Derelict

This is the first weekend in forever since we've had the time to work in the back yard while the weather cooperated.  It is not over 100 degrees and it is not raining.  My yard, however, is nasty.  I am ashamed of how bad it is.

We basically did not water throughout the entire drought and weeks of record heat.  It seems that those people who did water didn't fare much better, but I can't excuse the neglect.  The whole yard was dead, dry, dusty, and covered with debris.  The large oak next door has been dropping twigs all over and is now beginning to drop acorns.  Our deck was filthy, especially where leaves had collected along the edges.  The cats had shed and/or coughed up furballs and of course there was bird poop.  The back yard was a mine field of dog poop.  And somehow, most of the mulch had simply disappeared.  Has it been that long since we put it out?

I began by cleaning up the deck, even scrubbing a couple of spots.  I swept the brick patio which drove the Great Dane next door insane.  He can tolerate my standing near the fence, he just cannot bear to hear me use a broom.

I worked on flower beds and raking the grass to remove some of the dead thatch (the neighbor dog did not mind my raking as much as sweeping).  Then I soaked the ground so we can toss out a little seed later.  It took two days of work to get through the neglect in our tiny little back yard.  R was busy touching up paint on the house but also helped with the yard today. We're getting mulch and seed tomorrow to wrap up the project.

I also worked on laundry and scrubbing the filthy, disgusting kitchen floor.  It feels so much better to walk around here barefoot now, even on the deck.

I'm not usually this bad with home maintenance.  I'm not sure what's going on, but if our yard was a person he would have been labeled homeless.  And crazy.  And toothless.

I'm feeling better about it now.  The dead (dormant?) grass could come back, but it's going to need some coaxing.  The flower beds will perk up and look cleaner after mulching.  I just didn't want to look at a mess all winter.

We're having dinner with friends tonight so I don't have to cook.  I think I'm going to grab a nap before we leave and somewhere I need to find time to fix my hair and apply a little makeup.  Otherwise I'll be labeled homeless.  And crazy.  And disheveled.