I have a raised bed at the back of my back yard. The landscape timbers they used to build it 25+ years ago have succumbed to the elements/termites and are crumbling. Aha! Says I to myself. Instead of just putting new timbers directly in front of the old ones, I can enlarge the bed and make it a little higher as well. It's currently 2 landscape timbers high - I plan to make it 3. Yes, it's pressure treated lumber, but this isn't food gardening, so I'm not all that concerned.
The expanded portion will be approx 5x40, maybe 8x40, and it's hard-packed red GA clay. I've got a couple brush piles I can raid, and some rotting firewood logs that came with the house and were already too crappy to burn, as well as some 2x4s from when I tore a wall out of the house.
Below is a very rough sketch (not to any kind of scale). The first 2 rows are the existing bed. I want to put a little entry area (that's the cut-out) about halfway along. It would be 8x3, if I measured properly (always a chancy proposition).
Here's how it currently looks. The "lame" border fence is to keep the greyhounds out of it. Thank goodness they don't know they could jump it if they wanted to:
Projects like this are interesting, since my only method of transportation is a PT Cruiser. Here's the first load of landscape timbers...
It's absolutely amazing what one can fit in the back of a PT Cruiser, isn't it? Twelve full-size landscape timbers, and ten more that were cut at the five-foot mark, so a combination of five-foot and three-foot pieces there. I was able to close the hatch, and drive home from the big box store with no issues. That said, I'm VERY grateful the big box store is only 3miles from home, all back roads. Once home, I had to unload these and go back for the other dozen full-size ones.
Here's the stack, almost complete:
Now I just need to move them from the driveway to the back yard, and start putting them together. That's for tomorrow, though, after the dogs move to their vacation home for a couple days.
After unloading the car, I called my massage therapist - will be seeing her tomorrow as well. It's a simple fact -- if I keep my back happy, it keeps me happy.
Yesterday's blog post waxed eloquent about spreading wood-chips and leaf-litter with my new wheel barrow. Here are some before/after pics.
The pile of wood-chips and leaf-litter last summer:
The same pile after playing outside yesterday:
When I went out this morning to take pictures of it, I decided that the pile is disappearing TODAY.
As soon as I talk my back into it.
After another cup of coffee, maybe?
It's 44F and blue clear skies -- perfect weather for what should only be another 10 barrow loads, I'm thinking...
UPDATE: Ten barrow loads later, it's still only about half-gone. But my back and I made an agreement last year that I would only ever do 10 loads at a time, so the rest of it will have to wait for either later in the day or later in the week.
2nd UPDATE: I finished it on Thursday, I think. Had a massage scheduled on Fri, and wanted to be sure and complete it before massage. It was another 5-6 barrow loads, so my back is very grateful that I listened to it.
Who knew that a metal wheelbarrow could become a new best friend? *chuckle*
Last Sunday morning, I treated myself to a brand-spanking-new wheelbarrow from a local big box store, to take the place of the rusted, battered, very-secondhand one I bought a couple years ago at a yard sale. The old one had a flat tire, and there was no way I'd be able to ever undo the rusted nuts and bolts holding the tire to the barrow, so it was a primo excuse for a new one. 
As you know from last week's entry, I immediately tested it, and pronounced myself satisfied.
Well, my new barrow and I have gotten quite a workout this week. First off, we had some stunningly gorgeous days that just begged one to work outside. Add in that I work from home, and thus can spend my before work time and/or lunch hours working outside, and you've just created a little bit of paradise for a yardener.
Last spring, one of my neighbors had some trees taken out, and the tree guy brought me an entire truckload of wood chips.
Old trusty-rusty wheelbarrow and I took that 25x10x5 pile and spread it around my yard in about two months. Like any addict, I wanted more, so when the utility companies were having trees trimmed near power lines, I chased after the trimming trucks, giving them my address so they could bring me more wood chips. They complied, and brought me a combination of wood chips/leaf litter. It took 2 of their trucks to equal the one load my tree guy gave me, but that's ok. It was all FREE!!!!
