Mulch happens.

I spent part of this morning shoveling mulch.  Home Depot had a sale.. 4 bags for $10.  Nice mulch.... good and dark and big chunks that stand up to the sun and the rain (it does rain on occasion out here). We had been getting free mulch at the recycle plant in town.... all the free mulch you can shovel into buckets or bags and take home.  We were in mulch heaven this past Spring..... but then with the broiling hot days over 100 degrees, and the very few days of pouring-down rain that we had, all that 'free' mulch just settled down into the flowerbeds and it got to looking like brown dirt. 

And then came the weeds..........   We had the weeds under control in the Spring.  Every time we went out to admire our newly re-planted flowerbeds, we'd pull up three or four weeds... the flowerbeds looked gorgeous.  Then came the Summer.... broiling days... much too hot to be working out in the yard unless you started at first light and stopped before 7:30 in the morning.  And then add into that weed-mess that we were traveling this Summer.... and the weeds knew we weren't there.  Up they came, and they brought all their cousins and best friends with them.  Weed City in those flowerbeds.... right on the top of all that 'free' mulch.  Give me a blessed break.

It's been a little cooler this week... temperatures in the high 80s and very low 90s...... the thermometer has forgotten about the number 100.  I've pulled weeds, little ones and big ones, and some strange new weed that branches out like an umbrella and covers 16" of space but has the teeniest little root.  I have no idea what it is..... and I'm not taking the time to find out. Into the trash bucket it went with the others.   And yesterday afternoon, and again this morning..... it was mulch time out in the garden. We bought 16 bags of that stuff at Home Depot....... I have just three left now, which will cover the last part of the box garden in the backyard.  But that's tomorrow's job...... I have seen enough weeds for one day.... enough weeds for the rest of my life, actually. 

I've also seen enough mulch.  The tips of my fingernails are tinted brown. (My Aunt Dolly would have a fit if she saw that.  She is a stickler for taking care of your hands.)  I have garden gloves in the garage...... one pair is made of rubber and they just get too hot out in the sun.... makes your hands feel like fresh baked bread.  The other pair of gloves are fabric, with leather on the fingertips. Those were fine at the beginning.... they were comfortable and protected my nails from breaking. However... they are a light brown color.  Do you know how hard it is to see a beige garden spider inside those gloves?  Nearly impossible, let me tell you.  And no matter how hard you whack those gloves against the fence to get the spiders out before you put your hand in, the spiders just hang on for dear life.  Then your hand goes in.... the spiders crawl out from the fingertips and make their way to the wrist-opening of the glove..... and while all of that is going on, you're trying not to scream bloody murder, not to fall face-down into the flowerbeds, and also trying not to step on the outside cats who must always, always be right underfoot. 

Sometimes, it's just easier to just forget the gloves and get your hands a little dirty.