We are finally getting a real fire pit area in our backyard. It ain’t cheap but we have enlisted the help of a local landscaping firm. They start the week of August 25th and it should only take a few days. Then we can have some mega bonfires in our backyard…good thing I have a few contacts at the fire department. We are going to put this in an area that is currently filled with flowers. So…starting at 8:00 a.m. today I moved rocks, and dug up plants, and dug holes for new plants, and leveled another area in the garden, and built a rock wall, and dug up monster weeds, and lost 10lbs in water weight 🙂 The kids got up with me…here they are in the pajamas first thing this morning helping me get everything done!
With Beth’s degree in genetics we need to cross-pollinate this weed with carrot. No lie…the root on the biggest one that was entirely underground was taller than Megan. I’m just glad it all came up when I pulled it…no way I ever would have dug to the bottom of this one!
So…after spending 7 straight hours of digging and sweating and working hard…my fire pager goes off for a garage fire. Blah. It was almost 90 degrees here – weather that is no fun to fight a fire. I get to the station and end up being the driver (which was good because I probably didn’t have enough energy to repeatedly go into the burning house). By the time we got there the attached garage no longer existed – all we could see was a driveway and house next to the driveway…no garage. Several hours later I got back home to a much needed trip to the hot tub 🙂 We sent two fire fighters to the hospital on this one with heat related fatigue…it was a lot of work today for everyone on the scene.
While the family was in St. Louis I bought a hummingbird feeder. Amazingly (to me at least), within an hour or two of putting it up I saw a hummingbird. In several years of living here I think we have only seen two hummingbirds ever…so this was crazy. Since then we have seen a bunch of hummingbirds…here’s one in the yard today.
Phelps rocks…what a stud…lots of medals…although his life for the past 8 years has consisted of eating, swimming, sleeping, eating, swimming, sleeping…I guess we all choose our path in life. Edwards is an idiot. Did you see that weightlifting dude disolcated his elbow…ouch. Megan is afraid of monsters in her room…help! This has been a crazy week…I’ll put up some pictures from the family in St. Louis next.
I could have used some digging help yesterday in preparation for our new mailbox post. The hole had to be 36″ deep and 18″ across – not easy to do in NH. Not only were there a lot of rocks, but also large pieces of asphalt. They delivered the new post this a.m. I could have saved $90 and picked it up myself. I asked the driver if many people do that. He said a few, but mostly contractors who have the equipment. This was my economic stimulus check – supporting our economy and not “theirs.”
I still haven’t started our pond out in back. After yesterday’s digging I’m beginning to have some doubts about all the rock that’s probably buried there. Are your diggers available? Just how big is your fire pit going to be, anyway? Should be nice.
I was thinking about trying to photograph some of our hummingbirds the other day. Maybe I’ll try it. We have pictures of our neighborhood turkey. If if keeps raiding our garden, it may be shot with something else (a sqirt gun, of course).
Don’t they sell dyn-o-mite at the hardware store? That should take care of your digging. The fire pit is big enough to roast marshmallows and then get the kids running in fear for their lives – maybe 16′ across with a 3′ fire ring…I’m guessing. Much nicer than our previous one…