Blog Author
dooley
(view profile)
Recent Entries to this Blog It's Fall already!
Posted: 08 Oct 2015
Moving Day is approaching!
Posted: 04 Mar 2015
2015 already!
Posted: 01 Jan 2015
It's been a great while!
Posted: 30 Dec 2014
An anniversary comes but once a year!
Posted: 27 Aug 2014

All Entries
 


dooley's Blog




Forever gardening!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:37 pm

I like living here in Texas because it means that I can garden all year around. True, some months are a bit difficult but we work around the difficulties and garden any way. I had a fall garden that was doing well until the grasshoppers came and ate it. As soon as we had a freeze and the grasshoppers left I planted another fall garden. It was really a winter garden but I called it a fall garden because I planted cool weather crops like swiss chard and kale and spinach and carrots. Things that don't mind a little cold and frost. We didn't get much rain and I had to water it. People look at you a little funny when they drive past and see you out with a hose in January and February. But, we got some stuff to eat from it. In January I planted sugar snap peas and they've done well. I only planted two four foot rows. I should have planted more though. I put some in the freezer and we have them with meals, mixed in with the meat or in soup. I'm still getting a handful every two or three days.They are looking a little sad and I keep thinking I should pull them out and put something else in there but as long as they are supplying enough peas to put in with the soup or the salad I'll leave them grow and water them when I water everything else. I got the potatoes planted in February and they seem to be doing well. I've only did potatoes a couple of times so I'm not sure when they need more dirt shoved around them. They look happy so mostly I just water them. I dug the back garden and weeds grew while I was deciding when to plant it so I dug it again. I planted some zucchini and yellow squash. They got a light frost once because I didn't check the weather and some didn't survive but that's okay. We didn't need 16 zucchini plants any way. I have about 8 now and 7 or 8 yellow squash. I have 5 Black Beauty eggplant, 3 Japanese eggplant (two blossoms already), 4 green pepper plants, 13 cucumber plants (some got frosted), more sugar snap peas along the fence, lettuce, carrots, swiss chard and beans. This is the back garden. I wonder how there can be room for grass and weeds but they keep trying to intrude and I keep insisting they go away. In the front yard gardens, I have the potatoes, 26 tomato plants and 9 cantaloupe. I bought some plants in little four paks and some had more than one plant in a section. I separated some of them if they weren't too intertwined but if they were I just planted two together. There are really 36 tomato plants. If they do well we will have some for salad and some for making stewed tomatoes or sauce for winter.
Sunday, we went to Home Depot for something and they had marigolds on sale. I bought two flats of them and yesterday I interplanted them with the tomatoes. They are spring and fall bloomers but maybe I can keep the plant from dying through the summer and they will help the tomatoes with nematodes, etc. I dug up two round flower beds in the front yard and put four o'clocks in one and the other has some lettuce still growing so I haven't put anything in it yet. There are some wild spider plants growing here and there in the yard and I'm thinking of digging them and putting them all in that bed, corral them, sort of. I like spider plants and had them in pots when we lived in Arizona. There is a little Indian Paint Brush that has come up in the middle of the yard and I want to move it out of the direct path, too. I have petunias in two beds and put some flower seeds in with them to fill in empty spaces. I still have some nastursiums to plant and dr has a grape vine that he wants to plant. We do not have a big yard and it's getting pretty filled up so it's going into the front yard and we'll start a small arbor with it and get another one for company. I finally got the weeds pulled out of the bed at the end of the house and some freesia and some iris are still blooming. The daffodils bloomed back in late January, early February but there are still some plants that are taking their time dying out so I can cut them off. I hoed in between what was left and mixed up seeds from a lot of annuals and scattered them in there and watered them good. I like flowers, too. Today, I went out and cut scrubby brush and devil's whip. Those things really grow fast. I don't work fast enough any more to keep up with them. During the winter I bought a couple bird feeders at a yard sale so dr built a frame in the front yard under the trees and I hung them up. There are cardinals, blue jays, doves and sparrows and other assorted visitors. I enjoy a rest break sometimes just sitting there watching them juggle with each other for a turn at the feeder. Some will just eat off of the ground. I have to be very watchful for the neighborhood cats. I planted some Giant Sunflower seeds along the front deck and out by the corner of the house. I'm hoping for some seed heads to hang from the seed frame in the winter. I still have a package of seeds so maybe will plant some in the backyard garden along the fence. Meanwhile, I'll spend part of each day pulling the weeds and trying to keep them from taking over completely. I'll have to water some this summer. It keeps saying thunderstorms but they never seem to show up. I think they are busy flooding Iowa and Illinois and places to the north of us. The sun is shining now and it's in the upper 70's but it says evening and night showers and am showers tomorrow. Last week, we got .43 inches. Every little bit helps because plants like rain better than water from the hose. The rose bushes are about done blooming so I need to deadhead them and pull off the black spotted leaves and spray them again. You see, there is always something outside to be done at most anytime of the year. More so these spring days. Sewing has taken the back seat for now. I'll get back to it though. I've been doing more shopping bags lately. They go pretty quickly and a lot of people are asking for them. I hope everyone here enjoys being outside gardening and wish everyone could garden all year around.

