Too-Mulchuous

With a trailer full of mulch waiting for me outside, I rolled out of bed at 6:45am. I was a little bleary eyed but after starting some coffee and exercises I began to come around. I leashed up Ykraps at 7:00am and headed out for our morning walk. It was warm – about 64 degrees- and the skies partly cloudy. But more importantly, it wasn’t raining. I had Ykraps’ hair brush with us during our walk, intending to do the deed once we got back home. He’s in the process of shedding his winter coat and it’s coming off in clumps. Ykraps thought we were going back inside. I could see the look of betrayal in his eyes when I showed him the brush, which he despises. I shortened the leash to its shortest length and began the tedious process of raking away the loose, heavy winter coat. Ten minutes later I had a huge, softball sized mass of dog hair to dispose of. As for Ykraps, he looked much skinnier. Inside, I washed my hands before making coffee. For the next hour or so I sat at the PC updating my blog and then reading some others. After checking the weather radar, I left for a run at 8:30am. I ran four miles. The weather was very nice at my run’s conclusion despite a forecast that called for spotty showers. There weren’t any storms in sight. It was 9:15am. Before starting any yard work I took Mindy some coffee. By 10am I started planting the purple salvia and spreading mulch. It took me a while to mulch the front beds. Mindy came out to visit around 10:45am. She’d been up just a short while. She promised to come to my aid after Jacob’s soccer game which started early this week, 12noon. I opted out, although felt along that I should’ve went. While Mindy was gone, I stopped mulching and started removing dead English Ivy from the front porch and along the west garage wall. That’s always a tangled mess, and very tedious work ridding all the dead leaves from the existing beds. I have to do it about once every two years. A lot of it died this winter due in part to the extended deep freeze and snow pack. While in there, I decided it a good time to trim the deciduous shrubs too. I had an entire tarp filled with trimmings. Keep in mind, I did a similar exercise about five weeks ago. I knew then that I’d have to do a more detailed pruning later. Later was now! Mindy was home around 1:30pm. Jacob won his soccer game rather handedly. He scored three goals. Mindy changed into attire more appropriate for yard work and soon joined me out front. Meanwhile the sky bounced between partly sunny and cloudy all afternoon. Mindy did some of the more tedious pre-mulch debris removal while I started planting the Burgundy Chrome Ramblin petunias in the front beds. Man they are pretty! Mindy & I work well as a team. I emptied the full tarp before moving on. She was reluctant to get back behind the burning bushes and cut the dead ivy from the east garage wall, citing the presence of all sorts of critters. I don’t even think about it, and willingly went in to do the deed. She took care of the disposal of all the trimmings. Without a doubt, a very messy job. The afternoon was winding down and the clouds were thickening. Mindy headed inside to take care of some indoor chores. I distributed the remaining bags of mulch to various flower beds around the yard. I did it the hard way since it was threatening rain. I didn’t want to get the tractor and trailer out, although that would’ve made it so much easier. It began to rain in earnest, however brief. I was soaked by the time I had dad’s trailer emptied. It was obvious that I would need more mulch. I estimated 15 bags but decided to bump that number to 20. My goal was to fetch it before the place closed Saturday evening since the price was set to go back up $.50 per bag on Sunday. Before going to fetch more mulch, I decided to relax a little and pot the deck geraniums in their hanging baskets. I asked Mindy if she would be kind enough to walk Ykraps. It was already after 6pm. After the last round of showers the sky started to clear up. However, at the same time, the temperature dropped. I left for Ohio Mulch around 6:30pm. I was the only customer. I parked right next to the triple shredded Absolute Black. After paying inside, I headed out and started loading up by myself. A younger guy eventually came over – the only guy left on site, and helped. He never did ask for my receipt. Instead, he bellyached about them sending everyone else home even while knowing that more customers would surely be coming in during the last hour, thus overworking him. I listened/acted as if I cared. Home with my bounty, I carried a few more bags to their eventual home, but left the rest for Sunday. Like Friday, I covered what remained in the trailer to keep people honest. I needed a shower and quickly got one underway. Mindy made arrangements for us to grill steaks with the neighbors. Originally, we were gonna go out to the Big Fat, or possibly even order a pizza. Staying home and grilling with the neighbors sounded perfect. Mindy took our frozen steaks down to Kenny, who’d be grilling, while I finished in the shower. Mindy whipped up a salad and some chocolate covered strawberries, too. I lieu of beer, I decided to drink rum and Fresca. I took a strong one with me when we walked next door. We had a nice time yucking it up with the neighbors. Kenny grilled the steaks to perfection. I walked back home briefly to make a second drink. That’s all I drank through the evening. I was tired, just like Mindy, after a full day of yard work. We were in bed around 11pm.