Decking out the deck

I was sad to discover when I woke up yesterday that watercolours had to be postponed, but not really sorry, because this was going to be a summery day and it was going to cloud over, rain and get chilly once again today. And I wanted to take advantage of the warmth.

Of course I could have gone down to the garden to start turning over the raised bed and adding compost in preparation for planting peas and other things, but that was a lot of work and, besides, I’ll be spending more time on the deck than I generally will in the garden once I’ve got things started, so perhaps begin there.

I’ve got the new, large ceanothus to repot, along with several other things.

One lovely thing about doing things on the deck is listening to all the hummingbirds coming to the feeder. It’s nesting season and the wee things need to build themselves up, so nectar is much in demand. Hard to get a picture of one at the feeder when you’re outside, because the slightest move spooks them. But I did manage to snap a photo from inside the house.

This is a solo. Sometimes there are two, even three at a time, having a sip.

As previously stated, the buddleia was in a sorry state after a long, cold winter.

But there are a lot of new green shoots coming up from the bottom. Anything bent just snaps like the dry twig it is, so time for the secateurs and some optimism.

After some hours of slog, things are looking pretty good.

Time to go inside, make a cup of tea and come back out to read my book and enjoy watching the birds at the feeder.

Lovely.

Not so lovely when I come back inside to check my emails. The fucking bugs are back in force and now they’re completely surrounding the window in front of my desk.

Impossible in this backlit photo to see the dozens and dozens of them there are teaming around the frame and crawling into spaces I didn’t know existed. (I thought this was a well-fitted window.) FUCK. In the short time I am sitting at the desk to send one important email, half a dozen land on the desk or on me and are quickly swept to the floor and stomped. FUCK. I’ve been intending to wash this window (which entail moving furniture). Now, not only do I need to wash it, but I’ll also have to tape all the way around it. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Well, it will have to wait, because I have errands to run and then it will be time to head over to Scott’s for dinner and a movie. 

When I get home eventually and turn the desk lamp on, there is no sign of them around the window. What? Have they all gone to sleep somewhere for the night? No, that can’t be right. They were out in force the other night when I was having a shower. Where have they gone?

Wake up this morning and look again. Nope. No bugs. None. They certainly haven’t all flown out the one window I left open when I went out. Have they all disappeared into the woodwork around the frame? Are they busy breeding in there in preparation for another onslaught? This has never happened before. Yes, the invasion eventually dies down, but I’ve never gone from scores of bugs to none overnight. 

Scott asked me last night if I wasn’t worried they were eating the house from inside the walls? Yes, that is a concern. But, as I told him, I’m pretty sure I will be dead before the house falls down. I hope so anyway.