Nice To Mulch You

I remember growing up occasionally I'd have to pull some weeds or do some hedge trimming after my Mom mowed the lawn. I'd watch my parents plant flowers, trim hedges, paint fences and porches and I'd think, "ICK. When I'm a grown up, I'm not going to waste my time doing yard stuff! BOR- RING!" 

And then I thought today as I was using my spare time to pull weeds, spread mulch, and plant things... I am now the boring adult that my younger self scoffed at. It sucks to grow up and get old and realize that you actually care what your house looks like. (Eleven year old Ashley is cringing inside as I write this.)

Oh well. 

Here's some pretty flower pots I planted a few weeks ago that have really gone beautifully. The white petunias were very scrawny but it looks like they're taking over now.

Our flower beds are sooooo weedy. I haven't bought any weed killer because I never think of it when I'm at the store so I've just been pulling some in my spare time here and there.

Before...

And after... still weedy- see my piles?

Fred Meyer had a sale this week that was 4 cu. ft. of mulch for $12! We bought eight bags and decided to go delicately light on the mulch because this is a rental and only surface appearances matter.

I also saved some of the newspaper for a weed guard after seeing this:

Source

I spread the mulch out on 3-4 sheets thick of newspaper (definitely need more than a week's worth!) and this is about how far I got for this evening. This was only one bag of mulch spread thinly. We got that flat of petunias for $9.99 at Fred Meyer on sale this week because they're normally $16.99 (I love that store!). 

And this little guy... I called him Mr. Sluggles, hitched a ride in the purple petunias from the Garden Center. 

He's kinda cute, huh? My brother thinks slugs are on par with spiders but I beg to differ... 

So yeah, it's coming along slowly, but I'm glad we're getting everything on sale and making this as inexpensive as possible. 

Speaking of spiders... I had a mini-heart attack when I looked over at the garage wall, and right next to the space that I'd been slipping by all evening to go from the yard to the garage, and saw THIS:

If I was a less dignified lady I would have torn off my clothes and incinerated them immediately. Let me make this clear: I HAD BRUSHED UP AGAINST THIS ALL NIGHT AND HAD NO CLUE!!! It was one of the grossest, revolting, disturbing, and DISGUSTING things I've seen in a long time and there was a possibility that some of these little hellions were on me or in my hair (no joke, I'm getting the creepy-crawlies while writing this) (another side note: when I typed "crawlies" I thought of these Crawleys. I know this has nothing to do with the post but Downton is awesome, is it not?).

Sybil's my favorite!

I like making the yard look pretty but there are some downsides:

-you're doing work

-there are bugs outside like spiders, centipedes, disgustingly-huge beetles that hide beneath weeds I'm pulling

-it sucks to sit on the ground near the bugs

-weeds are evil

-it's time consuming

And then there's this, which I find totally hilarious and true:

Source

Well said, Mr. Gaffigan. Well said.