Dirt

 Next week when my paycheck is here, I will regret that I said yes when they offered to let people go home.  For now, I had a productive day and that is good.  Here are some things that I accomplished and I am happy for today:

• The triangle area of the driveway is now mostly weeded.  I spent most of the day out there with a pitch fork loosening the soil and then sitting or kneeling and pulling everything I could out.  

• There was a small section of daylilies that I pulled out, broke down into smaller parts, and then replanted in different places on the triangle.
• There is a hole, most likely from an animal, in the triangle that I am hesitating on demolishing.  It was kind of cool to find it, but I don't want an animal living there.  I feel like if something is living there, it won't want to now because there is no longer any protection from the elements or predators.

It seems a bit larger than the chipmunk
holes I have seen, but that might be something that I did.

Here it is more open and cleared out.
I tried to leave the outside smooth that I might see
footprints in the morning if it is in use.

• Zed and I measured the triangle.  It is about 27 feet wide at the base by the sidewalk and about 25 feet long on each side to the apex.  That makes the area just over 284 square feet.  I will need these measurements when I buy mulch.
• It is cold tonight.  The temperatures should go down around 32 degrees.  I brought the potted plants onto the porch and noticed that the zinnia still has blossoms.

• The sun and the roses.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Happy Earth Day

 For Earth Day Keziah and I set to work outside in the cold and snow flurries (!) and started clearing out the dump part of the property.  Over the years, former residents have pulled things out to a section in the back and left it there.  This weekend we hope to get a bunch of the junk into a Bagster or somewhere to recycle, reuse, or repurpose.  

Keziah took this 'before' picture of the area.

This is after we were done for the day. 
The stuff in the back, we haven't gotten to yet.
The pile toward the front, has been pulled out.

Tents that we pulled out.
Very gross.

More of the pile from above that we pulled out.
There is less undergrowth now.

It is hard to tell, but there is a big pile of leaves that got raked out.
We also took down saplings, multiflora, bittersweet,
and other random invasive type weeds.

I feel like we have maybe pulled stuff out of about one third of the area.  It was probably only about one fourth of the junk though.  I found some good sized pots that I might clean up to plant things in later.  Other happy things for today:

• Next week I am going to try to take a long walk on either Monday or Tuesday.  The walking challenge I am participating in this month is themed around doing a pilgrimage to Canterbury, as in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.  In New Hampshire there is a town called Canterbury that is about fifteen miles from here.  Ideally I will walk there next week.  Anyhow, I drove there today to get an idea of what the roads will be like.  There didn't seem to be any huge obstacles and only a few miles that were more narrow and winding as the roads got closer to town and away from the city.  I learned some things I will need to do to prepare that I may not have thought of had I not driven it first.  
• Flowers, along with the bluets there are some violets coming up.  

• For Boy Scouts, Gideon is working towards earning a thing for cleaning up trash.  He needs to collect 200 pieces of trash.  Gideon, Zed, and I walked around the property to begin the process of fulfilling this requirement.  Gideon counted 54 pieces before we came in for dinner.   He and Zed have the mechanical grabber things to pick things up with.  Gideon pretended to be a robot or Dalek and had a lot of fun.  

A whole bag!

☮

Currently listening to: Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer.

Stay safe.