The Garden- Day 1

We are finally going to have a garden! I miss the garden at the house we were renting 2 years ago (btw- that's the only thing I miss). Now that we have a house of our own, we must have a garden. When we bought the house, everyone said that the previous owners took very good care of the soil in the bed. The soil smells bad when it's hot, so that must be good, right? Anyway, we got a good start on it today. Unfortunately, it might be some time before we get to Day 2 because the next 7 days have rain in the forecast.

This is what it looked like before:

Mike dug up a piece of wood that is supposed to be the edge of the garden bed. It got run over by the excavator (Mike driving) last spring. It was fine, but it was buried a little. He got it out, and screwed it back in place.

He looks very serious.

Willie and I hung out for that part.

We snuggled in the dirt. While we worked, he did his own landscaping in the yard-

4 or 5 lovely holes.

Mike wrapped the string around the posts as we went around and hammered them in to make sure they were lined up nicely. We used a tape measure to make sure they were generally the same distance from each other.

Mike cemented this 4x4 into the ground. We have a lot of ledge in the backyard, so it was hard to find spots to bury the posts where we weren't hitting rock. The door will be here.

At the end of Day 1, we got about half of it fenced in.

I can't wait to finish! I have about a month to be completely done and ready to start planting. Any thoughts on what to plant? We already have LOTS of rhubarb growing. You can see it in the picture to the right.

Vacation

Spring vacation is here! I have BIG PLANS to do nothing. Well, I will need to catch up on a little school work, but that is practically nothing compared to what I do in a normal week.

This weekend, Puck and I got some much needed Vitamin D while Mike worked on the shed behind us.

Mike and I also tried to set up the wireless invisible fence for the dogs. We set it up and I walked all over the yard sticking the flags in the ground. However, I noticed in our (sloping) front yard, there were serious "holes" in the fence. At certain angles, Willie could run completely out of the yard. So after reading more about the system on the internet, I learned the wireless doesn't work well when the yard slopes away from the unit. Therefore, we will be getting the invisible fence that you have to bury in the ground.

Even though the fence didn't work out well, it gave me the chance to walk around and look at the pretty spring flowers blooming.

Daffodils, tulips, and little pink flowers whose name escapes me...

For the rest of vacation, I will be attempting to keep these 2 out of my bed.

I'm also getting ready to fence in a vegetable garden. I have the materials and Mike and I just need to clear the space. Once that is done, I will post pictures.

Yikes Bikes

Over the weekend, Mike and I dug the bikes out of the shed and took them for a ride on the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. I only know that official name because I looked it up online. (I usually refer to it as the long path that starts in Cheshire.) It's actually 84 miles long, and much of it is paved. It was colder than I thought it was going to be, which is why I'm all bundled up. Next time, I'm taking my rollerblades!

We also went to the dog park. The first few times I went there, I loved it. Willie was so happy and getting along with everyone. He runs around off the leash and socialized with everyone. He is completely harmless and so submissive to other dogs. Over the weekend, we went twice and both times Willie got beaten up by ghetto pitbulls. Their owners said things to us like, "Oh, they just want to hump your dog." Or they said, "Yaaa our dog is so playful." For all you doggie idiots out there, when your dog is twice the size of the puppy, growling and foaming at the mouth at a puppy, and showing teeth and biting the puppy to make the puppy cry and yelp, your dog is a mean asshole and belongs nowhere near the doggie park. That is fighting, not playing. Go back to the ghetto of Waterbury or Bridgeport or wherever you came from and let your dog FIGHT in your own backyard.

Look at this dog. Does he really look like he could defend himself?