Busy Sunday

20 bags of lava rock. Three rolls of landscape cloth. Lots of those plastic landscape stakes and the oversize metal bobby pins.

Patience. Setting out that damned cloth in an area with large rocks and existing shrubbery is a PITA.

The problem area where King always went first for mulch has been covered. I went a little crazy there--lots of cloth folded over and layered, then buried in several inches of rock. It looks OK. I think I can safely say that my weed problem in that area will be a thing of the past.

Lava rock is still not my favorite. It's the damned brick red color--given that my house is two shades of cream, dark oak or cypress are the shades of mulch or stone that would work better. I've seen black lava rock, but that wouldn't work either. Oh well. Given that there was already some red stuff in place thanks to the folks who lived here previously, I decided to suck it up and go with it. And there's some orange in the chimney brickwork,which makes for a little tonal overlap.

The best thing about the rock, though, is that because of the rough surface, it's very, very difficult to shift around. Which means it's hard to dig through. Which I hope means King won't try, or that he will at least give up after a fruitless minute or two.

Taking a break. I'll feed the guys lunch in a few minutes, then go back to work. I think this is going to be an all-day job, especially if I start the area around the birdbath, which is King's secondary mulch source, and which he visited several times as I worked near the house.

Enjoy it now, you &^%$#*.

Busy Sunday

20 bags of lava rock. Three rolls of landscape cloth. Lots of those plastic landscape stakes and the oversize metal bobby pins.

Patience. Setting out that damned cloth in an area with large rocks and existing shrubbery is a PITA.

The problem area where King always went first for mulch has been covered. I went a little crazy there--lots of cloth folded over and layered, then buried in several inches of rock. It looks OK. I think I can safely say that my weed problem in that area will be a thing of the past.

Lava rock is still not my favorite. It's the damned brick red color--given that my house is two shades of cream, dark oak or cypress are the shades of mulch or stone that would work better. I've seen black lava rock, but that wouldn't work either. Oh well. Given that there was already some red stuff in place thanks to the folks who lived here previously, I decided to suck it up and go with it. And there's some orange in the chimney brickwork,which makes for a little tonal overlap.

The best thing about the rock, though, is that because of the rough surface, it's very, very difficult to shift around. Which means it's hard to dig through. Which I hope means King won't try, or that he will at least give up after a fruitless minute or two.

Taking a break. I'll feed the guys lunch in a few minutes, then go back to work. I think this is going to be an all-day job, especially if I start the area around the birdbath, which is King's secondary mulch source, and which he visited several times as I worked near the house.

Enjoy it now, you &^%$#*.

In the valley of *spla*

Lava rock does not spread like mulch (insert major league DUH here). Hence, the 20 bags I thought would be more than enough to cover both the area by the house and the birdbath garden only covered the area by the house. But, that spot is done, and it looks ok. Much neater. All the mulch sites are buried.

I am utterly wiped. Feet ache. Shoulders ache. Next Saturday, weather permitting, I will put rock down in the birdbath garden. Then King will have to content himself with dirt and grass when he gets in the mood to upchuck.

I am irrirated. This wasn't what I planned to do today, and now I'm so wiped that I doubt I'll get much writing done. I know it had to get done, but damn, I wish I could take that dog by the ears and say Yo Butthead--Lay Off The Wood, and he'd like, understand. Ok, he'd say, I'll stick to grass and limit the upchucking to once a week. Outside. Thank you, I'd say. Biscuit?

I don't believe tomorrow's Monday already...

In the valley of *spla*

Lava rock does not spread like mulch (insert major league DUH here). Hence, the 20 bags I thought would be more than enough to cover both the area by the house and the birdbath garden only covered the area by the house. But, that spot is done, and it looks ok. Much neater. All the mulch sites are buried.

I am utterly wiped. Feet ache. Shoulders ache. Next Saturday, weather permitting, I will put rock down in the birdbath garden. Then King will have to content himself with dirt and grass when he gets in the mood to upchuck.

I am irrirated. This wasn't what I planned to do today, and now I'm so wiped that I doubt I'll get much writing done. I know it had to get done, but damn, I wish I could take that dog by the ears and say Yo Butthead--Lay Off The Wood, and he'd like, understand. Ok, he'd say, I'll stick to grass and limit the upchucking to once a week. Outside. Thank you, I'd say. Biscuit?

I don't believe tomorrow's Monday already...