This is about all that went on here today.
You got something to say about that?
I didn't think so.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
386.5 hours to go...and I actually got something done today.
Two more tasks off my to-do list!!! I finished painting the foyer and the hallway today and was able to take all of the tape down and pretty much return both areas to their original condition save moving a large piece of furniture which shall be saved for "the muscle". I also painted a couple of flower pots AND washed the floor on hand and knee! Whew! Still no photos for you yet but they are coming. Promise.
If weather permits, I might weed my gardens tomorrow. I need to do a closer inspection of what is actually growing in there - I seem to have forgotten. Before I plant, I do need to know so that I don't plant on top of something that is going to come up at a later date. I was also scanning kijiji last week and found an ad from someone who is digging up her garden and selling perennials at $1 a plant. Since the Enchanted Garden (E laughs at me when I call it that) doesn't get much sun, I need to look for shade plants and she has some. One of my favourites is monkshood so I've asked for a few of these.
This photo, from October 2009 is of the fuller bed of the three.
These two pictures are of the other beds that definitely need some work.
This last picture is of a very overgrown rosebush. We pruned it heavily in the Fall and have plans to create a flowerbed around it. We pulled out the mint that was taking over but suspect it will make an appearance soon. This rose bush is also the favourite resting place for the chickadees as they feed from the nearby feeder.
I might have to chain myself to a desk tomorrow. I still have to finish our taxes and have a lot of paper work piling up in there amongst other things. I'll decide that after my visit to the chiropractor tomorrow.
Did you notice my count was off? Somewhere my countdown to E (the silver fox) going back to work went awry but I am happy to report I consulted a calculator.
In case you were wondering what "the silver fox" reference is, E has had two people comment (lucky for them, they are two of his favourite people) about the copious amounts of grey making its way into his hair. As far as I'm concerned, he's always been a fox. Silver or black, I love him all the same.
Gotta go knit!!! Kim.
If weather permits, I might weed my gardens tomorrow. I need to do a closer inspection of what is actually growing in there - I seem to have forgotten. Before I plant, I do need to know so that I don't plant on top of something that is going to come up at a later date. I was also scanning kijiji last week and found an ad from someone who is digging up her garden and selling perennials at $1 a plant. Since the Enchanted Garden (E laughs at me when I call it that) doesn't get much sun, I need to look for shade plants and she has some. One of my favourites is monkshood so I've asked for a few of these.
This photo, from October 2009 is of the fuller bed of the three.
These two pictures are of the other beds that definitely need some work.
This last picture is of a very overgrown rosebush. We pruned it heavily in the Fall and have plans to create a flowerbed around it. We pulled out the mint that was taking over but suspect it will make an appearance soon. This rose bush is also the favourite resting place for the chickadees as they feed from the nearby feeder.
I might have to chain myself to a desk tomorrow. I still have to finish our taxes and have a lot of paper work piling up in there amongst other things. I'll decide that after my visit to the chiropractor tomorrow.
Did you notice my count was off? Somewhere my countdown to E (the silver fox) going back to work went awry but I am happy to report I consulted a calculator.
In case you were wondering what "the silver fox" reference is, E has had two people comment (lucky for them, they are two of his favourite people) about the copious amounts of grey making its way into his hair. As far as I'm concerned, he's always been a fox. Silver or black, I love him all the same.
Gotta go knit!!! Kim.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
411.5 Hours - Not exactly what you would call a productive day.
A bit of a reprieve – while E is officially off work, he has to go in for the next 3 days for some training so the task master is not present to observe my work habits. I did, however, reassemble the dining room and gave it a good cleaning which was an official item on the to-do list. I just need to finish accessorizing it and also need to get or make some window coverings although I do love to have the windows open and have nature floating in. The dining room is the showcase to our bird feeders so Ernie and I can often be found glued to the window watching the birds and squirrels. I'll post some pictures at a later date.
I did a bit more seed planting, some taping in prep for painting tomorrow, a bit of tidying up and then went over to the neighbour’s house for a coffee date. I spent an hour or so there chatting of our love for our furry children, gardening and life in general, then home to make dinner.
I did get a call from my mom who was calling to tell me that their plans to come for a visit have been delayed once again as my dad is dealing with a health "issue". Remember that story yesterday about my dad's housecoat? Well, remember, I said I was young when I made it. A teenager, in fact. Ironically her and my dad were chatting about that very housecoat yesterday and she hadn't even read my blog yet. While I don't remember it, she said that I had an emotional meltdown on Christmas Eve because I hadn't finished it in time for Christmas. Funny, I don't remember that but it sure sounds like me. Remember the 3 knitting projects I was trying to get done for E for Christmas this year. I still have one left to complete.
Well, I'm off to get some bills,etc. sorted and then get a bit of knitting (no, not his project) done. I'm working on a shawl....I'm trying to use up some of my stash WITHOUT replacing it.
See you tomorrow.
I did a bit more seed planting, some taping in prep for painting tomorrow, a bit of tidying up and then went over to the neighbour’s house for a coffee date. I spent an hour or so there chatting of our love for our furry children, gardening and life in general, then home to make dinner.
