Tuesday

It had stopped raining by the time I woke up for work. Before I got ready, I walked out on the patio in my bathrobe to check the rain gauge. We got just over 3/4-inch of rain here yesterday.

Back home at lunchtime, I started one of the indoor projects: getting all the tools and wood left from my recent projects out of the backroom and into the garage.

After work, it was hot and a little muggy. So, I switched into my shorts and went out to trim the front yard. Since I had the electric cord out for the line trimmer, I stopped when I got to the last pine tree on the south side of the garage. I unhooked the line trimmer and plugged in my Sawzall.

This tree has large roots growing above the ground. I'm not sure if the frost heaved them last winter or they are just growing too big, but I've hit them twice now this year with the riding mower.

I cut them out big and used the pickaxe to try and pop them out - I broke the handle. Cut them out smaller and did underneath and along the sides and popped them out with the garden fork. See photos. Sawzall gave me a huge blister that had already popped before I noticed it. Too big for a regular bandage, so I smeared it with Neosporin to minimize the likelihood of infection

I went back to trimming and when I got to the big bush, I again unplugged the line trimmer and plugged in the electric shrub trimmer. I trimmed the bush. When I finished the lawn trimming, I put a big ring of fertilizer around both the lilac and the little forsythia. Then I mulched them both.

I was gonna cut the front lawn (it's supposed to rain most of this week). But I went inside to go to the bathroom and it was already almost 8:00 PM! So, I quit for the night.

I watched TV until 11:00 PM and went to bed. But, I was back awake by midnight and that was the start of a long, frustrating night, sometimes dozing, but mostly lying awake in the dark.