jennlk: (Default)
The gardening did not happen last weekend.

Late Friday evening, when I went out to get the birdfeeders, I noticed that the pond level was way down, so I turned off the rill. It was too late to get any meaningful work done on it (the sun had already set and it was getting dark quickly). Saturday morning, after the bricks had dried from the overnight dew, I turned the rill back on to see where the leak was. But none of the visible bricks got damp, so I couldn't figure out where the water was going, and it was a lot of water going somewhere. A bit later, I noticed that there was water ponding at the back of the rill, and looked closer, at which point I found that the reservoir at the top of the rill had tipped so far toward the back that there was a steady stream of water going over one corner of it, down the inside of the brick wall holding up the rill structure, and out into the yard behind the rill. A slight disassembly of the rill later, the rocks underneath were reconfigured with more rocks and less dirt for the varmints to dig in, and the rill was back on.

All this while dodging rain events -- usually slightly heavier than showers, but none that lasted very long.

Sunday, I went out to commit gardening, but while I was able to dig up and weed the space where the irises are going to expand to, the ground is too wet to actually plant anything. I also got a few more volunteers yanked out from around the rowan next to the pond -- something more easily done when the ground is wet.

In other news, due to us being in and out of the backyard on Saturday, the modern pterodactyls were not in the yard, so the froggies felt safe enough to come out. I counted 14 froggies on Saturday, ranging in size from just over an inch (2.5cm) to over 3 inches 7.5cm). Whee!!
jennlk: (cardinal columbine)
The fill is mostly in, the framing is in (12x12 pavers to provide chipmunk proof drops and pools; edging bricks for pool edges) and is surrounded by rocks and peagravel. We ran the pump for about 45 seconds to make sure that the pump could deal with the height (it's about 24" taller than the old rill) *before* putting the felt and liner down. There will be flagstone on drop edges as well, so that the water isn't just sheeting down the uprights.

I picked up a small water feature pump, and it may stay in the pond once we get the rill finished -- DB says we should set it up next to a shallow paver so that the birds can 'shower'. We'll see.

We hadn't gotten any measurable rain since Memorial Day, so early this week I watered the strawberries and the east garden. I needed to water the east garden because the ground was so hard that I couldn't pull weeds out -- they'd just break off at ground level. I've been going out in the morning (before it gets hot) to weed, as I need to wear long sleeves to weed in that bed (there's a couple of things in that bed that give me welts if I don't!). This morning I went out and filled the garden cart with weeds, then came in because the clouds were getting really dark. But that cloud didn't rain on us. The next one, that wasn't nearly as dark, did. And did it rain! No thunder, but over 3/4 inch of rain with high winds. The willow tree lost a lot of leaves and a branch, there's a few other branches down in the yard, and the rose bush was very bedraggled for a few hours, but it's bouncing back nicely.

Speaking of plants bouncing back, the bleeding hearts have done quite well at that. I really need to find somewhere else in the yard to plant them. Maybe along the hill down to the box elder, where there's a lot of shade in the summer (bleeding hearts are shade plants, and melt in the summer sun).
jennlk: (Default)
Saturday and Sunday, J and I moved that ton and a half of block. This time, it's in a wall. It got pretty squishy at the base of the wall, where it's just tamped dirt -- we got 2.5 inches of rain between when we laid the first course on Saturday evening and when we got outside Sunday afternoon. Now we get to figure out what goes inside the wall, other than "no chipmunks". I am creaky today.

The weeds are getting ahead of me again -- I can either move block or weed, and moving block has been winning or the weather's been unsuitable for weeding. Last week, when DB and I unloaded the block, it was 80+F; two days later it got up to 59F with drizzle.

The van is visiting the church parking lot, as there's a skip in the driveway -- the roofer starts tomorrow, weather permitting. He's expecting materials (shingles, OSB, ridge vent) to show up later today. (We've been in the house for over 20 years; can you tell? New floors, new appliances (and we're semi-looking at new fridges), new roof.)

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