Today the Wasps Won

I spent over an hour today at the oil change place.  Normally it is a 30 minute max visit but today was another story. I was down to 1% oil life and I plan on driving this vehicle until we are done with the majority of the messy work on the house.  No need to trash a perfectly good SUV so I will continue to drive this vehicle.  I currently have 258K miles on it so I know it can last until we are done with the house. The suspension isn't the best and I need a new AC compressor but none of that interferes with trips to the lumber yard or garden shop.  

It was early afternoon by the time I got home and started painting.  I painted the white trim and grey portion on the right side.  I climbed down and got R to help me slide the ladder over to the left side so that I could paint the white trim and grey portion on the left side before moving the ladder down two rungs.  Unfortunately a handful of wasps showed up and were buzzing around the top of the ladder.  I decided to stop painting and eat a ham sandwich in the hopes that they would go away.

The ham sandwich was tasty and it looked like the wasps were gone so I started up the ladder and got all the way to the top only to be met by two wasps who were very unhappy to see me.  So I hurried back down the ladder.

Watering plants seem to be an everyday chore now that we haven't had any real measurable rain in weeks.  I thought if I gave the wasps time to buzz off, that I could still get some painting done and move my ladder down before calling it quits for the day.  Unfortunately the wasps had other ideas and just would not go away.

Since I can't show you a finished south side, I'll show you a finished west side and some of the flowers that are just about to bloom. 

 Here is the pink hydrangea that we bought on mark down last fall.  It is only 2 foot tall right now but should grow to 4 feet and help to hide the gas meter. 

This is a pink coneflower which is one of the staples of my landscaping.  I have four plants that you can find throughout my yard.  Hostas, daylilies, coneflowers, and Knock Out roses.  They all do well with my soil and do not seem to be affected by the black walnut trees. 

Finished west side of the house.  I love this time of the day when the shadows of the large trees in the front yard are cast onto the front of the house.

 Fingers crossed that I can wind up the painting tomorrow because I would really like to finish putting rocks in the bed around the foundation.  I can't do that until I am done painting because the rocks interfere with the ladder sitting flush on the ground.