Nice weather is here... so is yard work :)

Spring is here and I'm back to work full time. I've also started with the yard work. The boat is on hold right now... for awhile anyway.

My wife and I just bought this house less than a year ago and we would very much like to spruce things up a bit. A little landscaping is in order.

Well,,,,,,,,,,, maybe just a scosch more than a little. The yard hasn't had much care for a good many years and much of the previous efforts to landscape the lot have long since been forgotten so, a lot of work is in store. I've been working for several weeks on two particular gardens for my wifes flowers & bulbs located in the back yard. The soil is hard as a rock... and full of it too.... rocks that is.... full of 2" river rock (previous landscaping ideas long since ignored and forgotten about). I've had to remove hundreds of pounds of this stuff from a 15' x 4' section of ground. I did this by actually hand screening every ounce of soil down 12" deep. I then added about 2" of mushroom compost and spaded this in. Then I added another 1"-2" of peat moss on top of this and spaded this in as well. The result is a very nice rich potting mixture that will hold moisture and provide a wonderfull place for the wife to plant whatever she wants to. Last but, not least, a couple inches of organic mulch to cover everything... and we have a garden.

I've dug up and hauled off two truck loads of sod...
I've hauled in a truckload of organic mulch... two truck load of organic compost... several contractor sized bales of peat moss... 3 tons of mason sand (for the new patio to put the new patio furniture on).

So much work to do... I do admit though... I love gardening !
My wife also bought two large tomato plants ! Planted them in a large pot (24" dia.) that I set up for her. She also picked up a couple of bell pepper plants and put those in a couple smaller pots.

We have a very small lot with two out buildings so, sunlight is a factor that has to be considered with everything. This is why the vege plants are in pots... the most direct light is right on the patio... and we think that it will be cool to walk out the back door and pick a fresh tomato... next to the back door !

Abbeygirle, our outside cat (who the boat is named after), bit off a bit more than she could chew last night. Late in the evening, while we were relaxing in the back yard on our new patio furniture, she decided to run out into the street... she hit a car... or the car hit her ? Anyway, she has a fractured pelvis, and a good concusion. She is very lucky... and so are we. The wife has set her foot down and stated that Abbey can no longer go outside without a leash.

She was originally a stray and basically lived in my garage (the workshop). She has, in the past, always been afraid of the street and the cars so, I always figured that she could stay outside although, I knew that the street out front posed a real threat. She has become a part of the family though and we intend to make sure that this won't happen again.

More about Abbeygirle to come later.