Liz, clearing out some roots and rocks. We learned that whenever the augur would bind and jerk, that was our cue to stop it and remove whatever obstruction was down there with a post hole digger.
This was a lesson I didn’t quite learn when I was going solo – I’d hit a snag, and just keep trying to power through. When what I should have done was stop and clear.
We had a lot of backwards math to do: start with the overall height, then reduce it down to where we wanted it to be. Then figure out the height of the posts themselves. And then also factor in how far the posts should go into the ground.
Liz has been talking about building an arbor in back, and the two of us have been researching a lot online. We’ve landed on an example we like, and I’ve been running over the specs a lot.
More to come.
Liz has a vision for restructuring our backyard. To even begin laying out that plan, one of our garden boxes needed to be relocated.
This isn’t a final move, but more of a “get it out of the way for now” move.
There’s work to be done this year, and also things to be done that will take a few years to realize. But it’s been very interesting to hear her talk about the changes, and to watch her go about planning this whole new space.
Today, Liz and I were both outside working: me in the backyard, her in the front. She was clearing a lot of the front yard and parkway, while I was working on digging out the dandelions, and mowing the yard.
As Liz was running towards the squirrel and clapping her hands, she also noticed that a nearby egg was on the ground, open and emptied. We were, it turns out, a little late to the party (which had gotten started without us).
We are to be getting new neighbors soon, as someone bought the house next door last year and has been renovating. It will be interesting to see how/if life changes for us back here, with another family next door.
I’ve seen this before, but never quite so clearly. I guess we can really see which parts of the backyard get sun and which gets shade.
Before one of our morning walks, I called in to Liz to hurry to the back door. Here’s her, looking hard to see what all the fuss was about. It took her a bit to see it, and it might take you a bit as well.
As we were sitting in the driveway, looking at our lawn… I pulled up some old photos of what the backyard used to look like, when we moved in. It’s such a stark difference, and hard to believe how rough it looked, before now.
With a few dry days behind us, and a few dry days ahead… along with the phenomenal weather we were expecting this weekend… Saturday was an outside work day. On the docket: touching up the fence and painting the garden boxes.
After doing another pass with the lawnmower to get all the thatch picked up, I overseeded the yard with more Black Beauty grass. We’ll see how well this helps, but it’s nice to have rain coming in the next few days.
The funny thing is that this is about how long I was outside: just long enough to snap a photo, and then back in.
I got a phone call from the folks who showed up for the work, stepped outside to the porch, waved, and that was it. Minimal contact, minimal conversation, minimal time out of doors.
While we were outside today, walking around after work in the yard… Liz and I were both surprised to see an airplane in the sky.
That feels weird to write.