dooley

Last edited: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:37 pm

This blog entry has been viewed 398 times


Still pulling weeds!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 1:54 am

Here I am three weeks later still pulling weeds or maybe I should say pulling weeds again. It's still hot here but it's in the 90's so it's not as hot as 105 or above which some of our members way north of us are having.Still, hot is hot and not very inviting to work outside in for long. dr has been working on his shed all month, too. He has the majority of it finished. When he was putting up the roof rafters and sheets of metal roofing, he would install a rafter and come inside and drink a bottle of water, go back outside and put up the roofing sheet and come back inside and drink another bottle of water. After about the third time he would have to change his wet clothing. He was running out of shirts to change into so he got up early one day and washed a couple loads of his laundry. He got it all hung out on the clothesline and it started to rain so we went and brought it inside. It stopped raining and we hung it back outside. It started raining and we brought it back inside. He was also trying to get some work done on his shed. We hung that laundry outside four times before dr deemed it dry enough to stay inside. But, with all the taking the clothes in and out because of the rain we got less than half an inch. We have lots of rainy days but not much of a downpour. Still, we are getting more than most of the country.
All the rain does make the weeds grow and Texas grows some very large weeds. I went out three days and pulled big weeds along the fence in the back yard and around trees and bushes and pots of herbs. It took me four yard wagons to haul it all out. I didn't put it in the compost because of the seeds and because some of the stalks were heavy and stringy and would take a long time to break down so I pulled the wagon out to the creekbed road and spread the weeds along where the water had carved ruts and holes. I wanted to water the bushes and trees but it was to sunny and hot so I will get up early before the sun is too high and water them. Next, I will do the front yard. I gave up on the garden because the crickets and grasshoppers are eating everything. When I went to pick the peppers they all had holes, some of them about half gone. What do you do about grasshoppers? Some are three or four inches long. dr says, "fish bait." We haven't been fishing since we moved to Texas.
The farm market hasn't been open for three weeks now because most of the people are having the same trouble with the heat and grasshoppers as I did. The peas dried up and the okra dried up and the tomatoes turned leathery. There was a man there last week with watermelons and I told him to let me know if he'll be there this week and I will come and keep him company. There is another man who is having a big yard sale and he said I could come set up my stand with him but I don't know about doing that this week. I'll have to think about it. It's really too hot to stay out all day. I guess summer time isn't like it was when we were kids or we were just able to take it more than we do now that we are "older." How old do you need to be before you can be "old." I know that senior discounts start at varying ages and the retirement age is 65 although that is going up again. People are working longer.
Well, I've moved away from the pulling weeds and working outside.
I'll let you know when I have all the weeds pulled. dr has his shed about finished and is busy filling it up.
We do get things accomplished, just not very fast.

dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 517 times


More gardening and herbs, too.

