In my layman's understanding, the 2nd law of thermodynamics says that all things tend toward disorganization. Murphy's Law is all about entropy. I have spent the last week fighting entropy all over my house. I have much tidier drawers and closets and I feel good! The photos, however, are not thrilling.
This morning Steve and I spent several hours fighting weeds on the patch of ground next to the driveway.
Our driveway backs onto an alley. The spot below, next to the alley, is hard to keep tidy. There is this wiry, persistent, obnixious vine that grows here and elsewhere in our yard. You can't really see it here but it had grown all over that chain link gate, up the crepe myrtle, and into and through the rosemary.
We raked out the leaves and then layed down 4 layers of newspaper. It was at this point that I realized I did not have anywhere near enough newspaper. So I went dumpster-diving down the alley and was stunned to see that almost none of my neighbors take the paper or, if they do, they are not recycling. I called friends and got some newspapers but this job is going to take more time as we have to collect newspapers.
The reason we put down newspaper was because of an article I read that said that 4 layers of newspaper would smother the plants/weeds underneath. I hope so. Steve went for mulch as I spread newspaper. Here's a tip: pick a day with no wind. Luckily we did not have wind today. If we had this would have been a lot harder.
I weighted the paper with logs and 'tree cookies' that we had on hand. Steve spread mulch between them and over the paper.
I admit that our after photos may not look a lot different from the before photos, but they are. The vines are cut back to the ground and it is to be hoped that they don't grow up through the newspaper. The leaves are tidied up. I am amassing more newspaper so that we can cover the remaining ground. I feel like I've made progress.
Don't you love making progress? I've also been working on the website this weekend, on pages that are not exactly obvious. I updated the video 'Lessons' pages. You can click here and here and here to see them. I also updated my class page. That meant re-writing all my supply lists. I've spent hours standing at the computer and working. I stand because it supposed to be a lot better than sitting. I can tell the difference - it's harder but my bone density is better.
Speaking of bone density... I've been doing a little yoga in addition to pilates. I read an article in the NY Times today that confirms what I had already been told. Be careful of some of those yoga moves bacause they are not as benign as you may have been led to believe. I listened to a related story on The People's Pharmacy about yoga for osteoporosis. It pays to be careful.
