Yay Spa!

I had my first spa since the accident yesterday, and oh it felt good. I kept my damaged arm out of the water. And then I was out watering at 7:15 yesterday morning. It’s such a comfortable time of day to water, and the plants get a good long time to soak it up before the hot sun hits the garden beds. And once I was done, I took Her Highness for our morning walk. Then it was home to rake and tote.

I have guests coming for dinner on Saturday. It’s likely to be a cloudy day, but I’m hoping they will want to see my garden, and I’m thrilled to have had so much time of late to tidy the entire yard in advance of their visit. They are four women with whom Sheba and I walk three times a week.

Watering: I thoroughly watered the beds yesterday morning. I decided to time myself. I did the front bed, the trees in the front yard, the edible garden beds and vines, and the four beds around the courtyard, plus some of the shrubs in the backyard that I can reach with the front-yard hose. All that took an hour and a half.

The beds under the trees, the backyard fruit trees and shrubs, the fern garden, the bed by the back gate and the moss lining the walkway I do with the backyard hose. Doing all that took 45 minutes, so the total time to water the garden was 2.25 hours. It always feels very, very good to do the watering early in the morning because I have the rest of the day for other yard chores.

It was a bright morning with ideal temperatures (19°), but there were lots of this clouds that dimmed the harshness of the sunlight. Our morning walk was wonderfully comfortable, and when we got home, it was soon time for lunch and some chill time.

But it doesn’t take long for me to be itching to get back to work. I did some pruning, and then the raking and toting began. It’s work I’m rather sick of and that I find hard on my back, and it’s tiring. But having a tidy yard is very pleasing to the eye. Now that the weed fields have become dry, lifeless and brown, the garden beds jump out much more.

By noon, I was getting very excited because I saw the end of my raking and toting getting very close. I used the leaf blower to corral the bajillion growth caps into a pile, and that was the last tote of the day, taking it all to the dump behind the back fence. It was only 23° but I was sweating like a racehorse. 

At 14:30, I was done! All the raking and toting was done, everything was well watered, and I got the table up on the patio and four of the six chairs set up around it. I am ready for proper outdoor eating now. And after eight hours of working, I had done enough. I came indoors to washup and cool down before going for our afternoon walk with Sheba.

I was desperate for a cool shower, but I am hesitant to get my bandage wet. Instead, I had a cool sponge bath and felt much more alive. It was 28° outside, and in the sunshine, it felt intolerable. The air was still. That was part of the problem.

Although I get pooped and hot, I love doing the work. I love how great Pinecone Park looks right now. It will stay this way until the next big wind. In the evenings, on the chaise watching a movie, I feel no guilt whatsoever after working all day. We’ve one more hot day to get through today, then tomorrow, when I am next to do a thorough watering, we are predicted to have rain for two days, and then several cloudy days. Hurrah!!!

For some reason, my arm is hurting me. I probably overdid it with all the raking and toting, but that is over so today should be far less painful. We shall walk with our friends this morning, and then I shall fertilize many of the plants in all the beds today. Plus, I’ll spot water because it’s going to be hot today.