This Side of Death

[cineater]

So close!  The parks came to pick up the final load and we got everything in but 5 flats.  Total bedding plant count donated to the county parks is 1421.  It included a variety of annuals and native perennials.  Plants were also donated:  a truck bed full of daylilies, 4 bags of Lambs Ear, 3 burlap bags of canna lilies, 5 bags of Soapwort.  Pervious milkweed total 998.  Well over 2500 plants to the county parks.

Somebody, some where is going to take those numbers and assign a dollar value to it.  As long as they don't cut it out of the parks budget next year, because I don't promise anything.  Every year I say I probably won't do as much next year and then I top it.  I can remember when I thought 244 was a good amount.     How do you assign a dollar value to a plot of milkweed when it's a lifeline?

So I go back to collecting seeds.  This will be the first year I will also do a group of plants they can plant in the fall.

[cineater]

Happy Mother's Day to all it applies.  The rest of you mothers, call your mom, don't be a dick. 

I spent the morning working on the brick paths.  This woman can throw down some brick!  I'll have it done by the time the rest of them show up on Wednesday.  Can't say I'm a real good brick layer but I can boho it.     Both mornings I got up there by 6:30, worked till noon.  It's nice with nobody around except the deer.  Jim needs to install 3 more beds for me tomorrow and cut a few bricks and I can finish up.

Almost recovered from the shoveling and wheel barrows.  Legs still a little shaky and the knees are shot.  Nice to be down on the ground crawling around on my hands and knees.     Running a little bit hard.  Need to relax back into my stride.  Only 3 of my gardens to get to.  Finished up moms yesterday.  I'm done with her, you have to dynamite to dig a hole in her rock clay soil.  I got out my pick ax.  Made short work of that.   

Anyway, I'm enjoying my day.  Hope all the mom's are too. 

[cineater]

Finished up all my plantings and beds on Tuesday.  Jim and I got the renovation team ready to work today.  I got there at 5:55 to finish up the bricks.  6:10 I get a text from Sandy at how beautiful the clouds were.  She was up partying all night.  Yeah the clouds were interesting, I was appreciating them but no way am I stopping what I'm doing to chat with a drunk who's high.  The text just continued from there.  People you know it's a workday.  No way am I talking off my gloves to play with the phone.  By 3 Sandy was texting to see if I was a live.  Trying not to be.     I'm exhausted and trying to get a power nap.

Anyway, here's picture before I finished the floors and cleaned up.  That little white bed and that big bed in the back on the left need to be finished filling up.  I'm back on wheelbarrows.  Two of the trellises have gone away for repairs.  They come back next Wednesday or Saturday.  I'll have the beds filled and we will be done.  Except Kristine wants to add 4 more beds and two more floors.  Great, I don't have to move the extra dirt and brick all the way across campus.  I'll probably help her at some point.  She has the same kind of drive I do to finish a project so she may get it done before I recover, fingers crossed.   

Geez that's a big picture.

[cineater]

The bus pulls up from the retirement home for a garden tour.  Half of them have walkers.     Give them the option of the hard surface tour, politically correct for you aren't getting off the parking lot.  And the 4H rabbit club was meeting so we had a bunny break.  Funist tour I've done in a while.

That retirement home is looking better all the time.     You get your own space, people your own age and a cafeteria.  It's like living in the dorm.     Those walker have seats!  The bus was like the party bus, roomy, cool and drinks.  They left us headed for lunch out.  Seriously thinking I should have just stowed away on that.   

Heat ran us out of the garden.  I didn't show up till 8 this morning.  The crew left me with about 10 wheelbarrows to fill up the remaining bed renovations.  Not doing that until the weekend.  Beka showed up with 5 flats of bedding plants.  Got her bird garden done but we'll have to do the rest Saturday in the Iris garden, the sun's out.  And a mum donation showed up.  I know where those are going but still the sun is out and it's already 85.  Head home to collapse on the couch only to realize we forgot to close the gate to the fruit garden.  I'll beat the deer to it before dusk.  Sorry guys that's not the cafeteria.  Almost through getting the gardens up and running.  No idea where in the world the band is.  My goal is to beat them to Europe and be sitting on my ass watching the tour.   

[cineater]

Tornado in St Louis.  Looks like it started in Clayton went down St Louis Ave through the Central West End.  Mostly trees down and windows blown out.  A few buildings damaged.  Early reports say it's not that bad, no injuries so far.  Power out everywhere.  Didn't get much notice on that one.



That got worse.  Houses leveled and people in the ER.

[cineater]

EF3 and five people dead.  My daughter had an appointment down there, fortunately she followed it in.  Had no idea.  I called to tell her but she wasn't sure where she was going or knew the area I was talking about.  Took her an hour to get back out once she started driving into down trees.

Woohoo, I'm done with installing bricks!  All the house plants are outside and I'm onto clean up week.  Won't be that bad.  I've done a lot of prep work.  And it bugs me so what I should put off for another day, I push it through.  I'm getting close to done.

[cineater]

Woohoo, the parks is coming to pick up their last load.  Tracy says they hope to be done planting by the end of the week.  What works best for them is newspaper containers.  Drill a hole, drop in and go.  Newspaper is hard to come by but I've got a couple of sources.  Tedious work but they are easy to make.  Something to do in the heat of the summer.  In the meantime though, I have my driveway and garage back.   

[cineater]

No less then 4 roundabouts in a one mile section.  I was taking the first right each time going there but coming back I got almost the full circle, wee.   On the last one, I got off one exit too early, where am I?  Damn, almost mastered it!  Little fun with the car. 

Yesterday I spent 4 hours washing up pots and flats.  Had just emptied my wash tubs and the neighbor comes over to return hers.      Okay fine, the parks still have to return theirs.  Dropping off plants to the park today and they fill up my trunk with pots!     I'm not unloading that.  I just got my garage back in order.  They can just stay in the trunk until I need groceries.   

I'm on 10 wheelbarrows of wet clay dirt until that big pile is gone.  Accomplished that Monday, blew it off yesterday and got there at 7 today to crank them out.  Kevin got tied up with the watering system so he never got to bring over the pull along behind the tractor.  Could have made up for yesterday but now it's looking like I'll have it out of there before he shows up next Wednesday.   

[cineater]

[cineater]

Clean up week is over.  Came in 2 days ahead of schedule.     My 10 wheelbarrows a day turned into 18 yesterday.    Not sure how that works but somehow those wheelbarrows got fuller as I went.  There's still a pile of dirt and bricks but we are using that in phase two of the Herb Garden renovation in June.  Demo gardens, home gardens and mom's gardens all up to just needing to be maintained.  I even clean my carpets.  I'm done, it's now time to play.   

[cineater]

The parks thanked us for all the plants.  That's my driveway on load two.  And the truck bed load of daylilies.   
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJwdq60vGKH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Really, it's pretty much all my effort.  I'm having fun.  Doing it for the bugs.