Aaarrrrggghhh!!!!!

Sorry there was no Friday Foto yesterday. I've been trying to get to this post since yesterday morning.  My life has been two steps forward and one back since last Wednesday. This Mercury retrograde period is doing a number on me worse that usual this time. I'm working at the Blowing Rock gallery today for the first time since we opened for the season and arrived this morning to several little problems to be fixed, one of which I could not fix. I'm just frustrated and in a pissy mood.

This is one of the problems I had to fix. Really? Who leaves someone's work looking like it was thrown around? We have 15 members who work in the shop and, depending on who has worked the day before me, I find my display looking disheveled nearly every time I come in. I'm not saying everyone is a slob, but there are a few who I don't think ever look at anything in the gallery besides their own work. It makes me really mad. Usually the first thing I do when I arrive is walk around (while I'm turning on lights) and straighten things up. Fill in the holes on a shelf where pottery was sold, adjust the handwoven jackets on their hangers, make sure paintings and photography are hanging level, etc.

And, there's a light bulb out right over the desk and at the end of my jewelry case. I got the old bulb out of the socket, but can't get the new bulb in. It's one of those fluorescent bulbs that you have to fit the two tabs into a slot and then turn it. Impossible. And, I only found one spare bulb and it was not in the box they come in, so I don't even know if it will work or not.

You'd think I'd be thrilled that my mountain of mulch has been reduced and that my garden beds look so nice, right? Well, I was on Thursday when I got home from working at the other gallery to find it done. Then yesterday I noticed that every plant that touched that mulch was turning white. The only reason I can come up with for this is that the mulch is too fresh and it's burning everything it touches. Now I'm scared that I'll lose ten years of gardening in one fell swoop. I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of an antidote for this. Would sprinkling powdered lime on top help neutralize it? This could be a total disaster and I'm going to call our Agriculture Extension Agent on Monday to see if there's anything that can be done. 

So, aren't you glad you took the time to read this post? I'm sorry but I just needed to vent a little. I can't promise that the next post will be sunny and happy, but I'll try.

P.S. For those of you who were as concerned as I was about Jerry, here's an update: His phone was disconnected because he moved in with his girlfriend and he got a new job. He wasn't able to put the mulch out for me this time, but he got his cousin to do it. Whew. That's one thing that's gone right this week. I found Jerry!