The saga of the mulch pile

It's been a few weeks and I can finally talk about the saga of the mulch pile without feeling nauseated!

I'm thrifty when I can be, especially when it comes to gardening.  I want to grow my food and have it make financial sense-otherwise I can just go out to the Farmer's Market and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

A few weeks ago I started looking for someone that would deliver at no charge 5 cubic yards of mulch. I found someone on Craigs List and after a couple of weeks of waiting, he had his crew deliver the mulch to my driveway.

I felt really prepared, I put down an enormous tarp to protect the driveway from staining, I had calculated where it was going to go, how to move it and I was ready.  My husband knew and approved, I was totally in the clear.

Except that they didn't deliver 5 cubic yards, they delivered 50 while it was dark in the morning and then took off and refused to answer my distressed calls to come back and pick up what they dropped off.

The load of mulch was as tall as my garage and filled my entire driveway and was spilling over the sidewalk and into the road-it was so ridiculous.  I just wanted to cry!  I started working on the pile while the sun was rising and while my husband was still sleeping.... desperately trying to think of how I could run away to Mexico to avoid having to face him with another of my well-laid plans that had gone awry.  After 100 trips before the family was up, I realized that this was more than I could handle and I walked into the house and confessed.

Thankfully, my husband, neighbors and complete strangers came to my rescue and within a week of working, my driveway was cleared and everyone around in the neighborhood had mulched beds, etc.  I placed ads on Craigs List and people came with pickup trucks and pitchforks and started hauling it out of the way.

My husband worked for 4 days straight and never once got upset at me because of it.  He just sighed and said he felt like Ricky Ricardo.  Have I mentioned I LOVE my husband?