It was a busy weekend with 3 yards of 50/50 Topsoil/Mulch mix being delivered on Saturday. David and I got the 3 yards moved from the side yard to the planters and flowerbeds. Initially, the large raised bed was accessed by David using a ramp that was built by the cement guys. That was until the wheelbarrow slipped and fell over on its side spilling most of a wheelbarrow of dirt into the pool. After that, we carted the mix into the planter by use of a large bucket with rope handles. The problem with that scenario is that the usable bucket only had one handle. We had another bucket on the side where the bottom had been punctured. We had to set the good bucket with the bad handles into the bad bucket with the good handles and fill the bucket and then carry both into the raised bed and dump it. I wanted to change out handles, but the handles are put into the bucket and then the rope is knotted and then melted to hold firm (apparently that didn't happen with the one bucket). It took us awhile, but we got the mix put in and most of the dirt moved and settled. Daniel joined us when we were mostly done and helped move the last yard of mix into the planters and also built a box around the waterfall controls, which are in the ground and are ball cock PVC controls. He also put in a border at the shed which will mark off the planter from the gravel around the shed.
I sprayed down the side driveway and took a quick shower and took the boys and Darla out to Homai Hong Kong Buffet for All You Can Eat Chinese Food. It isn't Darla's favorite restaurant, but they have good Won Ton soup, foil wrapped chicken and pot stickers and decent Orange Chicken and Walnut Chicken. The boys had some Sashimi and Sushi as well. There was a father son duo in the restaurant that I'm sure the restaurant lost money on. The Dad was huge and the son, who was about 12, must have weighed 250 pounds. The two of them went through the line like a tornado, loading their plates high with all manner of food. I watched the son in awe as he piled a mountain of food on his plate. At one point, he decided he wanted more of something and simply used his hand like a shovel to move the food over on his plate so he could slop more of the chow onto his plate. It was like watching a slow motion accident. You didn't want to watch, but you couldn't take your eyes off them. They were both three full plates into the carnage when we finally left the restaurant.
Sunday was church and a transition day weather wise. Saturday was light breezes and a high of 79 degrees. Sunday dawned overcast and breezy and cold. We were beaten by the wind on the walk from the car to church and back out again. Darla and I stopped at Home Depot and shopped for plants, using $300 in gift cards that I had from the appliance purchases we made in the kitchen. Darla and I bought three Sego palms, two ferns, a Pineapple Guava plant, two photinias, a lavender tree, and a pink vermillon tree as well as six pots of ground cover for the pool transition area. These plants are supposed to be hardy enough to handle chlorinated water. We'll see. Home Depot has a guarantee on all of their plants, so we kept the receipts. Those few plants, a bag of Organic Mulch, two gallons of paint for the shed, a paint brush set, and a bag of grass seed for the side yard by the driveway cost us $413.00.
By the time we got back from Home Depot, the clouds had broken and the sun was out. The wind had moderated and it ended up about 72 degrees during the afternoon. Darla spent the day painting the shed. The back wall of the shed was built right against the fence and hedge and was never painted and the rest of the shed had weathered since it was built in 2000 by Dad and I. She helped me place the plants in the backyard and then I planted them all while she painted. It was a long weekend and I'm feeling a bit stiff and sore, but the backyard is beginning to take shape. Daniel came home when I was finished planting the plants and I asked him what he thought of the look. He said, "Well it's okay, but the plants are kind of small." I know I could have made a bigger impression with 25 gallon plants, instead of 5 and 15 gallon plants, but I also know how fast they grow and how much more planting I have left back there. I also want to acid stain the stamped concrete a sandstone color to get it to all match perfectly as well as put a sealer and "wet look" on the flagstone. Money is definitely an issue as it all costs to improve the look of the backyard. I still have fifteen or twenty plants to buy as well as the ground cover for the area in the foreground of the picture of the pool.
It was kind of funny, when I finally finished sewing the grass seed and mowing the lawn and it came time to spray down the deck and clean up, Darla stopped me and made me promise to spray the water away from "her shed". She spent a day painting the shed. Dad and I spent four days building it, but now it's "her shed".
I did get out and play golf in the perfect weather on Saturday and shot a 41+41=82 for a net 69 and took second place in the Cobra Golf tournament at Diamond Oaks. Boyd shot 73 and Bob Pando shot 84. I managed that score with two double bogeys and two birdies and was putting the ball well. Darla leaves for Mexico this weekend and I plan to get out a couple of afternoons next week and will play Woodcreek again on Saturday. I will likely set up a bit tougher golf game for the following weekend as I get ready for Pebble Beach on Monday the 9th of April and Spanish Bay on the 10th. I'm already beginning to pray for good weather. I know I got the "deal" at $1530 for two days stay and two golf games because it is off season. A friend of mine called to set up a tee time and stay in October and the price is $4,100 for a three day stay with three days of golf and that is the minimum stay required. now $1530 sounds cheap.
Jennifer will be going for her checkup today and see how her surgery went. I talked to her this weekend and they went out for dinner and got her out of the house on Saturday to see a movie. She sat at the bottom of the upper section so she could rest her foot on the rail while she watched the movie. She seems to be doing really well and the pain has subsided. She will have an update on her blog today or tomorrow, so check it out.
Well, work awaits. It is my day to do payroll and I have to have that done by nine AM my time. Work continues at a good pace, but we've had a couple of our managers quit in Home Office and things are in a bit of turmoil back East. Have a great week. I plan on working on the back yard a little more next week and the oasis should continue to morph going forward. Be well. Ciao.
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