Weedwacking and West Nile Disease

Something has taken up residence in my stomach today and has forced me to be couch-bound with a cold washcloth on my forehead for most of the day. No, I'm not pregnant...it's not that kind of stomach bug...

Naturally, I decided that I probably contracted West Nile or Lyme Disease or some other bug-born illness from doing too much yard work and cleaning the garage (to make room for the new kitchen cabinets coming). Mr. W insists that I just have a wimpy immune system. But I don't know how that could be when this body kicked so much butt over the weekend.

On Saturday, Mr. W taught me how to use the weedwacker, and I took our side/garden yard from this:

To this:

It was sort of like vacuuming, but it smelled like green smoothies. My biceps vibrated for about 3 hours afterwards, but I felt so cool and accomplished, I didn't mind the pain.

I will say I wish the yard still looked like it did when Mr. W covered the ground with straw. But this whole country living thing is really just an ongoing battle between man and nature. We can't always win.

The good news is, the side yard has seen some exciting action over the last couple weeks. Our planter boxes sent up some teeny baby asparagus sprouts (which sadly we cut off because Farmer Maris said we had to).

And the strawberries are starting to flower.

In spite of being on its last legs, the little tree near the chicken coop has also produced some fruit. We're not sure whether they're apricots or peaches, but we'll take whatever we can get. (Isn't baby fruit just the cutest?)

The coop itself is also coming along very nicely—which is great because our chicks arrive in about 2 weeks. We just need to finish getting the metal siding up and construct the outdoor run and we'll be good to go. I'm sure Guinevere, Rosalind, Vivian, and Cecilia will be very comfortable there. Especially if Mr. W builds them a chicken swing.

In the lower yard, we planted enough to feed an army this summer. A variety of tomatoes, peppers, and squash, plus pumpkins, corn, and cantaloupe. Feel free to come over for dinner at your leisure...

Want to read about the Zen of gardening I recently discovered? Head over to The Path to Wonderful.