It's finally tapering off!
Last year I wanted two laying hens. I thought two hens in the yard would be cool to see. The whole urban hen movement is taking place in my hood and coops sit neatly behind nice homes. The yard was so cruddy though, I didn't want to spend much time in it. So one Saturday morning in late January I went out and started to rake leaves because I wanted chickens.
The yard had not been touched in a very long time. There was a patio furniture set and a few other yard hand-me-downs but they were sitting on dirt and weeds. There was an attempt at a patio made from rock that had become buried under wild ground cover a few years back. It never looked anything like a patio, just a reminder of how we are not the types to stick to outside projects and yard work and how inept we are at landscaping. I felt pretty hopeless.
I loved staring out into the cruddy yard because it was spacious. In the spring and summer under a canopy of hackberry trees there was green everywhere. It was nice to look at but I never wanted to be under that canopy, just admire it from indoors. I would stare at yard during the fall and winter months mostly to keep the cats companyy. There was nothing nice to look at back there. When I'd look out I'd imagine what I would like done to it and planned to hire a landscaper.
I decided not to have hens because it made me feel too earthy My Grandparents have some and they are by no means hippies but still. I would to one day have chickens but somehow the thought of having just two Bantams makes me feel a bit too close to Billy Jack. William wanted a screen door though and I thought a screen door must open into a cute yard so lets create the yard. I read books, looked up landscaping websites and blogs. We covered half the yard with sod leaving the Buffalo grass to grow on the other. Hackberry trees came down and the sunshine came in. Flower and garden beds were created. There is even a compost heap. We confronted the pit of rocks and created a real patio with sand, bricks and crushed granite. The entire process moved only too slowly and took so much back breaking energy. I kept expecting our enthusiasm to collapse but it never did. I wanted this whole thing to go up in two days but it has taken months.
This is the sort of project that never completely comes to a close but tapers off into less work. As it tapers off we feel quite hopeful in that we may get better and better at this sort of thing. It took me five tools to dig a hole but next time I know what not use and what to start with. I look at people like my mother-in-law with more admiration than before because she is an excellent landscaper and yard work is much harder than I thought. My friend, Paul, is also an excellent landscaper and plant grower. His yard was a model and inspiration. Dedication like theirs kept the momentum going.
The improved outdoor aesthetics has made it so that we get home and want to go outside and let out a big sigh. Everything disappears and melts away. I thought only a hot bath could do that. We are planning cookouts with 8mm movie showings. That's a big step for introverts-patio parties and all that. There is also this feeling of accomplishment and the fear of yard is gone. Next it's the front yard beds and I have plans to make the side yard attractive too. As for hens: maybe next year I'll acquire two eencie,weencie,teenie,tiny Bantams to keep us company while we weed and hold a Billy Jack exorcism in the back yard.
Interest du jour: Southern passalong plants
The yard had not been touched in a very long time. There was a patio furniture set and a few other yard hand-me-downs but they were sitting on dirt and weeds. There was an attempt at a patio made from rock that had become buried under wild ground cover a few years back. It never looked anything like a patio, just a reminder of how we are not the types to stick to outside projects and yard work and how inept we are at landscaping. I felt pretty hopeless.
I loved staring out into the cruddy yard because it was spacious. In the spring and summer under a canopy of hackberry trees there was green everywhere. It was nice to look at but I never wanted to be under that canopy, just admire it from indoors. I would stare at yard during the fall and winter months mostly to keep the cats companyy. There was nothing nice to look at back there. When I'd look out I'd imagine what I would like done to it and planned to hire a landscaper.
I decided not to have hens because it made me feel too earthy My Grandparents have some and they are by no means hippies but still. I would to one day have chickens but somehow the thought of having just two Bantams makes me feel a bit too close to Billy Jack. William wanted a screen door though and I thought a screen door must open into a cute yard so lets create the yard. I read books, looked up landscaping websites and blogs. We covered half the yard with sod leaving the Buffalo grass to grow on the other. Hackberry trees came down and the sunshine came in. Flower and garden beds were created. There is even a compost heap. We confronted the pit of rocks and created a real patio with sand, bricks and crushed granite. The entire process moved only too slowly and took so much back breaking energy. I kept expecting our enthusiasm to collapse but it never did. I wanted this whole thing to go up in two days but it has taken months.
This is the sort of project that never completely comes to a close but tapers off into less work. As it tapers off we feel quite hopeful in that we may get better and better at this sort of thing. It took me five tools to dig a hole but next time I know what not use and what to start with. I look at people like my mother-in-law with more admiration than before because she is an excellent landscaper and yard work is much harder than I thought. My friend, Paul, is also an excellent landscaper and plant grower. His yard was a model and inspiration. Dedication like theirs kept the momentum going.
The improved outdoor aesthetics has made it so that we get home and want to go outside and let out a big sigh. Everything disappears and melts away. I thought only a hot bath could do that. We are planning cookouts with 8mm movie showings. That's a big step for introverts-patio parties and all that. There is also this feeling of accomplishment and the fear of yard is gone. Next it's the front yard beds and I have plans to make the side yard attractive too. As for hens: maybe next year I'll acquire two eencie,weencie,teenie,tiny Bantams to keep us company while we weed and hold a Billy Jack exorcism in the back yard.
Interest du jour: Southern passalong plants
Labels: du jour
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