June 2020

I wonder how many of us have used the various lockdowns and shelter in place orders due to the Covid-19 virus to clean out or repurpose at least one closet. In my case, it was the pantry. Late in the building process, I had the opportunity to share the pantry space between groceries, staples, and cookware on one side and on the other side, the audio/video and communications hub. Very old school meets high tech. At least, that was how it was supposed to be. I had requested that a closet storage system called Easytrack be used in the appropriate...

Finished hauling mulch to the flowerbeds on Sunday. Had enough to cover all beds but had hoped there would be enough to do the underside of the deck and ramp in back. I really like the deck but not that ramp. There has got to be a better way. Been working on a solution, off and on, since I received the news from the builder that the house would have the ramp. Another project that will continue ruminating until I get earth moving and digging capabilities. There are so many frogs here. Certain times of the year (OK, all summer),...

I’ve reached the approximate midway point of this yard work project. I think back to what I had originally wanted when I first talked to the local nursery that laid the sod and created the flowerbeds. I was wanting to install just the sod to about 25 feet out from the house. Whole point was to reduce the mud considerably until the grass (or anything greenish) could grow and keep the one dog and me from picking up mud and bringing it in. The Nursery guy talked me into flowerbeds. He was probably right about helping resale value but I...

…that I don’t mind mowing. I’ve been learning how to get tall fescue grass to grow on the portions of the Old Radio Ranch that were leveled off to build or had the topsoil scraped off as part of the lot leveling or tree removal process. It is Kentucky and even the botanically challenged should be able to grow some bluegrass. I am also changing flowerbed locations to lawn as my furry friends wreck havoc on the existing flowerbeds that are in their path. As an area gets cleared of briars and saplings, it can be planted, AND, every cleared...

Surprisingly, the mulch made it through the rain without any problems. Went ahead and ordered the edging so that I can get it down before I use up the remaining ton of mulch. There will be places needing fill after the edging goes in. Went all out and spray painted the bottoms of the gutter drains that feed the water collection system. Original paint had worn off showing green 4 inch pipe. Mulch installation has gone well with the exception of my top heavy mulch transport cart wanting to turn over on my steep backyard.

I didn’t want to make a big deal out of putting down some mulch. Its one of those tasks that almost everyone has to do at some point in life and there is normally nothing special about it. I’ve used pine straw, shredded bark, bark nuggets and shredded clippings that had been processed through a shredding machine to fill many flowerbeds over the years. The local nursery mulched during the original installation of the shrubbery here and then again when they did some yard repair caused by an external plumbing rework that was not detected until after the lawn had...