Scorpion Weed

We live in the desert and yes, much of our yard is landscaped with rock. But do not be mistaken, this does not mean that we do not have to do regular upkeep to keep the yard looking decent. We have this wonderful little devil of a plant called Scorpion Weed that flourishes here. It needs almost nothing to grow and will take hold anywhere and everywhere. The biggest problem is that there are many homeowners that care little whether their yards are overrun with weeds. The biggest culprits are the vacation home owners, of which there are many in these parts. They just rent out their houses or visit for a weekend here or there. Seldom do they take the time to actually clean up their yards and keep things looking beautiful. This affects us in a number of ways, not the least of which is that the wind blows all the seeds from their overgrown, weed filled, yards into our yards. I happen to live right across the street from one of these lovely homes. The owners are from California and just stop by on holiday weekends. They spend the entire time playing and then split. The home used to be very well kept by it's previous owners but now it is pretty much ignored.

So anyway, now that the weather is warming up and we have had a touch of rain the scorpion weed is growing rampant. My Honey offered the boys $$ to rid the front yard of the scurge while he was away this week. The boys will do almost ANYTHING for $$! The other day we were down visiting my mother. The boys asked me if they could go swimming. I started to answer the way I usually do, by telling them that the pool is too cold right now, but changed my mind and told them to go right ahead. With whoops and hollars they stripped to their undies and ran to the pool stairs. Two seconds after stepping down onto the first step they were back out and screeching about how cold it was. (Surprise, Surprise! Who would of thunk that mom knew what she was talking about?) At that point, my mom offered them each $1 to jump in. After a few minutes of heated discussion between them, they approached my mother and told her that for $4 each they would jump in. My mom agreed and they did it!! Mind you, the pool is like 50 degrees! They whooped and hollared for quite a bit but in the end they stayed in the pool for almost an hour. UNBELIVABLE! But I digress.....

So, having been offered $ we headed out to the front yard with visions of new Bionicles and DS games firmly entrenched in their minds. We ended up plucking the little buggers for nearly an hour and a half! Because the ground is all covered in gravel, you cannot really sit down to work. You have to walk around hunched over to pull the weeds out. It is back breaking work! Oh, did I mention that if the little buggers touch your skin they cause itching, stinging and burning? They aren't called Scorpion Weed for nothing! You have to wear thick garden gloves which makes it difficult to grasp the little suckers from between the gravel and rock. I actually suggested to the boys twice that we take a break but they refused. What little troopers! I would say that we cleared 95% of the weeds from the front and side yards. And we really had a good time doing it together. (even though my back is STILL killing me!) The next day the boys were eager to do more and spent another 45 minutes pulling weeds in the back yard. They really are good little helpers. Below are a few pictures of the boys with their buckets of weeds. We actually emptied buckets 2-3 times each before we were finished.
This first one is of Muffin Man with his bucket.

 

Here is Little Man with some of the weeds he pulled.

 

And here they are, my little munchkins hard at work!

 

When we finished working, Little Man mentioned how good he felt about helping out. I told him it always feels good when we are helping and contributing to our family and home. He just nodded and smiled. I really am so lucky. Both of the boys are so good about doing their chores and offering help when and where needed. I am blessed! And a little scurge called Scorpion Weed reminded me of that today.