The Good, Bad, and Just Plain UGLY!

First the GOOD news:  My garden is awesome!  All of the veggies are growing nicely and it looks like I will be eating good this summer.  I picked my first snow peas yesterday and they were quite tasty.  I've got my eye on a couple of baby yellow crookneck squash, scallop squash, and zucchini squash that should all be big enough to pick and eat this weekend.  Yay!!!

And the even BETTER news is that I helped some clients write an offer on a property today. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that we are able to negotiate successfully and have a contract in place by this weekend.  

Now for the BAD news: The lawnmower has a broken wheel adjuster part.  It's kind of hard to mow the lawn with only three wheels. I went to three different tractor / small engine repair / equipment stores today and have essentially been told that the replacement part needed to properly keep the wheel on the lawn mower is a special order part that will take several weeks to arrive and cost me almost $30.00.  Needless to say, I'm quite frustrated!

And finally, the outright UGLY: I am suffering from an infestation of fleas at my house.  Said infestation was discovered last night.  Actually, it discovered me.  Evidently I taste good, because I am now covered in red ITCHY welts from the little devils biting me!  I bathed and sprayed both dogs and went through their fur hunting for my tormentors - found a grand total of ONE flea.  Tonight the cat gets a bath and flea spray - I'm sure he'll be all sorts of thrilled about that. (NOT) And tomorrow, the cat gets locked outside while the dogs and I go on a field trip for 5 hours so the house can stay closed up and let the bug foggers kill all of the little demons deader than dead.  And then, after I borrow a lawn mower from the neighbor down the street and actually mow my lawn, my yard will be sprayed with more bug spray to kill all fleas and ticks and mosquitoes that even dare to think about coming anywhere near my property.  Yup, I'm quite pissed off at bugs right now... therefore, THEY MUST DIE!!!  

Spring and Gardens and My Desire to STRANGLE the Neighborhood Cats!!!

Two weeks ago I got my raised garden beds all ready for seeds to be sown.  I tilled the soil, pulled the weeds out, added compost, raked it all even, planned the layout of where everything would grow, and put obelisks in the center of the beds for the pole beans to grow up.  Then I patiently waited a couple of days for the weather to co-operate and proceeded to plant my vegetable garden.   I put in two varieties of sweet corn, two varieties of peas, pickling and salad cucumbers, purple pole beans, blue lake pole beans, lima beans, carrots, onions, lettuce, turnip greens, cantaloupe, watermelon, eggplant, zucchini squash, yellow crookneck squash, white scallop squash, and tomatoes.  All started from seed.  It's a rather ambitious garden.  

The following day I went out to water my seeds.  Seeds don't grow without water.  As I walked toward my garden I was HORRIFIED -- the *$#%^@(*&^!!! neighborhood cats had been using it as a litter box!!!    Normally I don't harbor negative feelings toward cats.  BUT I am NOT going to allow my garden to be used as a shitter!  I have been battling those stupid cats for the past two weeks: turning the garden hose on them, throwing sticks at them, and letting the dogs chase them off (normally the dogs are not allowed to chase cats).  Two of the beds finally have enough veggies coming up that the cats no longer venture near them.  Now I only have to keep them away from the bed that contains the squash.  I am sooooooo FRUSTRATED!

Good news is that everything I planted has come up and it looks like I'll be up to my ears in veggies this summer.  

Summer's here!

It's so beyond hot & muggy out today!  I'm spending the rest of the day inside with the a/c & ceiling fan going.  Hmmmmm... another thing I could do with all of that lawn - I've got plenty of room for a pool.  Problem is, they'd have to dynamite the backyard to get one in the ground - oh well, it's a nice thought.  I SHOULD be going through & organizing the mounds of paperwork in my office... but that isn't any fun.  Went out to water the potted plants on my deck - it's so miserable out, Rocco refused to come outside with me.  

We went to the lake earlier today, but the heat was just too much.  I suppose it would have been fine if either of us had bothered to get IN the lake, but I'm not all that fond of creepy crawlies and Rocco only likes to wade up to his ankles.  Maybe we'll go back this evening once it's cooled down a bit.  Oh yeah, I live five minutes from the lake.  Sylvester, on the other hand, is out on the deck all stretched out and basking in the sunshine.  Crazy cat!   

One of these days, if it ever cools down, I've got a ton of gardening to do.  As in digging the rest of the flowerbed that is supposed to wrap around my house but at the moment only goes across the front.  The dirt here is rocky clay, so where it's impossible to build raised beds (next to the house) I have been digging out at least a foot deep and replacing the horrible dirt with good topsoil.  It's a major undertaking, but the flowers are just beautiful.  I've got the prettiest flowerbeds on the street - seriously, I do.

So, that's a lot of what I do when I'm not working.  I garden.  I also belong to a couple of garden clubs that are active and keep busy going to meetings, potlucks, etc.  I spent a lot of time last year volunteering at an equine therapy program for handicapped children, but have cut back on time spent there due to gas prices and the fact that it's an hour long drive to get there (one way) and I have difficulty driving long distances (the whole nerve damage in my hand thing).   In the evenings, Rocco and I stroll through our neighborhood, stopping to talk to the neighbors as we pass by.  I've got some wonderful neighbors that have become good friends.  It has been one year since I moved here from California.  I'm finding I like the slower, friendlier pace of Tennessee very much.

Budget... What Budget?

I'm in soooooo much trouble!!!  And it's all my neighbors' fault.  They've been digging new flower beds and called me over to check it out.  They had some real nice sized camellias & rhododendrons along with other beautiful plants.  When I commented on their substantial investment in plants, they told me that Lowe's is having a HALF OFF CLEARANCE.  Oops!  Telling me that the Cheesecake Factory was giving away free slices all day long, as many as you want would have been less damaging (and I absolutely adore cheesecake).  But then, that's what credit cards are for - they delay the pain of instant gratification.  Unfortunately there are still consequences now - I've got to plant my new acquisitions in the ground.  WHY DID I NOT THINK OF THIS BEFORE I LOADED UP THAT CART????????  It's so beyond HOT out, the ground is nothing but a bunch of rocks, and I now have seven new plants to find homes for.  A red camellia, a purple lilac bush that will get 10 feet tall, a purple lilac tree that will get 8' tall, and four purple dwarf lilac bushes that will get 5' tall.  Anyone else get the idea that I like lilacs?  Oh, and there was so much more I wanted to get...... but they were closing and my cart was full.  I was forced to leave the jasmine, honeysuckle, rhodies, & so many more behind.  Despite the unwanted chore of making a place for them, I'm afraid I don't have the willpower necessary to stay away from Lowe's.  I'll most likely be back there on Sunday looking for more treasures, limping and sore from finding homes for the seven I brought home tonight.