UPDATE: I still live in a jungle

I've been trying to work on the yard a little, after much neglect for far too long, and have barely made a dent. Today I decided to try and pull a few weeds, and found it much easier than usual, given all of the rain we've been getting. NOTE TO SELF: After heavy rains is the best time to weed! The saturated ground doesn't hold onto the weeds as hard as it usually does.

I quickly filled my large horticulture bin (55? 65 gallons? Something like that...) with weeds, and it didn't even make a noticeable difference.

I also found that over the last couple of months, my swing cushion has literally disintegrated...

So I need to haul that out for garbage pickup this week, and then look into getting a new one.

Last I saw it not so long ago, it had some tears, but didn't look like this. So either the sun and rain has really taken its toll over the last few weeks, or the raccoons have-- or both!

Unfortunately I moved an old pot sitting on the deck in front of my shed, and found the wood rotted beneath.

I am finding that my deck is not holding up well. I have to wonder whether the wood they used was pressure-treated, or maybe it is simply because it wasn't sealed. In any event, I'm trying to think of plan B in anticipation of the deck needing to go in the upcoming years. At that point, I will probably switch to a brick or paver patio instead.

Then next to this I noticed what looked like strange little rocks or seed pods. Upon closer investigation I realized they were snake eggs!

And good-sized eggs at that! I don't think my little black snake Black Ivy could have laid these. I would say that the snake that laid these would have to be at least 3 1/2 to 4 foot long, wouldn't you?

I found the hole dug into a little bed in front of my shed, next to a tree. I counted at least 18 eggs. Unfortunately I am guessing that the raccoons got to them before they were ready to hatch, due to the way they were scattered around and the hole that seemed dug DOWN instead of up and out.

And then next to the nest, I spotted this little guy. He was dead.

Poor little guy.

I just have to wonder just how big Momma snake is to have eggs this big?