I need to get a life

Ta-da!! Six cubic yards of mulch, distributed.

I feel like I've been toiling at yard work for many weeks now. It looks great, though, and I'm, as my dad used to say, "rounding third" on this project. I'm not sure where my head's been, but there sure was a lot of work to do to get the place looking like I wanted to be here. Almost all of my immediate neighbors have mentioned how nice the place looks. I'm sure they mean it as an innocent compliment, but it makes me cringe a little, thinking that it must have impressed them how badly the place looked before.

Well, no matter. This spruce-up will hold for a while. I'll need to pay attention to the weeds, which seem to do fine despite the dry climate here. I had just the right amount of mulch. I used as much as I wanted, and didn't feel the need to skimp at all. It was warmer today, and I could definitely feel it. I'm a bit dehydrated, and need to tank up on water tonight. 

This is part of what's left to do. As part of an odd sort of what in retrospect I can only figure was emotional restitution, my x installed this fence for me after I moved in, under the auspices of making it safer for the dog (which had been our dog). Anyway, it's been great to have a fenced yard for Sally, and it already looks better with the white paint.

I put Mr W on this task of starting to paint the fence, and you'd think I had asked for one of his kidneys. I even paid him for his time, and he complained and did shoddy work. *sigh* I got annoyed, as I was trying to haul carts of mulch and show him how to paint. He's gone to his dad's house for a couple of hours for a party for the x's mom's birthday, so the break is good. When he gets back, we'll have a discussion about expectations, and pitching in. I suppose it's a kid thing, but he sort of resets himself so he almost always acts surprised, and a little affronted, that I'd ask him to do work around the house. I'm going to tell him to just assume he's going to have to give me 1-2 hours of work each weekend he's here. Then he should expect it. 

But you know what? I liked painting. There's no hauling of heavy stuff, bending over to distribute it, throwing it into a cart with manure fork (I love my manure fork, btw. It's perfect for mulch). I could see myself going out and doing a bit in the evenings. Instant gratification.

And here was one of the areas that got mulch today. The other was the alley-side garden, which ended up not looking all that much different, but looks better. I'll make a third raised bed from those timbers, but not until next year. Those are my snap peas making their way up the trellis, and the raspberries in the corner are quite happy. I've got a bunch of tomato plants in the closest bed. I'm planning on putting up tomatoes aplenty this year, and this is the start. I had bought some flowers for the garden on the other side of the house, and on a whim decided to put them in the big blue pot. I think they look great there. Serendipitous.