Ten-foot round, Two-feet deep...

Figured out a personal Greeting Sign for this place:

Welcome to the Asylum
where Crazy People are Happy
and Sane People go Crazy.

Made a shed door out of scrap, so now I can put a padlock on it. One reason to lock it, and she's twelve. Then I zenned in the back yard, trying to Gain the Vision (vs. Holding the Vision, which is the 10th Insight in the Celestine Prophecy series). Foundation blocks were exposed due to the low land, and I've wanted to bank it up for heat and run-off prevention.

A dump-truck load of black dirt costs about as much as repairing my cracked windshield... and I have a shovel. (And I don't have $200 to frivolously waste 'on dirt', which I'd need to wheel-barrow anyway.) So - it seemed sensible to dig where the dirt was just lying around and use it for banking. I also used up the last of the construction styrofoam by tiering it along the wall; it may help with cold (or may not) but it will give some support for rocks... and also reduced the needed dirt by half.

Yesterday morning I scanned the yard for where I might want a hole for future use, standing here and there as I Gained the Vision - kind of. Rather than shovel square, figured I'd shovel round, so fetched a board about 7 feet long and a piece about 3 feet and did a crude 10-foot circle with them.

Me being me, I scalped the top layer of growth (mostly some type of hardy ground cover that thrives despite dogs) to place elsewhere... I moved a different 'hill' earlier this week and to top the banking later.

Of course it rained. I had the styrofoam in place and a portion of the dirt, but was forced inside when the rain got serious. Took advantage of it to run into Towne on some errands, took a little downtime, and after it cleared I got back on with my digging. Except it weighed about twice as much and stuck to the shovel, so it was a bit more difficult.

Got most of it done by 10 p.m., then called it a day. I get to play with rocks next!

And I just found the seed packets that mysteriously disappeared here for several weeks, and The Others denied having seen them: mixed in with the pile of mail Sera sticks by the bread box. Wunnerful, because I thought these were caught in the garbage so replaced them with other plants.... Now I need to figure out where to put "pumpkins in the sun"... where the dogs won't trample them and the sun actually has a shot through the trees and Sera won't mow them. Good chance I'll use more tires as planters to save their seedy hides.

Earlier this week, I chopped down a small 'grassy knoll' across the road (don't think the county will mind) and moved it behind the small shelter. Water run-off along the driveway. And I wanted a grassy knoll, some kind of kindred spirit with Kennedy.

I've worn out 6 pairs of jersey gloves. Dirt keeps filling up the fingertips, but my hands aren't as rough as they'd be without. --- I've finally learned to wear gloves?!

Then I had the first class of the new semester. Server-glitch on their end, so I was the only student. Instructor commented, "Lucky you..." I typed back, "Not really, I haven't opened the book and planned on winging it." - WELL, I was in the middle of digging?

For some reason, I was led to buy 4 bags of cement. Not sure why yet, but I'll find a purpose. One necessity is the posts I put in for the gate I cut down from a 6-foot kennel side (donated by a friend last fall). I banked that area up, too, and thought it'd be a great landing platform for the cement mixer - after I shored it with some bricks and 'a chunk of wood' salvaged when the porch floor was redone.

These bricks came from Crosby several years ago, saved by Yours Truly. They were originally part of the church we used to attend with Mom - 1966 to '68. It's kind of ironic; most of our religion in the family collapsed like the chimney, but spirituality exceeds it. In trees, stones, grassy knolls...

We see why I haven't blogged lately. I still need to Gain the Vision on what I'll do with a ten-foot round hole, but it seems useful for something. That will have to be a future project, but whatever I do now should incorporate future expansion - meaning if I pour cement, it'd be wise to include post-fasteners or something. I'd be a step ahead then when this catches up to me.

Truthfully, I get up in the morning unsure of what I'll do that day, then scan my list, zen the yard, and choose a target to tackle. Yesterday just happened to be the day I decided I should improve the back yard. It was in State of Despair and needed some work.

Pursuing the Vision... have a few grand ones, waiting for the Universe to provide materials... :)

PS - Visitors welcome!