Acting Rashly
Well, after the freakish contact with the doorjamb came the "Mystery Rash." It appeared on a very uncomfortable part of my upper torso, & at first I thought it was some sort of poison. I had, after all, helped Dave pull the bushes out that were in front of our house & gotten dirt all over me. I tried everything to make this rash go away! First, I figured that if I could just ignore the itch, it would go away on its own. The hydrocortisone cream didn't help. I tried alcohol rubs, and they didn't help either. I bought some very expensive ($30) poison soap & it helped a little, but not significantly. Then I noticed that the skin seemed exceedingly dried out (probably from all these other 'cures') so I cut some aloe off my monster plant & rubbed the site with pure aloe. It began to do some good, so I've been alternating between the aloe & the Aveeno cream. The rash is fading - albeit slowly - but I still wish I knew exactly what it was & where it came from so I can avoid this problem in the future.
I spent some time gardening last week & this past weekend. I got my round garden all planted, & it looks great with the new bird bath in the center. The birds are actually using it, especially one fat robin. (Honestly, I've never seen such a fat robin in my life!) The smaller birds are eating from the new feeder, finally. I'm not sure if the hummingbird feeder is actually being used, or if the nectar is just evaporating. Dave helped me get the front of the house done on Saturday. We put the 2 new iron trellises up, and I got the clematis & honeysuckle planted. I also got my bushy plant in (I cannot remember the name of this plant, other than it's a pieris x Brouwer's Beauty.) The hostas are coming in well now, as are the brunnera & the bleeding hearts. To my surprise, 2 of the 3 astilbes I planted in the round garden are actually making an appearance, and even some of the lily-of-the-valley plants have come up on the slope. We also seem to have some wildflowers growing on the hill & the patch between our property & the neighbor's. I have no idea what kind of flowers these are; I just know that they are pretty varieties of white, purple, & yellow flowers. As long as they look good, they can stay where they are. The bog rosemary is still alive (I'm not sure if it will survive the entire season), & the chives were the first of my garden plants to come back. Still no sign of the seedlings I sowed in the rest of the herb garden, but I'm trying to be patient, as I only put them out there about 3 weeks ago.
I may actually have a beautiful, thriving garden this year! (It's only taken me 4 years to figure out what works in this shade & soil!)
Sorry if I haven't had much time to read my friends' LJ's: I've been working in the garden, & I will be working my ass off at my 2 jobs this week. I'll try to get around to ya!
"A garden is the mirror of a mind. It is a place of life, a mystery of green moving to the pulse of the year, and pressing on and pausing the whole to its own inherent rhythms."
---Henry Beston
I spent some time gardening last week & this past weekend. I got my round garden all planted, & it looks great with the new bird bath in the center. The birds are actually using it, especially one fat robin. (Honestly, I've never seen such a fat robin in my life!) The smaller birds are eating from the new feeder, finally. I'm not sure if the hummingbird feeder is actually being used, or if the nectar is just evaporating. Dave helped me get the front of the house done on Saturday. We put the 2 new iron trellises up, and I got the clematis & honeysuckle planted. I also got my bushy plant in (I cannot remember the name of this plant, other than it's a pieris x Brouwer's Beauty.) The hostas are coming in well now, as are the brunnera & the bleeding hearts. To my surprise, 2 of the 3 astilbes I planted in the round garden are actually making an appearance, and even some of the lily-of-the-valley plants have come up on the slope. We also seem to have some wildflowers growing on the hill & the patch between our property & the neighbor's. I have no idea what kind of flowers these are; I just know that they are pretty varieties of white, purple, & yellow flowers. As long as they look good, they can stay where they are. The bog rosemary is still alive (I'm not sure if it will survive the entire season), & the chives were the first of my garden plants to come back. Still no sign of the seedlings I sowed in the rest of the herb garden, but I'm trying to be patient, as I only put them out there about 3 weeks ago.
I may actually have a beautiful, thriving garden this year! (It's only taken me 4 years to figure out what works in this shade & soil!)
Sorry if I haven't had much time to read my friends' LJ's: I've been working in the garden, & I will be working my ass off at my 2 jobs this week. I'll try to get around to ya!
"A garden is the mirror of a mind. It is a place of life, a mystery of green moving to the pulse of the year, and pressing on and pausing the whole to its own inherent rhythms."
---Henry Beston