Grimace

The excessive heat and drought conditions are having a physical effect on the area crops and landscaping as well as a psychological effect on us human beings.  As we continue to hope and pray for rain and cooler weather to relieve our weary souls, I thought I would share a couple of photos from around my home to help take your mind off the conditions (if even for a minute).

Those of us who are children of the 1980s remember the lovable purple character known as Grimace in the McDonald's commercials.  At our house, we have a Grimace of our own.  Take a look at the photos to see if you notice a resemblance... 

 

Grimace the Ornamental Bush is strategically placed right in front of the outside water spigot on the front of our house, so I have to battle for turf whenever I need to fill my watering can.  You'll notice that I became frustrated with the little guy earlier this spring while trying to mow, so I took the hedge trimmer to him and knocked off a portion of the bottom branches.  I assumed they would fill in, but the bush is still sporting a large bald spot several months later.  On the other hand, the rose bush that you see on the right hand of this photo is clearly out of control again and does not hesitate to grab anybody that walks too close with its thorny branches.  It has made me bleed profusely on a few occasions despite being trimmed down to the ground this spring. As you can see, our landscaping is in need of an overhaul, so what you see now will most likely have a date with a skidloader this fall.  The weed barrier (where one was installed) is no longer working and we started out with a serious wild lettuce, Creeping Jenny, and Morning Glory problem in some areas around the foundation.  I know many people do not consider these weeds, but my background has taught me that any sort of invasive plant such as these must be destroyed for the sake of the crops.  All of these plants can be brought under control by using any product containing 2, 4-D to spray the unwanted weeds. 

For the time being, I will continue my struggle with Grimace to water my flowers.  Now that the majority of the inside work is complete, it seems that our plans have spilled over to the outside.  By this time next year, I hope to have a whole new landscape and a new look to the curb appeal of the house.  I'm pretty good with a hedge trimmer!  Welcome Home!