Monday, March 26, 2012

Dandelion Adventures


I started the day with weeding. Dandelions plague my gardens. I pulled a bucket full out of this bed. My tulips are so happy with the space.


Then I weeded this little bed and planted some gladiola bulbs and mowed around my apple tree. I mow around all my trees and gardens. Makes life easier for he who mows. He is loathe to step off the mower and actually move things that may be in his way. If he is unable to push it out of his way with the mower, he will simply mow around it. If a limb is hanging too low ....... well he might just snap it off.


I managed to dig a trench around half this bed and then pull all the weeds out, mostly dandelions. I don't care how carefully I mulch in the fall, I still have them come springtime. The winds and water tend to shift the barrier under all that mulch.


This is the other half of that bed. I got tired of pulling and my muscles are aching. Mostly my butt muscles. I bend and pull and I kneel and pull. But either way it is my biggest muscle that aches.


Stray grass and dandelion fill the wheel barrow.


But, really, is there anything more satisfying than pulling the whole root up out of the ground? I admit to liking the snapping sound when using that tool that breaks the root. But I just love seeing the whole root come up. I wonder if it is edible. The leaves are. No. I am not going to wash and cook the roots I pulled.

I was pleasantly tired, but decided to push the mower through the grass. It is still wet here, but I swear I can see the grass growing. He who mows cautioned me about wet spots. Apparently, he does not heed his own advice. His mower stands marooned in the mud. He made matters worse when he almost got his truck stuck in the same wet area as he tried to pull the mower out. I waved occasionally as I mowed.

He finally freed his machine, loaded it on the trailer and left to take it to the car wash to get all the mud off. Soon as he left, my mower quit running and refused to start. I can't say that I was unhappy. I decided to take some pictures of my morning's work.


As I walked back to the house, I spied my next dandelion adventure. Tomorrow. The afternoon will be spent getting the new wall up that will insure my privacy; then getting ready to break through the store wall (break on through to the other side?). This will increase my retail space by 1/3. I lose my living room. I created a cozy seating area for us and our dogs. Just a love seat and a chair will fit, along with a couple side tables and the TV that resides upon my dresser that will not fit in the bedroom.

This is why the trim work in my bathroom remains unfinished. The bathroom is functional and I love the way it will look. Soon. Soon as I finish the wall and the new store area. I will dedicate one whole wall to my sewing projects. Kathy's Klothesline. I am going to display some things on a line with clothes pins. Some on hangers and some on display racks.

But today is all about the weed ......

9 comments:

Erik's RV Blog said...

Can I borrow you for say.... a week or two? Pretty please? :)~ I'm drowning in weeds this year. I fertilize in the fall and I swear the weeds love the weed killer.

It's looking very nice there! We are back in the 30's here for the week.

Erik

mamahasspoken said...

I hate weeding but know what you mean when you say it's satisfying to get it done. Funny and true story. In the fall, hubby put out some needed grass seed in the back yard. Most of it sprouted but not where we wanted. Know where that is? The landscape of course!

luksky said...

I admit to having a weed pulling addiction. Did you know you can actually eat the dandelions leaves? You can also make jelly out of the flower. I have never tried either one but I have often thought as many as we get that I need to atleast make use of it...maybe one day.

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Those tulips look pretty and the dandelions well they have a nasty habit of popping up over and over again as Joanne said they are like cockroaches they will be around long after we are all gone.........lol

SkippyMom said...

You must be in amazing shape with the work out you get girl. I could feel every muscle in my body after I spent one day weeding and mulching our [laughable] front "yard" - I shudder to think if I had to do the amount you do. But the payoff is so, so worth it and I know that I and you guests really appreciate it. You have a talent.

I chuckled at the "Doors" reference - now the song is going through my head. Thanks. heehee

I love the idea of the whole wall dedicated to one of your other talents. I especially like the name - cute! And your new sitting room will be so cozy. I like it.

I too get excited when I pull up the whole root system. It feels like such an accomplishment [but so hard to do with dandelions, grr] I have been trying to pick stragglers as they grow when I go out to walk the pup and it seems to be working pretty well - no weeds have to be seen. [But, like I said, a very small patch to attend to.]

It is supposed to freeze here on Wednesday - what would you suggest I put over the flowers to keep them from dying? Can I just use plastic grocery bags tacked loosely around them? I don't want them to die. Thx if you get a chance to answer. :) Hugs my friend.

Venom said...

I tried to comment when you post3ed about Emmy, but for some unknown reason was unable. I'm so sorry Kathy - I think you never quite get over losing a pet because of the sheer quality of their unconditional love. We lost a special girl last September - I'm not over her loss, hell, I'm not over the loss of HER mother which was many years ago. And that's all I'll say about that.

We're having unseasonably warm weather here too - can't say I miss the usual winter but I'm a bit worried about all the trees budding and my flowers coming up because I am POSITIVE we will have at least one more bitter cold snap, and if so it's going to be a real mess. If there's warning I could dump some nice straw on top of the plants, but if not.... wilt city.

My horses have also lost most of their winter coats, luckily they have a barn to live in if it goes a single degree below zero!

And as for He Who Mows lazy ways... I am guilty of mowing down an entire line of baby evergreens because I prefer trees with leaves.
Made my husband mad, but oh well.
He was a lot madder when I decided to kill some other trees that were NOT AT ALL babies and nicked the hell out of the blade.
Hmmph, if they didn't want me to mow down ugly trees they shouldn't have made riding tractors capable of doing so....

ellen abbott said...

The dandelions look so pretty in the mossy green of the walk. I just let them stay. They are only briefly here and then they die back.

Anonymous said...

You amaze me with all the work you do. Love hearing your stories.

Meggie said...

I do believe some folk make dandelion wine? Not sure what part of the plant is involved- nor the effects of the wine.