Laborious Labor Day

(Unfortunately, without pictures)

The Philosopher and I had a very successful Labor Day weekend, replete with many labors! He re-wired our front porch light and added a second light on the front edge of the house. Now if you visit us after dark you can see the porch from the driveway! It was a 2-Lowes effort, so not too bad at all. He's getting very good at figuring out knotty electrical wiring solutions without either electrocuting himself or setting something on fire. Yay!

I had a different project: a new flower bed. Rather, an herb bed. Inside the pool fence. About 18 inches wide and spanning about half the length of the fence. I plan to fill it with rosemary and lavender (and maybe some chocolate mint) which will make that area smell fantabulous! Our pool area is covered with about three inches of pea gravel, so first I had to rake all that aside and redistribute it to low-lying areas. (Pea gravel is heavy, even with a wheelbarrow!) Then I had to peel the weed barrier back (slimy!) Finally I had to bring all the large stones from the front so I could line the edge of the bed with them. (And if you didn't know, large stones are even heavier than pea gravel!)

It took me about 6 hours, but the work is done. Well, we still have to get 1/2 a cubic yard of soil/leaf grow to fill the bed. (Drat this Alabama red clay!) And some mulch. But...I've got the rosemary cuttings in pots, so they'll establish a good root system in a month or so. And the lavender is layered in the front bed, so theoretically the shoots will set their roots before it gets too cold to transplant. But I have some guilt here... what on earth do you do with the extra plants you propagate? I only need about 4 of each, but you want to root more in case any don't take. I hate to just toss them in the compost...hmmm. If you need some lavender or rosemary, I may have some extras. ::grin::

Anyway, by early summer next year, we should have a fragrant bed filling the evenings with sweet and savory smells. Ahhhhhhh.