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May. 22nd, 2012 09:47 pmIt was a good day. Warm but not burninating, breezy but not gale-force winds, and I got a lot done at work.
Tonight I picked up all the sticks in the front yard and the west side yard. There were a LOT! Many of them had been previously mowed over and were in smaller pieces, but I grabbed them anyway. I filled up my little bucket three or four times before I felt like I had gotten enough of them. I proudly showed Pres Man my haul later. He pretended to be impressed. That's love.
After Stick Patrol, I mowed the front yard and it was much better without all the stupid sticks. There are still places where the ground feels bumpy because we have grassy spots and then spots where the grass did not take and the ground dips there. Definitely need to overseed this Fall.
That robin was there again. Did I write about him last time? There was this robin hopping around the yard, waiting for me to get right up on him with the mower before he would move. I never expected that a robin would be gutsier versus a lawnmower than my cat would be versus a vacuum cleaner.
Robin was back today. He did not follow me around quite as much (or lead me, I guess), but when I stopped mowing he was all over that yard.
After mowing I watered the grass AGAIN. Robin tried to avoid it at first, but then danced around in the spray. I don't know if he found anything to eat or not. I'm hoping he really like slugs and roly polies. I need my earthworms.
But back to the watering: Seriously, even though we did it this morning, tonight the yard looked like we had not watered it at all. Our maple tree (Dick is his name) must be sucking up all the water. The non-Dick side of the yard looks a lot happier. The yard guy who seeded our lawn warned that could happen.
Dick is probably also the reason our water main broke a couple of years ago. He probably got thirsty and broke into it.
The good news is that despite Dick's unslakable thirst, the lawn is still looking okay. It is not turning brown or crisping up that I can tell. It's just not filling in. But like I said, I'm not even sure this grass it the type that will. I think it's bluegrass, but for all I know it could be a thin-bladed fescue.
The hostas are still happy and none of the phlox have died yet. The geraniums are still green and one of them even looks like it might bloom again soon.
The grass out by the street is suffering. Our main sprinkler does not get that far, and I would feel bad about making our sidewalk completely impassable anyway. I think I may have a tiny sprinkler that I could do a little area at a time with, but that will mean setting a timer and going out to move it every 20 minutes or so, and that means you have to keep the timer with you and you can't really go anywhere and if you're me, you end up getting soggy and dirty because when it comes to sprinklers and hoses, you always zig when you should zag.
I wish I had one of those tractor sprinklers. I would set it up to run along the strip of grass by the curb and then have it come up the side of the yard behind Dick, where it is also pretty dry most of the time.
But those tractor thingies can be pricey and they break. All the ones at the yard sales are broken (this is what I heard at lunch today from my friends who shop a lot of sales).
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. But at the end, we get to dine with Koganei and Kiwi, which will be fun. We have not seen them since last month.
I think we'll have to put off starting the gutters tomorrow night. I had planned that as The Next Outdoor Project, and it still can be, but maybe Thursday.
Tonight I picked up all the sticks in the front yard and the west side yard. There were a LOT! Many of them had been previously mowed over and were in smaller pieces, but I grabbed them anyway. I filled up my little bucket three or four times before I felt like I had gotten enough of them. I proudly showed Pres Man my haul later. He pretended to be impressed. That's love.
After Stick Patrol, I mowed the front yard and it was much better without all the stupid sticks. There are still places where the ground feels bumpy because we have grassy spots and then spots where the grass did not take and the ground dips there. Definitely need to overseed this Fall.
That robin was there again. Did I write about him last time? There was this robin hopping around the yard, waiting for me to get right up on him with the mower before he would move. I never expected that a robin would be gutsier versus a lawnmower than my cat would be versus a vacuum cleaner.
Robin was back today. He did not follow me around quite as much (or lead me, I guess), but when I stopped mowing he was all over that yard.
After mowing I watered the grass AGAIN. Robin tried to avoid it at first, but then danced around in the spray. I don't know if he found anything to eat or not. I'm hoping he really like slugs and roly polies. I need my earthworms.
But back to the watering: Seriously, even though we did it this morning, tonight the yard looked like we had not watered it at all. Our maple tree (Dick is his name) must be sucking up all the water. The non-Dick side of the yard looks a lot happier. The yard guy who seeded our lawn warned that could happen.
Dick is probably also the reason our water main broke a couple of years ago. He probably got thirsty and broke into it.
The good news is that despite Dick's unslakable thirst, the lawn is still looking okay. It is not turning brown or crisping up that I can tell. It's just not filling in. But like I said, I'm not even sure this grass it the type that will. I think it's bluegrass, but for all I know it could be a thin-bladed fescue.
The hostas are still happy and none of the phlox have died yet. The geraniums are still green and one of them even looks like it might bloom again soon.
The grass out by the street is suffering. Our main sprinkler does not get that far, and I would feel bad about making our sidewalk completely impassable anyway. I think I may have a tiny sprinkler that I could do a little area at a time with, but that will mean setting a timer and going out to move it every 20 minutes or so, and that means you have to keep the timer with you and you can't really go anywhere and if you're me, you end up getting soggy and dirty because when it comes to sprinklers and hoses, you always zig when you should zag.
I wish I had one of those tractor sprinklers. I would set it up to run along the strip of grass by the curb and then have it come up the side of the yard behind Dick, where it is also pretty dry most of the time.
But those tractor thingies can be pricey and they break. All the ones at the yard sales are broken (this is what I heard at lunch today from my friends who shop a lot of sales).
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. But at the end, we get to dine with Koganei and Kiwi, which will be fun. We have not seen them since last month.
I think we'll have to put off starting the gutters tomorrow night. I had planned that as The Next Outdoor Project, and it still can be, but maybe Thursday.
