Revenge

 

Remember what the driveway looked like way back when my SheShed was delivered? 150 feet of weeds and clover trying to look like grass. With years of fallen leaves covering debris to be discovered and totally lacking in curb appeal.

I finally finished mulching! I lost count of the number of bags I used, but the Walmart I frequent ran completely out of the red mulch and I had to go to a different one for the last three bags.

One of the live edge boards had the bark fall off in one piece. I saved it. I think HeWho thought I was taking it to the burn barrel. See it, right there in the middle? I filled it with Miracle Grow soil and put it in the garden. Then I carefully transplanted some Zinnias in it. There is a gopher tunneling in this part of the garden. He/she is grabbing roots and pulling my plants down into the tunnel, leaving a small hole where they once were. Well, let's see it try to get these!!

This is what the "woods" between the She Shed and our tiny abode looked like. You can barely make out the house down below. Looked like someone tossed all the odd cuts from the underpinning of the house up here and just let the leaves of the ensuing years cover it all up. You couldn't see it from the driveway.

This is what I did with my time yesterday. There is a huge pile of leaves. I covered them with cardboard to block any weeds, then I dumped several bags of good quality soil on top and planted this hosta. The white "balls" you see are solar lights. I could see them from the window last night. I will add more mulch today. I had to switch to brown mulch. 

See the pile of leaves? I raked those a couple of months ago and found more of the underpinning. See it? I was going to rake it down to the burn barrel and made a new discovery that stopped me in my tracks. The piece of white underpinning and the deeper pile of leaves around it is now home to a colony of bumblebees. No, I did not get stung. They rarely bother you unless they feel like you are attacking them. I let them bee (ha, see what I did there?).

I moved on to a different project. I had a surplus of iris, so I planted them at the edge of the embankment. They are leaning towards the sun and still in shock. Next year they will be standing tall and blooming. This is at the end of the drive where my new steps are waiting for a hand rail.

Mulching right along ... I did mention that the bumblebees are cohabitating quite well with me. I don't have a picture, but one of the bird houses I picked up and moved is full of wasps. I picked it up twice to move it out of my way, making a mental note to grab a can of wasp spray next time I went down to the house. My ability to recall these mental notes is impaired!

I knew the wasps were there and had been successfully avoiding them for the past couple of weeks. I don't know what I did to arouse their anger, but I got stung on my right hand! I am happy I only got stung once. I can move quite fast for one so old. My hand itched all night. It is swollen and hot to the touch and looks like a blown up glove. The itching rivals that of poison ivy.

HeWho seems to think I will be avoiding the garden today with my swollen hand. He is wrong! I will be heading back up there this evening with a can of wasp spray when all those wasps come home for the night. Revenge, sweet revenge!