Who ever knew gardening could be so dangerous. LOL. The day started out hot & humid, you know the kind, where every step you take sweat runs down your face. Some of the summer flowers were way past their prime and I decided to go out a little earlier in the morning to cut and pull some of these dead flowers out of the flowerbed. Good idea right, I thought so too. The humidity fogged up my glasses and the sweat was stinging my eyes, my shoes and pant legs were soaked with the morning dew. I just wanted to get done, get in the house and take a quick shower to cool off. I was almost done after working for over two hours. I was working in a raised flower bed about 2 ft. above the ground. Just one more dead plant to pull out but darn if that plant wasn't being stubborn. I tugged and pulled until finally it gave way but I wasn't prepared for this. I went right over that ledge backwards. Everything was moving in slow motion and as I was going over backwards I knew I was about to hit the back of my head on another raised bed made of stone about 3 ft. behind me. I managed to throw my body side ways right towards a container that held all the dead plants. I thought yea I'm going to make a soft landing right, wrong! My body bounced right off that container and smack right into the ground. As I laid there with the wind knocked out of me and in pain I worried, that if I had hit my head that could have knocked me out or worst, no one would have even seen me for days and that's when I got the giggles. My ankle was in such pain I feared I broke it but I was able to stand and walk on it.
Yes summer has finally arrived and what a summer it has been so far. The flowers (the ones that survived this unpredictable winter) are all opening up late. I had to buy replacements for many of them. The rains are never ending. The high temps and the humidity hit you in the face as you open the door. Wham! As you take a step backwards you wonder why you are going outdoors in the first place. Oh please, dear God, don't make me wish for winter I can't bare the thought of another winter like the last one. Such freakish weather everywhere. It's the end of July, the humidity has left but cold weather for this time of the year has set in. So now we are wearing long pants and sweatshirts and some days a jacket. It's been an interesting year for sure. Perhaps Fall will be normal.
I know Spring officially was 2 weeks ago but it's hard to tell where I live. Yes there are buds on the trees and yes my tulips and daffodils have broken through the dirt. But it is windy, cold and we still have a lot of snow left, a lot of dirty snow (yuck). We had 2 big rain storms in the dead of winter so we had ice everywhere. I have managed to finally chip the ice off the sidewalk last week but we still have lots of ice on the yard. Although I do see a sign of hope, I can see a small piece of the patio where the snow has melted. I day dream what my garden looks like in full bloom, the patio full of furniture once again, the green grass, kids playing outside, taking the dogs for a walk and then I look out the window and I come back to reality. Well maybe, just maybe, by the end of this month Spring will have come to this area too.
Just a couple days ago I was mentioning that the last few winters have been so mild that you can't really call them winters. To me winter means lots of snow where the trees are hanging low to the ground because of all the wet snow clinging to them. Winter means snow banks as tall or taller than you are. Where schools are closed for the day and the snow flakes are big, beautiful and fall slowly and softly to the ground. Where you see neighbors out shoveling or the sound of snow blowers humming in the background. Where the kids are pulling sleds and kids sliding down the snow banks. Where you can take a stroll around the block walking in the middle of the road cause cars are at a stand still. Where there's a snowman in every yard. Where snowball fights are common.
Well this week we got a taste of a real winter. Oh how beautiful it is. The big, big snowflakes swirling around so slowly until they gently hit the ground. The trees and ground covered in white. Everywhere you looked everything is white. Kids playing in the snow. People out shoveling, covered in snow within minutes after being outside. It was actually pretty warm out there (in the 20's) with no wind blowing yet. So I too went out to shovel. Loved it, fresh air and good exercise. That beautiful snow just doesn't want to stop; guess I should go out and shovel again. OOPS! The snowplow came through, back out to shovel some more. Wow, when did it stop snowing and start raining. Boy this snow is really heavy. Finally done, boy I'll sleep good tonight. Morning comes way too early. As I open my eyes I can see those big old snowflakes coming down again. It must of snowed all night so out I go to shovel. The wind has picked up, for every shovel full I throw half of it comes back into my face. Is this snow never going to end? I wish those kids would stay on their own yard and off of my snowbanks and if I get hit one more time by a snowball I'm going to scream. Here comes that darn snowplow again. I swear that snowplow man plows more snow into my driveway than he does to anybody else. Stop snowing will you! I don't care if I ever see snow again. Two more times I have too shovel to keep up with all the snow and wouldn't you know it, here comes that damn snowplow again. I'm tired of snow, I'm tired of winter. I can't wait for summer. I sure hope it isn't going to be hot and humid! I've been thinking of the future lately and how to make my house more compatible as I grow older. I got a few estimates and decided to go with the one two of girlfriends recommended. His estimate was about half of the others. His job was to put new fixtures in the half bath. He was to put in all new fixtures and enlarge the main bathroom which would take up half of the computer room. The other half of computer room would now be my laundry room. It took him almost a month to show up for work. When he did arrive he stayed for a hour, then disappear for 2 hours. This went on all day long every day all the while it took him to do the job. Needless to say this job took him over 2 1/2 months. He only put in about 4 hours a day working but charged me for a full 8 hour day. He took the tub out and promised me he'd have the shower going by the end of the day. Four weeks later I was still without a shower, left with only a sink to take a sponge bath in. He put the flooring in crooked which is quite noticeable. He cut holes to big for the outlets and did not fix it. He left gobs of plaster where the ceiling meets the wall. When he moved the internet cable into a spare bedroom for me his drill got caught in a brand new rug I had just installed. The drill pulled out strands on a long large area of the rug. Instead of telling me he threw a throw rug over it and said nothing. He enlarged the bathroom door where he had to cut a piece of laminated flooring out. I had left over boards for this flooring so I gave him some to replace the whole board for the piece he had to cut out. He actually patched in a piece of the hardwood floor instead of replacing the whole board. He didn't even try to match the grain. I could go on and on but what's the use. In the end he ended up charging me twice his estimate which was the same price as all the other estimates. The lesson I learned in this nightmare is to hire someone who is a professional, has his own business cards, advertizes in the paper and actually has a license. But most of all, do not trust a friends recommendations! IF LOOKS COULD KILL
Two weeks ago I took my little chihuahua, Petey, to the vets for his DA2PP shot. Petey always gets a reaction from this shot but this time it was really bad. He was swollen up from mid-back all the way to his little cheeks and he could not move anything but his eyes. His little legs were drawn up tight against his body. He laid that way for two days. He would not eat, drink or go potty. Just kept following me with those mournful little eyes. The vet suggest baby aspirins and on the 3rd day Petey allowed me to give him some and also let me use an eyedropper to give him water. Finally on the 4th day he stood up and I knew he would be alright but he didn't want anything to do with me. I guess he must have associated me with his misery. Poor, Poor baby! Yesterday I took him to get his teeth cleaned and they had to pull 2 of his teeth. When I could finally bring him back home he sat in the front seat of the car glaring at me out of his half shut eyes like it was my fault. It's the vet he should hate, not me. If looks could kill I'd be dead! |