Victoria Day Weekend, Good Day to Work Around Home

Home on the Ridge

Clemson slept through the night like a good little boy. I did too. 😊 Not sure when I first woke up but I got up around 7 and was grateful for the opportunity to sleep as long as I wanted. Bill was downstairs but I don’t think he was up long. Today is Saturday, May 18^th, the beginning of the long weekend. As a working citizen, we looked forward to this weekend as the first of the year where camping began.

Bill covered Clemson up on the couch so he'd stop shivering
He hopped down and played 'superhero' for a while

I looked out the window and Bill was already back
and tilling my garden

The rest is up to me
Bill removed many of these rocks but I'm sure I'll find more when I rake
We live on a rocky Ridge!

The temperature this morning was 42F/5C when I woke up. Winds were moderate and although the sun didn’t rise for us and the clouds ruled, it wasn’t raining. That meant my sheets should dry soon enough. We had our morning brew together before Bill hopped in the truck and drove over to the Acreage to pick up Donna’s roto tiller. It was time to get my garden ready! Once he had it here, we found a couple more things that we wanted to till as well.

The firepit area was a sore spot for me
so it was time to spruce it up

I also wanted a small flower garden patch along one section of the fence
going down the east side of the corral
I got my wish

I made omelettes for breakfast around 9:30 and Bill had his in a toasted sandwich and I had mine plain. After dishes, out he went and worked around the property. I got cleaned up and drove into Durham to the post office for stamps, to Home Hardware to look for bird seed and then FS where I actually got what I wanted. 

I knew these would be dry when I returned from town

I stopped at McGowan Falls for my first peek and took some pictures before going across the street to a garage sale. Nothing there that I wanted but with a lot of antique gardening displays, I'm glad I stopped.

For such a small town, it sure gets busy on weekends

I've never seen the falls only active on the left side like this
so I'm glad I stopped

The walking bridge across to the beach I go to sometimes
I don't like the bridge, although solid, the water rushes underneath
and there are gaps in the metal path
Clemson doesn't like it and neither do I

I had suggested tilling the area around the firepit so I could make it nicer and not have to pull grass out around it as often. I didn’t quite have a plan but it came together after lunch after he tilled it for me. 

I always admire this beautiful piece of property across from the falls
Prime spot for sure
This is where the garage sale was

Bill then sprayed the corral hill, the bane of our existence when cutting grass. The section that I spent hours raking. We are determined to kill this grass and either plant ground cover or just let it moss over. After doing that, he gathered rocks from the fence line surrounding the field and then moved our cut wood from one pile to another up along the fence.

Bill brought all this wood up from down by the Hangar
The riding mower and wagon got put to good use today

Eventually, I made my way outside and started raking the fire pit. I layered up and soon went the opposite way. It wasn’t hot, rather it was a nice day to work outside. I raked the stones and grass out first, then separated them. The grass went over the hill and the stones I piled together. Instead of just placing the firepit back and waiting for grass to grow again, I laid some landscape fabric on the area, making it larger than the original pit. Hmmm, now what?

My new garden plot and I need to clean it up
and decide on flowers

I decided to replace the stones on top, arrange the bricks for the pit to sit on and fill in with some of our own gravel from around the patio mat. It is a nice small stone/sand mix. I felt pretty good, taking breaks when I needed to and by the time I finished, I was quite pleased with what I’d accomplished. I placed the pit back on and with some adjustment, levelled a brick so it sat evenly. Bill wasn’t understanding my method, I do things ‘rinky-dink’ sometimes but it worked out in the end.

I had to fill it in with stones and gravel to cover the screening

I'm happy with the result

When we both finished, Bill drove over to the Acreage to get water. The gate was open indicating that Mike was out at his trailer. That saved us having to stop and we drove right in. The black flies were crazy! I got out briefly but soon hopped back in the truck, where I remained until the bladder was full. Bill was in and out as well, rather than getting eaten alive! That’s the problem with so many cedar trees. We were happy to return to the Ridge with the wide openness up here.

Coming from the back of the Acreage towards the front
That is Mike's truck up there

And as we got closer, Mike's trailer on the other
side of the wood shed

Bill fed Clemson and because we’d both worked hard today, we agreed on toasted bacon, cheese and tomato sandwiches. Yum. The wind picked up and ranged between 6 and 15 mph during the later afternoon. 

And as advertised, the grass was dying
WOW!

We didn’t get over 60f/16C today but it was a pretty nice day for what we did. At a few minutes after 5, I was hungry and ready for supper. We’d had a sugar-free soda earlier with some cheddar cheese so needed something a little heavier.

This little goldfinch says 'thank you Patsy'

I cooked the bacon in the microwave, toasted the seeded bread while Bill sliced cheese and tomatoes. We were eating and cleaned up by 6:15 and I was able to focus on posting my blog early tonight. 

Some garden plants for you
Love love love the periwinkle when it blooms

My ground cover, phlox, is budding getting ready to bloom

A cute formation of Hens and Chicks

One of my Poppy plants in bloom

There were a lot of our programs on our PVR to watch in the next few nights. This was a great day and we both feel exhausted so I’m not sure how much tv we’ll see and who’ll crash first. I hope you’ve enjoyed your Saturday too!

No sunset again so instead
One  Goose Family hurrying the babies to the water as I stopped at the road

And 50' away, this family also told the children to move quicker
Good night everyone!

Thank you for popping in! Your comments are always appreciated.