No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

"No good deed goes unpunished" is one of those old axioms I've heard all my life and still don't understand. I use it myself occasionally even though it does seem counterintuitive.

My good deed this morning was weeding along my neighbor's walk. She isn't able to do it herself. In the past she has sprayed the weeds with roundup. IMO, dead weeds are more unattractive than live ones. This is the 'before' photo.

Two or three years ago she paid to have everything dug out of this area including the flowers, then had weed barrier landscape cloth put down with rock on top. 

Anyone who has used that method knows weeds will still come up through the barrier, though they are easier to pull.

 

And this after I had pulled three plastic grocery bags full of weeds.  Most of what's left are flowers which have self-seeded from my side of the walk. These include some snapdragons like this yellow one even though I haven't had yellow snaps for a couple years.

I did have pink ones in one of my deck planters last year, including light pink ones like the one pictured below.

 

I might try digging the snapdragons and putting them back in one of my planters.

In truth, I performed this good deed as much for myself as for my neighbor. She seldom goes out on this side of her house, coming and going through her garage instead. Whereas I see the weeds every day through the window above my kitchen sink.

As for my punishment for this good deed, I'm already feeling it - achy back and knees. 😇