24 May, 2020 - List Making & History Gets Dug Up
Dear, Mom -
I certainly wish I had something very exciting to tell you. All I can say is that I am on a steady path with getting the yard landscaped, the garden finished, and other miscellany. Here are a few things on my list to get done by the end of summer.
--Put deck around art studio. All parts are cut and ready to go. I just need to get a frame underneath the actual deck.
--Put the fire pit in the back yard with chairs and a homemade wooden bench out of stumps and carved wood. Put down pea gravel and a rock barrier around the fire pit. Hope I have enough friends to actually utilize the space.
--Put a bench in the back corner on some pea gravel. Container plant flowers around it. Make that area meditative.
--Put down cardboard to kill off the grass around the garden boxes and on over to where the fire pit will be.
--Paint the art studio. It has been primered for years and never finished. This was a Holly move; not a Sal move. I'll paint it orange.
--Organize the art studio so that it is full operational. This involves getting rid of lots of stuff. That's fine. I'm over stuff.
Now we are going into early fall.
--Put containers along back fence and plant bamboo to have more privacy from the neighbors and their darn chickens.
--Plant my new cedar tree behind fire pit and chairs. I have it in a container now, but will wait until the fall to plant it.
--Put up a new fence. This will include digging a trench along the bottom and placing chicken wire to deter critters from digging under the fence to get at the chickens...which aren't mine...and yet seem to be my responsibility when it comes to pest control. Boooooo. Chickens belong on farms, not in peoples close proximity back yards.
Front Yard/Sidewalk Area
--Put dirt around fir tree and fern. Put up a little library and a bench in front of the remaining rosemary. This is a horrible mock-up I drew on top of the photo to give you a rough idea.
--I will need to make the library box and look for an old bench that I can repair and update. I'm sure I can find one cheap some where in town. The library box will be fun to design and I want to paint it with a 1950s science fiction theme.
--Inside the fence, I will need to uproot the planters that are on either side of the sidewalk going up to the house. They are huge arborvitae that have become root bound in their pots. I need to permanently plant them in the ground...some where in the yard? I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Geez. That is enough of a list for now. I'm overwhelmed as it is. I may need another job just to afford all of it.
All those beds will have fresh dirt by Wednesday. We get the dirt tomorrow in Paula's truck and then the hauling it around and dumping it begins. Then I will plant my wild flowers that I have been growing from seeds. Gazanias, bachelor buttons, and assorted others. I forgot already. It's the bachelor buttons that I am excited about. It makes me think of the land between the Larson's house and ours that had all the wild bachelor buttons growing on it. I would pick them and bring them home or give them to Grandma Larson. It's a nice memory.
Today, I found a piece of history in the yard. It is a 'tool tag' that factories would put on their tools. I suppose as an organizational tactic. It must have been buried right next to wear Elsa the dog is standing. She got a hankering to start digging in the fresh dirt and out it came. It's pretty cool looking.
I guess Fluor was the name of the tool manufacturer. I think it is pretty neat thing to find while digging around. After all, our house was built in 1900 and was most likely a shift change house for the dock workers down at the Willamette River. There were many factories down there. Mainly lumber, but others evolved over the years then went out of business.
I think I will shine it up and put it on my key fob :)
That does it for me tonight, mom. I, once again, am knackered. Hopefully, getting the truckload of dirt tomorrow will be an easy event. It is a holiday, so I hope they are open...or do I? Hahaha. Maybe I'm not looking forward to the work. The reward is looking at how nice everything looks when I am done, though. And the neighbors make nice comments, too.
I love you very much. Big Hug, Big Smooch, and I can't wait to see you! Cookies and coffee are on me! -Love, Sal*
I certainly wish I had something very exciting to tell you. All I can say is that I am on a steady path with getting the yard landscaped, the garden finished, and other miscellany. Here are a few things on my list to get done by the end of summer.
--Put deck around art studio. All parts are cut and ready to go. I just need to get a frame underneath the actual deck.
--Put the fire pit in the back yard with chairs and a homemade wooden bench out of stumps and carved wood. Put down pea gravel and a rock barrier around the fire pit. Hope I have enough friends to actually utilize the space.
--Put a bench in the back corner on some pea gravel. Container plant flowers around it. Make that area meditative.
--Put down cardboard to kill off the grass around the garden boxes and on over to where the fire pit will be.
--Paint the art studio. It has been primered for years and never finished. This was a Holly move; not a Sal move. I'll paint it orange.
--Organize the art studio so that it is full operational. This involves getting rid of lots of stuff. That's fine. I'm over stuff.
Now we are going into early fall.
--Put containers along back fence and plant bamboo to have more privacy from the neighbors and their darn chickens.
--Plant my new cedar tree behind fire pit and chairs. I have it in a container now, but will wait until the fall to plant it.
--Put up a new fence. This will include digging a trench along the bottom and placing chicken wire to deter critters from digging under the fence to get at the chickens...which aren't mine...and yet seem to be my responsibility when it comes to pest control. Boooooo. Chickens belong on farms, not in peoples close proximity back yards.
Front Yard/Sidewalk Area
--Put dirt around fir tree and fern. Put up a little library and a bench in front of the remaining rosemary. This is a horrible mock-up I drew on top of the photo to give you a rough idea.
--I will need to make the library box and look for an old bench that I can repair and update. I'm sure I can find one cheap some where in town. The library box will be fun to design and I want to paint it with a 1950s science fiction theme.
--Inside the fence, I will need to uproot the planters that are on either side of the sidewalk going up to the house. They are huge arborvitae that have become root bound in their pots. I need to permanently plant them in the ground...some where in the yard? I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Geez. That is enough of a list for now. I'm overwhelmed as it is. I may need another job just to afford all of it.
All those beds will have fresh dirt by Wednesday. We get the dirt tomorrow in Paula's truck and then the hauling it around and dumping it begins. Then I will plant my wild flowers that I have been growing from seeds. Gazanias, bachelor buttons, and assorted others. I forgot already. It's the bachelor buttons that I am excited about. It makes me think of the land between the Larson's house and ours that had all the wild bachelor buttons growing on it. I would pick them and bring them home or give them to Grandma Larson. It's a nice memory.
Today, I found a piece of history in the yard. It is a 'tool tag' that factories would put on their tools. I suppose as an organizational tactic. It must have been buried right next to wear Elsa the dog is standing. She got a hankering to start digging in the fresh dirt and out it came. It's pretty cool looking.
I guess Fluor was the name of the tool manufacturer. I think it is pretty neat thing to find while digging around. After all, our house was built in 1900 and was most likely a shift change house for the dock workers down at the Willamette River. There were many factories down there. Mainly lumber, but others evolved over the years then went out of business.I think I will shine it up and put it on my key fob :)
That does it for me tonight, mom. I, once again, am knackered. Hopefully, getting the truckload of dirt tomorrow will be an easy event. It is a holiday, so I hope they are open...or do I? Hahaha. Maybe I'm not looking forward to the work. The reward is looking at how nice everything looks when I am done, though. And the neighbors make nice comments, too.
I love you very much. Big Hug, Big Smooch, and I can't wait to see you! Cookies and coffee are on me! -Love, Sal*
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