Spent

We use that expression, "spent", when we darned well have a reservoir of energy left to tap but this morning I exhausted every last iota of energy I had.  I was, indeed, spent.


I've waited for a nice coolish, dry morning to attack my front garden where intense weeding and trimming was needed before setting down mulch.  There was very little weeding done last summer because of the skin cancer on my lip which left me fearful to be out in the sun.  The fact that my front garden wasn't totally over-run with weeds is testament to how well it's been regularly weeded over previous years.  But the stars aligned and the weather was perfect to do the job this morning so out I went.


My plan was to weed the largest part, spread newspapers in small sections and then spread mulch there.  I'd move along as I finished each area.  Well, my first problem was that the mulch bags were too heavy for me to lift so I managed to put one in the recycling box and drag it with great difficulty close to where it would be needed.  Dragging wasn't too hard on the driveway but it was wicked hard to do on the grass and that's when my strength began to wane.


There was no way I could lift the bags to spread the mulch so I got out a pot in order to fill it and then spread the small amount I could actually carry.  It worked well but took forever.  Each potful had to be carried up to the back of the flower bed which is uneven and decorated with large rocks.  I've been worried all along about twisting my knees but that didn't happen today, thank heavens.  After a couple of hours and many, many trips with my little pot, I realized that this wasn't going to work so I gave in and phoned "Seniors for Seniors" to hire some help.  They can't come today, of course, but maybe tomorrow.


With the mulch problem out of the way, I decided to trim back some bushes in the garden and also my crazy shaped weeping tree.  I pretty well got it done before my strength was totally "spent" and I felt there was just enough left to get me up the stairs, into the house, and onto the couch.  And I really was spent in energy and brain function!  As I sat on the sofa, breathing hard and wondering if I just might die, it occurred to me that I'm an old gal now and it was awfully stupid of me to try to do all this work by myself.  I hope I'm not stupid enough to try it again next year but there are no promises.


Cindy phoned and was mad at me for doing it because she'd already said that she and Don would do it for me but I hate to wait and I hate to put my problems on them.  I'm hoping that "Seniors for Seniors" will work out well for me and I can hire them for odd jobs in the future, too.


Note:  Don't handle red mulch with your bare hands.  I had a heck of a time trying to clean my fingernails when I was done.


Update:  A gentleman named Nick is going to come here on Saturday morning.  I hope we don't have high winds between now and then because I've already laid out some newspapers in the garden and I don't want them to blow away.