Good morning! Welcome to #weekendcoffeeshare, hosted by Natalie of Natalie the Explorer, unless you’re in the southern hemisphere preparing for the winter solstice, I doubt you would want a hot drink right about now.

It’s the first week of June and it’s already feeling like a tough month.

First, it was the mouse in the garden. Eek! I can still picture its remains underneath the storage box. It only took a glimpse for the image to cement into my brain. My aunt ended up to be the one who scooped it up and tossed it into the garbage. My mom now blames me for making her take a life even though I wasn’t the one who pulled the storage box that killed the poor mouse nor was I the one who lured the mouse into the garden by discarding cherries at the base of the cherry tree.

At least the garden is now safe once again, well, not exactly safe from everything, but relatively safe.

After the mouse problem came another problem. I don’t use herbicide in the garden to control weeds because herbicide can not only have devastating effect on soil health, but it can also harm plants in the vicinity. I have been successful in blocking my mom’s attempt of spraying herbicide so far until Tuesday night when I was busy transplanting and she passed by with a familiar bottle. “I told you not to spray that.” The weed killer had a terrible odor, which I wondered if it’s toxic to humans.

Too late, she had already sprayed the whole garden while I wasn’t looking. “I’m done,” she announced. Great, just great.

I educated her once on the concept of herbicide drift, that herbicide or herbicide vapor can drift to the nearby plants without you knowing. She thought it’s only when wind is present.

The next night, I discovered the leaves of the plum tree that’s been in the ground for the last 6 years were curled. Normally, that meant that I would find aphids on the back of the leaves but there was nothing. Quickly, I took a few photos and posted on the local gardening group on Facebook for help. It was the symptom of herbicide drift.

I told my mom the next day. “Preposterous!” She said, unwilling to admit that this was her fault, just like luring a mouse into the garden.

I know neither of my backyard neighbors use herbicide and neither do my uncle and aunt next door. Why is it so difficult for my mom to admit she’s done something wrong?

Finally, is anyone feeling stressed from the heat wave? I know some of you live in very hot places. It’s the first week of June and we are already in the 90’s. What happened to spring? It felt like Mother Nature’s turned the dial from winter to summer. The heat doesn’t make me want to go outside because of my skin issues. So I’m stuck indoors, forcing to observe the garden from afar, which might be the most frustrating thing ever.

I appreciate you stopping by. Until next we chat. 🙂