Feeling my age

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This is how I’m feeling!

Some days I feel like I’m in my 20s. Other days, not so much. This is a “not so much” week.

We’ve been doing outdoor yard stuff – weed pulling, planting, mulching and overall hauling stuff from point A to point B. Heavy stuff. The stuff that frail elderly people should not be lifting.

It’s rewarding because you can see results instantly but it takes a toll on your body. I need a recovery day for every day I work outside. Maybe two.

It wasn’t always like that. I can remember doing big outdoor projects spanning days without my body revolting. I enjoyed the exercise and sunshine. My body calls those “the good old days.” I need to have a chat with my body.

My new motto is “good enough.” The other motto is “there must be someone we can hire to do this.” Both are true. Nothing has to be perfect and you can hire someone to do almost anything if you look hard enough.

We had our windows cleaned by a single proprietor guy in his 70s who has been doing this for 40 years. He only takes jobs he can handle and only as many as he wants. We were fortunate to fit in those parameters. He’s no slouch. We have a walk out basement which means our side windows are all second-floor level. Unlike some of the other companies, he does not use a telescoping hose but does it with a ladder.  Hope he doesn’t retire any time soon.

The neighborhood lawn cutting guy will do plantings, yard cleanup, mulching and whatever else you may need outdoors. I am always amazed at how strong he is. I tried to remove some plants to give to a neighbor. I couldn’t get them out. We have heavy clay soil that is like cement. He got them out in an hour, took them to the neighbor and planted them. As a side benefit I got to watch rippling sweaty muscles peeking out of a black tank top.

Once the yard has been renewed (it was totally out of control when we moved here), maintaining it won’t be difficult. All the large plantings are in now. The overcrowded beds have been reworked. High maintenance plants went out and low maintenance plants went in. Maybe next year there will be more margaritas on the deck and less aches and heating pads in the evening. Bring it on!

47 thoughts on “Feeling my age”

  1. My get-up-and-go soon faded to got-up-and-went on Day #1 of the yard work. I marvel that I am sitting here feeling a little beaten up and eyes fluttering a bit, what happened to that endless energy I once possessed?

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      • I know what you mean – here it is Monday night and I am pooped and wishing I had one more day. I can remember back when the gardens looked their best, feeling glad for Monday morning as I wore myself out over the weekend with gardening and other chores and at least I could sit down all day!

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  6. I have someone to cut the lawn, someone to put weed killer and fertilizer, someone to trim bushes, someone to spray bushes, someone to spread mulch and still I have to pull weeds around shrubs and in flowerbeds. Either they pull the top and leave the roots, or they can tell weeds from flowers. I think I would come out ahead just hiring a gardener to do it all. I used to do it in one sesssion, then it became one for the front and one for the back, now it is a little bit at a time. It really got out of hand when I broke my shoulder and I can’t seem to catch up. It is pitiful.

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    • Getting someone to pull weeds is tough. I wouldn’t trust the local grass cutters unless it was really out of control. The yard wasn’t taken care of and grass got a hold in the ground cover. I’ve been working to get all the roots out. It’s an ongoing battle because unless you do it right after a rain, you may not get all the roots.

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  7. I like both of your mottos. I have been using Good Enough for a while now, but I definitely plan to use the hire someone. I hope your pains go away soon.

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    • My back is good mostly. I just don’t have the energy anymore. The days of putting in patio pavers in a weekend is gone (that’s the hire someone time!). Next year we will have someone come in to clean them up.

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  9. Hi, Kate – I never feel like I am in my 20’s…but I often fantasize about being in my 30’s. I had a similiar experience to you this past week, but with hiking instead of gardening. Richard and I have booked a Camino for September (what were we thinking?), which means I need to get in some long distance hikes and some climbs. I did a 16 km flat hike last Monday which was not so bad. But the 8 km climbing hike yesterday almost killed me. Yup, I cuddled up with heating pad as well even though it is very warm here! I wonder if I can outsource my practice hiking? 😀

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  11. Kate, I’ve always admired your strength and wished I had some of it. My chronic pain took a turn for the worse after I got covid in January 2021. Because of that, I planted the low maintenance stuff a couple of years ago (I do the flowers and decorative plants). My husband is a different story. He’s still doing a lot of veggies in his garden. From now on though, he’s wearing a back support when he does. Glad you got through it all. Now kick back and have a margarita for me. 🍸😊

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    • I have been surprised at how I’ve lost the desire to do things that I used to love to do. Gardening is one of them. I’m keeping it very simple. I pulled out the day lilies because they are work, didn’t do well in the shade and the deer loved to snack on any flowers that may have tried to bloom. I’ll keep with a few pots that are manageable.

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  14. I haven’t felt 20 in a LONG time, but I do feel younger than I am until I come in and try to bend over and untie my shoes. I’m still doing my outside work and help my daughter, but I have been known to tie a sling made out of webbing around a shrub and pull it out with my truck. 🙂

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  16. I feel your pain……literally. So does my hubby but he refuses to give in to his pain whereas I give in and stop whatever I’m doing that hurts until I’m better than “have at it” again. A margarita truck? Count me in!

    Hugs, Pam

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  17. Oh boy! I am going through the same thing here. Taking a yard from overgrown to (hopefully) low maintenance and enjoyable. I thought the exercise would be good for me (it probably is) but I can’t keep my eyes open long enough in the evenings to enjoy my new backyard paradise.

    I applaud your new mottos, Kate!

    Deb

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    • I did nothing the first summer. Too immersed in indoor projects. Last year we did some and pulled out a wild jungle that may have once been a nice flower bed. There was a rose bush in it but out it went. This year it’s refining and hopefully finishing it.

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  18. I like the cartoon. I feel it’s inspiring. What’s the old saying… Take life with a grain of salt, a shot of tequila, and a wedge of lime! I’d add, preferably while sitting on your deck, resting your bones.

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  19. I hope you get your deck time! I remember when we tore up the backyard and put in new sod. Ourselves. That seems crazy to me now (although the dogs loved it). After more than a decade, I finally have perennials and other plants where I want them and now we are debating pulling up the front lawn for native plants. Definitely hiring folks if we do that.

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  21. I’ve been having body aches that didn’t used to be there, older age stuff…don’t care for it one bit. Even climbing in and out of kitten enclosures is getting a bit more challenging, much less house work. Sigh.

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    • The yard had been neglected for quite a while. Sometime ago a gardener lived here who overplanted everything so everything was overgrown and weeds clogged the stuff. I got brutal last year and pulled all the plants out that I wasn’t familiar with or were planted in the wrong spot. All I had left were Siberian irises and coneflowers. I’m going to keep it simple. Keeping every watered is enough work without having to week and cut back. At least the kittens are a reward for climbing in and out of the enclosure.

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