1.75 Tons

On Sunday Ross moved the second load of rock and I spread it all out. It was just the right amount of rock. The rosemaries are back in the ground. I'm not sure if I'm going to put a century plant or sage in the middle. On Friday I spent some time planting the garden. I planted 3 peppers, a bunch of herbs, 2 eggplants, and one tomato. I'm so excited about the garden. I need to fill it in with mulch now. Today I'm going to do laundry and concentrate on cleaning house. Tomorrow I'll go back outside and keep working out there.

Ethan Plays Wii

We got to visit with Robert, Tiffany, and Ethan on Saturday. Ross took the wii and after dinner we played some wii sports. Ross and Ethan teamed up boxing against Robert. Ethan was pretty good at golf, and it took him a while to get the hang of bowling, but he was good at that too. We were there until 1am! We didn't even get the chance to play Mario Party 8 or Raving Rabbids, so we'll have to get together and have another wii party soon. Hopefully we'll have the patio ready soon and they can come over and see it.

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....

One Ton Down

Yesterday I took it easy until Ross came home with the landscape fabric. We finished covering the area that will be covered with rock. Today I moved about 3/4 ton of rock. We will have to order more rock so that I can finish filling in the area. Here are some photos from yesterday and today. Ross said the other photo of the post didn't have any scale, so I took a picture of him with the pole. I spent an hour today digging around the other post. Hopefully we can get that out soon.

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.

Dishi's Bridal Shower

Well, I'm glad I drove down to Houston yesterday for Dishi's surprise shower. I'm glad she was actually surprised too! I had a good time and it was nice to see everybody. I actually got to spend some time talking to Maneesh and Dishi. My long drive was rewarded with cake (yeah!). I left around 8 and drove back up to DFW. Poor Ross was already asleep when I got home. I think Bailey was confused. Here's some photos of Me with Maneesh and Dishi and Bella. I can't believe how tall she is...and almost 4!

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.

Death of Madam Geneva

I finally finished that book that I was reading about Gin. The history of gin makes for a really easy read. The English flirtation with prohibition is something that America, sadly, did not learn from. I'm glad that we (sort of) learned from our own experiment with prohibition. At least I got to have a gin and tonic on my birthday. The book made me want to try and make my own gin. At one point I was seriously researching stills online. I don't think I'll be distilling alcohol from grain, but I might try compounding (flavoring) some everclear with some sort of home-made still. I'll be sure and post about it if I ever do get around to it....

Birthday Bash

Last Saturday I had a birthday party. It was such a nice day outside and it was a really nice party. We started out with sushi, duck spring rolls and tuna sushi sandwiches. We then moved the party outside and had turns at the pinata. I can't thank Valerie enough for the pinata. It was the most fun I've had in a really long time. Here's a bunch of photos. Enjoy.

I had first crack at the pinata.

Margot having her turn.

We all enjoyed watching Tim samurai the cones off the drum.

Trying to spin Ross around and get him dizzy.

Joey and Ross spinning each other around.

Tejal, Ross and Tim.

Me with a knife!