Accidents Will Happen

I loved the wisp of early morning spider's web clinging to Maggie's fence. It was a kinder, gentler image to begin the day than my present litany of accidents, physical mishaps and injuries. My sister Beatrice (hi Beatrice!) is released from having to read this blog post. We talked on the phone earlier and she already knows my laundry list of afflictions!
So we all remember that I am recovering from my most recent bout of Lyme Disease. That's a good thing; I feel fit and energetic and the antibiotics haven't adversely affected my stomach so that's a plus. I am frustrated, as stated in my previous accounting, because I am supposed to stay out of the sun and most of our garden is very sunny. I contented myself with gardening on the several overcast days we had last week. But my hand is still really burned from being exposed to the sun on a drive home last week! Check it out:

I was initially using my hand as a scale model for the size of that magnificent Clematis (not really as blue as the photo; more purple-y!) but I realized how awful that rash looks. Yeech. And that's just the beginning...
So I have Lyme Disease and a badly burnt hand. I'm on my way out the door to go to work and I somehow manage to squeeze all the skin on the back of my right hand in the doorway between the knob and the door frame and an inconvenient screw eye. Now my right hand matches the left, with a handsome bruise and a red knuckle. That really hurt!
I get to work and happily avoid breaking anything but I'm wondering if the moon is in klutz. Navigating the mine field/ obstacle course of the auction house takes nerves of steel and something akin to sonar. I succeeded in running smack into the finials of a pair of ugly lamps that a co-worker had thoughtfully laid sideways on a trolley. Ouch! (I am reminding you of the heroic bruise I sported on my left thigh? I've got one on my right leg now... symmetry!) And if that wasn't enough, I knew immediately that I would be punished for trying to pick up a box full of (very heavy!) glass paperweights. I think I bent at the wrong angle.
And just how wrong that angle was was made apparent at 2:00 last night when I woke up unable to find a comfortable position and seriously debating whether I was having a heart attack. My upper chest was SCREAMING and I couldn't even breath deeply. Googling symptoms suggested that I had probably seriously pulled a muscle, not that that reassured me and I finally fell asleep at like 4:00 am. This morning found me a poster child for the lame and halt as I struggled to lift anything that weighed more than my coffee cup in my mutilated and discolored hands. Thank the gods for ibuprofen!

In Sickness and in Health

Behold our mystery dogwood... which turns out to be a native viburnum! (Viburnum Dentatum) It's blooming like mad and the honey bees are swarming it so we're all happy. It seems to have taken off behind the rhododendrons, now that that row of spruce and pine trees is gone. (Ah yes, "thanks" to last year's tornado...) In any event, it's a welcome addition to the garden.
I am behind: in blogging, in gardening. Alas! I have been sickened by a tick borne illness yet again, and while on the mend (I feel fine!) I cannot be in the sun so the garden suffers a surfeit of weeds and neglect. (Except for that shade garden which looks pretty darned good, being shady and therefore okay for me to toil away in.)

And rather than dwell on all the things I haven't done, I thought to "be positive" and offer pictures of the handsome accomplishments that I have managed. Like the above collection of partially assembled container offerings. (Love those geraniums with the embellished leaves!) I had been enjoying creating lavish arrangements of tender annuals for our terrace area and was having such a good afternoon, thinking that I had stayed well into the shade and avoided the sun... until I went inside and looked in the mirror. Then it became clear that I had burned in indirect sunlight! My cheeks resembled some of those brilliant red and orange flowers I was planting. (Does anyone know why antibiotics cause one to become so sensitive to sunlight?!?) In any event, I'll be even more of a mole rat going forward and not emerge from my studio until much later in the day!'

And here's an update on that Rock Border: We have mulch fabric rolled out and rocks re-applied to maybe a third of the overall length. It's going to take a while before I secure enough rocks to cover the length! I'll have to take even more walks... HELP!! (That's lil' Robin the Good, searching in the lawn for more rocks (or more realistically she's probably looking to eat something inedible.))
At least I'm on the mend. My initial week of antibiotics had me feeling alternately pretty good and pretty atrocious. By now, my joints have stopped screaming and I seem to have regained my typical energy level. I want to garden and do stuff; now I'm awaiting an overcast day to do it all in!

*I'm also gestating a new artist's book project. Honestly? This one has been kicking around for a couple of years. It's exploring issues of income disparity and my own travails with impecunity. Stay tuned... this will be a good one! (Working title: "A Pot to Piss In, or "What's an Artist Urn (Earn)?")