To the ones who had the foresight to invest in Band-Aids...you're welcome.

I was naive enough to think that we had come to the end of the back breaking, blister busting, blood, sweat and--oh--so many tears chapter in this not-so-well-thought-out endeavor to bring the dry, brown and barren land that is our yard back to something healthy, green and productive.

Earlier in the spring we had reclaimed a sizable portion of our side yard from dead grass and weeds. Hours spent out under the sun turning over sod, breaking up sod, filling in huge holes left from old stepping stones. And then with the chaos and flurry of activity during the last couple weeks of the kiddos' school, weeds started getting the upper hand again. Jacob and I went out and covered the entire expanse with black sheeting to protect all of our hard labor until I could get in with plants and mulch.

Then our little world closed in around us and we shifted into Survival Mode...saving the back forty was placed on hold.

Last week I found straggly containers of perennials on sale and decided it was time to get back to work. Weather man declared we'll be in triple digits for the rest of the week, so this morning Kyleigh and I went out to put our plants in the ground. I pulled back the sheeting and was faced with hard, dry, baked clay. I think I would have rather dealt with the weeds.

The day was spent soaking down the entire bed. Letting it rest and soaking again. Finally, this afternoon I was able to get out and break it up with the hand held ground breaker-upper tiller...thing. Soaked it again. Raked it smooth and soaked again. This evening after supper we were all outside and I managed to get the plants in the ground. My plan is to pick up a straw bale this week for mulch...before the weeds figure out I just put out a Vacancy sign.

I had a couple of little helpers eager to aid with the final soaking. I was grateful that the homemade bomb making crazies took a few hours off so my husband could come home and spend time with his family. Our children saw him as Fresh Meat. I saw him as Life Saver.

So tonight there are freshly planted Black-eyed Susans, white cone flowers, some sort of succulent and some sort of purple flower plant. The purple flower plant was actually like a three-fer...it's the type that grows off of itself and I was able to separate it into three plants. I also pulled out a couple packets of flower seeds I had stuck in with everything else and tossed them around with the fertilizer. No clue how old they are or if they'll even grow. But I figured I'd give them a try...part of that whole "not-so-well-thought-out" bit. I like to be consistent.

I almost cleaned us out of Band-Aids after I showered off the dirt, sweat and fertilizer. Just so you know: wet gloves are worse than no gloves at all.

Yes, I know that Band-Aids are owned by Johnson and Johnson...but that just wouldn't have had the same impact in a title, now would it?

Oh, and in case you haven't noticed it...I've been journalling our gardening/homesteading journey and I decided to put everything online just in case someone was interested. So, if you're interested--there's a link up at the top. It's simply a page that's just going to get longer and longer as we go through the year. I'll update it whenever I get a chance. Or if I feel like it. Or remember to. Don't mock. It's been a long day. Week. Year.