dirt

a blog about dirt.  and rocks.  it doesn't get much more exciting than this.

i picked up some marigolds and geraniums to fill my window boxes.  i'm hoping these hardy little plants can withstand the 18+ hours of sunlight.  last year, i planted violas/pansies, and they were fried by mid-july.  even with double water duty.  i don't swoon over the these flowers quite the way i do over the pretty purples and lavenders of the pansies, but i hope i have better luck with these (and that they'll maybe last until august.)

my deck planters - all those violas are from around my beds.  they obviously dropped their seeds last year, so i dug them out of the gardens.  it was a little sad to see one tiny plant here, one way over there...  i thought they needed to be cozied together.  right now, these are on the front deck, but i'm thinking i'll have better luck placing them on the back deck, where there is only evening sun shining through the trees.

i explained our south-facing exposure and asked the lady at the greenhouse if there were some hardy flowers that would make it all summer.  she just laughed at me and said

ma'am, i'd like a flower to last all summer, 

like i'd like one that could withstand the palmer winds.  

alrighty.  

while i was planting, ben and a friend prepped the pad for the concrete pour.  raking and measuring.  measuring and raking.  their goal was to have 2 inches between the dirt and gravel and the string, spiderwebbed around the entire pad.  precision technique with the mini backhoe.  lots of shovel work.  raking to your heart's desire.  and just when i thought they were done, the rakes came back out.  there was even this cute little yellow contraption, that i wasn't sure if ben hopped on it for a ride or if you held onto the funny-looking handle-thingy.  it's really a good thing i wasn't the one to tackle this job.  (the machine was operated by a remote-control.  duh.)

if equipment is brought home, the kid's think it's play time.    

even at his young age, jack has many hours operating equipment.  but dylan, not so much, and now i see why.  jack throws a little snit-fit (notice: bottom right photo) if he's not the one behind the controls.  that photo was taken when dylan was riding with dada.  whatta buster.

 but, oh...  

see?

look how happy when he gets his way.