will be a deck on the front of the She Shed. I can sit there.

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  7. Hope all is well with you. Beginning to worry........

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    Replies
    1. I am well and sweaty! Just can't seem to stop sweating.

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