Saturday, April 26, 2014

Rocks and Shade

Lots of progress today!  It wasn't raining this morning so I picked up shade fabric, gravel and a bucket of sand.  I was going to wait a while before I unloaded but my poor truck looked like it was being crushed by the load and I didn't want it to have any permanent damage.  I backed up my truck in to the backyard and shoveled the gravel along the edge of the house and porch where the water collects when it rains.  


I'll see how it does with the rain and the dogs over the Summer and maybe in the Fall I will figure out if I want to cover the rest of the yard in this size rock or do something else.  Right now I'm thinking that I want some pathways or stepping stones, mulch in the (currently empty) flower beds, at least one sand box for the dogs to dig in, and a larger garden area.  It will be easier to envision things when the trees get a little bigger too.  Oh, and I might want to plant another tree.

After lunch I moved on to putting up the new 6' x 20' shade fabric.  First, I took down the old one that was going to be used for the garden and dug a hole for one of the garden posts.  The dogs decided to help me dig which was really nice of them because they didn't even offer to help me unload the gravel.


I bought the 6' tall fabric instead of the 8' tall because I wanted a gap at the bottom so that the dogs can run underneath it.  Now my whole porch is covered with shade fabric except for a 3' opening for me to walk through.  I attempted to hang the shade for the garden but I couldn't get it high enough.  I want to be able to walk under it.  I mean, the plants aren't the only ones who like shade.  Maybe if I buy some 10' tall pvc or metal pipe, I can zip tie it to my posts to raise the shade fabric.  That will require another trip to the store.  Maybe I'll go next week some time.  The 10 day forecast says 100F for next Saturday.  Ugh.  I don't want my garden to die.  I've put too much work in to it.  I suppose I can throw an old sheet over the fence as back-up until I get the shade cloth situated.  


It did rain latter in the afternoon and I got to see how my awning fabric did over my sliding door.  It did pretty well except when the wind was blowing the rain everywhere.  I should have covered more area over the door.  Maybe next year I will add another piece of awning but for now I am pleased with my little rain-free area.  It is really nice to be able to step out of the door and not get dripped on.  So, that was my day and I am really tired!


2 comments:

Lizzie@her MFW Homeworld said...

Good progress. Nice sense of achievement there!

Daizy said...

I was impressed with my work. Too bad it will be so hot next weekend but there are plenty of things for me to work on indoors.