Yard Work

I owe you my subjects in artistic pictures next week. Between errands and my lazy attitude this week, I never got to any of the outdoor places I was planning to for pictures. This is not, however, a picturless update.

There really is nothing extrodinary to post about this week. I'm sorry, I can't help it, we are a settled couple and happily childless. Add into the fact that allergies prevent anything but fish as pets and you have the humdrum day to day lives that we enjoy.

Today though, while we were out and about I told Chad that I wanted to go to the local big box home improvement store for a few cheepy supplies. (It has been determined that I will have to make it to a garden center with pictures and clippings to know for certain what some of my shrubs are.) And so we picked up a few simple things, a rake, fertlizer type stuff, a spreader, a couple of chairs for the front porch and a little table, you know little stuff. While I dreamed about things I needed measurments for as well and came home.

The rake was my idea and I had wanted it for the few errant leaves that come to us from across the street and for when I'm ready to get rid of the pine straw and put down mulch in the flower beds. Chad kind of laughed but it was only four dollars so he humored me.

Well, when we got home we started working in the yard (the back grass need cut anyways, I wish I knew what type of grass it was in the hydroseed) myself measuring the areas I need to and Chad chasing those errant leaves. And yet, we were surprised by how much there was to rake up in the yard. Let me pause here to show you my yard as of yesterday:

This shows you 85% of the property. The corners are cut out in the picture and you can't really see the back yard. Not that it's a big log, certainly nothing like any of the homeowners we know in the Upstate. My dad promplty, and appropriatly, laughs when we talk about doing yard work. After all, on a slow day it takes Chad about thirty to fourty minutes to cut the back yard. Took him about an hour and fifteen minutes to do the back and the front when it was needing to be cut. My parents front yard is about twice that time if you want to do a good job.

So, when we found that we were getting this while raking:
We were a bit shocked. In the house I went for bags to collect it in when we had gotten more of the yard done:
We came out with eight bags total. Who would have guessed from our little yard. Next time we know to get clear bags so that the city can haul it away to use for mulch.

We were surprised at how much neater the yard looked post raking. (And we spread our fertilizer type stuff on it too) See:

Now I'm ready for the grass to be green again. But I really don't have long to wait seeing as for SC spring is well underway.

I'll leave you with two more pictures from yesterday and I promise to have fourteen subject pictures next week (we are supposed to have some really good weather on my days off. I plan on convincing Chad to run around with me while I take pics.)

I went outside at sunset last night to try to get pictures of the lunar eclipse. Alas it was way too cloudy to see it at all but clouds make for beautiful sunsets, such as this one:


All I got to see of the lunar eclipse was an eerie red glow on the clouds:


And that does me for now. At least until I find something else I'm in need of help with, have to share, or next Sunday comes and it's time to post again.

Take care all!