My Black Thumb

Yard work is not my thing. It never has been. When I was a kid (I feel old saying that...) my mom knew that I would not argue with her when she asked me to clean the inside of the house. Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, even deep cleaning was no problem... but yard work was NOT my bag. It doesn't make sense to me to go bend over, sweat, get itchy from dirt sticking to your sweat, ruin your nails, get nasty feet, get thorns in your butt... and get a backache too! Oh, and don't forget about the dirt in your eye because inevitably your eyeball will itch and you'll forget you have dirty hands! GAH! This goes for berry picking too.  My mom & her side of the family love to berry pick! What the heck!? Who LOVES that?! No way.  I'll pay the local berry farmers to do it for me thank.you.very.much.

Anyway, like any one else, I enjoy the look of a well maintained yard and of beautiful flowers too. So, every year I try to have a hanging plant or two to give the front of our house some color. Oh, and I hire someone for the yearly cleanup duties too so we don't look COMPLETELY Whiskey Tango.

This year, we built an outdoor patio or "smoking area" as we sometimes call it at the family Biz. Four years ago, or so... Washington State passed the "no smoking in bars/restaurants" law (thank God, if you ask me.) We put in a patio so people can take their beverages outside to enjoy their 'grittes. Fortunately, it is a big enough area that non-smokers can enjoy it as well without getting smoked out. :)

My dear husband was at a local nursery in early July once the outdoor patio was finished and spotted some beautiful hanging baskets that were HUGE and marked 50% off. He nabbed one for the family biz and one for us too! How sweet he is! :)

Well, we have a resident Green Thumb which happens to be our day bartender/server. He is always bringing in amazing bouquets from his own garden to freshen up the place. So, naturally, the basket that is hanging in the outdoor patio is flourishing!

Mine, however, looks like it spent the summer in the Mojave for the love of God! 

I have a good explanation.  When I leave the house in the morning, I am always rushed.  I pull out of the garage and can see the plant and try to make a mental note to water it that evening when I get home.  But, I sure as heck don't have time to stop the car, get out and water the danged thing then! So then, that evening, I usually get home after dark.  So, I pull into the garage once again and don't see the damned plant! It's not unless I have to get the dogs from the front porch that I see the plant.  I should have written myself a reminder or set a reminder in my cell phone.  Something.  Geeze. Poor plant!

In other news, Friday was a beautiful day! I'm sure it was one of our last nice days but it was a perfect summer day of 83 degrees! That is a beautiful thing in the PNW! So, I was home most of the day and let the Libster outside a bit.  She doesn't go outside unless she is supervised so she's mighty thankful when I let her out to roll and bask in the sunshine!

Then, later... in order to pay me back for being so nice and letting her outside, she got her head stuck in the trailmix I was snacking on.  Way to be sneaky...

Finally, while I was home Friday, watching too much tv and wasting a gorgeous day doing chores before work, this GIANT spider flew out of my sock pile!

SICK! Holy COW! I mean, I know its no tarantula... but that sucker is LARGE! I promptly left the sock pile and returned fifteen minutes later to kill the spider with a hanger.  I had to wait that long to build up the courage to do so! :)

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!!! I hope you all will be enjoying all things BBQ, sunshine and good company! :)