Sprucin' Up Langley Lane

We've had a solid 36 hours without rain, so I ran outside and worked on my tan:

I ran out of umph yesterday and had to finish up today. I used to be able to walk behind a mower for 12 hours straight regardless of the heat, but now it's more like four or five. But I got all the mowing and trimming done by around noon today. Doesn't look half-bad if I do say so myself:

The park is supposed to be mowing and trimming everything but our lot and the lady's next door, but as they've only made it down Langley Lane three times this summer with the mower and have yet to make a showing with the trimmer, I'm doing our's, the lady's next door, and the front of the other two lots. I have no desire to live in squalor, so I take care of what I have to look at when we sit on the front porch.

When we bought this place, there wasn't anything but bare dirt between us and the fence. We didn't plant anything, and in fact we plan on making the whole area into planting beds or patio. But Florida seems to have other plans:

At least it helps keep the dust down a little bit. Some of it is grass, but most of it is these tiny little trees. I have no idea what they grow up into, but anywhere in the park where there is deep shade, these things grow instead of grass. The nice part is that I only need to mow this every other time that I mow the rest of the lot.

All of our herbs are taking the summer heat in stride except the parsley. The tomato plant is getting all leggy as well. Now that all our black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars seem to be in their chrysalises, I'll cut all the parsley back to the ground. Parsley, like other carrots, is a biannual, meaning it comes back after the winter freeze and puts on seed. I have no idea how that plays out in a place without real winter. I won't dig up the roots just in case it comes back in the fall, but even if it does, I have no clue if it will set seed or just be parsley again. The tomato had a few blossoms on it, so I'll give it until the end of this week to set tomatoes. If I don't see anything, that goes bu-bye as well. Here's how it all looks this week:

Today, I made a couple runs down to the local cement place and picked up 100 patio blocks. They will go under the clothesline in a (probably vain) attempt at keeping mud from splattering up on our clothes when Mama Gia decides our laundry is in need of a second rinse. I don't mind having our stuff rinsed in rainwater, but I can do without the gritty feeling of sand in our towels. I've already done some of the prep work, so it should go fast. As always, I'll post photos when there is something to see.

Well, I need to get dinner started. Later.