The last two cool mornings have seen me - and the other Heather - out in the yard while the cool lasted, or about 5 hours total. Although I'm aching and whining from a whole lot of sore muscles, I still plan to be out tomorrow morning, finishing a row of 6 agaves lining a bed of flowering bushes along the back of the house.
In olden times it's a project which would have taken a single short morning's labor, but I wouldn't have been chopping my way through caliche or removing 3 " of river rocks from a wide spot for each, or needing to take breaks as frequently as I do now. No, I would have been in shape, digging in moist clay, no rock removal needed. Nor would the plants have been agaves, nor the sun beating down through cloudless skies. I probably wouldn't have needed to chase down and reconfigure 6 chicken wire cages to keep the rabbits out because the new plants were the only yummy food within blocks. I would have been able to kneel for the planting part, the caging part, and the moving rocks back into and around the cage to hold it in place part, rather than having to bend over to reach my hands to the ground. (Thank goodness for all the plants giving privacy from any early rising neighbors!)
On the plus side, there are no mosqitoes. That's a BIG plus. Of course, all the bugs are inside the house these days, so outside is a nice escape. For a bit. I don't actually see the house critters these days, except for dead bedbugs, trying to crawl away from the bed through the diatomaceous earth but bleeding out after a foot or so. I do, however, still feel them sporadically. For the bedbugs, it's the sharp bite on the back in the wee hours, waking me up. Before returning to bed, there's a shower to remove any still hitching a ride on me, plus a change of pajamas to rid me of anything they're currently hiding out in. The clothes hamper is slick plastic, no hiding places, but air holes allow escaping bugs to drop down the the floor to another lovely spread of diatomaceous earth. During the day there are the invisible crawlies to deal with, making yard work more attractive.
So are the plans we are generating for the back yard. Back in 2012 when we first moved down, we brought along a bunch of paving stones. We thought they would serve as a way to walk through the rocks without having to put on shoes every time we went out. Silly thought! First, those nasty rocks were pretty well cemented together (Why? Anybody? ) and needed both soaking and chopping to remove, or even move. After a few years both Fred and Ellie wore paths through them where actual dirt showed through, but the paving stones lay where they had been set, 2" higher than the ground. The supposed paths we were going to make became the places where walking was both difficult and dangerous, except for the dogs. Changing them would be work, and kept getting postponed. Besides, there was no concrete (!) plan for where and how they were to be placed.
Meanwhile, Steve had been commenting ocasionally how nice it would be to have a gas grill out in the yard. Many of our neighbors do. Of course, we have this ginormous pine tree covering the third of the back yard next to the patio, so no fires under there, thank you very much. Then we planted other trees in those three spots where the realtor had refused to pay for water to keep the former orange trees alive while the house was between owners. These new trees, when grown, will make up a canopy over most of the rest of the yard. A spot for a grill to cook safely didn't seem feasible.
However....
My resting spot between bouts of working was under the big pine. While sitting there, I noted there was a spot just at the edge of its drip zone where the only branches extending overhead were at least 15 feet high, with nothing in any position to come and fill in lower. Hmmm.... After a quick consult with Rich, we mentally designed a rectangle of them which would not only hold a grill but have space on three sides for the person tending it to move around it as well, a nice stable platform. Without the hazardous blocks removed, walking out to it would no longer be a barrier. Sure, shoes needed, but when haven't they in any part of our yard? At least it will be level, itself, and to the ground.
We think it may be a lovely X-mas present to ourselves. Lots of work ahead, soaking ground, removing the green crap, leveling and laying the blocks. Rich says he sees lots of ads giving away gas grills all over the neighborhood on line, to keep costs minimal. (There's an app for that.) And that green crap, chopped into much smaller pieces, will be spread under those three new trees, which each currently sit inside block rings used to keep irrigation water in place until it soaked in. Those circles are now bare dirt, so they get a bit of mulch, maybe even keeping some of those anonymous tunneling creatures making holes elsewhere. Even if that doesn't work, at least the stuff won't by under our feet any longer. Rich also says his app shows lots of locations giving away river rock fee, you just have to come get it. I used to hit the Washington County compost site back when we were needing garden and yard fill for the then new house up in Shafer. Having a hatchback doesn't sound like much help, but I lined it with a big tarp which came up the sides in the car, and shoveled in what would fit and the suspension would support. Did I mention I used to be in shape? Loads and loads and loads....
There will be three differently shaped blocks left over from that grill project but still in the way, Planting the baby agaves gave me an idea. They border the front edge of that bed, but also leave a gap where we can walk between them and between the bushes to reach the hose. I can fairly easily rake loose rocks away enough to set those blocks in level to them for ease of walking and as an indicator of where to walk through there without messing with the plants, or having the plants messing with you - an important consideration down here where most everything growing is prickly, and can and will.
My resting spot also gives me lots of time to watch Heather explore the yard. It took her several days to approach the fence. Her favorite first potty spot was 6 feet off the patio. Then she ventured to the back fence, but only straight out, then out to the sides a few feet. Local dogs barking first got her scurrying for me, but now she's a combination of barking and trying to figure out who that voice belongs to. The neighbors' lot lines do not match ours, so we have two back-door neighbors. The one on the east has a large furry dog residing inside its own fence feet inside the yard boundaries. My first thought when I saw it was St. Bernard, but it's smaller and only black and white. It always barked at us when we came out, not recognizing that we were here first. As if! With Heather here, when it was let out it first barked and she cowered. Eventually she figured out she was safe here, and barked back just a bit. That of course was accompanied by scent marking (I didn't realize females did that too) and using her back feet to kick up and cover... well, whatever you can do with cemented rocks in place. Instincts don't care about the picky details.
Today there were two new behaviors which assured me she is feeling this is her home. For a bit, she and the big dog declared peace, and it whined a few times while trying to get closer to her despite the separated fences. She was perkily attentive on her side of the fence, looking ready to play if such a miracle could happen. Later this afternoon, she decided to chase two rabbits out of the yard, in two separate directions. Now this is my kind of dog!
She apparently has finally decided she is also Rich's dog and Steve's dog. Or do I have that wrong, and they are her persons? It does seem one at a time, although usually just when she is denied access to me, like right now with my lap full of laptop. Yesterday, when I was unavailable, she hopped up in Steve's chair for an hour or so of petting. When he left for a nap shutting his door, she paced up and down the hall a few times waiting for him to relent and let her in. (That won't happen because he keeps food in there.) I was the afterthought for a person to snuggle with then, even though I was finally accessible.
Later that afternoon Rich needed a ride. He got to hold her (leashed) in his lap for the ride. She wanted me for about the first two seconds in the driveway, then settled in to him. At our destination, Rich handed me the leash and stepped out, crossing in front of the car and further left to where he was going. As soon as he started moving, she wedged herself behind my back, forcing herself forward so her nose rested on the window ledge, looking for him to return. Now this left me pretty immobile between her and the steering wheel, which made it very interesting when I had to rearrange my shirt bottom to reach my phone under my seat belt (still fastened) in my jeans pocket when it rang! There was no way the nearest hand to my phone was going to let go of that leash, after all. The second Rich was back on the right side of the car, she was gone back to his side.
Breathe....
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