Good morning! Welcome to #weekendcoffeeshare, hosted by Natalie of Natalie the Explorer, please come on in and have a drink and a chat.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you it’s been a little more than a week since my mom departed for Asia. We haven’t had much of a conversation since her flight got delayed due to the pilots being on strike. Since then, she’s talked to her sister (the one living in the room next to me) more than she’s talked to me. The only time she sent me any messages was when she needed stuff done like taking a picture of her box of hair dye or when I get an email regarding her hotel reservation.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I’m in the midst of my 5-day weekend. I’ve been off from work since Wednesday and I’ve been ultra productive. I think it’s what happens when I’m allowed to work in the garden without disruption of meals and breaks and someone trying to pick a fight.

For the last 3 days, I’ve been able to tackle 2 garden projects which I would not be able to do if my mom was here. On the first day of my day off, I used a mallet and pounded 3/8-inch concrete rebar a foot into the ground, giving my PVC hoops a good foundation. By the end of the day, I pounded probably about 2 dozens rebars into the ground.

From the picture, you can see the 2 new white PVC constructed hoops. I also redid two hoops in the back garden and I am now less worried of those hoops swaying when there’s a wind event.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I spent Independence Day (4th of July) on a day trip. There are scenic byways near where I live as well as scenic backways. I drove on a scenic backway for the first time 2 years and fell in love. Scenic backways showcase some of the most beautiful and underrated spots in the state. There’s a reason while it’s called a “backway”, right?

I’ll admit, though, scenic backways are not as easy to drive as byways because of the curves and narrow roads. I was doing less than 30 miles/hour for much of the way because I had to be on a constant lookout for sharp curves and incoming cars. I feel it’s one of the reasons of what makes the drive thrilling yet enjoyable. It certainly keeps you awake.

I visited a couple of spots I haven’t visited in 2 years while went to a couple of new ones by way of detour. The things I enjoyed on the trip were the quiet and the drive. The only way to go to these places is usually if I go alone. My mom would never go to these places and she would never drive this kind of road.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about Friday when I tackled another garden project – one I’m dreading because I knew it would be backbreakingly hard. And it was, as I’m writing this on Friday, I can feel the muscles in my legs and abdoman starting to ache.

Even though I had my aunt clear a perimeter for me the night before, it was still hard for me to arrange these heavy stones, remove the weed barrier beneath, and dump bags of soil over it. I can only imagine how my mom would react when she sees this. I did this to make plants and trees more hospitable because those rocks are too hot. The bottom of my feet got burned the other day pounding rebar because I was standing on the rocks.

This project was actually recommended by a people of an online gardening group. It’s an effort to revive the dead cherry tree, which I hope it’s not too far gone at this point.

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