Chipping Away

We all know the saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."  But we often forget to apply this concept in our lives when we face big hurdles.  Like paying off a loan, driving across the country, writing a 300 page research proposal, or removing a pile of wood chips from the driveway... take it one bite at a time.

We Skyped with Britney Saturday morning, and the loss she was feeling from the death of Don Max was palpable.  I wanted to be able to reach through the computer and give her a big hug.  This (video) and photo of her dancing with him is from two years ago.

Joe and I both took several loads of wood chips down back, but it didn't seem like we even made a dent in the pile.










As I was leaving for work, I noticed the stray cat under our front bushes.  I hope it was hunting chipmunks, and chipping away at their numbers.  They have taken over our yard.

The pool was busy and work was fun and went fast.  I was too tired to go to Reds as planned once I got home.  But, a beer on our back porch was enjoyed.



On Sunday, Britney posted this on Facebook: "On this last day of Don Max's Novena, we know he's dancing today in the presence of God."


I met Shirley at church.  Then an hour after getting home Joe and I went to church for the new member's luncheon.  We met several new people there.



 



I had a few hours to work in the yard, and continued chipping away at the wood chip pile, and then Joe and I were off for the Full Moon party, and sat with a new resident whom we really enjoyed meeting.  Brian also joined us a bit later.


Upon getting home, we had to run next door to check out Brian's new purchase, a used motor scooter that he got a great deal on.   

Monday I lingered here longer than necessary, and then took care of some desk work, getting a few cards and letters ready to mail.

I decided the ground was dry enough to drive the SUV on the lawn so had Joe help me pull out the last three trunks of the bushes in front of the front porch.






Then I really trimmed back the Rhododendron and large yew still left in front.  I also cut a lot of low branches from the huge hemlock tree.  Above is a look at the cleaned up bed along the front of the house.  We got all the brush loaded into the back of the SUV and Joe took it to the yard waste dump.


While resting, I was visualizing ideas to fill in the bare areas where the nine bushes had been.  I want something low to the ground, and more colorful.  And then I toyed around with the old pond, dreaming of someday getting it in by the steps.

I planted two pots of flowers I had gotten for a dollar each and then worked on wood chips, including putting some around the new flowers.





Joe had move more loads of wood chips before his noon golf date, so I spread those out.  I also needed to water in back again because it has been so hot, with no rain.  I barely had time to go workout, but made a quick trip to the gym to do weights and shower.  I was home 45 minutes later... amazing.



That left me with 30 minutes to change, feed the dog and cat, pack a cooler, and walk the dog.  I was out the door 35 minutes later, headed for Mirror Lake Blast.  It was a fun evening, but the band played all their best dance numbers first, while most people were eating.  Their second set of music was not as good to dance to, so I didn't get as much of that fun in as usual.

Tuesday I worked my morning shift at the pool, got home a little after 2pm, and felt the need to rest, cool off, eat, and drink.  I then moved more wood chips, spread the piles Joe had moved down back and in front, and did some watering. 

After grilled pork chops, potatoes, and corn on the cob (that Joe had fixed for dinner), I took Maggie on a 90 minute walk at the Dorchester golf course and neighborhood.  Can you see her sitting in the middle of these flowers on hole number one?

The Song sparrows abandoned this nest
after I trimmed the holly bush.

I got up at 3:30 Wednesday morning, unable to get back to sleep, thinking about all I wanted to get done before company came, and what needed doing before our weekend road trip.  I had tossed and turned trying to get to sleep the night before, pondering over the same things.  The biggest quandary was where to put all the wood chips, and when would there be time to get them all moved.  We needed to get them off the driveway to accommodate more parking.

I went to the gym very early for me, and was home from a good workout by 8:30.  Then I went to town to shop for plants.

As soon as I got home (11 am) but after an early lunch, I got busy out front.  First I moved pots around to see where exactly I wanted to plant things.




Maggie had been in the yard, but when thunder rolled in, she felt she needed to hide under the bench.  I got sprinkled on, but there was not enough rain to make the ground muddy.




Mid afternoon, the road crew to finish putting in the walking path arrived with a load of gravel.  He parked out front for awhile until the rest of the equipment came.







We got another pop-up shower, with more thunder, and the dog needed to go back under the bench.  Notice though, this section of bed is now planted.





After a quick dinner of leftovers, I returned to planting, bound and determined to get it done.  And Maggie continued to watch.


Here are shots of the finished product.

Having chipped away at this most of the day, I got all 21 (one gallon pots of plants costing just under $100 total) planted.

I had just enough time to walk Maggie for 30 minutes before dark.  Here is a view of the completed gravel path along Lakeview, soon to be black topped.

Thursday morning I was at the barn before 8:00.  I brought Zorro in and let he and Amiga munch hay while I waited for the Farrier.










Tom started with Zorro since he only needed a quick trim.  While he was finishing up Zorro's last hoof, Amiga decided to give him a little nuzzle on the neck.

Once Amiga got trimmed and new shoes, I made a beeline for home and took Maggie for a quick walk to checkout the work that the trail builders had done in the woods across from our street.















A closer look at this large slab of rock (mainly sandstone) shows you where the trail builders spent time chipping away at it, in order to make steps.

We also ventured into the woods to take a look at the new little bridge built across the creek and the improved footing of rocks for steps through this rocky out cropping.

I kept our walk short and started spreading wood chips out front, around all the new plantings, as soon as we got home.  A thunderstorm rolled through, including a downpour, putting completion of mulching on hold.  An hour later I was able to get back out and finish it, before going to work.  You can see the wet vs dry mulch in this photo.

I got home from work at 7:30, did two loads of laundry and packed my bags for our weekend trip to Chicago. 

I have been chipping away at Spanish, trying to get my daily Duolingo lessons done each day.  Unfortunately, it is not enough to help me become a Spanish speaker.  But I'll keep giving it a go.

I was in bed at midnight and up at 5 am to get this posted before hitting the road.

The yard work this week was primarily focused on getting all of this pile of wood chips off of the driveway. 

Here is a progression of photos, of the progress we made, chipping away at the pile.  Hauling the chips off was the easy part, weeding old beds and spreading chips around all the plants was the time consuming segment of work.