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:34 am

Seems like I haven't stopped gardening since last spring and summer. I planted a fall garden and kept it going all winter. I still have a couple of things left from it. Kale, swiss chard and carrots and some lettuce are still growing. I picked half the swiss chard last week and put it in the freezer. I'm going to do the other half as soon as I get the time. I still want to do the kale, too.
So, I started spring gardening as soon as plants came into Lowe's and Home Depot. I kept the tomatoes and peppers inside for about six weeks until they got to big for those little six paks they came packed into. I planted them all outside a couple of weeks ago, maybe three weeks. They are doing good and some have flowers. I want to fertilize them with Miracle-Gro this week. I watered them good yesterday. I planted pak choy, a Chinese vegetable. It is a cool weather crop and it already flowered and went to seed. I guess it was already too warm for it. The arugula and raddicio aren't doing too well either. The snap peas have lots of flowers and some small peas. I wanted to pick some and add to salad but decided to wait until there are a few more out there. The radishes that I planted earlier are getting big enough for slicing for salad, too. The smaller ones that I planted in the front yard got flattened by the rain last week but they are coming along now. The first row of beets need thinned out so I will pull some for using the leaves in salad, too.
So, I have, arugula, raddicio, pak choy, snap peas, tomatoes (Roma, Early Girl and Celebrity, 29 in all), radishes, pole beans, beets, red onions, zucchini (23), bush beans, wax beans, yellow summer squash, Peppers, green and yellow banana and some minature mixed colored peppers, carrots, kale, swiss chard, spinach and lettuce growing right now.
Today I planted sweet basil, Siam Queen Thai basil, oregano, true lavendar, cilentro, sweet marjarom, commor thyme, garlic chives, chives, and lemom balm. I have already growing apple mint, spearmint and oregano.
We have 5 peach trees, two that Toni sent me and three larger ones that we planted last fall. The three bigger ones have small peaches that will have to mostly come off because the trees branches aren't big enough to support them yet. I have a plum tree in a bucket that needs planting and a pecan tree that needs planted into the ground. I have six crape myrtle trees growing now. I bought them at a yard sale year before last and wasn't sure they would make it but they are doing well.
The red blaze climbing roses are doing well and blooming like crazy. I will post more pictures of them soon.There are ten of them. There is one bush rose but I have no idea what kind. Some one gave it to me and it wasn't marked. I have a star jasmine on the fence and it's about six foot high and beginning to branch out. I have a honeysuckle on the front fence that hasn't died yet.
When we moved down here two years ago in April there was nothing. They just bulldozed a yard out of a thicket of trees and brush. I've been digging roots and cutting little trees that pop up and trying to get things to grow. I didn't plant grass but the yard is green. Some kind of grass, but mostly weeds except for the stuff I planted.
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 1034 times


