Technical Difficulty. Hope it's better now...

As you can see, I haven't blogged for a bit.  The internet here has been doing fine (frantic knock on wood!), but my phone died! Since that is the only way I have to get online, I was a bit stuck.

I ended up using my old phone, temporarily. It works... After a fashion.

It, however, doesn't hold a charge. And it cold last several hours, or a half hour, and no rhyme or reason for it. When this happens, it doesn't save what I had been typing. This lead to very unladylike words, and giving up on the blog until my phone was fixed. Fortunately, it was still under warranty, so it was just the time and effort getting it there. I must say, the company was very good about it.

So, the phone is back.  I am slowly getting it back the way I had it before, (they wiped everything off it, we had saved things in the card, Google had some of the rest...) But it's still getting it back. Yoiks! 

But, I can use it again, and I have a phone that I don't have to scream "Phone's dying, Bye!" Randomly during calls, that's fun.

Not...

Weeds, oh, brother, do I have weeds...

The weather was to be terrific, so said the forecast.  I had planned for it, and I was ready to clean out the garden...  Then it froze.  Huh.  Not so great for my wanting to do anything outside.  I cleaned house instead.

The next day, it was so much warmer.  After the light frost in the morning, it was pleasant.  So, I forged forward with grand plans of attacking the- Oh, Holy Crap! That's a lot of weeds!  I stared at the raised bed, that I could not see the overwintered plants in, because of the weeds and grasses... EEEK!

Ok, one thing at a time.  Get wheelbarrow.  Check.  Gloves? Check.  Weed popper? Check.  Knife?  Check.  Off to the races! 

I proceed to pull weeds.  And pull weeds, and PULL WEEDS!  Filled the wheelbarrow twice with one raised bed.  The chickens were waiting with bated breath for me, I dump the load, and it's tossed like a salad, for the seeds they want.

Grasses, probably could have had a fair hay bale, from all the crud I had in there.  BUT, pull, pull, pull, got it down to the soil again, except for some tiny greenery, that shall be hoed and raked away later. I was able to get rid of everything but the curly dock weed... 

That monster was not leaving without a fight.  It had all winter to get nice and huge.  I dug, picked, pulled, and was even trying my menacing glare, when Husband walked up.  I mentioned that the dock weed was going to be a bear to remove. 

He shrugged, just a second, I have the shovel back here. 

I watched as he scooped out the weed like it was a hand in a glove, toss it in my wheelbarrow, and then repeat with 2 others he saw.

I was grateful, I would have been there for, well, a LONG time, trying to remove the crud.  And even with the shovel, I doubt I could have removed it as thoroughly as he did.  But, can I say honestly that I really wish I wasn't envious of him being able to DO that?  I would probably jump up and down several times before the shovel would move.  No leg strength...  Sigh. 

But now I have the big stuff cleaned out, and I can start adding compost and new soil, and get things ready for planting, soon. 

Oh.  And the potatoes I planted?  Remember I mentioned there was a freeze?  Well, I had waited to where I remembered the last frost being, and Mother Nature LAUGHED!  Anyway, it burned the tops of the tall ones.  They all had been attacked by some little round bug, and slugs.  Loose translation, I have to replant them.  Ah, the joys of gardening.

Snarl...