Under the weather

The dog woke me around 4:30am when the lightning and thunder started. She does NOT like storms. I managed to get back to sleep, but when I did wake a few hours later, I felt hung over. I expected to improve once I was up and about, fueled with coffee, but no. Not until a long afternoon nap did I perk up at all, and then only some. The sun is shining now, but I would be happy to crawl under the covers and call it a day.

Supper was perfect, though: a garden pita made with homegrown zucchini, tomato, onion, and basil. There is something very satisfying about wandering outside and returning with a meal in hand.

I mowed last night. Once again, the grass did not need it, but the weeds did. My neighbor across the street hinted earlier this year that maybe I would want to hire his lawn service, and I admit I have considered that, at least for the front yard. But at that time I was contemplating replacing the driveway and installing a rain garden and thought lawn care should wait. Now it is almost August, and there will be no new driveway, let alone a rain garden, but I still have an unsightly front yard.

So, when I saw this book at the library, I could not resist:



A Weed By Any Other Name is subtitled "The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant" and is written by Nancy Gift. Naturally, I turned first to the chapter on thistle and learned a thing or two. First off, the author is just as anti-Canada thistle as I am. But I learned that other thistles are biennials and not necessarily to be discouraged. In a previous lifetime, I let one such thistle grow and grow it did, until it resembled a small xmas tree. If I had known it would produce a lovely bloom the following year, one that butterflies love, I would have let it be. Now I will have to keep watch for just such a beauty. But I'm stil gonna kill the Canada thistle anyway I can.