I spread some of it during the summer/fall of last year, but then my trusty-rusty wheelbarrow got his flat tire, and I put him away for the winter with only about 1/3 of the new pile spread around. Right next to it, all winter long, was the pile of grass clippings from my front yard, courtesy of my favorite neighbor who has a zero-turn riding mower and mows as relaxation. I buy him a tank of gas once a season, and he keeps my front yard mowed if he's in town, and dumps the clippings behind my driveway for me to use at some point. For the last 9 months, I've used the pile of grass clippings to hide my compostables, adding in wood chips and leaf litter to provide the browns to my over-abundance of greens.
Last week, most of the grass clippings/fairly-composted compostables went into the fenced off section behind the shed. This week, the rest of the clippings that were easily grabbed with a pitchfork went into the beds in my front yard, along with a top dressing of wood-chips/leaf-mold. I was making noticeable progress on the big pile, and I know that will please my one neighbor who is not as...bohemian...as I am when it comes to yards (this would be the neighbor who thinks no lawn should be more than half-inch tall. NOT the same person as the neighbor who mows my lawn for relaxation).
Anyway.. this past week we had some absolutely gorgeous days, with temps in the high 60s/low 70s. And I spent my lunch hours outside spreading woodchips with my new wheelbarrow, planting a Virginia Pine seedling I'd been given, and two Oconee Azaleas I bought last year and over-wintered in containers. I still have 5 azaleas to plant, once I decide where they're going.
This morning, while waiting on the Window guy to come and give me an estimate for replacing one window with a rotten frame, I grabbed my shiny new barrow and started moving woodchips again. I'm wanting my back yard fenceline to be lined with woodchips, because it turns into a muddy mess when it rains. Free woodchips/leaf-mold is a great resource for that, I think. And while I was working in the front yard this week, I found a spot where one of the beds could be expanded slightly, making it easier to mow around, and giving me a great location to add some day-lilies.
So after the window guy left, I grabbed my shiny new barrow again, along with some cardboard and newspapers I've collected, and headed out to the front yard. Soak the paper in a bucket of water, place it over the nasty weeds and pretty grass, use the cardboard to further delineate the new bed area, and dump 5 loads of woodchips/leaf-mold on it.
The new area is 16ft long and between 3-4ft deep. It will make a nice daylily spot, and they'll pick up after the spring bulbs have ended their show, so it should be perfect. I found 2 spare landscaping timbers and placed them in front just to give it some definition, raked it mostly level, and then came inside to relax.
Except then I remembered I had promised myself I'd clean out the bluebird house today, so I had to postpone relaxing just that little bit longer until I could find the key to the back gate padlock, find the screwdriver to take the bottom off the birdhouse, and then replace it all.
So today, between 830-200pm I've ... shifted ten loads of woodchips (6cu ft per load, minimum), marked out a new bed, mopped the kitchen floor, done dishes, cleaned the bluebird house, started doing dog-laundry, sorted out the little dog's beds to see if any could be salvaged (most were tossed due to her incontinence towards the end of her life), fed the birds...
It doesn't look like a lot written out like that, and I gave myself plenty of computer breaks along the way, but even so my back is telling me I've put in a good day's work for a middle-aged woman (is 51 middle-aged?), and so next up on my list is a long soak in the tub and a glass of wine (or two).
note: I forgot to take a new pic of the greatly diminished wood-chip pile, and am afraid to go back outside in case I find some other project that just has to be done right this very minute. LOL
Not weather-wise: it's a grey, chilly, rainy, overcast day. BUT it's been a great day so far.