Yard and gardens!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:54 am

I looked here and saw that I haven't wrote a blosince November. My I'm getting lazy. So much has happened that I'm not sure where to begin so I will tell you about my yard and gardens. You all know that it was carved out of a small woods so there are roots and small stumps everywhere and whenever we dig a space we have to also dig roots. Then, those little youpon trees travel by root and come up again where we just dug them out.
In the back yard we make a small garden, put down black plastic and cut holes in the plastic for the tomatoes. That was accomplished last year. There are eleven rose bushes, 10 of them climbing around the fence. I tied the longer branches to the fence last fall and have started pulling some smaller ones toward the fence. They didn't lose their leaves this year. Well, not all of them. Now, they have new leaves and are getting a few buds. I hope it doesn't freeze them. Along the east fence I planted two rows of green peas and a row of rose radishes. It said they were salad radishes. The radishes and peas are about two inches high. When it's warm they grow and on cooler days they just sit there. The aurgula and the pak choi are coming up but the raddicio? is not up yet. I should have read the directions better there. I thought it was like leaf lettuce but it gets heads so I will have to thin it a lot. I wonder if I can wait until it's big enough to move somewhere else. I started to clean out the holes from last year but haven't finished that yet. I cleaned out the flower pots that I had marigolds in last year though. I still have some larger pots that need to be cleaned out. I stood and looked at them today but couldn't decide if I wanted to do them yet so didn't. I took my pointed hoe and dug up thistles and clumps of weeds for the goats.
Chance helped me with that. She filled in the holes left with her nose.
I have five crepe myrtle and two small fig trees in the back yard but they haven't started to bud yet.
In the front yard, I have the small bed of pansies. I put mulch on them today and filled in the spaces with turtles (not real ones). We have the winter garden (8x8). It still has carrots, swiss chard, kale and I just planted two rows of spinach and a row of swiss chard. We dug that 4 x 16 bed last week and have it about ready to plant. Would you believe that when I was hoeing weeds today I found some already growing there. I have four circular beds 4 to 6 ft across with lettuce/mesclun growing. What I had for winter bolted. I haven't pulled it out yet though. I wanted to see if it would seed itself. I did dig around and plant new seeds where there was spaces from cutting the older stuff. I have some black plastic along the front of the house that I want to take up and dig a bed for herbs there. We have three peach trees that we planted last fall and I noticed that two of them have small leaves and some flower buds. I hope it isn't too early for them. dr says they have to have time for growth so we will need to pick the fruit off this year anyway. (sigh) I went around to the end of the house and checked on the daffodils. They are blooming and making a cheerful spot. The pansies and allysum that I planted there are looking good and I noticed some of the freesia that I planted last spring are starting to come up. I carefully hoed between things to loosen up the dirt. The iris that I got from toni aren't getting buds yet but the greenery is doing nicely. So, that's my garden and yard up to date. It still needs lots of work. More in the front where those little youpon keep trying to take over. It's getting nice enough to be out for a couple or three hours a day. The doctor said I need to get more exercise and being outside is g more fun than that exercise bike or weight bench.
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 819 times


The days are going too fast!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:08 am

Today, I had to give the kitchen a good cleaning. I've been spending too much time outside, maybe. I have a large rectangular table in the kitchen that has become a catch-all. It was near ll am when I was finished with it. Then, we went into town and bought some dog food and the papers. I sat and read the papers. I must be slow or the clocks suddenly sped up because when I looked it was after 1:30 in the afternoon. I quickly got up and made sausage and Kale soup for lunch. Then, I went outside and hoed some weeds in the garden area and between the rose bushes and when I came in I had to check what had been going on here at the Stew. Before I knew it it was 6:30 pm and I had to go make some sandwiches for our supper. Now, it's almost 8 pm and the day has gone by too quickly.
The whole week has been that way. I finished planting the tomatoes and cucumbers and put down mulch on my black plastic and started to mulch around the rose bushes. We had to go buy some more mulch to finish them. I did that after I did the weeding this afternoon. But, when we were buying mulch and of course a few more bags of garden soil I found some pepper plants that needed to be planted and some zucchini and yellow squash, too. I planted seeds for the squashes but they haven't come up yet so these will give me a bit of a start while I'm waiting. dr found some sweet onion sets. They will need to be planted too. Did I tell you that we downsized our garden area? Just a kitchen garden, we said. It's about 12 by 30. It's almost full already. So, where will I plant 8 pepper plants, 12 squash plants and 60 onion sets. The onions need to be 4 inches apart.
Well, being experienced and "old" gardeners we will find a place for them, I'm sure.
I finished the slipcovers for the frontyard lawn chairs. Then, we found some foam mattress pads at the thrift shop that will make just the right padding so I will bring them back inside and modify the design to fit the padding inside and they'll be more comfy. I built the circular flower bed in the middle of the semicircle of the chairs and the rocker. I still need to retrieve a couple of logs for side tables. I was sitting and looking it over. dr said, "What?" I said, "rocks." He said that it did need some rocks around the flower bed up to the chairs and maybe even under the chairs to mark the sitting area. I thought the ground looked too "dirty." There is no grass under the trees. But, we have enjoyed spending a part of each afternoon or evening sitting out there.
I still need to get the plants into the flower bed. Maybe tomorrow. No, tomorrow is library day in the morning and in the afternoon we need to do those vegegtables. Are vegetables more important that flowers? Maybe they are since the prices of them keep going up and up. I'm not sure growing them is too much cheaper since I buy the starter plants but they sure taste good all summer. It's getting to be salad time.
It's a good thing the days are getting longer, but I sure hope things slow down a bit so I can fit everything into them that I need to get done. Every day we seem to start with a list of things that didn't get done yesterday.
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 2005 times


