Well if THIS isn’t a mess!
I remember the day that I put all the bird feeders up again in December. Oh the glory of all of the wild birds and squirrels, watching them come and go has been a great delight. But what was once great delight has turned into a nightmare.
I wrote a few days ago about having taken down all of the bird feeders and removing all the seed, but the thing is a lot of it had sprouted between the boards on the deck. This is really bad. It can cause the deck to rot as well as draw all manner of bugs and vermin. And it is worse than I knew. Today I had to throw out a giant rosemary because the big pot it was planted in had become so thickly grown with birdseed it was rotting and indeed had pretty much killed the whole thing. And don’t bother to tell me how I could have saved it. I pulled it out of the pot and spent 15 minutes trying to clean it of all seeds but I’m telling you it was too big a mess to deal with. I tossed it off the deck onto the ground.
I was advised to pour buckets of bleach water all over the deck which of course the dogs can’t get into so I got the dogs out to the potty, brought them in and closed up the doggie door so they can’t get out and went out with all the bleach water I could make up until I ran out of bleach. It was sort of enough for the deck but a horrifying amount of seed which I had been continually blowing off the deck has thickly sprouted all along the sides of the stairs and beyond them, I mean THICK. I poured what bleach water I had left on those. In another hour I will go out and hose everything off really good so the dogs won’t walk in bleach.
It is going to take some doing to get rid of all of the thickly sprouted seed below the deck. I don’t half know what to do about it. I am completely overwhelmed. And now I have all of these pots on my deck — the big ones on the deck floor were set up on bricks so they would not cause standing water on the deck but I don’t know if that’s enough. Replacing a rotting deck is NOT in the budget! I am now beside myself trying to figure out what to do with all of these pots.
One step at a time. I have been told that spreading salt all over the sprouted seed would kill it but months of blowing seed off the deck from the feeders means that there are several inches of seed down there and really all of that just needs to get out of there and it’s too narrow an area to be addressed with any kind of tool I have. It is a quandary! Right now I can only do what I can do, one step at a time. Oy.
This is learning the hard way. And more disheartening is all of the information now coming to light that in putting numerous feeders out for the birds which we do to “help” the birds and because we enjoy watching them what is happening is that first of all this is NOT what wild birds should be eating, they should be eating insects, grubs, and whatnot, and by overfeeding them seed they are not eating all of the insects, etc, which is causing an overpopulation of all manner of insects and this can cause damage to houses, etc. It’s one thing in the dead of winter when it’s hard for them to find food but at this time of year food is plentiful and we NEED them out there eating the insects, etc. It is going to take me weeks to undo all of this but I will work at it each day as I can. Phew.
I’ve just waded through a week of dealing with the EU Privacy Law mess which went into effect today so those in the EU who didn’t respond to my mails have been deleted from my lists. I did my part and that is done! I’m so relieved. Now I’m dealing with the mess on my deck, and then rushing out to hose it off so my wee pugs don’t walk in it. Back and forth I’ll go. My insides are feeling panicky but then I tell myself, “Just do what you can each day and you will get it done.” And so I am, and so I will.
I hope wherever you are you are having a beautiful day, I hope if you have a deck it is SEED FREE! And do be careful with bird feeders around your house. The seed can cause more damage than you ever dreamed possible. If you are going to put them up do it out in the yard away from your house. You don’t want the mess I’m dealing with. You really don’t.
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
oh goodness, where will the craziness end? yikes! i hope maurice can help you deal with the thick grasses.
if it’s not one dang thing it’s another. but here you are, taking care of business, one day at a time, one pot at a time, one crisis at a time, one benevolent moment at a time!
thank you for writing your blog no matter what! xo ka
Thanks Katya, and yes, one step at a time, but OY what a mess! And I wrote to you about Maurice, he’s been a big help but if I need him to do more than his “regular” job which is to cut the grass and tidy the yard up I have to pay extra and I can’t keep paying for extra jobs. My mess, my problem!
Wish me luck, and it means a lot to me that you appreciate my commitment to be here to do the blog no matter what. Some days it’s a challenge, but here I am and here I will be!
M. xoxox
Well criminey! Ain’t Mother Nature grand!
One step, one day at a time as you said Maitri.
Sending you a hug!
Thanks for the hug Joan, today I really need it! 🙂
And yes, one day at a time. And isn’t that true for all of life. I’ve just hosed everything off so the dogs won’t get in bleach, and am on my way to the Dollar Store for more bleach. Onwards and upwards and away I go!
