Mini Downzies

I woke up today not feeling nearly as positive as I did last week.  I am really struggling to get going this morning.  I know it will pass eventually and that I need to push myself to fight through the mini downzies.  I have to remind myself how far I have come over the years and although these last few weeks have been challenging,  I have proven to myself in the past that I am capable of persevering.

The end of last week was really positive.  I did a major overhaul of my parents landscape and it took me two days to complete.  There is still some odds and ends to tie up but, the finished product looks awesome.  I was really proud of my work and it gave me a sense of worth and a renewed belief in myself.  It was also nice to work with my parents and share that experience with them.  They have never really got a chance to see my work first hand so it was rewarding to be able to show them some of the skills I have learned over the years.

I need to get outside and force myself to do some work.  Just because I am not working at present time does not mean there is nothing for me to do.  There is always things I can keep myself busy with.  I am going to cut the grass here and at my parents.  I need to make one more edge here and think I will thin out our Rose of Sharon a bit.  It is amazing how well it has come back.  It was in rough shape a few years a go but, it is doing very well.  I love when it blooms in August.  Such a beautiful flower.

One of the jobs I did at my parents was to dig out everything, roots and all, at the side of their house.  My mom was looking for low maintenance so we decided to sod it.  The most challenging part was getting the bed clean.  Some of those roots had been there a long time.  It is very important when you are taking things out of beds or even weeding for that matter, to get the roots out.  It is counterproductive if the roots are not out as it will just end up making more work in the long run.

I told my my mom what I used to tell customers I worked for.  It is imperative to water sod effectively, especially in the first few weeks.  The same goes for seeding lawns through top dressing.  We used to run in to issues at times when their would be complaints that their sod or seed was not doing well. More times than not,  the issue they would be having would simply be the fact that they were not watering enough.  One time we realized that someone's hose did not even reach the area where we top dressed.  My advice would be to give sod or top dressing a good soak two to three times a day for the first few weeks.  It will invariably increase the chances for long term success of your sod or top dressing job.

I am already feeling a bit more positive after writing this today.  Time to get out and enjoy this beautiful day.  My quote last blog was Movement is Medicine which is so true.  I always feel better when I get out and do something active.  It may take a push sometimes but, it always has a good impact on me.

Have a great week.  Take care,  Shawn.

“Others imply that they know what it is like to be depressed because they have gone through a divorce, lost a job, or broken up with someone. But these experiences carry with them feelings. Depression, instead, is flat, hollow, and unendurable. It is also tiresome. People cannot abide being around you when you are depressed. They might think that they ought to, and they might even try, but you know and they know that you are tedious beyond belief: you are irritable and paranoid and humorless and lifeless and critical and demanding and no reassurance is ever enough. You're frightened, and you're frightening, and you're "not at all like yourself but will be soon," but you know you won't.”

― Kay Redfield Jamison, An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness