Putting my herb garden to bed, part 2

My Saturday started bright and early.  At least I remembered to bring my camera this time.  Also, based on quite a few of the comments I received yesterday, I thought I should add that I hurt my shoulder when I was working in my neighbor's basement.  She had been told there was mold everywhere and, since she was recovering from a needed surgery (and I offered to help), she wanted me to clean everything with bleach and water.  The problem was, she has no running water in her basement and no place except in her sump pump she just had installed, to dump it.  So I carried bucket after bucket of water downstairs, then back up.   My arm started hurting one day and by the end of the second day, I couldn't raise my elbow above my shoulder without feeling severe pain.

Although I write right handed, I do many, many things left handed.  Since I was trying to keep my left shoulder from screaming in pain, I began using my right hand more and more.  That was exacerbated by the fact my wireless mouse no longer worked and I had to use an old corded one that didn't/doesn't fit my hand.  So that's the back story on the shoulder and wrist.  Now let's head to the garden.

This is what my garden looked like when I quit yesterday.  You can see Part 1 here if you missed it yesterday.

After several hours work, this is the herb garden just prior to cleaning up the driveway.

Believe it or not, I cut a TON of branches from the raspberry bushes, and found five branches that had grown roots.  I cut them from the mother plant, and replanted them.  You might be able to see the tomato cages I used to protect the wee babes.

I've removed all the old herbs from the pots, except the two mint plants.  I don't believe I'll ever kill the mint, so I'm not worried about overwintering it in the house.  These pots of mint would probably live through a nuclear blast.

Some of the pots were in need of more soil, so I got out my potting soil and placed it in as many pots as I possibly could.

The pots on the right side of the photo got the most new soil, and I needed to get more for a few of the ones in the center of the photo.  When spring comes and I plant new seeds, I will straighten the pots and line them up in color specific coordinated rows.  But they are now holding the cardboard in place until it deteriorates enough to be the bottom layer of my ongoing lasagna garden. 

While my clippers were out, I decided it was time to cut down all the tiny trees I couldn't reach in my "flower bed" with my lawn mower.

Right after I swept, but before I headed to buy more soil, I decided to take this late afternoon shot of the "flower bed" and what was left of the herb garden.  Since my neighbor had chosen to drop his boat in front of my herb garden, I moved my trash can so you could see both locations.

One bag of soil was all I could handle,

but I was able to mostly fill the rest of the pots, although I missed hitting one of the pots because I had no strength left.

I also found a few more bits of paper and cardboard that will disintegrate over the winter

and picked up as much of the dropped soil as I could muster.  I may not be able to use my left arm or right wrist until Christmas, but at least the "flower bed" has been cleaned out, the herb garden has been put to bed, the outdoor faucets have been insulated and covered,

the chiminea, seen in this photo I took in October,

is now safe and warm in the garage, and the small auxiliary window AC I keep in my office to cool my electronics (and myself when I'm there because that room practically doubles as a sauna in the summer, even my wonderful huge central air conditioner can't keep up with) has been removed and stored.

Today was Day 8 of AEDM, and I finished winterizing my home.  This is the time of year I think how helpful a man would be.  Thanks as always for your very kind and generous comments.  Speaking of comments, I apologize if I didn't make it around to visit you today, but I didn't even take time to eat until about an hour ago.  Remember please, if your blog has G+ comments only, I am unable to respond or leave you a comment.  And if you have a blog or web site that requires I "join" in order to leave a comment, I can't leave a reply there, either.