Landscaping, Part 3

So I got to the point where I wanted to put edging around the trees and shrubs in the front yard.  The point was to prevent lawn grass from invading and to give a visual edge to the beds.  Well, the stuff is pretty much useless!

The widest I found was 6".  And 3" above ground is "ok" but 3" inches below ground won't hold in place.  Mowers push it loose and frost heaves it up.  It really has to be 12" and I couldn't find any.  I've gotten tired of going around the edging with a spade to push it back in again.

My lot is slightly sloped.  It is 100' wide and 200' front to back.  The front to back slope is about 6-8'.  Not enough to cause any rainfall problem, but enough to make edging awkward.  My cross-street neighbors have several nice inter-locking pavers set 3 high in tan and red.  Looks great.

But of course I don't want to copy them.  So I had the idea of buying 12" pavers to lay down around the curved edging around the Saucer Magnolia tree and then add a single layer of interlocking bricks on top to define the area.  I ordered both.  They arrived last October.

Then I discovered a problem.  Now, I am good at geometry, but I sure didn't think it right this time!  Square pavers leave gaps around a curved bed...  Where grass can grow...  Which is what the pavers were supposed to prevent.  😭

So I have another idea in mind.  I built a step-down shadow-box fence around the backyard a few years after I moved in.  You can see the "step-down" (for the sloping yard), and the alternating inside/outside "shadow box" boards here...

The point is that most of the boards had to be cut to length (variously above and less than 6').  And that left pieces.

I saved them of course...

So it occurs to me that I could make an edging using those pressure treated wood pieces (cut at random heights.  They can all go down 6" for stability and still stick up 6-10" high (to define the edges).  The boards will touch edge to edge to form a good curve.  And I can further stabilize them by using exterior construction adhesive to attach the old plastic edging on the inside of the boards.

Sometimes, it takes a while to figure out a good solution to a problem.  I think I've found it.  Then it will be on to other problems...  😁

The State Of The Mews

Trying new things to fix "fuss&upset"...

Marley still has kidney problems and alway will.  But the kidney care Hill's Science diet (and some portion control for weight) has helped.  And he will be 14 in August.  Elderly cats usually develop some problem.  I can't do anything about that.  

Lori is still upset about Loki and Binq.  I can't do much about that either.  But things are slowly getting better.  Lori and Loki sniff noses and butts sometimes.  They walk past each other calmly sometimes.  They eat near each other sometimes.  

There are still hisses and raised paws, but not like at first.  I have seen them sitting calmly a foot apart a couple of times.

Lori is still having stress-diarrhea issues.  I say "stress" only because the Vet says it has gone on too long and meds should have solved any physical issues by now.  There could be something more serious physically and if Lori and Loki resolve their psychological issues and Lori still has diarrhea, we will try more serious tests (disease, blockage, whatever).  I want her around for a long long time.

But I can say the diarrhea problems are less frequent.  There are now several clean days to each bad one.  Which (to me) seems to fit the "stress" idea.  And to be fair to Loki, Lori initiates about half the "fusses".

Loki is still a problem.  He arrived with "eye-goop" and abdominal muscle spasms.  Those have both gone away.  Meds cleared the head infection and I have no idea why the abdominal spasms occurred or why they stopped.  Some problems stop and you know why (meds) and some stop and you never do know why.    

One day he just stopped having those abdominal spasms.  I didn't even notice at first.  It's like when an itch stops.  All of a sudden, you just realize it ended...

Loki's biggest problem is that he suddenly started peeing on my bed a month ago.  I didn't know which cat it was, but every few days, the sheets/blankets were wet.  First once a week, then every few days, then every day.  

I finally caught him "in the act".  I yelled (wish I hadn't; he must have had a reason).  Well, I was frustrated!  I don't know how many of you have ever had a waterbed.  I've been sleeping on waterbeds for about 40 years.  I love the "give" as my body settles onto it.  Some people hate them.  But because water absorbs warmth from the body, you need layers of sheets and blankets beneath you even with a heated one.

So I have 3 sheets and 3 blankets below me and 1 of each above.  Well, I was getting tired of laundering sheets and blankets every couple of days.  I put a plastic tarp over the bed, so that if he peed there his own pee would pool around his paws.  I thought that would discourage him.  Not at all...

THAT didn't even stop him.  And a few days ago, while I was right there next to him, he was sitting on the bed and I recognized the "litter box blank stare"!  And the pee rolled to the edge of the bed and wet the bedcovers.  I had to wash everything again.  And my washer/dryer can only handle 1 blanket and one sheet each cycle.  Took all day!

I decided that Loki was "too much trouble" and needed to be returned to the Shelter in hopes he would find a new home that didn't cause him stress.  I've thought that several times in the past month.  

I go between "Loki is never going to be quite domesticated" and "I need to find some way to keep him here".  I am angry one day and trying to be tolerant the next.  Loki loves me personally.  He seeks (and gets) all the attention I can give divided among 4 cats.  He seeks me out and follws me everywhere.  He is definitely happy around me.  And he is happy around Marley and Binq.

It isn't a litter box problem.  Loki happily poops in them.  And I know the "1 box per cat" guidance (so I have 4) and I clean them every day before I make my own dinner (makes it easy to remember to do).

So I've changed tactics.  The tarp stays on the bed as pee-proofing of the blankets and sheets below.  And that works because I put an old sheet on top of the tarp.  That way, any pee is soaked up by the old sheet.  I will launder an old sheet every day for his life if I have to.  

Because it isn't his fault that he is having a peeing problem.  It is mine to help solve (OK maybe the Vet too).  

I have occasionally mentioned that I am constantly amazed that some animals can share our human artificial spaces.   Dogs need to be walked, rabbits poop anywhere, I don't even know what ferrets do.  Cats usually just need a litterbox.  

That's part of the human/cat bargain.  We provide shelter/food/attention and they use the clean litterboxes.  But they have to use the litterboxes.

The old sheet on the tarp covering the bed has stayed dry for 4 days.  That is great news.  

Maybe, a few months from now, all The Mews will snuggle together, Loki will stop peeing on the bed, etc.  

Meanwhile, I will go about planting the garden and cleaning the house...  *Sigh*