Timing is everything...

With the cooler weather, I had so many plans that involved heavy digging and clipping and clearing and general cleaning up of the wasteland that is the City's strip along my property. So what do I do? The dumbest thing possible. I decide to go out in the pitch dark and check out an unexpected sound and promptly tripped and fell over a stack of stepping stones that have been there forever. Down I went, spraining my right wrist and thumb, giving myself a huge gash on my leg, and generally looking like an abuse victim with all the bruises. So much for heavy gardening -- or opening jars for that matter. Fortunately I have the greatest partner who takes care of me when I persist in hurting myself.

The day before the great fall, I had trimmed back the agave and aloe in said strip and was making a game plan for how much of the aloe I planned to remove. I had hoped to create an attractive, drought tolerant area which would also act as a fire break, but what I got instead were plants that looked scraggly and faded, often didn't bloom, overgrew the sidewalk, and often became infected with the virus that looks yucky. So after years of trying to make the aloe happier, I'm throwing in the towel. Mind you, since I live on a corner, and my yard is huge, I've got at least 250-300 yards of area to think about. As you can see, this tiny section looks ratty.

After recuperating for two days, of course I got bored and though I still can't use my right hand and feel somewhat dizzy all the time, I couldn't bear not doing SOMETHING. So, I took some painted corks I had left over from a years old program (painting sugar skulls on corks to celebrate the day of the dead) and stuck them on the very pointy tips. I had done a few in the front of the house and had a couple of people tell me how cheery it looked, and knowing some might get knicked, decided to put them out anyway. And no, I'm no the first who has thought of this. I have a neighbor who used corks on hers too (but natural). Frankly I'm very happy with the cheery result. And then, there's going in the other direction too -- told you!