Limestone Slabs

Ross bought LOTs of limestone slabs. Laid out in the back yard they kind of look like slabs of snow. The plan is to make a pathway from the side street to the side gate and a walkway under the clothes line so that I'll have an even surface to walk on when I'm hanging clothes. I can't wait for the final results.

Yard Work

I worked in my area of the yard today. I have been spending time trying to take out all the weeds and grass. The grass is harder to pull out than the weeds. I decided to work the border area today. I pulled out each limestone block (then did deadlifts with some of them), and pulled out all the grass sneaking under the blocks and into the landscaped area. I came across this little surprise when I pulled out one of the blocks. A few blocks down I came across another snake. It looked the same--only larger. I showed it to Ross. He said it was cute. I'm not sure I'd say cute, but it was really interesting. Feeling the snake's muscles tense and undulate as it tried to get away was amazing. That little bugger was strong.

Yard Month Continued

Yard month has spilled into April. Bailey is sniffing me intently, as she does every time I come in from outside. The garden and flower areas are planted and mulched. I have to spend Sunday back out on the stone patio. Little weeds are everywhere. I have to pull the weeds and put more mulch in between the rocks. Ross mowed both the front and back lawns. I've used over half the mulch we ordered. I guess the rest can go around the little tree, but first that area needs to be cleaned up. We still have a lot of dirt left over. I know we'll find places to put it all. There are plenty of holes around the yard to fill in. It's time for me to work out, so I'll upload the photos and post this.

Yes!

I only spent about half an hour out there today digging around the damned post. I managed to get it wiggling. When Ross came home he dug some more and got the post moving a little more. He drilled a hole into the side of the concrete and put a bolt into the hole (this is how he got the other pole out). He then attached a chain to the bolt and pulled. The thing didn't budge. We tried together. No go. Then after some more digging the pole really started to move. Ross tried again and the thing didn't move. I said "Let's try one more time together." We lifted the pole up (finally!) but not all the way out of the hole (luckily it didn't just fall all the way back in). Ross said he'd pull it out, if I helped straighten it up as he lifted. He lifted it up and I pulled on the top of the pole. The bolt slipped out and I was suddenly holding the entire thing by the top. I made a bunch of funny noises as I used some superpower to keep the thing from slipping back into the hole. Ross helped me out and we laughed so hard I was crying. Here's a photo of me in a kind of superhero pose with the second pole. It's finally out. Yes! Now tomorrow I can fill the hole, replant the hydrangeas, and get to work in my garden. Ross ordered more rock, but it won't be delivered until Friday, so that gives me a while to work on the rest of the patio. I'll also dig up everything in the flower bed, fill it with dirt, then replant everything....

Holey Weekend

We spent almost all day Saturday trying to dig up the two fenceposts from the old fence. The fenceposts are deep and have a huge amount of concrete around them. It's hard to dig around them because they are so close to the wood fence. We managed to dig up the plants, move in some dirt and level off some areas. On Sunday morning I spent about an hour digging around one of the fenceposts. I was really sad that we hadn't gotten it out on Saturday. Somehow, someway, Ross got it out. After that I filled in the hole (it took a LOT of dirt) and we laid the landscape fabric over the area behind the patio. It took a few trips with the wheelbarrow to fill in the area with rock. So that area is complete. Woo hoo! It looks like we are finally getting somewhere. We continued laying the fabric, but ran out. It was starting to get windy and cold, so I decided to call it quits for the day. Ross is going to buy some more of the fabric on his way home from work today and we'll continue the process. If it warms up a little (currently 36) I'll work on digging around the other fencepost and maybe move some rock. It's laundry day, so I have plenty to do in the house. Also, I'm starting to really feel sore. I might just take it easy today until Ross gets home.

Super deep hole left after Ross pulled out the fencepost and concrete.

Fencepost and concrete that Ross pulled out.

Area behind patio with landscape fabric in place.

Area behind patio with rock put in.

Good Fence Friday

Today Ross did a great job taking out the fence in the area where we are going to put rock. We still have to pull out the fence posts, which is going to be a pain. We went to the rock store and ordered some rock, dirt, and mulch. They were able to deliver it late this afternoon. Tomorrow's going to be a long day of cleaning up and moving dirt. I might actually get my garden planted this weekend after all.

The fence partway off.
Same area without fence.

Hole left after we dug up old wooden fencepost and concrete.

Mulch, dirt, and rock in driveway.

Yard Month So Far

I've managed to do some clean up in the back yard. It took a few days to get all the leaves cleaned up. I'm keeping our yard cart full. After cleaning up the leaves I started pulling weeds. I cleared the entire stone patio. I've really fought with the weeds on that patio over the last couple of years. I decided that I don't want to do that again this summer. So, after clearing off the leaves and weeds I distributed the dwarf mondo grass a little more evenly. Then I filled in the cracks with topsoil and mulch. It looks about how it looked when we first had it installed. Hopefully the mulch will keep down the weeds. After I finished up I watered the grass and cleaned off the stones. The plan is to put stones in around the big tree and have a kind of desert area. I would like to put in a flower bed next to that and then a garden on the other side.

This is the area of dirt that I'd like to turn into a garden. I'd like a variety of herbs. I'm tired of paying 1.99 a bunch for herbs at Central Market. Getting the patio done is a big accomplishment. I also planted some pansies in the flower bed on the side of the house. I'm not sure what I want to do with that area.

I'd like to have this all done before Passover. Maybe we could have a nice meal outside. Ross put down weed and feed on the front and back lawns. Our back yard is nothing but weeds. After I get the back taken care of I need to work on the front flower beds. I want to rip out all the holly and put a Japanese Maple on the corner. I don't know what else to plant out there. Getting the hollies ripped out will be a big enough task.