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Another day...
Oct. 11th, 2010 11:51 pmAnd I got more long-overdue yardwork done. So nice to be able to get into an area and just tear everything apart! LOL
My brother loaded up the pickup with an old brush pile Saturday and I got that hauled out. I really needed to get that out of there because it was where I'm going to have to park the truck this winter. Has a very nice lot of compost there now, which has to be dug out and stashed elsewhere until we put it into the gardens next spring. I started digging it out today, but then found that A) there's sugar sand underneath it (which means it should go into the rose gardens in particular, to provide better drainage in the clay soil) and B) the old cement foundation (used to be a lean-to there) goes down almost 9 inches. So emailed my bro and we decided to dig out the whole thing down to the bottom of the foundation, put in a special kind of cloth over the subsoil and then fill it with gravel. Now, bear in mind, the area we're talking about is approximately 8 feet wide and 14 feet long. And the compost is 2-3" deep above the top of the foundation. In other words - that's a hell of a lot of digging to do! But I'm going to work on it a little bit each day and he'll help over the weekend. We've got 2-3 weeks before it *has* to be done (winter parking restrictions and snow) so we should have time. Hopefully our backs will hold up!
Also tore apart a garden in front of the house. The gal that took care of my mom had put the garden in (which was pretty) but she used old tree stumps for a border and they were rotting out. Most came out fairly easily, but there was one about 5 feet long and not quite 2 feet wide - wasn't quite as rotted as the others and it was damn heavy! But all of that's in the pickup now and the garden itself is cut down and mowed. Tomorrow I have to mow the lawn again as we got a ton more leaves dropped over the weekend. I mow, dump the bag onto a tarp and then when the tarp is 'full', drag it back to the post heap and dump it. It seems like a lot of work but it's a lot easier and neater than raking...
Got some more notes typed up for my book. I keep thinking up various scenes for it and then have to figure out how different things work, or what agencies do what, etc etc. Not sure how many will actually get into the story, but I have the info if I need them. And it's strange - I have one character that I was going to name Sam but damn if he insists his name is David! As I'm typing up my notes I keep typing David instead of Sam and then have to go and change it... I'm thinking I'm just going to have to give in and let the man be David!
On another note, Muffy's getting weaker every day. She's so thin now we have to make sure the cushions on the couch are tucked in tightly or she slides right in between them and then can't get out. It's like picking up a pillowcase. Sleeps all the time except to go outside or when I wake her up to eat. Tonight she slept in my arms for almost an hour while I was working at the computer. She's not in pain or anything (I'd have her put down if I saw that). I keep watching her to see if she's still breathing; I almost hate to come home in the morning because I don't know if she'll still be there...
Fang and Petey are doing okay, thank God. Fang is now a whopping 4 pounds. Chest to butt not quite a foot long. Don't think she's going to get any bigger - she's well over a year old now. Petey still has trouble getting up and down steps and he doesn't stand on his hind legs to beg any more, but otherwise he's cool. He's almost 11 now.
Anyhoo... life goes on. Or so they say...
My brother loaded up the pickup with an old brush pile Saturday and I got that hauled out. I really needed to get that out of there because it was where I'm going to have to park the truck this winter. Has a very nice lot of compost there now, which has to be dug out and stashed elsewhere until we put it into the gardens next spring. I started digging it out today, but then found that A) there's sugar sand underneath it (which means it should go into the rose gardens in particular, to provide better drainage in the clay soil) and B) the old cement foundation (used to be a lean-to there) goes down almost 9 inches. So emailed my bro and we decided to dig out the whole thing down to the bottom of the foundation, put in a special kind of cloth over the subsoil and then fill it with gravel. Now, bear in mind, the area we're talking about is approximately 8 feet wide and 14 feet long. And the compost is 2-3" deep above the top of the foundation. In other words - that's a hell of a lot of digging to do! But I'm going to work on it a little bit each day and he'll help over the weekend. We've got 2-3 weeks before it *has* to be done (winter parking restrictions and snow) so we should have time. Hopefully our backs will hold up!
Also tore apart a garden in front of the house. The gal that took care of my mom had put the garden in (which was pretty) but she used old tree stumps for a border and they were rotting out. Most came out fairly easily, but there was one about 5 feet long and not quite 2 feet wide - wasn't quite as rotted as the others and it was damn heavy! But all of that's in the pickup now and the garden itself is cut down and mowed. Tomorrow I have to mow the lawn again as we got a ton more leaves dropped over the weekend. I mow, dump the bag onto a tarp and then when the tarp is 'full', drag it back to the post heap and dump it. It seems like a lot of work but it's a lot easier and neater than raking...
Got some more notes typed up for my book. I keep thinking up various scenes for it and then have to figure out how different things work, or what agencies do what, etc etc. Not sure how many will actually get into the story, but I have the info if I need them. And it's strange - I have one character that I was going to name Sam but damn if he insists his name is David! As I'm typing up my notes I keep typing David instead of Sam and then have to go and change it... I'm thinking I'm just going to have to give in and let the man be David!
On another note, Muffy's getting weaker every day. She's so thin now we have to make sure the cushions on the couch are tucked in tightly or she slides right in between them and then can't get out. It's like picking up a pillowcase. Sleeps all the time except to go outside or when I wake her up to eat. Tonight she slept in my arms for almost an hour while I was working at the computer. She's not in pain or anything (I'd have her put down if I saw that). I keep watching her to see if she's still breathing; I almost hate to come home in the morning because I don't know if she'll still be there...
Fang and Petey are doing okay, thank God. Fang is now a whopping 4 pounds. Chest to butt not quite a foot long. Don't think she's going to get any bigger - she's well over a year old now. Petey still has trouble getting up and down steps and he doesn't stand on his hind legs to beg any more, but otherwise he's cool. He's almost 11 now.
Anyhoo... life goes on. Or so they say...