Every day a little more gets done!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:11 am

Every day we get a little more done. I'm sure about 30 years ago I could have gotten this all done in a few weeks. But, now I've been working on it for the most part of a year. I'm hoping to be able to put some pictures on here soon. But, we have some of the trees planted. Today, our young gardener planted the fig tree. It's a mission fig. I let him do it all himself while I cut roots and little scrubby trees that keep popping up all over the yard.
It looks good and he mulched it and watered it when he finished. He asked questions when he needed to and I showed him what he needed to know. I had a hole dug so I had him look at how deep it was dug and how wide and the water well I made around the top. Then, he knew how he should do his hole. Then, he put in the soil and manure and mixed it and put in the tree and filled around it. I showed him how to loosen the roots a bit. He finds it all very interesting. He's always ready to do something else.
He and Brian moved the wood pile from the front yard to the back yard today. They have to finish stacking it neatly yet. That was a lot of work. They moved it on the garden wagon so they didn't have to carry it. They still have the kindling pile to move. It's still in big pieces so they are going to cut and box it before they move it. Then, we will be able to finish cutting those scrubby trees and start to plant the new trees in the front yard. We can dig some flower beds and get some seeds planted. Glenda said that last fall she pulled some branches down from her Carolina Jasmine and buried them in the dirt. I'm supposed to go see if they grew roots. If they did I'm supposed to go cut them and bring them down to finish the fence line. We couldn't do it today. Maybe tomorrow or Monday. We watered everything and I moved the rosemary and basil from the small pots. The basil went into a large tub. The rosemary went into the ground. I have little basil and thyme coming up in the boxes that I planted last week. Maybe tomorrow we can start planting what I bought yesterday. There is just so much that you can do in one day. I wonder when days started getting shorter. I thought that only happened in winter time. We stopped at noon and went to have a Subway sandwich. Then, we did some more until everyone was hot and tired. It was 85 degs today and mostly sunny. After we ate this evening I went out to the front yard with my photo books to read more instructions but after a busy day isn't the best time to try to decipher instructions . So, we just sat and let Chance wander around and enjoyed the cooler evening. We talked about what needed done and how we could do it and how the deck will look when we do it and all sorts of things. Of course, that dog that didn't want in the yard and kept digging out suddenly wanted into the yard. Tough! Now, Chance has a front yard and a back yard and that dog has a small space and the driveway. She's getting friendlier so maybe one of these days we will be able to catch her and take her to the shelter. I'm thinking maybe we can borrow one of those live traps and put a bacon strip in it. We'll see how it goes from now.
Anyway, it's getting done a bit at a time and some day we'll look and say, "We're done!" Of course, you are never done because there is maintainance and in the fall you put everything to bed for the winter and start over in the spring. Hopefully next spring won't be so hectic.
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 1550 times


Trees, bushes, vines and more!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 1:51 am

