Sunday, March 28, 2010

So Sore

This was a labor intensive weekend. Friday the dirt was delivered for the garden and Saturday John spent the morning disturbing some new running/biking trail. Saturday morning Sam pr'd in the Rock the Parkway half marathon. Sunday afternoon Sam rode 40 miles in the wind, getting ready for the half ironman in New Orleans. Needless to say, we are groaning like old people.
Last Saturday it snowed pretty much the entire day. The flamingo and tulips say it all. Not cool.
Friday at 3 we got a call saying the dirt was on its way. It was suppose to rain all Saturday so everything needed to get in the garden. Seven tons of dirt later with help from Jerad and Brian and refreshments from Eric and Elise, the driveway was clear. The dirt was 1/3 topsoil, 1/3 sand, and 1/3 compost. The beds got a good coat of soybean oil sealer.
Mulch filled in around the boxes to keep us from getting muddy. Since it has been cold we put a hoop house on one of the boxes to raise the temperature and help kick off some of the plants.
A few PVC pieces and fittings later, there you have it. Even though it didn't get finished until later afternoon, the temperature was noticeably warmer inside.
And on top of everything, I got the concrete planter finished. Eric helped me move it into place. Just say this planter won't blow away in the wind.
Now Sam can get busy filling it. The bottom 2/3s will probably need to be foam.

Monday, March 15, 2010

One Full Weekend

Even though the weather was cold and rainy this weekend we did get a bunch done. Saturday we did a long run in the rain, worked around the house, and went to Alice in Wonderland. It was pretty entertaining in 3D. Sunday I placed some concrete, went for a run, and roasted a chicken while Sam did a brick in the rain. My ridding skills aren't that good so I stuck to the kitchen.
Most of the seeds are starting to come up. I put together a cheap grow light setup in the garage.
Our new bird feeder from Moma.
I finished the raised beds, which is the easy part. Now I have to fill them with dirt.
I placed the concrete ends for the planter. I may end up building two for the side deck.
All in all it was a pretty good weekend. This coming is going to be warmer and lighter, looks like spring is here.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

That's Good Sunshine

This past weekend was so nice. It was sunny and warm so we both had motivation for some projects. We went for a bike ride and did a little shopping. For the first time this year we opened the doors and the cats spent the weekend watching squirrels and our chipmunk. The foxes are back and leaving half eaten forest creatures in the backyard. Overall it was very productive for everyone.
Portland started the weekend sunning the belly.
Sam worked outside cleaning flower beds. The tulips and daffodils grew a few inches each day. We might have some blooming flowers by the end of the week.
Align Center I picked up some extra ipe wood from Jerad and started building the raised beds for the garden.
There will end up being five boxes. I manged to get two finished this weekend.
I built a mold for some concrete and ipe planters for the side deck. Hopefully spring is here for good.