Busy Weekend

No soccer games, no gymnastics meets, just staying home and getting some work done around here. I had been waiting for this weekend for over a month. I had a list of things I wanted to get done that weren't getting done because of all the running around over the last month. I really had no hope of getting it all done since interruptions are a constant in my life, but I wanted to at least get a good start.

First project: Finish digging the path through the yard.



I am planning on making a rock/brick/whatever strikes my fancy path going from the back deck (nonexistent as yet) to the gate at the back of the yard (also nonexistent, but there is a temporary gate to keep the chickens out of the yard). The first task was to lay out the path (a hose is handy for this) and then dig out the dirt. I started on the path a few weeks ago and had been working on it a little here and there when I had the time so I wanted to finish the digging this weekend. I will then put in a few inches of sand and then I will be ready to put in the rocks/bricks/whatever strikes my fancy. I have a broken stone grinding wheel that would look pretty neat in there, I think. I am going to try planting some little ground cover plants in the cracks.

The wide space in the picture (in the shadow so it is a bit hard to see) is for a bench or flower pots or something like that. The area to the left of the path will be flower bed, which right now consists of a mostly dead rhodedendron, 3 dead sunflowers, a tiny azalea, a day lily plant, and a hydrangea that looks like it is dying but is hopefully only looking like that because it is almost winter. A bit of the area to the right of the path (where the aenemic looking lilac bush is) will be flower bed also.

---

Next task: Start on the rock wall.

Boy, that sounds ambitous, doesn't it? A rock wall. Wow. After getting started on it, I decided that "rock wall" wasn't very accurate, and "rock edge" was probably a more appropriate term. Heh heh sorry, Megan, you sounded so impressed when I said I was building a rock wall. I didn't mean to mislead you.



First I dug a shallow trench for the rocks. Then, with my husband's help, I used the transit to figure out the proper height for the rocks at several different points. The yard slopes a bit funny over there and I wanted to make sure the top of the rock edge was fairly level.

Once I got started the work went very quickly and I actually ended up finishing the job on Sunday.




The wall/edge is taller at the left end than it is on the other side, but it is pretty level across the top. It looks fabulous, if I may say so myself. The edge is surrounding another would be flower bed that only contains two clematis on the fence on each side of the corner. I am planning on putting some kind of flowering tree over there.

Building the rock edge was like putting together a puzzle. It was so much fun. I have an ambition to build a taller wall sometime but it will require some much larger and much flatter rocks.

---

Third task: Pull all the cornstalks out of the garden for the pigs.

No picture for this one, but the garden is coming to a pretty ugly end and I wanted to get all the leftover corn out to the pigs. I had hopes that I could throw a few stalks into the pen to distract them while I run in and dump food in their feed pans. No such luck. Apparently cornstalks are only interesting when there is no other food to be had.

My 9 year old son helped me with the job of pulling all the stalks out of the ground and stacking them on the wagon. We piled them all up behind the pig pen to make it easy to toss them to the pigs.

---

Fourth task: Help with garage.

I am usually not a lot of help with the garage, mostly because oldest son does the helping. He was off burning the paper trash for a lot of the time though, so I had to run back and forth giving help when needed. This weekend we got the rafters and sheeting on the mud room and a good amount of the siding on the back end. There is a window back there, but that will be cut later. All the siding has to come down so it can be painted on the edges to prevent rotting later.




We are slowly getting to the point where we can put in some lights and work even when it is dark. Of course, then it will be too cold.

---

Last task: Shoot off the rocket.

This was more organizing and facilitating than doing, but we did have to find time to do it so it made the list. It really deserves a post all it's own so I am going to attempt to figure out how to put up a little video since I don't have any pictures. Let me just say that it was interesting and a little disappointing, but FUN!! Everyone should make a model rocket and shoot it off sometime in their life.

---

Path--check
Rock wall, er, edge--check
Cornstalks--check
Garage helper--check
Videographer for rocket project--check (such as it is)