I haven’t posted in a couple of days because I took some time off from work to finish a project in the yard that we inadvertently started last weekend.

We have a raised flowerbed that runs the width of the back yard that has, over the years of complete neglect on my part, turned into a scrubland (and the dog’s sunning bed).

Between last Sunday, and both yesterday and today, I have managed to turn this:

into this:

Close up of the larger section:

Indulge me for a second as I introduce a couple of the new residents (my gay basil plant remains inside — we’ve already established that he doesn’t like the out-of-doors). Here’s a columbine flower:

And here’s one that is, for obvious reasons, called a shrimp plant:

I’ll get back to gloom and doom later. Right now my back hurts and I have scrapes on every finger, and I just can’t help going out to stare at the new garden. It’s so pretty …