Weeding and Friends

I went outside early to try to get some weeding done before the sweltering heat arrived.

It did not rain last night, but there was so much moisture on the grass that it was as if I was standing in a rainstorm.  Weeding with heavy dew on the plants is rough on my hands.  The moist soil is like sandpaper rubbing away the outside layer of skin.  My main weeding fingers, the two index fingers, are the most abused.  They bear permanent dirt stains throughout the entire growing season.  Most of the time they hurt, just hurt.  I will not even describe what my nails look like, but they are not pretty.

At one point, I thought I had punctured my hand, as I crawled around on hands and knees on the twiggy mulch, as I delivered a loud, unconscious 'OUCH'.  But later, after washing the dirt from my hands, I discovered that I was bitten - but, by what?  A small welt with four barely visible, brown marks appeared on my palm.  Pressure on the site causes pain. I kept saying that a poisonous snake bit me.  Glenn and Becky rolled their eyes and laughed.  They agreed a spider maybe, but not a snake. I imagine all will be better by the end of the day - I hope...

One hour later, I was beat - as in exhausted.  The sun was hot.  Sweat rolled from my head down to my feet.  I felt faint.  I barely finished one, small garden bed (I really thought I could get three done today - ha ha), but I needed to stop.  Besides, my garden wagon was overflowing with undesirable vegetation and it would have to be emptied before continuing to the next bed - and that would only be when the temperature cooled - none too soon as far as I could tell.

Weeds be gone!

 

I staggered to the back of the house and sat on the cool, brick steps, in the shade of the house, to recover.  As I played 'fetch' with Buddy (not by choice - Buddy just shoves his stick into my hand and expects me to throw it), I kept feeling a crawling sensation over my arms.  Yikes - 5 ticks, all on me!  Quick, get the matches!!!  Unfortunately, the thing about ticks...once you feel and find a tick, the rest of the day you continue to feel ticks crawling all over your body whether they are present or not.  You just sense one creepy beasty after another, so you keep searching, and searching, and searching.