This am, I went to the gym to squeeze in a workout; later this am, my handyman came by and together we put together the tuteur I bought so that the coral honeysuckle a friend gave me could climb up it. Can't wait to see it grow; pollinators will love it.

He also brought his chainsaw and sawed to pretty much ground level 4 small tree stumps scattered around the yard; my mower guy will appreciate that.

After the handyman left, I decided to transplant some culver's root and mountain mint to different locations: the mountain mint was planted in a bed where a small serviceberry tree has been beset by destructive little green worms, and someone suggested that the minty smell will keep the insect that lays the eggs away. We'll see. Otherwise, I'll keep hand-picking the worms off, EARLIER in the year before they do more damage.

As for the culver's root, for 30 years it survived in the shade of a very large azaela bush I have, but as a sun-lover, it never thrived. So I've moved it to a much sunnier spot in another bed. The one clump I moved there last year is looking very good, except that it's too close to the tuteur, so I will likely have to move it again, if not this year, than next, depending on how fast the honeysuckle grows.

I'm already indoors to wait out the heat (and sun) of the day. When I go back out this afternoon, I want to:

1. Take the cover off my AC compressor thingie.

2. Cut back the many hydrangea branches rubbing against the corner of my sunroom. We don't need an ant highway there.

3. Repot a crowded haworthia (indoor succulent) that has a lot of babies.

4. Unpack and set up the new patio umbrella I bought in the table on the back patio.

5. Perhaps being overly ambitious, I'd like to put some screens back in on the upstairs windows.

6. If I have any energy left, I'd like to start my least favorite task: pulling poison ivy away from an area I cleared a year or two ago, by the mailbox. It was impossible to completely eradicate it because it was growing in and around the birch tree clumps. I suppose I could have sprayed, but I really try to reserve that for absolutely essential situations so as to avoid harm to pollinators.

7. I'd also like to clear brush and weeds away from some amsonia I forgot I'd planted on the north side so it's not swallowed up.

8. Start edging any one of a half dozen garden beds.

I am still monitoring the raised bed where the chipmunk appeared; cayenne pepper has been sprinkled heavily. I am doubtful it will work but you never know.

But first, there's lunch to think about!