Yard Work

I have a problem. It's kind of a small problem in the grand scheme of things, but to me it's a problem in my life. I really like to grow things. I like to garden and harvest and can the goods I grow. I actually haven't ever canned anything I harvested except once. This isn't my problem, however. My problem is my broken body. I can't work in the yard for more than a couple hours at a time. To plant a garden, it would take an entire day. After that the weeding and watering would only take an hour or two every day. Hopefully. So my real problem is that I have to rely on others to help me out. That's a problem in and of itself because I'm the only one who enjoys said gardening. And I don't like begging. So today we finally went out and worked in the garden as a family. Not only that, but Pastor clipped our massive shrubs that try to push our fence over.

The kids were banished to this little cement hill we have in the back yard. Don't ask me why there's a cement hill. Or a random rock wall...or ivy. Ivy is evil. And no, I don't mean the Poison Ivy chick from Batman. I spent all of my strength one day trying to clear a flowerbed of ivy. The roots were horrendous. I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I digress--the kids were told to stay put while we were managing the clippers. I was in charge of holding the ladder down as Pastor gave the bushes a buzz. They are now quite brown, but they are all in our yard and not the neighbors'. Yay!! Next week we get to tackle the thorny bushes in the front. They like reach over the fence and scratch the neighbor's car. >:[

While we were digging and weeding, we unearthed an ant nursery. We saw what looked like pupa. They were translucent egg shaped things with little tiny ridges on them. The ants were going ballistic trying to save the little things. The kids were very, very brave about it and they all touched one of the pupa things. Avan even squished one INTENTIONALLY. *blech* Duane held one his hand and carried it around for a bit. He asked me what it took to take care of it. I told him I wasn't sure. I felt terrible for the ants, but I guess those are the kinds of things that happen when you garden. The kids thought it was awesome and watched for a good while. Avan and Daune both got bit. I always understood that black ants don't bite, but I have been bitten by one before. I wonder if the guard ants bite. Anyway, it was a good day of work. Afterward, we went and got ice cream. :D