Last year we moved down the hill to a smaller place. It was carved out of land that had trees, bushes, brush and lots of weeds. I spent most of last summer and fall chopping down brush, digging up roots and generally trying to make a front and backyard. I had a few health problems that slowed things down but I worked on it whenever I could get out and do it. I didn't plant much at all.
I did get 10 Blaze Climbing Roses planted along the fence line with the house next door. They didn't do very well because we didn't have an outside water line and they didn't get watered as much as they should have. Last fall, I planted five small crepe myrtle trees that I bought at a yard sale. The man said take them home and plant them. They looked like dry sticks. But, I planted them. Today I was digging out grass and weeds that grew around them. Grass and weeds will grow when nothing else does. I noticed that three out of the five are getting green buds and leaves. I'm hoping the other two will have some tomorrow. I mulched around them today. A friend gave me a rose bush. He didn't know what kind it is but I planted it along the fence with the others. I don't think it is a climber though. The climbing rose bushes are doing very well this spring. I fed them Miracle Gro and have been keeping them watered. In December I planted daffidols, iris and freesia. The daffidols are getting flower buds. The iris that Toni sent are getting flower buds. The other iris are growing steadily. The freesia must be a later flower because the largest are only about three inches and I see they are still coming out of the ground. Today, I mixed alyssum, dwarf marigolds and dwarf zinnias and sprinkled the seed in the flower bed with the freesia and daffidols. I'm hoping they will fill in the spaces when the bulbs die back.
I dug along one fence today to plant morning glories. I will dig along more fence tomorrow. I need to put the seeds to soak before I go to bed. They germinate better if you soak the seeds before you plant them. I nicked nastursium seeds today and put them to soak. I'm not sure where I'm going to put them but I'm thinking along the fence between the rose bushes. I planted four lilac bushes in the front yard last week and two bleeding heart bushes in large pots. Then, I planted two purple leaf honeysuckles along the fence line fence in the front yard and a confederate jasmine on the fenceline between the house and the rose bushes. I'm thinking I may have to put some morning glories along the fence between the honeysuckle and the jasmine to fill in that space at the end of the house.
We bought four small trees at the plant sale, The two dogwood trees are growing and have lots of little leaves. We put them in buckets because they were so small but we may have to put them into the ground before long. The two little plum trees are just straight sticks but I notice little buds on them. They will probably stay in the buckets until fall or maybe spring next year.
Today, I bought basil, oregano and thyme seeds when I went to WalMart for mulch and potting soil. I planted them in the cassette tape cases that I got when the library lady was throwing them out. I'll let them grow in the cases until they get too big for them. I need to put my other herbs into bigger pots. I have a tub of mixed lettuce/greens, a tub of spinach, a tub of kale and a tub of swiss chard. I have lots of little foam cups filled with potting soil that I haven't planted yet. We bought black plastic to put in the small area designated as the "garden." It's not down yet. It's been too windy to do that since we bought the plastic. I planted a row of pole beans along side of the back deck. I will need to put some string down from the fence on the deck for them to grab onto. So, I have things started this spring. The front yard is still full of roots and some brush and some scrubby trees that I need to cut. I bought some wildflower for shade seeds. I want to put them under the trees that we are leaving. There are still some brush piles that need burning but it's too dry to burn and there is a burn ban. It doesn't stop everyone from getting out and burning but it does help. The other day the air was full of smoke and it was hanging at tree top level. The news said it was from a fire about forty miles from us. The wind was blowing the smoke. It was a wildfire that got out of control.
I'll be back outside every nice day that I can until I have what I think of as a yard.
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 912 times


Beautiful day for Outside work

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 3:32 pm

Today is a beautiful day. We are going to extend Chaance's yard so she has room to run. Right now her yard is small and it's filled with tubs of vegetables and herbs. The clothesline is in that yard too. I got up early and raked all the sticks out of the area. I have all the near backyard finished now. I still have some roots to dig up but that will get done later today or tomorrow. The front yard has regrown some of the weeds and brush so I need to work on that too but later in the week I think. dr made me stop trying to do everything in one day. He said I was getting too tired. I do need to get those roots cut though because we keep tripping over them. Guess we should look down more when we are out there. We are thinking of asking the teenager next door for a little help. Only thing those kids are so busy with school, chores and daily life. He just got his driver's license though and may like to earn a little money for gas, etc.
I think he already has a part time job. We'll see if he has the time.
The house is looking good inside so I'm back to trying to get a little sewing done. We are starting to go to the farm market on Friday and Saturday mornings now. I'm making an apron for the little girl next door. Yesterday I had her come and pick out the material she would like for it. She was awed! She thought I just sold aprons. She never met anyone who sewed things. I have purple thread in the machine right now so when I finish that tote bag I will change to orange thread and do her apron. I may do one for her mom, too. Those things go pretty fast.
Now, it's time to get back to work. Have a good day.
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 400 times