I did get a call from my mom who was calling to tell me that their plans to come for a visit have been delayed once again as my dad is dealing with a health "issue". Remember that story yesterday about my dad's housecoat? Well, remember, I said I was young when I made it. A teenager, in fact. Ironically her and my dad were chatting about that very housecoat yesterday and she hadn't even read my blog yet. While I don't remember it, she said that I had an emotional meltdown on Christmas Eve because I hadn't finished it in time for Christmas. Funny, I don't remember that but it sure sounds like me. Remember the 3 knitting projects I was trying to get done for E for Christmas this year. I still have one left to complete.
Well, I'm off to get some bills,etc. sorted and then get a bit of knitting (no, not his project) done. I'm working on a shawl....I'm trying to use up some of my stash WITHOUT replacing it.
See you tomorrow.
Monday, April 12, 2010
433.5 hours to go
Not quite what we had planned today, but a bit of shopping. We headed to Ho-Depot to pick up a few solar patio lights. We had picked up some on Friday from the clearance section but still needed a few more and guess what? They had been discounted further so we not only got the discount on the ones we picked up today but we had the receipt from Friday with us and they discounted those as well. We also picked up the fence posts for the small fence we are going to erect at the back of our vegetable garden. It will be used to prop up blackberry and raspberry bushes. We also had to make a quick stop at Home Hardware to pick up some stakes and the grocery store so by the time we got home, it was after 1pm. Did I mentioned my wakeup was not quite as early as was conveyed to me a few days back. It was before 9am, but not much. What would you rather have, someone who slept in a bit or a crunchy partner...crunchy being cranky and grouchy combined? I say well rested.
Now to the Honey-Do List....Project #1 – Lasagna Garden....so, what is Lasagna Gardening? It is an old method of gardening also known as “No Dig Gardening”. The benefits are that, once assembled, there is minimal upkeep with virtually no weeding and it is supposed to produce a bountiful garden. I have been reading Patricia Lanza’s series of books on the subject. Lasagna Gardening can be practiced in small beds and large, even in containers. It can be used for annual, perennials, vegetables and herbs. As stated previously, there is no digging and no tilling required to make the garden. You don’t even have to take up the sod. It is created by placing layers of brown and green organic material on top of wet newspaper. What does take a fair amount of time is accumulating the material. We have been stashing materials since we first arrived in PEI. Newspapers, leaves, grass clippings, compost materials, hay or straw, etc.
Here's our garden gnome before gardening.
And here's who came for a visit while we were making the garden. The gall of this litte foxie, squatting to pee in our future veggie garden while the 3 of us just sat and watched.
Today we got about 50% of it done and took us a couple of hours. We started out by haphazardly laying out the plot. I’ll fix it later once the layers bake down. We started out trying to use our garden hose but it wasn’t flexible enough so we ended up using some garden trim and a couple of stakes
Next step, soak the paper in an old plastic container filled with water.
We used newspaper, packing paper that we saved from our move and I actually threw in some old sewing patterns that I had left over after purging. My parents will get a kick out of this picture.
I made my Dad this housecoat when I was in high school. The housecoat is long gone after many, many years of use but hopefully the memory of love invested in making it and even more love returned by actually wearing it as much as he did. Without giving away my age, you could venture a guess by the artwork. A packrat I am, but at least I finally put it to use again.
Once the newspaper is soaked, you lay down thick overlapping layers. Try to NOT stop to read the stories as you place them in the garden or you will be there all day.
Next, a layer of peat moss....notice mine is a product of Canada.
.
Then a layer of compost – looks disgusting right. Our compost is made up of old barn litter that Ev collected from the local race track, and compost that we collect on daily basis. We have a small compost container under our kitchen sink. It has fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grinds, egg shells, King Cole tea bags (E’s new fave...made in New Brunswick and the preferred tea of the Maritimes), shells collected from the beach, the inedible remains of a few lobsters, and some paper towels. I also throw the paper in there from my shredder.
May I also suggest you get yourself this incredible "tool" for digging your compost out, transporting it to your garden and shoveling it in;)
It works great for me! (This is the little service area in our yard. It's tucked behind our garage in the backyard. Also, see our green rainbarrel. It will collect rain that we can use for our garden in the future.)
Then another layer of peat and top that off with a fine layer of grass clippings.
By that point we were ready to pack it in for the day. We covered up the garden for the night. The end result is that there should be enough layers to build up the garden somewhere between 18 and 24 inches and then you cover it with dark plastic so that the light can't get at it and you let it cook. After several weeks it should all break down and produce a rich dark soil ready to be planted.
Note the condition of our garden gnome at the end of a hard day. He truly had a "ruff" day! I know, bad, right?
Now to the Honey-Do List....Project #1 – Lasagna Garden....so, what is Lasagna Gardening? It is an old method of gardening also known as “No Dig Gardening”. The benefits are that, once assembled, there is minimal upkeep with virtually no weeding and it is supposed to produce a bountiful garden. I have been reading Patricia Lanza’s series of books on the subject. Lasagna Gardening can be practiced in small beds and large, even in containers. It can be used for annual, perennials, vegetables and herbs. As stated previously, there is no digging and no tilling required to make the garden. You don’t even have to take up the sod. It is created by placing layers of brown and green organic material on top of wet newspaper. What does take a fair amount of time is accumulating the material. We have been stashing materials since we first arrived in PEI. Newspapers, leaves, grass clippings, compost materials, hay or straw, etc.
