Jultember: squirrels are arses...

i am nursing a doozie of a headache, thanks in no small part to the absolute chaos that has befallen our home in the past few days. you see, our balcony had to be rebuilt (literally). this meant that everything that was out on the balcony had to be moved.

i should point out that this is the same balcony that serves as the titular setting of our balcony garden project. this means that all of those pots and the plants growing in them had to be moved... into the living room... which meant that the living room furniture had to also be moved... into the dining room. i can feel that vein behind my left eyeball starting to throb again.

i tried my best to find poetry in the experience. this almost looks like a quiet little corner of what might be a charming and inviting room.

but turn around, and is is total chaos of a different kind.

it makes far more sense to have a pot of ferns and hostas in a corner where a sofa used to be... no?

moving the outdoor plants indoors means that the indoor plants that usually occupy the space next to the glass doors also had to be moved. there is even more than this, trust me. it is chaos with three extra zeros.

then he grabbed his ever-present pruners, and went into Mr. Miyagi mode with a tomato plant inside a wire cage. [i have spoken in the past about this behavior.]

the only solace in all of this is that i got to spend some time amongst my plants, as there is no real room to hang out on the balcony when it is overflowing with greenery.

i love the look of this hibiscus flower that is about to unfurl.

this also means that i do not have to get out of bed at five in the morning to give everything a dousing with pepper spray in an effort to deter the squirrels. the trough of strawberries is an especially popular target of squirrely antics. why are so many of my plants wrapped in chicken wire, you ask? because squirrels are arses, i respond.