Playing in the Dirt

We are wrapping up a non-stop, totally exhausting weekend right now.  A cookout, a garage sale, a Cinco de Mayo impromptu cocktail gathering, a birthday party, two tournament ball games  AND a whole lot of playing in the dirt.    Honey put the end caps on the garden beds and I hung two darling solar power carriage lights at the gate.  I am simply smitten with this garden (so unlike me, for those who know me.)  That being said, I’m about to go stark raving mad over this horrific caterpillar called a cutworm.  In ONE NIGHT it took out two cucumber vines and an entire tomato plant (full of baby green tomatoes).  I cried real tears when I saw the devastation this morning.  I read all sorts of craziness online today about how to get rid of the monster but, to be honest, not much of it made a whole lot of sense to this novice gardener.  I sprayed all the stems down with Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew and Honey and I are about to go out there tonight after it’s good and dark to try to kill the darned things ourselves.  Any advise would be much appreciated.  [See my first garden post here.] The other major accomplishment of the weekend was tackling the bed along side the house in the back yard.  It had these awfully overgrown shrubs, waaaaay too much stringy, ugly monkey grass and three lovely in-ground trash cans that were undoubtedly quite the luxury back in the 1968.  Honey dug out the bushes and monkey grass and Mother helped me plant annabelle hydrangeas (one in one of the aforementioned trash cans…ugh), confederate jasmine to train up the arbor, a little bird bath (Home Depot for about $30), hostas and some ground cover.  We then mulched right over the rest of the trash cans and concrete to give the illusion of one long bed.  I took an old frame from the basement and did a DIY antiqued mirror treatment to the glass (more on that soon) to fill in some of the space over the bird bath.  I’m not sure I LOVE that just yet, but it’s good enough for now.  Oh, and I strung up a little strand of solar powered lights on the top of the arbor.  That, I’m super excited about. Last but not least, JuJu (Honey’s mama) took the boys (all three of them) to Target for water guns this afternoon.  They came back home grinning from ear to ear and a massive water fight ensued.  A good time was had by all!   Wish me luck in Amanda vs Caterpillar. xoxo   PS. Just got in from poking around in the garden and now I’m just soaking wet (it’s raining) and totally mad.  No sign of them.  Oh, and one of my sweet little carriage lights isn’t working and neither is the strand on the arbor.  UGH!