the little wild kingdom

[frustratedearthmother]

living that close to the coast do you have a canoe or kayak?

Nah, never needed one. Years ago, I had a small aluminum boat but sold it after my divorce.

I'm still threatening to build myself a pond floatie of some kind. Just haven't had time yet. Hoping the grands will get down here and we'll tackle it then.

 

[flowerbug]

made progress on a few things yesterday and today but not planted anything yet.

yesterday i chopped off most of a large thorn bush that i've wanted to take out for years, it was also covered with wild grape vines so those too were mostly removed. i still have to do some cutting of the larger trunk stems that are too big for the loppers to take them out, but eventually i'll get that done and also remove the rest of the grape vines which are down the bank. it's hard for me to get on that slope and the slope is also mostly clay so that presents a double challenge. then i weeded the back pathway and that was enough for that day.

today was mowing day and working on another project which has needed to be done since they built this place (almost 28 years ago already!) above some of the windows and my patio door there's a ledge which the birds keep thinking is a nesting place. so i've always wanted to get those ledge areas enclosed so the birds won't be able to get up there any more. today we got two of the three ledges done and Wednesday hopefully we'll get it finished up.

 

[flowerbug]

heard coyotes last night (about 4am). i was already awake having fallen asleep earlier...

not much for outdoor plans today, but perhaps an hour of weeding someplace.

 

[flowerbug]

the ledges above three of the four spaces (above the windows and patio doors) are now all filled in and caulked, so i will give them some time to dry and cure well before i get the stain out and finish them to match.

so after all these years (about 28) it finally got done (well almost done at the moment).

i also need to restain the cover for the crawlspace entrance which has somewhat peeled off. the forecast for the next week has a lot of rain in it so i need to cover that up to keep it dry. that may be one of the reasons why the previous stain didn't stick very well (along with the base coat being a different type of stain).

today's forecast is for no rain and moderate temperatures so i will get some gardening done and by ghods i'm gonna plant some peas and beans! i'm so late on the peas i dunno if they'll do much and the beans will be early and risking them being taken out by frost but i always plant the ones i have plenty of seeds for so it's not a risk of losing any seed lines i value. just asking Momma Nature if i can get some early fresh beans for eating or not... we'll see what she answers...

 

[Mini Horses]

Beans might do ok as they'll take a couple days longer to germinate with colder soil, right? Plus being grown there before, acclimated somewhat to weather -- might be fine. . Let us know how it goes

 

[flowerbug]

Beans might do ok as they'll take a couple days longer to germinate with colder soil, right? Plus being grown there before, acclimated somewhat to weather -- might be fine. . Let us know how it goes

i saw a left-over bean sprouting the other day so the soil is warm enough to get them growing. i've actually planted beans in mid-April for most of the past few years, but due to illness and weather i just didn't get it done until today. peas will survive mild frosts. beans will not like it and some may die. we'll see what happens. i'm hoping we're done, but i've also been surprised in the past a few weeks after a warm spell and then we get some cold enough nights to make me worry or even cover the plants. so far i've not lost a complete crop of either beans or peas so i'm going to be hopeful i can keep the streak going.

it was nice to have some dirt therapy today.

 

[flowerbug]

did get things planted a few days ago, then also got plenty of pathways weeded inside the fenced gardens and even got some of the gardens also weeded. columbines and grape hyacinths really want to take over some pathways...

it will be several weeks yet before i will want to put out the warmer weather plants. onions i could get planted any time now (and up to a month ago).

 

[flowerbug]

garden club meeting this afternoon, reading and puttering around until then.

 

[flowerbug]

i wanted to mow today, but Mom had other ideas so she started mowing yesterday morning. i want to encourage her to be as active as possible but there is a really uneven area that is difficult for her so i take over when she's had enough and gets to that area. so hopefully that will be the new routine.

that means i have today to putter around, water and weed and do other projects.

plumber isn't calling back so i'll have to give the other ones a call and see if they can get here.

 

[flowerbug]

did get the other plumber scheduled to come by Monday to fix the exterior faucet - i mentioned i'd like a better quality one because the one we had put in some years ago didn't last very long. we'll see how that goes...