Priority number one was to hook up the trailer in order to get mulch. With the trailer good to go, our first stop was Home Depot to purchase bagged garden soil to replenish our garden boxes and..lumber. We are going to build some new garden boxes in the bottom corner of our yard. Last year, we tried planting there and it was just too wet as that is where all the yard run-off goes. I couldn't even get zucchini to grow!
We returned to the house with the soil and lumber after realizing that the garden material store a mile from our house was closed to the public on Saturday. Bummer. Off to Longmont we go, though we happily found a new place on the outskirts by the old sugar mills. Lucky since we ended up making a second trip once the first load didn't quite cover all the beds in the yard. Chris and I dug up our pine tree in the front yard to situate it better. Its root ball was beginning to come to the surface. Here's hoping we did more good than harm by digging up all the nasty clay/dirt, replacing it with better soil, and settling the root ball back underground.
In the middle of this, an lawn aeration guy stopped by and asked if we wanted to have our lawn aerated. Since we do it every Spring, and he already had the equipment, which saved us from having to rent an aerator, we said, "Sure." Chris had to stop and locate a few sprinkler heads for him to avoid. Once the tree was done, the girls and I started unloading the mulch from the trailer. I had them "fluff" the existing mulch so that the new bunch would blend in better. Amy and Misha were excellent workers. Kristen...not so much.
And while we were doing this, our friend Adam arrived to add more insulation to our attic. Good thing the girls and I were keeping busy because Chris then had to help Adam get setup in the attic access in our bedroom. Chris covered all of his clothes in our closet with drop cloths and had to move all of mine on to the bed to be out of the way.
We finished unloading the first load of mulch. Chris and Amy headed back for a second load while Misha and I got started on the garden boxes in the backyard. Each year we have to string off one-foot squares to accommodate our "square-foot gardening" plan. Genius! Genius would be figuring out how to block it off in an easier fashion. Misha was mostly only sticking around to help burn the ends of string so they wouldn't fray. Whatever keeps them helping. I planted peas and was happy to see my volunteer onions growing.
When Chris returned with the mulch, I took over the garden work, and Misha returned to the front yard to help. It was getting late in the afternoon and Chris finished up work so that he could get ready to go the Priesthood Session for General Conference. All of a sudden I hear yelling. I figured it had to do with Adam in our attic, but I wasn't too alarmed. Unfortunately I should have been. The hose transporting the insulation to the attic had burst and insulation was now flying all over our closet and bedroom. Chris grabbed his garage vac and spent the next hour and a half cleaning up the fluffy mess. He missed his meeting. Chris took pictures of the insulation in the attic. He missed the opportunity of taking one of our insulated bedroom.
Such a long day and somehow in all of this my house became a disaster zone. I just wanted to have a shower, but I couldn't until the bedroom was put back together and Adam left. It was one of those days of major accomplishment. Now to have the grass green up so that our yard actually looks good. Here's one of the mulched front beds with a tree that is soon to be minus one large lower limb.
