“Remoted” – Workday 94 /Day 128 (Wednesday)

Canine Overlord Moose
and the deck planter.

The deck garden is becoming lush. There are things I planted that I can’t remember quite what they are. There are things I deliberately planted including potato eyes and carrot bit that I don’t know what to do with or how to know what is going on under the dirt. There are at least two plants, a marigold and a dusty miller, that grew all by themselves from plants that were in the container last year. I planted mint which was rooted from a bunch of mint from a grocery order, which almost went into the yard, but I used the deck planters instead due to its invasive reputation.

This year I gave up on tomatoes after a couple frustrating years of much effort invested for no result. Plus, I would have had to leave the house to go get plants. I almost gave up on basil, but bought a plant in a grocery order (which turned out to be six plants) and those are doing well. Pesto, baby! The dozen or so rosemary sprigs I tried to root from grocery store herbs didn’t do well. They died. Every single one. 

Flowers from
the mystery seeds.

There was a mysterious box of wildflower seeds in the laundry closet. I don’t know when I got it, from where, or how long ago. I put some of it into two flower pots, and one pot is doing well with a couple little purple flowers opened today.

After admiring the deck farm, I sat at the deck table with a glass of ice water to enjoy the evening air. It was comfortable and peaceful and quiet until Canine Overlord Moose ruined it with his shrill and annoying yapping, so I put him in the house. After a few minutes, he ruined the tranquility again by barking even louder from inside the house. It’s possible he was just being a jerk, but it was also possible he needed to go out to the back yard, so I went inside.

One of my neurotic things that needs to happen is pushing in the deck chairs after use. It bugs me to know they are scattered around, maybe because the deck is open and visible from the street. The street visibility is also why I don’t spend much time out there. I hadn’t tidied the chairs when I went inside to deal with Sir Barks-a-lot, so a trip was made outside to do this stupid task so I could sleep tonight. While wrestling with the chairs I got stung by something which instantly hurt. Kind of a lot. I slapped away whatever it was, which seemed to be a small and angry bee. While the actual insect is not solidly known, the throbbing, quarter-sized welt on my scrawny left bicep was a certainty. Ice was applied right away, though I don’t know how I knew to do that or if it was even the right thing to do, but it feel better.

Now I remember why I spent my youth inside. Allergies, bugs, nature is not always my friend.