I Keep Avoiding That Fern Bed...

I'm not sure why.  Maybe by the time it's in the shade I'm already exhausted from something else.  I worked on the water garden with the big rocks Hubby brought me.  You can hear the water as you sit in the swing on the screen porch.  This is a smaller garden but Bonnie loves it anyway.  So do all the dogs.  That's one reason I had to work on it today.

I spread the ash pile from all the limbs and stump we burned.  No luck with the fire lasting this long but I do have another pile ready to burn.

I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched.  There's the culprit! I could feel his eyes on me.  I was messing with his play house.

Bonnie and Lizzy approved the sitting rock.  They inspected every thing I did.  Bonnie wanted to know if I had fish.  I lied.  I told her absolutely not.

Tested by all.  Approved.  Of course they are the reason I had to work on it in the first place.  Don't tell them about the Koi. 

The water is now fresh and clear.  Rock replaced.  We'll see how long that lasts.  

Planting The Carpet....

Remember when I talked about Dating The Plywood?  Well, Tractor Man has not finished that project so I decided to attempt it myself.  After removing the ancient chipboard I balanced to measure an inset and so began the much delayed job of replacing ancient chipboard with plywood. 

My main tools were a pry bar, a hammer, a flat edge screw driver and a pair of tongs.  After removing the ancient carpet from said inset most of the chipboard just dropped.  That's how old it was.  Carpet was all that kept us from falling through in some places.  Lucky this was an extra room and not used much.

You may wonder why I chose these tools.  The hammer and pry bar were used to remove the tack board and the remaining chip board.  The staples were pried up using same tools or with hammering the straight edge screw driver under and prying them out.  The tongs???  To pick up the chip board that had fallen under the floor so I wouldn't have to crawl under there and get even more dirty.

I did not ask for help but Tractor Man cannot stay away when someone is working.  He stood behind me a while (which drives me #### crazy).  After listening to advice on what better tools I should be using I left the room. 

Returning I discovered poor Tractor Man straddling a two by six within the hole I had opened.  I asked politely what happened.  He informed me he slipped and fell and his toes were not touching the ground. I tried not to laugh.  I really did then I offered to help him up.  He decided he might just rest there a minute before climbing out.

I continued to work and Tractor Man brought me loads of power tools to make my life easier.  What he didn't know was I wanted the simplicity the peacefulness of doing it by hand.

I was ready for sawing and placement. He helped then left the room.  I do only one area at a time finish that and move to another.  Inset finished and solid, move to next spot.  Bigger space, pieces tonged into old dog food bags ready to dispose.  Replacement piece measured three times and cut once.

Tractor Man is just dieing to do something.  He had not done any of this since April but now that I am doing it, he's here.

I decided to remove all the carpet and padding and see what I had to repair.  After dragging all this onto the porch, we decided to fill a bad wash with this biodegradable trash.

The bucket runneth over 

Lizzy helped me drive the Ranger

and approved my careful placement

after I had thrown dead limbs and rocks

into the gully.

The old carpet will bring new life

feeding the soil and preventing soil erosion.

Dog approved, the gully is now a nice seeded spot

for late fall and early spring grass.

Now back to that floor to be finished

another day.