Spent some time snuggling with the big dogs before getting out of bed this morning (I love that my retired racers are both such affectionate hounds), and then played online for awhile (good morning, farmville!). Then the fun started. Headed out to Tractor Supply to buy a new wheelbarrow. The one I wanted had a flat tire, and looked smaller than I would be happy with, so I up-sized to the next larger one. Happily, it DID fit in the back of my PT Cruiser (I should think about that stuff BEFORE purchasing, not after), and then I headed over to Home Depot to pick up a roll of reed fencing.
I have a backyard project, you see. Pippin (retired racer with a labrador retriever brain) is forever hurting his foot in the back yard. There's one portion of the yard I can't see because it's behind the shed, and he makes a beeline for that spot, and then comes out limping. I think there are rabbits living under or near the shed, and so I'm blocking off that area, so he can no longer go behind the shed. Today's project is a temporary solution, until I can afford the long-term, preferred option. Ultimately, I'm moving the fence slightly to be flush with the shed, and give me a bit more space on the outside of the fence for my wildlife habitat, but that will also involve removing 4-5 trees at the same time, and so it's a far-future undertaking.
But today, I started putting the near-future part into effect. Step one: buy a new wheelbarrow at Tractor Supply. Check.
Step two: buy a roll of reed fencing at Home Depot. Check.
Step three: use my dad's old pitchfork and my new wheelbarrow to start decimating the pile of wood-chips/leaf-mold and last year's grass-clippings that also house my compost pile. Load wheelbarrow with the above detritus, wheel it across the back yard, dump it on the red GA clay behind the shed, rake it more or less level, and repeat the process until your back complains. I think I managed about 10 loads (barrow holds 6cu ft).
Step four, come back inside and change into dry clothes - seems I was doing all this in the chilly rain, and it eventually soaked through.
Step five: while making coffee, realize that I've not eaten anything today, and find a solution to that little problem (scrambled sausage and eggs with colby-jack cheese sprinkled over it - yum!)
Step six: decide to blog about the project instead of finishing it. I really need to run 4-5 more barrow loads, and then put the reed fence up. And it's not raining now, so I don't have a real excuse for sitting here instead of heading back out there, unless I need to let my breakfast digest? Yeah! Let's use that excuse - it works for swimming, so it should be true for yard work, right?
My original point was that it's a great day, because I got to work outside and do some stuff in my yard. Even if it's not planting, transplanting, potting, seeding, etc, it's *not* housework. It's yard work, and any time I get to do yard work, it's a great day.
That said, I think I *am* going to head back out, if I can find my dry shoes. I'm so close to being finished with it, and once the reed fence is up, the dogs won't even be able to see that area, let alone get into it. Until I get the fence up, I'll have to watch the dogs when they're out to keep them from digging in the newly laid organic matter looking for the old compostables that aren't fully composted. That will be a hassle.
And once I'm done, I can enjoy a guilt-free long soak in the bathtub with a good book and a glass of wine.
Sounds like perfection to me.
At least, as long as you're willing to put some work into achieving them, and don't really worry about how long they take. 
One of mine came true today.
From the time I was 13yrs old, I've wanted to write a book. Tonight, 37 years after I first had the idea of being a writer, I uploaded my book to Smashwords.com, where it is available for the entire world to enjoy.
I owe HUGE thanks to our own Sharon Brown for reading my first draft (the one I thought was actually a final draft), and giving me two fantastic gifts. She reacted to the stories the way I wanted folks to react when they read them, and she told me what didn't work in them so I could fix them.
When I asked her to check them out, I had told her that I don't take criticism well, but her suggestions never sounded like criticism to me, and each comment she made gave me a clear picture of what I needed to change. It's a better book because she gave some of her time to a virtual stranger friend, and I'm a better writer for the same reason. (thanks, Sharon!)
Their lives changed forever when they saw themselves and their God- Through Love's Eyes
If you like short stories about Jesus and his ministry years, or know someone who might like short stories about them, please check it out.
Just click this link, and it will take you to the Smashwords page where you can download it in the e-reader format of your choice. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/133079
Use this coupon code to save 20% off the already low price. VP66G
Thanks for reading.
