Thank goodness for this lovely. Because all I’ve seen for days, weeks and months is this:
This is only a small section, folks. Not all of those clumps are rocks, by the way. But many, many of them are. Let me tell you, if I spent all day, every day, all summer long, trying to pick up every rock in this expanse of dirt, I still wouldn’t succeed. I’m going to rename this property. No longer Mockingbird Hill Cottage, the new name is Don and Claudia’s Rock Quarry.
Endless. Mind numbing. Back breaking. Fruitless. Depressing. I think that about covers it.
So yesterday we reseeded. This took quite a while as, and I know I’ve said this before, most recently in the first full paragraph of this post, this is a huge expanse of dirt. Then I hooked up the hose and watered it. This took a long while. No sooner had I done it, than the ground looked dry again. Hmmm. So I searched for our sprinkler and hooked that up. By this time, Don had left for work. I knew I would have to do all this watering in sections. When I went out to move the sprinkler, I skidded in wet mud. There was mud all over my jeans, my muck shoes, the hose – you name it. After doing this a few times, I wised up and gingerly tried to move the sprinkler to a new section of dirt by pulling on the hose. I didn’t want to have to shut off the water every time I moved it because our hook-up is way around the other side of the house, so of course, I got drenched with water each time.
Fun times.
According to my entirely self-imposed schedule, I’m supposed to mulch today. I’m sore, tired and have to do some more work on The Tempest. So you know what? I just might wait to mulch until I come back home for a few days next week. At the moment it just seems too overwhelming.
On to other things. Having my own post office box, a new thing for me, is fun. I don’t get to the post office often – maybe once a week. On Monday I dropped in to mail a package and I had two notices of packages waiting!
Regula, who lives in Switzerland, sent me CHOCOLATE. After my post about the Spicy Hot Chocolate (which Don, it turns out, likes) she took pity on me and sent me some real Swiss Chocolate. That will be going with me to Hartford. She also sent individually wrapped pieces of milk chocolate and, I think, an herbal tea, plus a crystal heart and a doily. Yesterday, with its endless wrestling with dirt and mud, turned out to be the perfect day to sample some of those little pieces of chocolate. Okay, many. Delicious! Thank you, Regula!
And Carol (who hails from Tennessee) sent me this:
A Bride and Groom she found while thrifting. They are lovely. You are so sweet, Carol, and I thank you so much for thinking of me!
Blogging Friends are Real Friends. Virtual-Smirtual. They are real as real can be.
Have a wacky Wednesday.
How about a rock garden? So much work and it does seem endless! Love blogging friends and how they make our lives fuller. Hugs, Linda
You may have to run to the post office more often!
I understand your rock and dirt. remember..I had the water main break and I still have a mound of dirt in my front yard!
Pave it!
No, really – good luck. Gardens and yards are endless work, but some are more endless than others.
What lovely surprises you found at the PO. Mmm . . . chocolate!
Cass
Poor you, Claudia! I don’t envy you the rock harvesting. But it’s lovely that kind friends, and beautful flowers, were there to cheer you just when you needed it.
Yes~Blog friends ARE real friends. That is a hard concept for some people to accept. They look at you like you have grown a 3rd eye when you tell them something that is going on with a blogland friend. Your gifts that you received are testimony to those friendships.
We reseeded a big lawn about 4 years ago..WHAT a blasted mess. I can’t tell you how many times I got drenched and muddy.
Blessings to you as you prepare to leave for Hartford~ xo Diana
Oh God do I know what you are going through with all that dirt! We have property that had blueberry bushes and choke cherry trees everywhere! And…lots of sand…in fact…when they dug our foundation, they did not have to bring in sand…it was already here! So…my husband and I (mostly him) worked hard to get it the way we wanted it. People comment on the wide openness of our property. If they only knew how long it took us. You are coming along nicely….take a break and give yourself a big pat on the back….or eat chocolate?…that works too! What wonderful bloggy friends you have!! Lucky girl!!!!
Claudia, After the day you had..those gifts came just in time. Good luck with the new grass. So far this year, our front yard looks fabulous. The back need some shady mixture of grass seeds. Smiles, Susie(She Junks)
Hi Claudia! There is an interesting article that might give you a morale boost. You sound like you can use one! Google (Moving House: How a little old lady.) Just google that and it will get you to the article.
You do have a way of putting my household tasks into perspective! You’re amazing.
I was going to say maybe some mulch would help keep moisture in and help germination but I guess you are on it.
Claudia, I understand your rock problem. About 10 years ago one of our southern pines (we live in SE Georgia) fell across our road causing a car accident. We called a tree doctor who in turn told us that our 100 year old pines all had to be removed (over 80 trees). The aftermath was an acre and a half of dirt, rocks, & roots. We literally took 1 whole weekend griding it off to make sense of the mess. I went to Home Depot & bought construction twine (a lot of it!) & measured off 3 foot grid lines. We also bought those flags like the utility companies use to mark the grids we had all ready done. I know it seems OCD, but it really did help to make the whole project more manageable & less stressful. And yes!!! Blog friends are real…Even better they are less likely to back stab…Which makes them unbelievably AWESOME :o)
Claudia, it sounds like you are just having too much fun with the yard work! You should take it a little slower so you don’t run out of fun things to do. LOL
Actually, you should have eaten those yummy chocolates while sitting in a hot bubble bath….that’s what you deserve for all that back-breaking work.
Love the sweet little bride and groom!
That last sentence … oh I so agree. In fact I blogged about blog friends a couple of posts back. Don’t let anyone tell me these friendships are meaningless as some have suggested.
Isn’t Regula such a sweetie, enjoy the chocolate x
I didn’t realize that was a bride and groom a tfirst. I thought it was a couple dancing. I always think of you two dancing so it made perfect sense to me.