Call Me Elmer

Arghhhhhhhh!

Sorry, I just had to get that out. It's been one of those weeks in that no matter how hard I try to get ahead or stay on top of things, I keep finding myself and all my efforts slipping backwards. I do one project only to find out I need to redo it again and then again...again. It's beyond frustrating and I have run the gamut of emotions this week. Maybe I am having mood swings, going thru menopause, or just becoming a crabby, cranky person that I swore I would never become as I grew older.

I am not sure on who or what to blame all my frustrations on, but this week I am blaming the animal kingdom...yep the whole kingdom. It started with the squirrels. In the past we have had an amicable existence. They do their thing, and I do mine. They are overstepping their bounds lately as they continue to wreck havoc on my new tulip bed. At first I thought it was the neighborhood cats and dogs, doing the digging to get to the bone meal I used when making the flower bed. I went out periodically and scattered pepper and more pepper, black, red, crushed, whatever pepper I had on hand and it seemed to work for awhile. But more holes keep appearing. Now I would think by now they would have had their fill of the numerous walnuts they have been gathering all winter and replanting in my freshly turned veggie garden bed, but noooo...it seems variety is truly the spice of life, and pepper not so much.

Darn squirrels...

The cat..(big exasperated sigh). Gee just where to begin with that creature that has gone from being a roommate to thinking she is the landlord. She has developed a couple of really annoying habits, one of which is biting. The little ankle biter is becoming just that, and braver she gets each day. If she feels she is ignored she will first warn you with a small high pitched meow while at my feet. Then she will lay her ears back, meow again louder and then reach over and nip, and nip again til she has my attention. Spoiled? Yeah, I think beyond the point of living up to her name of Stink Pot.

Darn cat...

The neighbor's dog, another bone of contention and maybe there wouldn't be much contention if it had a bone. I like my neighbor, I like his dog, I don't like my neighbor's dog destroying all my hard work though. Last fall I did a lot of digging and rearranging and made new flower beds all around a small shed. On the north side, a new bed of hostas, east and west side of the shed, a bed of daylilies, orange coneflowers, and my new (and expensive!) tall bearded iris. On the south side, climbing roses. Each side of the shed now has gaping holes that were dug to try and tunnel underneath the shed to get to a nest of rabbits, (yes another member of the animal species that has me fuming) I've gone out twice to replace the dirt, replant the flowers and with crossed fingers, I hope that things will survive. But each day that I go out there to view my efforts, I find new gaping holes, AND damaged siding from the dogs digging. It's a mess, just a huge ongoing mess that only promises to get worse unless something more drastic is done.

I talked to my neighbor about it the other day and he mentioned putting electric fencing around the building to get the dog to stop digging. I just kinda gave him an odd stare and mumbled, "I will probably be the one who will get zapped more than the dog". But my neighbor has a odd sense of humor so maybe he was thinking of that all along?

Darn rabbits, ...darn neighbor,... darn neighbor's dog...

I am beginning to have a huge empathy for Elmer Fudd. I know,... I really, really know and feel his frustration. It IS all the rabbit's fault, it really is!....

Along with the squirrels, the cat's, and the dogs...

Shhhhh....be vewy, vewy quiet...

I am going hunting....

(Now where did I put that darn squirt gun?)