the day's work

 It was hot again, but not too bad early this morning (and also, I worked in the front yard, before the sun came around). I filled six wheelbarrows' worth with weedy brush and also branches I trimmed back.

I REALLY need to see if I can either hire someone - or if there's someone I know who fits the requirements, charm them into doing it - to come with a trailer and let me fill it up with the brush, and then take it away to dump it somewhere. I THINK the city dump will take it for a fee but I have no way to get it there.

They WILL come the first week of the month if you ask, but I suspect it'll actually be the SECOND week of July (given the holiday on the 4th) and I'd rather not it sat there that long. 

I also found poison ivy. I was VERY careful, and on an online friend's suggestion went in and washed my hands and arms well with Dawn dish soap (I wore gloves and tried very hard to only touch it with the clippers but I suspect it brushed my arm. I'll see in a couple days. I took that and put it in the trash can; I would not want someone exposed to it if someone helped me deal with all the clippings. 

I worked for about 2 hours. There's still more to be done on the side and back of the house; I'd estimate 5-6 more hours of work, though the guys coming to take down the tree at the end of the month worked cutting  the brush by it in their estimate (and I'd rather not work too close to that tree in case it does let loose of a big branch)

I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow.

After that, I showered and ate lunch and ran a few errands - the minister had mentioned that the donations to the local "food to the homeless" group had dropped off (they prefer protein bars/drinks (like Ensure) and canned meat you can open with a pop top, and things like those peanut butter crackers that are shelf-stable: most of their clientele have no kitchen access) so I ran to one of the small local groceries to get a few things. And then I drove out to a town a couple towns east, where there's a small "mercantile" that has antiques and candy and fancy soaps, and some things like jams and jellies, and got a rose-scented soap and a bottle of special barbecue sauce. And then swung back to town; I needed new gardening gloves (my pair wore out this morning, and also have poison ivy on them now). Went to TSC, hoping they also had hanging baskets (I didn't like what was on offer). But at least I got $5 off my gloves because I had a "reward" waiting for me from when I bought the lawnmower. 

I went to Lowe's for the baskets. I don't love Lowe's; their customer service here is terrible. But for things where you can pick it out yourself it's not too bad.

I got a lantana and a pink verbena. Yes, lantana can be invasive but I think in a basket it's okay, and usually pollinators seem to like it.

Here's an overview showing both. I like having hanging baskets; I don't often plant the flowerbeds below any more but it's nice to have a little color

I also made an impulse purchase which you can see in that photo - they had small concrete (?) statues of frogs and turtles. The frogs are called "yoga frogs" and are in different positions. The frogs were smaller than the turtles and I thought one might fit well in my front garden. I just kind of like silly statues like this. Part of it, I think, is that my paternal grandparents had some at their "resort" (and my parents wound up inheriting their "dolphin" - which is this weird, like ancient Roman style dolphin statues - and an American eagle and a non-working fountain. My grandparents also apparently had a copy of one of the "Manneken Pis" statues from Belgium, but my dad, when he was a tween, apparently tried to blow it up with fireworks and it never worked after that. We didn't inherit that one)

Anyway. It's a frog, sitting and staring off into the distance:

I guess he's supposed to be meditating?

Anyway, I picked the baskets because the other day I put a new wreath and doormat out for the summer, and I chose the baskets to match them:

Also, as I said on Bluesky: A Friend. I periodically get these clearwing moths. I'm not sure of the species (might be thysbe) but they are in genus Hemaris:

Even though Abelia (that's the plant it's feeding on) is not native, it doesn't seem to be invasive at all, and it's certainly good at attracting all kinds of interesting pollinators: lots of different kinds of bees, and butterflies and  moths, and even hummingbirds some times

And a couple days ago, I saw a tiger swallowtail: