9 June 2013 - Fragrant World

It is really potent outside! So many heavy smellers are in bloom right now. When you step outside you are assaulted by scents. It takes a minute to realize how many things you are smelling all at the same time.  Iris, Russian Olive, pyracantha and roses are the big ones right now. Deer leave the iris alone, so everyone plants huge displays.  The scent is overpowering. 

Even I succumbed--last year I dug some iris out of an empty lot. This year they are blooming with all the attendant fragrances. 




There is a yellow briar rose in the backyard that must be at least 50 years old. It is quite the bramble, thick and at least 12 feet tall.  The flowers have a wonderful light scent that is pure rose. I chopped it back pretty hard last fall and cleaned out a lot of deadwood. It put on quite a show this year. Beautiful. The branches are loaded and a single spray could be an entire bride's bouquet. 

 

 
In the unexpected department, I have a clear glass gazing globe on a stand that is surrounded by myrtle. One morning I realized that some myrtle had come up inside the stand and was inside the globe. It looks amazing.  don't know how long it will live in there, but now?  Just fun. 

Another bright yellow flower is in the front yard-- a woadwaxen called Genista Lydia. It also has a light scent, you need to get your nose pretty close to enjoy it. 


Meanwhile, I worked my fingers to the bone yesterday. I turned one compost pile: shook it into the next bin and mixed in grass clippings.   The second pile needed to be shredded. The good thing was that the shredder actually started for me.  After all my problems with the lawn mower, that was a great surprise. I got the second pile shredded and added more grass clippings as I shredded.  I did not get it turned back in the bin as my neighbors have a new sprinkling system.  They turned it on while I was working and it comes at least 8 feet over the fence right where my compost piles are.  This is not good.  You really do not want soggy compost.  I told them about it, but they were unconcerned. I'll have to figure out some kind of lid now. 

Noticed the wisteria is starting to bloom! This is a very old wisteria. The blooms come out sideways as in the picture, not long hanging racimes like the newer varieties. Still pretty, still very sweet smelling.

Next I picked up/raked up two very full wheelbarrows worth of sticks from the lowest yard and got them carted up to the garbage bins. Another load went to the county pile.  The county says they will pick up a load as big as a refrigerator box. I am in big trouble. My pile by the road is at least three fridge boxes. I'm telling them it is a combo pile with my neighbors. That is my story and I'm sticking to it. 

I soaked the tomatoes then mulched them. We are supposed to hit 94 on Sunday and 98 on Monday. I'm giving everything a good soaking before the heat hits us, not to mention that I'll be in Oklahoma for a meeting and won't be able to water.  I am really liking my colorful tomato cages.  Spray paint. What's not to like? Red, yellow, orange and lime green. Works for me!

Then I got out the TSP and a scrub brush and started on the pool. It needs to be painted, and this is the year. I was about 3/4s done when David showed up with the rebuilt mower deck. He replaced the spindles, idler pulleys, belts and the blades. He even built two spanners so he could get the parts back on. What a guy. 

After that was installed, he finished putting the dethatcher together for me.  The missing part came when Jack was in the hospital. After David left, I mowed all the lawns and then ran the dethatcher over them. 


After 10 hours of yard work, I was exhausted. In bed by 10:30-- I think that is an early record for me. 


Sunday, June 9.
Up and at it by 9 am.  More watering and weeding. It is taking more time and clock watching since I am watering the front with sprinklers, not the buckners because of the iris and fox lilies.

I have filled feeders, replaced suet, greased the sunflower feeder pole-- heh heh. It is so satisfying to watch him leap up pole, when slowly swirl down to the grass. He is not happy about this and spent a lot of time scolding me from the tree. I got tired of hearing it (annoying to the max) and chased him off with the hose. He is cute, but what a pain!

Actually did some cleaning in the house. Way overdue. Both cats are very needy this morning. They don't like being left alone while I am working outside all day. Meanwhile, they have been scratched, held, petted from one end of the living room to the other, both got furminated and Bela had his toes clipped.  Still whiny. I may need to bring some grass in.  I am now hot, sticky and hairy.  Great.

Watered part of the driveway surround by hand, since the sprinklers don’t reach it. 

Since I had a hose, scrubbed bird crap off the Honda and truck. Discovered that the Dutch iris are just starting to bloom. NICE! They haven't bloomed in years.  All the tree trimming to get more sun over there, plus regular watering has paid off.

Called Home Depot and four other likely stores to find out they don't carry the pool paint I need, but you can order it online. Darn it-- painting was on my list for today. I got it ordered. Maybe next weekend I can paint if the pool stays clean enough. 

Since I couldn't get that done, the next thing on my list was to dig out all the myrtle from the top of the rock wall. You can't really tell in this picture, but there is a four foot wide bed under the fence out to the rock wall.  I dug the myrtle out of about 40 feet of this bed. Still have more to go, but it was a really good start.It is hard to tell on these pictures, but it was solid green with myrtle when I started. It was really difficult to dig it out due to all the rocks.

 




 











I had just finished hauling yet another loaded wheelbarrow of myrtle out to the garbage bin when David showed up.  He has parts to fix the dryer vent so hopefully I will not get any more bumblebees in the house, which is pretty disconcerting. 

Of course we got sidetracked. My builder, Dave, left the key to his tractor here, so David moved a lot of rocks and dirt--well, very little dirt, mostly rocks with a clay coating, up the hill where I dug out pyracantha.  I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not.  Time will tell, but it did get a lot of big rocks out of the way. 

This is the before: what you can't see is that there is at least two feet of open space behind the rocks before the slope starts. 

I moved all the lumber and David used the tractor to pile the rocks up, then he back filled with the clay coated rocks. 

And here is the after.  I have quite a bit of work to do moving some of it around, but I had tried to do this with a shovel and wheelbarrow. This pile is so heavy with rocks, it was more than I could do. Glad David can drive a tractor.

I need to make it look more like a rock wall instead of just a jumble, but it is better than it was. 

Another day of way too much work. I am used to Jack making me stop. "Enough!" he would tell me. And he was usually right. Now I just don't stop until I drop. I need to find a rhythm.