Busy! Busy! Blister!

That's the homeowner's variation on Duck! Duck! Goose!, right?

My plan to get up early and be productive has worked swimmingly! I woke up at 6am, listened to Media Matters, then went outside about 7am to pull weeds. I managed to weed the entire south side of the house and along part of the deck in an hour. I also got a lovely blister measuring 1/2 by 1 inches across the side of my left index finger, hence the title of today's post.

Then I came inside for breakfast and e-mail. About the time CarTalk started, I trimmed the flowers in the front of the house. Having been persistent about deadheading the coreopsis and then saving the seed, I now have a *GALLON* of coreopsis seed. I'm not sure what variety it is, but here's a picture of them blooming. The plants are about 18 inches tall, but once they bloom, things get closer to 24-36 inches. If you know anybody who would like some seed, let me know and I'll mail you some.

Things to do later today: Start working on a new knitting project, mend some handknit socks, mow the stinking jungle known as my front yard before I have to invest in a machete and probably get out ye olde weed whacker too to trim the edges. Now that I type this, it occurs to me that taking a shower in the next ten minutes would be pretty silly since the weed whacker will leave me covered in grass clippings. I really need to scrub the pool cover too, especially since I need to move it to get the mower out. I'm going to have waaaaaay too much fun today, aren't I?

Oh, and if you are wondering why I didn't wear gloves to do the weeding, thus preventing the blister issue. The answer is this: I have managed to lose two pair of gloves in the past ten days. I have no earthly idea where I left them. I'm now using the new pair I bought last fall. I try to have two or three pair of working gloves and one new pair ready to replace a pair that gets destroyed. Right now I have the Poison Ivy gloves to only be used when messing with the poison ivy and the new gloves I just put into service. I used to have a pair of blue washable suede gloves (Smurf gloves) and a pair of plain leather gloves that were nicely broken in. Sigh.

Well, I'd better get moving. I'm sure it will rain if I don't get a move on.

Update:
So, I got the yardwork done. I got the pool steps weighted down too. While there is distant thunder. I started vacuuming the last of the stuff in the pool and sure enough it starts to sprinkle, so I go inside. I take a shower and figure I'll call it a day on the pool stuff. Apparently the sun came out while I was in the shower. It's back to being sunny and hot again. I'm debating going out there in a little bit to finish raking the leaves off the bottom.

Oh, and I forgot to put on sunscreen this morning, so my forearms got burned when I mowed the lawn. My hands are fine and the burn ends about 1/2 inch above my elbows. And here I was hoping that I'd be able to do away with the farmer tan.

But I was highly productive. I got the lawn mowed and then changed the oil in the mower and washed it. I also discovered that the mower should get its oil changed every 50 hours, not every 25. Well, better to change it more often than to change it less often. I also made sun tea, which I'm presently enjoying.

Comments

Stefaneener said…
I have the matching thumb blister from using a space to dig out a large plant from our front. Seems like you hit all the highlights, though.

You could save those deadheads and dye something very yellow. . .
Ruby Louise said…
I thought about that, but I thought the necessary ingredient was flowers in bloom, not deadheads. I may have to give it a try next summer. I'll certainly have enough blossoms given the number of 1st year plants that have started.

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