Here's our garden gnome before gardening.
And here's who came for a visit while we were making the garden. The gall of this litte foxie, squatting to pee in our future veggie garden while the 3 of us just sat and watched.
Today we got about 50% of it done and took us a couple of hours. We started out by haphazardly laying out the plot. I’ll fix it later once the layers bake down. We started out trying to use our garden hose but it wasn’t flexible enough so we ended up using some garden trim and a couple of stakes
Next step, soak the paper in an old plastic container filled with water.
We used newspaper, packing paper that we saved from our move and I actually threw in some old sewing patterns that I had left over after purging. My parents will get a kick out of this picture.
I made my Dad this housecoat when I was in high school. The housecoat is long gone after many, many years of use but hopefully the memory of love invested in making it and even more love returned by actually wearing it as much as he did. Without giving away my age, you could venture a guess by the artwork. A packrat I am, but at least I finally put it to use again.
Once the newspaper is soaked, you lay down thick overlapping layers. Try to NOT stop to read the stories as you place them in the garden or you will be there all day.
Next, a layer of peat moss....notice mine is a product of Canada.
.
Then a layer of compost – looks disgusting right. Our compost is made up of old barn litter that Ev collected from the local race track, and compost that we collect on daily basis. We have a small compost container under our kitchen sink. It has fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grinds, egg shells, King Cole tea bags (E’s new fave...made in New Brunswick and the preferred tea of the Maritimes), shells collected from the beach, the inedible remains of a few lobsters, and some paper towels. I also throw the paper in there from my shredder.
May I also suggest you get yourself this incredible "tool" for digging your compost out, transporting it to your garden and shoveling it in;)
It works great for me! (This is the little service area in our yard. It's tucked behind our garage in the backyard. Also, see our green rainbarrel. It will collect rain that we can use for our garden in the future.)
Then another layer of peat and top that off with a fine layer of grass clippings.
By that point we were ready to pack it in for the day. We covered up the garden for the night. The end result is that there should be enough layers to build up the garden somewhere between 18 and 24 inches and then you cover it with dark plastic so that the light can't get at it and you let it cook. After several weeks it should all break down and produce a rich dark soil ready to be planted.
Note the condition of our garden gnome at the end of a hard day. He truly had a "ruff" day! I know, bad, right?
My exhausted overworked garden tool...and trusty gnome.
Night all!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
19 Days or 456 Hours
What am I talking about? I’m talking about how many days and hours until E goes back to work and how many days of hard labour are ahead for both of us. We have a monstrous honey-do list ahead of us to tackle. While his time off starts today, today has been designated as a planning day so the clock starts at midnight tonight.
The Current List:
1. Blog Daily
2. Hang Pictures in House
3. Inventory & Organize Large Household Items For Sale & Post
4. Purge Rooms for Garage Sale
5. Paint Shelf In Living Room
6. Paint Front Foyer
7. Paint Staircase
8. Paint Hallway
9. Trees - Cut Tree Down in Backyard
10. Dig Vegetable Garden
11. Install Fence in Garden
12. Paint Planter Boxes
13. Trellis - Make 2
14. Power Rake Yard
15. Trellis - Paint 4
16. Tree - Cut Down Dead Tree in Enchanted Garden
17. Trees - Trim Trees in Enchanted Garden
18. Weed 3 Beds in Enchanted Garden
19. Build Lasagna Garden
20. Remove Shrub by Front Steps
21. Paint Deck
22. Trellis – Mount
23. Reassemble Dining Room After Painting
24. Planting
This is just the beginning. The list shall ebb and flow as the days goes by. Wish me luck....I’m exhausted already. I’m off to get some of the house in order and, oh yeah, gets some rest before we are off to the races.
The Current List:
1. Blog Daily
2. Hang Pictures in House
3. Inventory & Organize Large Household Items For Sale & Post
4. Purge Rooms for Garage Sale
5. Paint Shelf In Living Room
6. Paint Front Foyer
7. Paint Staircase
8. Paint Hallway
9. Trees - Cut Tree Down in Backyard
10. Dig Vegetable Garden
11. Install Fence in Garden
12. Paint Planter Boxes
13. Trellis - Make 2
14. Power Rake Yard
15. Trellis - Paint 4
16. Tree - Cut Down Dead Tree in Enchanted Garden
17. Trees - Trim Trees in Enchanted Garden
18. Weed 3 Beds in Enchanted Garden
19. Build Lasagna Garden
20. Remove Shrub by Front Steps
21. Paint Deck
22. Trellis – Mount
23. Reassemble Dining Room After Painting
24. Planting
This is just the beginning. The list shall ebb and flow as the days goes by. Wish me luck....I’m exhausted already. I’m off to get some of the house in order and, oh yeah, gets some rest before we are off to the races.
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