"Landscaping" a year ago

stick, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Hooray! Starbuck is alive!!! And Tigh is a .... cylon ....
I guess I'll figure it all out in 2008.

My sympathies to those of us with allergies in the Southeast that woke up last weekend to find a ton of plant sperm deposited on their vehicles. Many people around here are walking around with their eyes almost puffed shut. I have been doing fine, but I had an interesting trip to the allergy clinic last Friday for my shot.

Due to the pollen overload I guess my immune system was already stressed out and I had a severe reaction to my shots. I developed a pretty classical athsma attack. The doc loaded me with epinepherine (whee!) and when I could finally breathe again he gave me some Claratin and a prescription for Prednisone.

Prednisone is the fine medication that allows me to smell things like a normal person, so at least there's that nice side effect. I won't be able to use any while on vacation because the possible side effects of continued usage are not something I particularly want to experience.

I bought monkey-boy a small swimming pool and actually got some yard work done this weekend. As long as he has a pool to splash around in and a hose to spray I don't have to chase him down the driveway every 2 minutes to keep him from running into the street. Plus, I get my lawn watered.

I had big plans last year for the landscaping at our house but it looks like all I'm going to do this year is get rid of every single frickin bush that surrounds our house. I ripped up the degenerating cloth weed barrier (pulling up a ton of weeds that have grown on top of it - see photo) and layed down some new mulch. Once I actually figure out what I want to plant I'll be working in some compost into the soil. I want tiny, pretty plants not obnoxious bushes that need to be in barrier hedges. I'm also going to remove the uneven plastic edging that separates the "landscaping" and the "grass" (see photo). I haven't decided whether to replace the barrier with bricks or maybe some sort of edging grass. I'm leaning towards the brick barrier but that might be too time-intensive.

Monkey-boy, incidentally, managed to scrape a cheek, both knees, and garner a bunch of other little bruises and scrapes this weekend. He loves being outdoors! I brought him in on Saturday after one good knee scrape and only then did he howl. I gently dabbed at his knee with a warm, wet washcloth and he snatched it away from me and scrubbed at his kneecap. He looked puzzled, like he couldn't understand why the pain wasn't coming off. I put his feeding chair on the floor in front of the TV and propped his leg up on a pillow and we ate dinner watching Spongebob. Normally we eat in the kitchen but I felt like babying him a little.