Lots of stuff done and to do!

What a fabulous weekend, crammed with stuff. I went to Bee School for most of Saturday... more on that later. Saturday evening and Sunday were cram-packed full of activities.

I rented a Home Depot truck on Saturday at 5:09 pm. The rental is for 24 hours, and since the rental office closes at 5 on Sundays, this meant I had the truck until Monday morning at 7:09am. Nice for Sunday evening work, bad for my morning today.

This post is a mish-mash of photos and captions from the weekend, as well as updates and to-dos, so sorry for any out-of-order-ness.

On Sunday morning, the three of us (B, Maddie, and me) headed out to pick up an outdoor fireplace. Photos a bit further down. Maddie LOVED the bench seat and the easy, high vantage point, as you can tell from the photo. HAPPY DOG. We wore her out so much yesterday that today I had to coax her out of her kennel and when she stretched she tried to go back to sleep.
Wanted to show a new photo of the garlic and the strawberries. The strawberries are filling in very nicely, and only one or two are having any difficulty getting settled in. The garlic only has 1 or 2 heads that have not sprouted, giving the garlic a 94-96% germination rate. Woo!

Oy, the mess from construction. The area in front of the chicken coop needs to be cleaned up and dug out. That way, I can then install a fence and put sand in at least part of the chicken area for easy cleaning. I want to move the dirt directly into a garden bed, but that's taking more time than I want to spend. SIGH. The dirt also needs to be moved because there used to be a few compost piles by here, and the dirt is really mushy. It'd be great planter bed dirt, so that's why I want to use it.


B put up the $30 canopy we found on craigslist. It's not the most super-swank thing in the world, but it makes the deck a) reasonably waterproof, b) much more usable, and c) a bit more private. We like it. And for $30, it was a super good deal. And oh, looking at this photo makes me realize I didn't paint that tan pot gray to match the others. SIGH.


I transported about a 5'x3'x5' pile of wood chips in my car. Don't worry, I used big containers; I didn't just shovel it into my car. I put both piles onto tarps on the ground. Maddie nosed around in the one and spread it out. Nutty dog. I will eventually put these on the rows in between my planter boxes.


We used the truck mid-day on Sunday to pick up trees. I got a great deal on some plants, but I needed to pick them up. I got three magnolias and two rhododendrons. This magnolia is pretty bushy and big; that's a TRASH CAN next to it to give you an idea on size. I can't wait to get this pretty tree in the ground and watch it take off. Oh, and that wood thing behind it? THAT'S THE PLANTER. Yes, super high to help create a barrier between us and the shared path. That thing is going to be FUN to fill.... I need to finish building it though. It's only halfway filled. But before I can finish building it and start filling it, I have to dig out that area since it's a bit of a slope and uneven right now. And since that's where our fireplace area is going to be, it needs to be level... or at least pretty much level.


UGH. That horrible rose bush. B trimmed a good deal of it, but it's still UGLY. I really want to try to dig it up and move it elsewhere, but the base is a gnarly mess of roots and thick old growth. Hm. More on this project in another post. There is also one of the rhododendrons we got.




Ok, the masterpiece of the weekend: THE FIREPLACE! It's an outdoor fireplace and we REALLY need to fix it up, but it's not an impossible project. It's totally doable, and we can't wait to get started. But we do need to do a bunch of other, more pressing things first. I should note: This was FREE, and for that (and for the prospect of having an outdoor fireplace), we're pretty stoked. I looked outside from the window this morning, and I actually think that the flue may go up higher... there may be more parts in there. This needs to be investigated.


My neighbor and I went to the recycling place, and, WONDER OF WONDERS, it was 50% off all doors day! I was giddy, especially since I WENT THERE TO GET DOORS! I got these two beauties, which I will turn into two cold frames soon. I've been doing my research, and because of our latitude, cold frames of this style are much more suited for what Oregon puts out light-wise and heat-wise. I'm sowing my peas soon (hopefully tonight) indoors, which means this had better be ready soon for my seedlings in a week or two.....

Since I had a truck on Friday night, I exchanged my old wheelbarrow for a new one. This one is MUCH deeper and more sturdy. The other one had a 6" sway from side to side. NOT GOOD. I could not get the bolts on the old one any more put together... it just wasn't built for heavy lifting. This one came assembled, and it is awesome. And, because I had a truck, I could transport it (plus a ton of lumber and two blueberry plants) in the back.


Here are the two other magnolia trees. One is REALLY tall with a 3.5" diameter trunk! The other one will be more bush-like.


Another project to eventually do.... I got these two wood chair frames at the recycling place two weeks ago. I sanded them down and painted them. I may change the paint color, we'll see.... But I need to find cushions for them. I think they are going to go near the fireplace.


A new shot of the next garden section to be tackled. UGH.....I tentatively told the tiller man to come next Saturday, but my neighbor and I may go in on a tiller together instead (rental). Hmm.... We'll see.....

Shot of the short-legged wonder dog. And, actually, this photo gives you a pretty good perspective on the size of the yard.


Last but not least, here's a shot of my pain to come soon. This is some of the grass that needs to be removed. Ugh.

So, lots of projects. First and foremost, the chicken area needs to be finished. They are getting BIG!