Busy Sunday

First, aren't computers so much fun?  I imported 38 pictures to iPhoto and processed them (crops, definition, and exposure).  On the last one, the Apple Spinning Beach Ball Of Death attacked and stayed on for 15 minutes.  I decided the previous adjustments had been made and "forced quit" iPhoto.  I can redo that last photo.

It took away everything after April 27!  I can understand that it didn't same tonight's photos, but I have NO idea why any previous ones vanished.  There isn't even a requirement (or option) to save each processing session.  After they are processed they are done.

Note:  I save all the original pictures because I have the space and that is the easiest way to decide which pictures to select each day.  That's why I have a 1 TB computer.  I desire to stay "cloudless" and keep things under my control as best I can.

FORTUNATELY, my current camera does not have and "auto-delete-after-importing".  So I merely re-imported all the pictures and deleted the older ones from the imported (not the camera "just in case")

There were a lot of Laz.  But there were also some of my work clearing the site for Iza's burial spot, so I can show some progress.

There was a shrub I disliked with 3" roots spreading.  I decided it had to go.  And the roots were not cuttable with a chain saw (dirt destroys chain saw chains).  So I bought a 3-pack of carbide-tipped pruning blades for a reciprocating saw (aka "saw's all", though mine is a De Walt brand).  It came with a 4th as a freebie.  Cool.


Today, I massacred the shrub.  It wasn't as easy as you might think.  The small branches were hard to cut because they just vibrated, so I used a hedge trimmer.  The large branches fell on me with the briars poking me.  I had to keep switching tools.

THEN I finally had room to dig around for a deep hole for Iza the rest in.  3" shrub roots!  Well, that was what the special pruning saw blades were for!   I used a spade to get rid of a dirt around the roots as best I could and attacked the roots.  It wasn't like a "hot knife through butter" but it worked well enough and I was able to pry them out of the soil.  If I wear out one saw blade that cost $3, worth it.

But I finally got them out of the way to dig the hole for Iza.  And with the shrub gone, those roots will die and decay.

So I started digging the hole.  3" and stop!  Hard clay.  I managed to get it 6" deep and stopped.  I was pounding on the soil with a sharp spade and pounding on it with a "mutt" .


And I know what happens when I do that for too long these days.  3 hours later, my hands would do that awful "twisty-clenching".  I'm getting older and things are harder.  And they did.  Some Aspercreme rub and and ibuprophen helps.

So I filled the hole with water to soften the clay.  It took hours  to soak in.  I didn't realize the soil was so bad.  Filled it again.  Within any luck, I will dig through softer clay tomorrow.

The hole will be at least 2 feet deep and wide.  I have the marker finished for her spot.  I lifted LC's to match it and that will be returned.  I think I will lay down a large piece of heavy corrugated cardboard to stop weeds growing around them and the cut shrub from regrowing.  I measured one carefully and it happens to fit perfectly.  It will probably last 2 or 3 years.  I have other large corrugated cardboard for them.

I will never let weeds grow among the markers again.  Lift the markers, set down new corrugated cardboard...

Iza Marker

I finished making the Iza Memorial marker yesterday.  I couldn't find the right size brass letters at first and then it took 2 weeks for them to arrive.  Apparently, 2" brass letters are actually only 1 3/4", so they match.  BTW, these came with simple slot-head screws.  Any company who provides such nearly-unusable screws should be ashamed.  Phillips heads are managable, square heads are better, star heads are amazing. 

And, naturally, I had to make it match Skeeter's and LC's markers and I had gone all fancy then.  Couldn't be a simple box or upright stand.  No, I wanted an angled front so the letters would show up.  Now I have to keep doing that.

Well, I don't mind; it's a labor of love and remembrance.  But I keep having to figure out the angles of the cuts, and after 10 years, I didn't remember exactly.  I messed up a couple of pieces.

But all turned out well...

I had initially removed the perennial plant between Skeeter's and LC's markers a couple days after Iza went over The Bridge, but my right knee fails sometimes so I couldn't dig deeper.  I have been careful with the knee for weeks, so I was ready to dig again today.

Shrub branches and briars were in the way, so I used a cordless hedge trimmer freely.  The briars were interwoven with the shrub.

But I plan to remove that large shrub anyway.  Golden Euonymus.  Evergreen to yellow leaves.  The label said 5' high and 3 feet wide,  HAH!  They grow to 10' high and 5' wide.

I only mention that because the spot where I want to bury Iza is covered with 2" thick roots from one.  I spent an hour yesterday digging up offshoots, briars, and poison ivy.  Can't have those above my sweet girl!  I think I will place black plastic or corrugated cardboard over the soil under the 3 markers to keep the weeds down.

But the shrub roots are thick.  I could cut some with an ax, but I have serious tree roots from a neighbor tree on the surface and making mowing BUMPY like driving over railroad ties.  So I've ordered "landscaping blades" for my reciprocating saw.  They will arrive in a week.

Every delay hurts.  Iza needs to be properly buried deeply and with some few artifacts of her life.  But Iza's spirit is free even if her body is triple-bagged in the freezer.  I hate that, but I have to wait yet again...  I need the saw blade to cut through the shrub roots and pry them out.

Damn, digging holes with a pry bar and shovel in frozen ground for both Skeeter and LC was actually easier.  But I am determined that Iza will be buried no less deeply nor without a few things she loved.