Other than a brief shower that netted us maybe 1/4″ of rain and did nothing useful for the soil, we’re still bone dry. Jesus Christ, why can’t we get some RAIN?! It was also four brazillion fucking degrees, so the only times I could actually do anything more energetic than shuffling around like a 90-year-old and sweating like a pig were early in the morning, or long enough after the sun went down that it had a chance to cool a little. So…few accomplishments.

I took Friday afternoon off, but it was so fucking hot that all I accomplished was putting down a little corrugated and mulch, which I did not photograph because I was too sweaty to give a rat’s arse. I’d purchased one lonely threadleaf coreopsis, and finished the flat with Salvia ‘New Dimension’ in rose and blue (three rose, four blue, I think) because they were half price and I felt sorry for them. I got up at 0530h on Saturday, and got those in the ground…which, for the record, was rock-fucking-hard and needed to be soaked before I could get a shovel into it at all. Even after that, it still wasn’t easy. Anyway, they look a bit rough after all that time in pots, and we’ll see whether they make it through the winter in this spot, but I did give it a shot! Kind of blurry shot…I don’t know why, but they don’t look that great anyway, so meh.

After I planted those, I put down a little more corrugated and mulch, then watered everything that couldn’t possibly wait another second. P and I went on another mulch run (counting the two mulch runs of 22 bags each, plus the 12 I had on the patio that I got back in April, I’ve gone through a shit-ton of mulch!), but it was too hot to do much in the afternoon. By evening, it was a little cooler, so I pulled some of the fucking crabgrass out of the milkweed bed. Eventually, I hope to get a soaker hose in there, preferably at some point in time before my poor plants completely give up.

I found this little bastard while I was watering pot-plants; it was on the flowering tobacco. I threw it down toward where Rockin’ Robin was hunting, and I hope he found it and ate it.

I have a pond lily bloom! It stays open until early afternoon, and it’s PINK! I didn’t expect the pond would have enough sun for a lily to bloom, but I guess it did after all.

I got up early again on Sunday, and got some more corrugated and mulch down, but again, the heat was too much to keep working past early morning. I’m so fucking sick of summer heat already, and it’s not even July yet, so the worst is yet to come. I’d be less bitchy about it, of course, if it would FUCKING RAIN A LITTLE. Anyway, I’m at least around the corner in Sarah-Flah’s Giant Flowerbed. Eventually, I’ll reach the end of it…damn, that’s one big flowerbed!

I didn’t have to work alone, though, because although P said that Boxy Roxy had wandered off on the east side of the garage on Friday, she came back! If she’s going to hang around, though, I think I need to get her a soaking dish. She’s here for the moisture and cooler, damp soil/mulch, but I’d like her to stay.

She’s not only cute, but useful! I forgot about the snail that had been under the corrugated when I picked it up…but Roxy found it! After she ate that one (and I accidentally caught it on video), I went out behind the gradge and found another one for her. Pretty scarce, being so dry, and I thought the one I got might be too large for her, but she managed. I hope she decides to hang around; it’s pretty cool, having a box turtle assistant.