Two down, one to go!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:21 am

Two weeks ago today, the mobile home we are going to move into rolled past our house and was set up on the lot down the hill. Yesterday morning, the double wide that goes onto the next lot arrived. That leaves one more to come before they can do the utilities and every one can then begin to move stuff around. I had never seen a double wide mobile home arrive and get put together and leveled. It was very interesting. It came in two sections pulled by large trucks. At the top of the slope they undid the big trucks and hooked one of those remote controlled dozers onto the front. The little dozer pulled that half of the double wide right down the slope into the place where it was going to be. Just a few minor moves back and forth and it went back for the second half. Same thing, right down the hill and into place, exactly where it needed to be to be shifted into place next to the first half to be bolted together into one house. It was about two feet away from the first half so the guys could have room to work on getting it leveled and the wheels removed and drop it onto the cement block foundation pieces. A large flatbed trailer pulled by a big truck came down the slope with all the pieces necessary for leveling it and putting the foundation blocks into place and getting everything hooked up and put together. Those four guys worked from 9 am to 6 pm and I never saw them sit down. They each knew what they had to do and in what order and they just march around doing it a bit at a time. I told one of them that I was very happy I didn't have their job. They were lifting and carrying those cement blocks, 4 at a time. I can only carry one at a time. It was amazing. They stacked the cement blocks four high on the fender of the flatbed trailer. They backed up to them, picked up the bottom block and bent forward and carried those four blocks on their backs to where they wanted them and then leaned back and dropped them one at a time where they wanted them to go. I never saw the like before. They lay flat on their back under those half pieces of the double wide and build pillars out of those cement blocks, lifting them one at a time into place. They must have great arm strength. I do hope they get paid well for the work. They must be very tired when they get home. We left about one thirty and went to lunch. They may have taken a lunch break while we were gone but they were still going at a steady pace. It's all in place, leveled and bolted together and the roof pieces put into place so it won't leak if it decides to rain, which is very likely. Monday the trim people will arrive and trim out the outside so you won't be able to tell it's two pieces. They'll do the same thing inside. Then, they'll skirt the bottom to look like a foundation and it will look just like a house instead of a mobile home. It's beautiful. I spent the time raking up and moving the brush I had cut earlier in the week. Today, I took my loppers down and made another mess to clean up tomorrow. You can't cut it and clean it up in the same day. Too much work! I'm sure those guys would have it all done by now.
This evening we stopped by some friends and we bought ten climbing rose bushes to plant on the dividing fence when we get one. First, all of the utilities have to be installed and the decks built and things moved. All of Tammy's things are in the mobile home we will be living in and she will move them to the double wide when she is given the keys which will be when all the trim stuff is done. If it isn't pouring rain the other mobile home will be moved on Monday morning. If it's raining it probably will have to wait until the end of the week.
But, it was exciting to watch those men move those two big pieces and get it assembled into a house. I'm glad it wasn't me doing all that work though.
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 437 times


More brush clearing!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:20 am

It was another nice day so we started it by going out for breakfast. It made us late getting down to work on clearing the brush. When we got down there, it was still there so we started in with the loppers and the rake. I started moving the piled up brush back to the area where we will burn it on a day that's not windy or raining. We didn't get as much accomplished as we wished because Tammy (landlady) came with her father to bring some skirting and stuff for the mobile home he will be moving into. dr and her father stood at the back of the truck and talked and Tammy helped me move some more brush. We talked about what might go where and how we might do it and she also cautioned us not to do too much. One would think we were "old" retired people. But, we do know when to quit, even if there is still stuff to be done. It will still be there on Wednesday or Thursday when the rain comes and goes for the week. Maybe it will go for the week anyway.
Sometimes it seems to stay for the week.
So, tomorrow I will sew since I cut a tubful of new things to sew. Hopefully I won't goof up and sew something backwards again. I hate that!
dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 333 times




You're reading one of many blogs on GardenStew.com.
Register for free and start your own blog today.





Archives All Entries
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005