I went out for dinner at the excellent pizza place whose name I forget cause I got too much other excellent stuff taking up room in my superior type brain. A friend of Super Agent Fred's was there and, after hearing my whining about how beat up I had gotten weeding the yard that afternoon, he announced gardening was both soothing and relaxing.
Schmuck.
I'm sure a good axe murder spree is soothing, but the only people who think gardening is relaxing are those who do not indulge in it. I spent hours whacking away at a small-ish mountain of weeds, invasive blackberry canes as big around as my thumb and a passion flower vine that is determined to take over the whole side of the canyon we live in. I got scratches all over, thorns stuck in both hands (through a pair of heavy duty gloves) and sprained my back. Yeah, it was plenty relaxing.
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/---gWFpknDr0/Tl252jbosOI/AAAAAAAAC28/CEd8EbLO4hw/s400/weeds%2B3.jpg)
Weeds.
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jFHIFbaJ2UA/Tl252Vt4VEI/AAAAAAAAC20/uFcM5HhzOZs/s400/weeds%2B2.jpg)
More weeds.
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TTmMyY15akk/Tl252KkgORI/AAAAAAAAC2s/J8QNfMREINk/s400/weeds%2B1.jpg)
Lotsa Weeds.
Throughout, I had my iTunes playing on the computer up here with the windows open so I could hear it. I realize my neighbors also got an earful, but since I never usually do that, I figured they could suck it up. The shuffle spit out Donna Summer (Bad Girls,) Erasure (Victim of Love,) Madonna (Vogue,) and Dusty Springfield (who knows what? I have lots.) I could just hear them "So he's not just a queen, he's an OLD queen...."
Things not actually weeds up in the yard:
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dktruR9vdeo/Tl25hUsjMzI/AAAAAAAAC2k/vxlyE01TyUg/s400/sage.jpg)
Mexican Sage, rolling off into the distance.
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SePFQCXoL9w/Tl25Y9JXwXI/AAAAAAAAC2c/soSv_rOBC9U/s400/fuschia.jpg)
Purple echiveria and an old, old, old red fuschia
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ts--k3zhmFA/Tl25YpsOg6I/AAAAAAAAC2U/3s3AFIGM9mY/s400/coreopsis.jpg)
Coreopsis
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9IAj9S6XYpU/Tl25MCqxSkI/AAAAAAAAC2M/nUU5-_13qtk/s400/blues.jpg)
Some itty bitty blue flower, the name of which I have long since forgotten, if I ever knew it.