Monday, Yard work weekend!

 This is the kind of chair I need in the morning. I think it might help with my get up and get it done.  What do you think?

It was a lovely weekend, and I worked way too hard in the yard.  Loved every minute of it.  Do not like the results it left on my body, telling me that I need to move more.

Dan came over with Sissie, and he spent all day burning around the lot.  All the weeds are down, and I am so grateful. It looks so much better.

While Dan was busy setting the world on fire, I was building a new platform into the garden space I am creating. This fence gate kept getting stuck on dirt and needed to be larger.  So, I took some of the bricks Sissie complained about helping me load a few weeks ago and cleaned them with a hammer and then dug out the dirt and laid them for a new walkway into the garden area.  This was a massive amount of work. Kelsa helped me and she was so cute. And she actually helped.  I would clear an area and them tell her to scoop out the extra dirt while I went to the brick pile and cleaned a couple of bricks.  She did an amazing job.

 Clearing this rock back took the better part of the day.  All work on my hands and knees.  Of course, the underlayment is going bad and thick weeds had come up and needed to be dug out. The large brick the is there is from Kay and Dan's place.  They will be getting rid of a whole slew of these, and I will use them to build trench for the stones.  I will also lay new ground cloth.  I found a ton of different ground cloth rolls left by the old owners.  It was in the rafters of the large shed.  I still have to go the Kay and Dan's and load the stones.  But that is for another day.

My pile of free brick is shrinking, but this shows you how much cement was still on the little buggers.  You have to take a hammer and tap, tap, tap until it comes off to clean the brick.  It is slow, but free!

This entire area will be garden, and the clothesline will be moved to the back of the house. I want paths in-between beds to make weeding easier. The soil here is very, very, clay like so I am making at least 3 beds, and they have to be deep to avoid the clay layer. A good three inches of this soil will be lifted and discarded.  Then. brick or stone paths laid, and garden beds built and filled with decent soil.  I can make my own soil as we did with the 100-foot flower bed we made when we moved in.  So much work but much less expensive than buying bagged soil.  I will likely have to have topsoil delivered.

Lil Sis just tore down a large outdoor fireplace and the brick from that is lovely.  The boys, Dan and Nathan will go load it up and bring it here.  I think we will have more than enough to lay all the paths.  But the work.  Ugh!  Thank goodness I enjoy this kind of work.

I am trying to do as much as I can with free finds from relatives and Facebook.  I know I will have to spend on materials for beds and soil. Every little bit that I can do myself and that I can obtain free will help. This area will be blocked off to keep deer and rabbits out!

Dan burned out along the fence line, and I am so grateful not to have to fight the tall weeds that were growing along the snake fencing. So nice to have this done.  But both of us were just wrecked physically buy working all day.  Using muscles we hadn't used in a while. Oil can!

I have already fitted one wedding dress, today that I will need to have done by next Monday. I have another that I will finish today, and I have two more that I want to have ready for fitting done by this evening.  That will only leave me one more to get ready to fit this week. I really want to get outside again and work but alas must stay in the shop.

I hate leaving a project. I am so excited!  It is rainy today so that helps keep me inside.  Really, I don't mind working in a light rain as it is cooler and removing clay soil is back breaking sweaty work.

I need to go price the things I will have to buy for the garden beds. 

Now I am off to sew!!!

What did you guys do this weekend?  Was it fun?

God is good

Kim