Toothaches and Iris

 Watching the news, I learned that fruit trees, especially stone fruit trees are not getting enough sleep time. Seems the dormant period has been too short for the trees to recover all the nutrients necessary to make sweet delicious fruit. Not only that, the amount of peaches has been cut by a third.

Maybe that is why peaches are so expensive. Thus far neither of my apple trees have yielded any fruit. I did enjoy eating blueberries right off the bushes this morning. Nine. Nine blueberries and three blackberries was breakfast. Eaten while I was carefully splitting a clump of purple bearded iris and planting them in a new location. I got 17 plants from that clump that was impeding my coneflowers.

I have made good progress with filling the small area by the driveway with rock. The man with the toothache shoveled my wagon full three times. He wanted to just dump it in the chosen area. I stopped him and sent him away while I carefully scooped the rock and gently placed it atop my carefully laid cardboard. I found that using an ice scoop that came with the sno-cone machine works great. It is a heavy duty one and scoops easily with just the right weight for me to handle. The cardboard will kill any vegetation and it was free! No sense in dumping the rock and having grass and weeds grow through the rocks.

The man with the toothache assures me that "the grass can't grow through that much rock!". Did he learn NOTHING from me these past 50 years! I recalled the time he ordered and had delivered the ton of sand to the campground without so  much as discussing it with me. He was not there when the truck driver delivered it and caught my wrath. 

At the very least he should have scraped up as much sod as possible with the front end loader. Later I took great pleasure when all the weekend campers were quick to tell him that the grass would take over soon enough. It was to be a volley ball court. After watching the inbred population of campers letting their children hang on the very expensive regulation net, finally bending the poles that were very sturdy and tearing the netting up; I was happy to let the grass grow.

Not only that, what does one put on an uneven lawn to encourage grass growth? Sand, they use sand. I rest my case. There is a reason I decline his offers of help.

So, starting at the top of the drive I busied myself with the nice white gravel and more mulch. I dug up lilies and left room for other plants to fill in. The first 20 feet of the driveway is so lovely now. I cut back all my daylilies and pulled all the dead stalks and brown fronds. They are now blooming again. That doesn't work with the iris and other lilies, but I have daylilies in a line for about 25 feet down the driveway. 

I pretty much planted all my clearance finds all willy-nilly in that garden. Now that all the stuff is spreading, I can rearrange a lot of it. The hibiscus has reseeded until I now have 4 good sized bushes. Hydrangea should take off next season. I bought the limelight variety and they are putting on quite a display. Three rose bushes are thriving and the coral bells are finally happy enough to actually grow larger. The maple tree I brought with me is growing tall and strong. It must be well over 12 feet tall.

The vegetable garden seems like a total waste of energy this year. I will be having my soil tested before planting next year. I do have some area of clay, but these are raised beds that I provided garden soil for. 

In other news, we are not sleeping well here on the side of the mountain. The man with the broken tooth is in pain. Still waiting to hear back from the oral surgeon. The bad tooth man takes Plavix and it is understandable that the surgeon would want to consult with the cardiologist before cutting the tooth out. He saw the surgeon last Monday. So, yesterday I called the cardiologist to see what the big hold-up was. They had not received the request. I called the oral surgeon's office to learn that they had sent it to his primary physician.

I suppose it is sitting in the 'in' box and has not been attended to. I gave them the cardiologist number and today the approval was there when the office opened. Now, the primary could have handled it well enough, or even sent it on to the cardiologist. One would assume that a heart patient with a broken tooth would warrant swift attention. Oh, you know I will complain. Now we have to wait until Monday in order for him to be off the blood thinner long enough and his surgery will be Monday, two weeks after the initial assessment. That means that he has been in pain for about three weeks.

That is too long to have a toothache, I don't care who you are! He can't sleep, so I can't sleep. I am unhappy and tired, and he is in pain. I have offered all the remedies I can think of. Anbesol is now his best friend. He refuses to ice it, saying it would hurt more. It would initially, but then it would become numb and provide some relief. He is taking way too much ibuprofen, but what can you do? He is full of antibiotics, but that doesn't help with pain. 

I am annoyed. The dogs are giving me a wide path and not even begging for more treats. The next 5 days are going to be hellish.