Yardwork - June 2, 2026

Our yard has very little grass in it - at least not the kind people actually want.  What we have is ground cover, every kind of ground cover that exists.  Creeping Charlie.  Henbit.  Clover.  Chickweed.  Name it, and we probably have it.

And poison ivy.  OMG, the poison ivy.  It is everywhere.  I have sprayed it, chopped it, and dug it up, but there is just too much to eliminate it all, and unless you eliminate ALL OF IT, it's coming back.  Between the poison ivy and the English ivy, we may wake up one day to find that they have imprisoned us in the house.

All of these weeds are thriving from the good rains we've had over the past few weeks.  Yesterday afternoon, despite the rain that came in the morning, I decided that mowing the yard was absolutely necessary.  

We keep our riding mower in Nanny's big shed because we mow her yard, too.  Just after lunch, I walked down to Nanny's to get the mower.  Our yard has all sorts of places where the mower can't go - banks, ditches, etc. - so when I finished mowing, I cranked up the weed-eater-on-wheels and attacked the edges of the property, where the poison ivy thrives.  With the ground so wet, it was a battle.  About 4:30, I called it quits.  The yard looked nice.  I came back to the house cool off and drink some water.  While I was resting, it occurred to me that the garbage truck would run the next morning, so I got up to drag the garbage can to the edge of the road.  

I had not viewed the yard from this perspective.  The area at the end of the driveway was still a mess, a tangle of honeysuckle, wild grape vines, and poison ivy.  There's a 30-year-old forsythia bush in that mix, as well as a half-dead 40-year-old rosebush, both of which were entangled with vines.  Sleeping Beauty would've been safe in this corner.  I went back to the house for the weed-eater and the clippers.  It took an hour to cut all those vines out of the forsythia and the rose.  I cut the vines as close to the ground as I could and pruned that rosebush back to a nub.  

The Husband got home about the time I finished.  I told him he'd have to take the lawnmower back because I was too pooped to do it.  

The debris pile from that final assault is still laying by the driveway.  I should deal with it before it gets any hotter.

New Week, Same Stuff - June 1, 2026

It rained almost every day last week.  The moles have been digging so industriously that the yard is like soup, and the grass is getting so tall that it's hard to see the mole tunnels to set traps in them.  I was hoping to mow today, but it rained again this morning.  It is hot and muggy, a good day to work inside.

So I've been making jewelry.  

Last week was "clay week" in the craft room.  I fooled around with the gooey Creative Hands ClayStudio clay all week, trying this and that to stiffen it up enough to use it.  There is not much to show for my efforts.  I intend to use this clay to "stretch" more expensive clay, but I probably won't buy any more of it.  

My sweet niece texted me Friday afternoon to tell me about a hydrangea sale at the botanical garden in the big city.  The flyer that came with the text said that they were selling some macrophylla hydrangeas that I have been wanting.  I picked them up from her Saturday afternoon, and Sunday afternoon I planted it about 4 feet away from an Annabelle growing at the edge of the woods., where we can see them through the living room windows.  These will be the only hydrangea blooms we'll see this year because of the late freeze we got in March.