Wildflowers, I mean, Weeds

This house is only a couple of years old.  It was built on what had been a wild and scrubby lot, and was only roughly graded before my parents moved in.  Mom did a lot of work to get the yard level and get a lawn started.  The yard, however, still thinks it is part of the wilderness, and sprouts thistles and weeds as soon as we turn our backs.

Today I spent a good part of my day rescuing the grass from those thistles and weeds.  I also did other yardwork, like chopping up an old stump in the back yard.  Half of the stump was soft and squeaky like styrofoam, and full of fire ants (I escaped with only one bite).  The other half, however, remains, as it is quite solid.  I have this idea that I can hasten its decay by drilling it full of holes with a power drill and spade bit.  What do you think?  Would that work?

The bulk of my time outdoors, however, was spent on the weed-pulling.  Pulling weeds is very therapeutic work.  The sun was shining and the breeze was warm and the air smelled sweet, like clover, and strains of music were coming through the air from somewhere...okay, that part was kind of eerie.  The boys were playing happily in the driveway with their bikes and with sidewalk chalk.  I would have been happy to keep going for hours more, but my bending-over muscles were getting tired.  However, I'm happy to say that there are plenty of weeds left, and more sprouting every day, so I will have many opportunities to enjoy the task again.

By weeds, I mean wildflowers, really.  Only they were growing in the lawn, which makes them weeds.

 
Yes, these were all really blooming in our weed lot yard today, and half-a-dozen other varieties, too.  Aren't they lovely?  I don't know what they all are (Mom??).  I felt a little guilty about pulling them.  But I had to, or the grass wouldn't stand a fighting chance.  At least they can thrive along the roadsides, as in Texas, they don't mow along the country roads until wildflower season is over. :)  Have I mentioned that Texas is growing on me?

(I just discovered that I can make collages with Picasa--I love this feature!  Picasa is a free photo-editing program that I like a lot and use regularly.)