June 27, 2010

I left at 5:30, grabbed some coffee and headed back to O’Wich to finish my vacation. I have bushes to plant and who knows what else will be waiting for me when I get there! I made it through the rain in Madison and the overcast skies and was in the driveway by 8:45! I was a bit disappointed to see the state the property was left in when the trees guys finished up on Thursday. First they left everything in front of the patio door and I couldn’t get out. It was raining, but I walked around and put everything back where it belonged. They didn’t clean up the leaves and branches or the saw dust.

There was an obvious miscommunication with the stump that was left behind…they left a 5 foot tall stump instead of cutting a 20 inch tall piece – not connected to the ground – to use as a bench base….see what happens when people work and are not supervised? They took down the little wire fence we put up to protect some seeds that were sprouting in a little garden area…they trampled all over the ground and for some reason messed up my trellis; which was another headache since I had planted some vines on the corners. So, I had to put the trellis back together and was having a problem placing it where it belongs and then I couldn’t move the swing, which they left in the middle of the yard. I called Steve who came over and helped me reset the trellis and move the swing. I didn’t do much else until around 2:00 when the rain stopped. Although the mosquitoes were horrible, I decided to work outside and plant the shrubs.

The first hole did not go so well, but I kept at it. The other five holes went much better and before you knew it, the shrubs were in the holes and the dirt was covered with the dug out sand. Quite surprised that the chore was so much easier than I expected, although it was very laborious. I look forward to seeing how these will grow in the upcoming years and how the intended pathway will work out!

I noticed that the left-over gladiola bulbs I threw into a rotted stump even started to grow…now it’s one more thing to water!

I was amazed at how smooth and even the stumps were cut...they actually look pretty neat and I have a chunk from each - future project????
I rewrapped the hummingbird vines around the trellis and marked them with ties. I put the fence back…hopefully everything will spring back to the growing life it was attempting before they were shocked! I feel great to have had such a productive day. The only casualty was me from the hundreds of mosquito bites that are all over my body. My shoulders, arms and ankles got it the worst, followed by my face and my neck - I have more than double the bites as shown. If I survive these bites, it’ll be good to look back and be glad the chore is done and that (hopefully) my brain didn't blow up!!!