Work Day!

 

After sleeping in and a little coffee, Homer and I walked through the greenhouse and looked around the yard deciding what was going to be the project of the day. Of course, we aren’t going to finish something we’ve already started….that would be boring. We started something completely new. Just call us King and Queen of the Halfdone Kingdom.

We began by taking down the hammock. A sad moment for us all, but it has to go somewhere else.

This is the hill that has sat idle for now a fourth summer. It is too steep to mow so something has to be done.

We have discussed so many different options the last couple of years I have gotten to the point where I just don’t care as long as we do something. So here’s the basic gist…. from the pool about 1/4 of the way in will be rocks; then the middle will have three long wood frame beds; the last 1/4 will have a few rocks and stairs (where you can see the hose laying) up to connect to the end of the sidewalk.

Now if progress was only instant!

Homer began by filling in this mess. The upper pond has been over-flowing when the Little People play in it and we have lost thousands of gallons across the yard.

Then with his helper he tried to push the level of the waterfall down to lower the level of the upper pond.

It worked and the water level is lower, but I think it is best if they don’t play in it. In order to keep it from overflowing it would have to really be low and that doesn’t look that good.

Now for my project. This is an older photo (the sunflowers aren’t even growing!) to show how much of the liner was showing and how few rocks there were around the pool.

Another angle shows how high the grass is. I mow as close as I can, but I can’t weed whack or the clippings go in the water. The untidiness of it all bugs me.

First I moved all the rocks off the edges. Obviously I was four years younger and a lot stronger when I put them there. I had to use the hand cart to move a few of them. Then I put down fabric for weed control.

Then I began removing a section of lawn all the way around. Have you ever dug up 4-year old grass? It was like concrete. Definitely not a quick and easy job. Emily pulled weeds for about 2.5 seconds while I worked. Apparently, weeding is not so much fun as playing with your new bunny. :)

I finally got all the stubborn grass removed. Then I ran the rototiller and packed up a few five-gallon buckets of soil to add to the clay. Then it was time to pack rocks. I put all the heavy ones in place and then Emily and I filled the trailer from a pile I had been saving. We packed and packed until we put all that we had in place. Now it is time to search for more.

I have another bed with a lot of small ones that we are going to be tearing up so we’ll use those to add to the top to fill in any holes.

When the pond is drained this Fall I will add a pile of rocks to this corner until the pipe is hidden.

The side had a piece of outdoor carpet that was beginning to grow moss from all the water that was over-flowing. We pulled it up and Emily cut the long grass around the edge.

There is a piece of liner over that dirt now and those big rocks are rolled into place. Today I was hoping to get more rocks to finish the job, but it rained all night. It is damp and cold out (enough that the furnace has kicked on) and I think this is going to be a house cleaning and laundry day.

I am thrilled with the progress. Having the rocks into the water line completely covering the liner is so much prettier. It will be awesome when the entire pool is covered. Oh, and in the new bed around the pond I will plant Hosta’s.  Hoping to find some seed and start some in the greenhouse as they are $11 a plant. ($13 at Lowe’s; I was surprised they were more than a local business).

At this point the camera went in the house as it was threatening to rain. Homer started grilling a Copper River Red salmon that my niece gave us so that’s when Emily and I took our 4-wheeler ride. She drove me about 5-miles around the neighborhood. After dinner we were wiped out. You know how it is when you take a break from working…. it is so hard to get going again. Just as we were walking  upstairs to watch a movie two cars pulled in the yard. It was my friend Jen and four of her six kids (grown kids….18, 20, 22 and 24…she also has a 26 & 28 year old). It was her birthday, they had gone out to dinner and came to visit.  What a wonderful surprise. We sat out in the garden visiting until quite late and then it was off to bed for all of us.