I don't generally GIVE UP. I'm pretty hard headed and I will admit to a stubborn streak. I also have no patience with unfinished projects. I want to start something and get it done. Half finished projects will make me lose sleep. Drive me crazy.
So, what I start, I finish.
By the same token, projects that are unfinishable bother me. I speak of yardwork and housework. These things are ongoing, never done. Never completed. They extend past my attention span. It's not that I don't do them. Because they are unending, they don't give me the same sense of satisfaction that a project that Can End will give.
So, I do other things and try to avoid the stuff that gives me no sense of accomplishment. I do housework and yardwork, it just doesn't fill a niche in my soul. I get no joy of a job well done when I do them. Because the minute I'm done cleaning the floor, it's starting to get dirty again.
I spent hours, days, weeks reclaiming my flower beds this year. On my knees, grubbing in the dirt. I hired the grunt work done and paid hundreds of dollars to whip the weeds back. Then stretched miles of anti-weed fabric and wet newspaper layered up to inhibit grass and weed growth.
In the past, we used the free mulch available from the Tulsa Green Waste facility. We backed up the truck and trailer and let the frontloaders dump hundreds of pounds of mulch into the bed. Then we drove home, got our pitchforks and spread it around. When we had weeds, I wondered if it was because the mulch, made from green waste dropped off by citizens, was full of bad stuff? Next time, I would pay for bagged, sanitized mulch.
Well, this summer it was 'next time.' I insisted we buy mulch, not use the free stuff. We threw over 125 bags of mulch. And then I stood back and thought, "There, now it looks good!"
A few scant weeks later, my heart is broken and my will is crushed. The anti-weed fabric is not. Apparently, the grass and weeds breaking through are stronger than the fabric. I'm not sure what the answer to all of this is, but as I look out the windows at my yard, I'm disappointed.
I don't feel 'job well done', I feel stressed and tired. I don't know how many hours of work it will take to upkeep these beds based on the weed incursion, but I'm pretty sure I don't have that much life essence in me.
So, note to self. Next time, desert landscaping.
--Sandee Wagner
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6 comments:
Weed cloth SUX! Seriously, we put down weedcloth in the front beds, loaded white rock on top of that and we still get stray weeds. Not as bad as it once was, but we get them. The playground - a different story. Lines and lines of weedcloth and a huge truckload of mulch that took a bobcat to get in place and after each heavy rain it looks like a forrest is growing where my kids should be playing. Zack's pulled them, we've used RoundUp, nothing works. Just seems like the harder you try, the worse it gets. Then, in other parts of the yard - nothing but dirt and you can't get anything to grow. AGGREVATING!!!
Z&K,
Before I ask this, I have to admit that we were lazy when we first laid out these beds. We did not strip up the grass and get down to the bare earth before we started. DH ran a tiller over the dirt and ground it all up. All the grass that is still trying to break through was there to begin with.
When you put in the play yard, did you strip up the grass before laying down the timbers and the fabric? Or did you lay the fabric over the grass and hope for the best?? spw
I know just what you mean. I love a good project, but housework? ::shudder:: I can't ever get caught up on laundry or dishes, since in a family of 6 someone is always dressed or hungry and an hour later - more mess.
A rock garden sounds really good right about now. Maybe a cactus or two - they don't care if you water them, right?
LadyPatsFan,
It sounds like we are speaking the same language, doesn't it?? Truly, housework and yardwork are never done. You can't complete the task before it starts all over again. And with a family of six? Well, God Bless You!! Your work is never done. Thanks for stopping by. spw
Sandee,
HAHAHA! You drive home a good point. Matter of fact, I think......what? What were we just talking about?? LOL!!
JD,
I swear, the next time I see you I'm going to slap the shit out of you. If I remember... spw
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