17 June, 2020 - Sold My Jeep & Where I'm at with the Yard

Dear, Mom -

I got the rototiller out and working today. I could only till as far as the extension cord would reach because I needed a pretty hefty one that wouldn't blow the fuse box. I got some tilling done in the back corner of the back yard. Not as much as I had wanted, but only the smaller extension cord would go that far and it blew not too long after I started working back there. It looks nice nonetheless. 

You can see my garden is taking off. I still have some more to planting to do. I will have to buy established plants, but it's not too late. I finally got my 5 other cloth pots in the mail, so I will need to buy some more planting soil to fill them up. It shouldn't take too much. I would still like to plant peas, corn, assorted herbs for cooking, more basil (mine is getting eaten by something) and strawberries, which I probably have missed the boat on. Anyway, back to the rototiller. I rototilled up against the house by the bedroom and kitchen window:

I obviously need to wash the wall down after flipping all that dirt on there today. Also, I think the gutter leaks right there and the mud splashed up onto the wall. We have to look into getting our gutters replaced as soon as possible. They are being held up with 2' x 4's in places because the wood behind them is rotting off. Egads. The tasks never end around this place. One of our gutters leaks right into this planter, so at least the water doesn't go to waste. The planter is cracking from being out in the cold weather. Yet another thing that needs replacing. You can also see all the cherry stems and fruit gathering on the patio. It has to be swept up practically everyday or it ends up piling up everywhere under the tree. And it doesn't look at all tidy, which drives me crazy.

The main thing I had wanted to get done today I only got half-way done due to the power cord to the rototiller. It is the strip behind the art studio and metal shed. It is right off of my neighbor's garage, too. It needs to be leveled out on my side so my neighbor doesn't have water run-off into his garage. Plus, I need to haul the extra soil from there to the front yard to fill in the dip in the yard the runs over the natural gas line. 

Big news is I sold my 1991 Jeep Cherokee Laredo today. I've had it since 2006. It holds a lot of good memories for me. It was the vehicle that I purchased to haul around my skateboards to all the schools when I was teaching. I got a lot of miles out of that Jeep. It makes me sad to see it go, but it is going to get used by someone who will fix it up and also who needs it. I plan on saving to buy an orange, Subaru Crosstrek. It looks like this:

I really want a car that I can use for driving my seniors around and that I can still take camping and not worry about rough terrain. My Honda Fit can barely turn into some driveways with a moderate slope. I don't know why they made those cars so close to the ground. It boggles my mind, I tell you. So, this is my goal at some point in the next year. I'll sell my Honda and lease or buy a Subaru. I just really miss being able to drive to an out of the way campsite. Sigh.

Birgit pointed out that Paula's purple clematis are starting to bloom. I think they are prettier than the Princess Di variety that they have at the other end of the fence. The deep, velvety purple of these flowers is gorgeous.

And these are the raspberries that I can now pick handfuls of whenever I'd like. It's nice to walk over and have a snack in your own yard from your own berries. My blueberries will be next!

One last flower mention. I have the American  beauty berry our front and it is getting ready to bloom. I'm going to take a picture every other day and we can watch it bloom together! I think it blooms into little flowers and then turns into berries that lots of birds love. Last year, the Cedar Waxwings were thick all over the bush eating the berries. I had never experienced that before and it was really neat.

I love you, Mom. I think about you all the time. I wish I was there with you. Hopefully, before too long, you can be with family more often. WE all love and miss you terribly. Keep your chin up. It will happen sometime soon. xoxoxo Kisses and Hugs - Sal