Kitty Weather

We've been having some sunny warm temps outside, and it's funny how the cats always crave to go outside and take advantage of that, as much as we do.

Beanie always looked like she was saying "that's not fair!" whenever we let Bossy out, but made her stay inside, so we bought a leash for her.  We don't trust her yet to not run off if we just let her roam free, but I suppose she will earn our trust eventually.  

So we introduced her to our back yard for the first time, attached to a leash, and she was very interested in everything.

Aren't I beautiful?

...including my flower bed.

Bossy was more interested in inspecting my veggie garden beds.  I have no idea what she expected to find in there.  Maybe she was just showing off her freedom from a leash.

While the kitties were enjoying the outdoors, I got busy finally weeding out my flower bed.

Those dang chives are so invasive!!  I had to get a spade and dig them out.  It took a long time (hours!) to get them out all, and I had no idea until later that I was earning a "badge of honor" on the palm of my hand in the form of peeled-off skin.  It still hurts and is not very pretty, so I won't gross you out with a picture.  Just use your imagination.

Meanwhile, we had this pile of dirt delivered to our house.

And so we were stuck with the job of shoveling all that dirt into these four beds.

Chuck is a hard worker, but even he needs a break every now and then.

I was busy with weeding and unchiving (de-chiving?) my flower bed, but I went to help Chuck when I was done.  I was actually very glad to do the work with him because I needed the exercise and was glad to get some.

While Chuck was "sleeping on the job",  I noticed that Bossy was very distracted with something.

You have too look closely to see it, but Bossy was creeping up on a robin.

Of course the bird saw her coming.  Doesn't Bossy realize that black and white does not camouflage very well in green grass?  She would make a terrible soldier.

Anyway, it was entertaining to watch her.

Back to work!

So we got those beds filled up, and now we got this much dirt left.  But we have a plan for it.

Someone from Chuck's work said that she would give us some raspberry bushes.

Mmmmm...........yummy.

But where are we gonna put them?

We walked around the yard and discussed this, and for awhile we disagreed.

Chuck wanted to put them here, in this "hole" against the fence.

I was "mad" at him for chopping down that patch of "weeds" because it was a thick patch of fireweed and looks so pretty when they're all in full bloom.   Plus, that is where I like to throw my rhubarb scraps. He said "don't worry, they will grow back again....."

Question:  If the raspberry bushes are lined up along that fence, and if we let the fireweed patch grow again, the raspberries will be hidden, and I'll have to get behind all that fireweed to get to the raspberries. Where is the logic in that?  

To me, it made more sense to put them here, on the left side of the strawberry mound:

But he didn't want them there because, I really don't know why.  He was struggling with the choice of putting beds there, or building a mound, and he said he didn't want a mound in his grass.....but isn't that what the strawberry mound is?

I don't know, I just couldn't understand what his problem was with that.

Maybe I need another man to explain Chuck's manly way of thinking to me.

So we took a walk around the back yard and made a different decision to put them here, on the east side of the yard:

So Chuck is building two more beds to put on that side of the yard, and that's where the rest of that dirt pile will go.

However, I have since then made a different final decision to put the raspberry beds here:

on the west side of the yard, because I read on the internet that fruiting plants do better in morning sun than later sun.  So, since they are "permanent" plants, I made up my mind to put them in the very last bed that is furthest away. And they will be along the fence, which will be helpful if we find out later that they need to be staked up.

And thankfully, Chuck never said a single word in protest.

So the two beds that he is currently building will still go on the west side, but I am going to experiment with "cool weather" vegetables in those, like broccoli and brussels sprouts.  So now that I have beds on both spectrums of my yard (one side getting morning sun and the other side getting evening sun), plus a greenhouse, and beds in the middle of my yard, I can experiment to see what veggies do best in what beds.  

Whew!

Here is my newest garden decor:

I have wanted a bird bath for a long time, and they had these at Lowe's, so I asked Chuck if I could have one.  I always hate asking him for stuff, but if I don't ask for it, he'll never get me one.

"Ask and ye shall receive", right?

I would love to have my yard turned into a full-fledged bird haven with lots of birdhouses and bird baths, but for some reason, Chuck doesn't like to spend a lot of money of that kind of stuff, even though I try to explain to him that lots of birds would help in having a hardier garden. I suppose I will never get my back yard to look like the cover of a "Home & Gardens" magazine, but one can wish.

SO!  this is my last post now for awhile.  We are leaving for WI soon, so hopefully when I get back (in a couple weeks), I will have something fun and interesting to share.

I only hope that Beanie behaves while we're gone.  She is getting comfortable with stalking Bossy now, and Bossy doesn't like it.....

"I'm naughty!"