Good Day Outside

I love days where I alternate yardwork and relaxation on the deck!

I decided that the Spring Peepers were done with courtship for the year and removed the landscape cloth over the top of the small pond (3'x5').  I had covered it one year with clear plastic to keep the Peepers away, but the airtight conditions produced a horrible-looking purple algae and I had to take the entire thing apart and clean it.  I lost the 3 goldfish in it too.  So I'm careful about that now.  The landscape cover allows air movement.  The new goldfish have been doing fine for several years since.

And, as I am lucky about some things, the take-apart of the algaed pond was good.  The roots of the potted pond plants had nearly filled the pond and I spent hours cutting them apart in cold water.  Now I know to lift all the pots each Springs and cut the roots back to the pot confines.  Time to do that again soon.

So, after hanging the landscape fabric up to dry (after blasting it with high pressure hose water to remove accumulated plant material), carrying the 4"x4"x8' post it was draped over back to the woodshed, and stacking all the bricks I had used to keep the edges down (those Peepers will find any loose spot to crawl into the pond and croak all night), I leaned on the deck rails and looked around the backyard.

I found the next project right at my elbow!  There is a large container pot (2' square) that I planted 5 oriental lilies in 4 or 5 years ago, and they are exploding with shoots.  I'll have to give the container a lot of fertilizer with so many plants, but the first priority was to make a support for them.  Last year, they flopped all over the edges.  I went and picked out 4 3' stakes from the garden shed and set about tying twine arounfd them at 2 heights.  I will make sure to brush the growing stems inside the twine "fence" each few days until they are all above the height and can't fall over over.

The lily container is set about 6' upwind from where I usually stand on the deck.  At peak bloom, the scent can be almost overwhelming (but very appreciated).  This Fall, I really need to cut the stems short, tip the whole container out and try to separate the individual plants.  If that doesn't work, I will have to use the digger knife (think of something between a steak knife and a pruning saw) and cut the soil cube into a 4x4 grid.  Then I'll plant 4 back in the container to grow again and the rest in the sunniest parts of the yard.

So then a rested on the deck and had a beer.

Then I decided that the grass was long enough and dry enough to mow.  I keep the mower at 3.5 ".  That's the healthiest height for my fescue turfgrass.  High grass means deeper roots, which means less watering.  And higher grass height shades out most weeds.  And, by the way, leave the grass clippings on your lawn where they fall (unless you mow them all into the middle of the lawn where they will smother a patch of grass).  In THAT case you have to make a final mowing pass to spread the clippings out a bit.

So after mowing the yard, I went back up onto the deck for more downtime and another beer.  Don't worry, that beer was 2 hours later.  And since I had the Mews in the house while I mowed (I have a horror of very unlikely accidents) I let them out again.  Marley was especially anxious.  I think he would like to live outside in nice weather.  Iza ran out next (I left the screen door open a cat-width).  Ayla came out and in and out and in briefly.

I wish I knew what scares Ayla about being outside these days lately.  She used to want to be outside (and up it trees).  She is twitchy outside all the time.  Well, interestingly, a hawk shot through the yard (first I've seem in years while I was watching the backyard from the deck.  Maybe she had a close call with one.  Whatever, I an willing to just give her attention in the relative safety of the deck when she is willing to come out.  I blame Iza and Marley a bit on this too,  They really do chase her like she is a squirrel when they are all outside.  But, on the other hand, Ayla runs for the fence top when she is out alone, so I'm not REALLY sure what she is thinking.

After the cats were out and running around (more on Marley later), I looked around more and thought "oh, I can put the rain gauge out again, no more freezing temperatures.  I couldn't find it.  I looked "everywhere".  Well, of course, not "everywhere" because I would have found it.  So then I looked in other places.  No luck.  I did the scanning search of the basement (looking every foot in sequence with an image of the item in mind,  No Luck.  I went out and searched the equipment shed.  I went and checked the garden shed.  I searched the basement 2 more times.

I did some more useful stuff and deliberately ignored the rain gauge.  You know how, when you stop thinking of the name of a person, it suddenly comes to you?  I suddenly had an image of the rain gauge sitting on the kitchen pantry floor along with other upright objects like the fire extinguisher, some thermoses, some bottle brushes, etc.  And there it was!  Memory is amazing.  It fails so badly and it works so well.

I decided that earned a 2nd beer and more time on the deck deciding what to do next.  Ans you know what I did?  I went out to remove that one small annoying fallen branch that has been intruding in my view of the backyard for weeks.  It looked reachable from the deck.  It wasn't.  So I found a stick I could break off into a hooked tip and started trying to pull it loose.  It wouldn't fall.   I felt a bit like a lab chimp trying to get a banana hanging from a string on the ceiling, LOL!

So I stopped and looked at the way the branch was hanging.  A 4" fork of the fallen branch was in the tree branch.  So I needed to LIFT the branch off the hook.  No sooner realized than done.

Wow, I'm smarter than a chimp.  LOL!

So I called the Mews inside.  They all ran in willingly.  Dinnertime always makes them respond to calling inside.  I gave them dinner (Wellness chicken, a favorite), I made my dinner (my rule, they eat before I do), and I played tossed treats and mousies while I ate.  Tonight's TV was Planet Earth.  I haven't watched that for a while.

It was a good day!