The yard is way beyond over grown. We've had some amount of rain pretty much daily for the last 2-3 months so all the green stuffs are happy happy. I've been working in the house instead of in the yard - a woman can only do so much ya know - but today I just couldn't take it anymore. Had to get the machete out just to get to the front door and you could have hidden a horde of peeping Toms in the azaleas at the windows. The air conditioners were completely hidden and therefore insulated by the box woods - not good for compressors they tell me - and bushes touching siding is a good way to end up with termite damage too. So out came the clippers.

The job is by no means done, but it is better and by the time I stopped I looked like I'd jumped into a pool fully dressed.

Here is my general rule though - after the first bout with poison ivy for the year I don't pull weeds any more that year. Got poison ivy in my eyes the first time I pulled weeds this year. Second rule - after I see my first snake of the year, no more garden work, the snake gets to have all the room he wants. Today I saw a five foot long black snake. The garden is all his.



I know black snakes are harmless, and this guy was big enough to make a dent in the moles and voles. I just plan to let him hunt to his private content that's all.
Spiders have too many legs and snakes don't have enough.

Add to these two events (the poison ivy and the snake) the fact that the boy is now able to start the mower alone and is doing a respectable job mowing the lawn and I do believe it equals no yard work in the heat for me this summer! Hooray!