Oh Lordy, Lordy Maitri ….If it’s not one thing its another in Life. I don’t know If I told you before I left for Italy my neighbors next door to my home in the mountains asked permission to access across my property as they are putting their home up for sale and the septic system is not working correctly. When they built this big, big house they built in almost on the property line so they have NONE, No access to the back of the property. Being the good neighbor and the guy I am I said yes to the realtor provided they gave me a signed document stating if any damage was done to my driveway or property they would fix it. So No Worry…..RIGHT!!!! Also before I left I had PGE Pacific Gas and Electric company contact me that there is on dead tree on my property that they wished for me to sign paper allowing them access to the tree and remove it so that it does not fall on the power lines and create a problem. Its on the same side of the house the other guy wanted access. The tree got cut down on May 4th and the septic guy did his work on the 14th of May. On. The 15th of May I got a call the Homeowners Association said they turned off my water to my home as the water main had been broken and 35.000 thats Thousand gallons of water had been wasted due to the break which was under ground. For the past ten days I have been dealing with the Electric company, a Plummer that said that there is no doubt that when Pacific Gas and Electric started at the top of the tree the first piece they cut was like an arrow and went straight down and cut the water main. The piled the tree on the two water mains and left it. Now they are trying to blame the Septic guy and it’s no way his fault. In the mean time I had to pay a Plummer to remove the tree they cut repair the line and pay $600.00 I did not have for this job. Now it is a he did it..no he did it….and I am wondering where it will all lead….Small Claims Court maybe. Add to this I am sure missing Stefano and wish he were here to help me with these things but I must accept that this is not what can be. I will be here in the mountains until Monday and then I am loading a table and chairs set I am giving to my daughter for her new home in my truck and take it down to her in Hollister, California. About three and a half hours from here. I so wish I were there I would help you get rid of all that sprouting seed and clean up , I really would do that to help you. Just take it all love one day at a time….don’t try and do everything all at one time. I was told that if you use a sprayer with Salt, Vinegar and liquid dish soap it will kill weeds and should for sure work for you. But I don’t want to be one of those people throwing fixit ideas as I am sure you get lots of those…..Hugs from me to you…….One Day at a time……..Do you have a head shot picture of Tanner if so would you send it to me in a private message …..Hugs…JIM
LORD HAVE MERCY JIM!!!!!
And all I have to deal with is a mess of bird seed! (Albeit a terrible mess for me, and it will take a few days to sort it out, but I’m working on it!)
The last 2 weeks starting with having Delilah at the emergency vet for 3 hours in the middle of the night I have had to leave the house every single day (When it’s hard for me to leave the house at all), have had to daily deal with getting the EU Privacy Law stuff dealt with, and now this mess on the deck and below. I know in the grand scheme of things it is nothing compared to what so many people have to deal with, with what YOU have had to deal with, but it’s a lot for me and we each have our own threshold for our ability to deal with things. I am proud of myself that I have been wading through all of this, thanking God that Pugsley and Delilah are doing so well now, and will get through this seed mess, but I am dearly hoping for a bit of a respite for a bit after this.
And honey, I’m not sure why you want Tanner’s picture, and I could provide one, my favorite one of him is at the top of the post on April 7 the day after he died, but honey, I really don’t want anything made in his likeness. People have wanted to do this sort of thing and it’s very kind but it is just too heartbreaking for me to have those kind of things around to look at. To have peace in my heart I must allow that my baby has been laid to rest very nearby, just across from the deck, but I can’t look at him all the time. Oddly, and I don’t know if you’ve seen it, I’ll have to send you a picture, I have a big picture above my fireplace that I bought when I was moving back in here after the fire. It is a pop art sort of picture of a pug and the reason I bought it then was because it looks SO much like Tanner, it could have been him. That is almost more than I can cope with. I appreciate whatever you have in mind but it would hurt my heart to see more pictures of him around here. It’s too sad for me to see that sort of thing.
I’m sending you a big hug. I love you honey…
Maitri
Ok, I am so glad I asked about Tanner as I was going to try and needle felt his picture but I know what you mean. Every single time I see a picture of Sadie May Sweetwater my heart breaks all over again. My daughter got me a watch for Christmas with Sadie’s face on it and I have never worn it, and between you and I … I never Will… so glad you told me would have killed me to think I added to your pain and suffering!!!! Oh that would have been awful for me if I thought I hurt you!!!! Hugs Jim
Thank you so much dear Jim, and thank you for understanding. It is so hard to lose our babies and finally, at least for me, I need to have peace, not looking at pictures of him all the time. You know, some people who are into pugs or other breeds have their house FULL of them. Pug tshirts, mugs, tote bags, prints, you name it. I never have. I don’t have any pug paraphernalia in my whole house except that picture over the fireplace. I will send you a picture in Messenger soon. And it was a very rare thing that I bought that, and only because it reminded me so much of my baby Tanner. Now it breaks my heart but this one thing kind of makes me smile. And oh, I could NOT wear a watch with his picture! I know your daughter meant well but no, I could never wear such a thing.
These losses are brutal. Everyone deals in their own way. This is mine. I appreciate you understanding so much…
I love you honey,
Maitri
And PS, I love needlefelting and know it would have been lovely. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts and generous offer…