Pain(t)

Well, I knew it would be bad, anyway.  I knew that getting the house painted would be death to the garden, but the house REALLY needed painting.  It's needed painting for as long as we've lived here, and after we got it insulated (remember all the bits?) the problem was all that much worse and obvious.  

I assumed that it would be death to the garden by way of tarpaulin covering, crushing, and killing all plant life.  I hoped that it would all happen while I was away so I would get home to a shiny newly-painted house which might comfort me through the funeral for my sad dead garden.  

Oddly enough, there hasn't been the death-by-tarps I expected.  Given that "clean-up" is part of the contract, I am not quite sure what will be done here.  Still, many deaths in the side yard and front yard are in the cards.  

The good news is that we both really like the colour (blue) now that it's on the walls and it doesn't clash with any of our neighbours.  We live in a part of the world where people paint their houses vibrant colours and it's nice to join the club after years of pinkish-greenish-brownish indistinction.  The painting is not yet finished, but it should be all wrapped up in a few days.  Then I can start the process of healing the sick (amputating the painted-on leaves), burying the dead (in the compost), and bringing in new recruits (carefully chosen to complement the new colour).