Snake #2

When I mentioned to my mom that I needed to clean out my raised veggie beds this week, she said, "Be careful." I knew she meant to watch out for slithery snakes, but I rarely see any in my flower or veg beds.

Monday was an uneventful clean out, but after 2 1/2 hours and the approaching sunshine, I quit and went inside. 

This morning the temperature seemed agreeable, so I went out to finish the veggie beds in the semi-fog. Pulling huge rooted tomato plants is always a chore, but doing that sort of work at 7:00 AM is better than later. 

Around 10:00 AM I had finished pulling up all of the tomato plants and cut back eggplant, okra, and basil. Then I wanted to spruce up the marigolds and lemon balm, since they had begun drying up or getting leggy. On one of my several trips with the full wheelbarrow to our compost heap, I had seen a small black snake under the carport. I usually do not bother snakes out in the yard, since they are always far enough to not be of danger to me. But as I was beginning to finish up the last lemon balm "hair cut," I almost reached out and scooped up a sleeping dark brown snake snuggled up next to the brown drip irrigation hose. "Eeeeeekkkkkkkk" That was something like I must have screamed. The snake did not move. I cut my trimming job short and called it a "job well done."

Enough gardening for today. Fingers crossed that we have 60's degree F temps again tomorrow morning and that my hub searches the lemon balm for the hose impersonator this evening. 

Hub may not carry a shotgun, but he is a "sharp shooter" with the garden hoe.