Thursday the kids came over and we spent most of the late afternoon in the garden…
my grandson started work on a bonsai tree and it was great fun to see him trim a blue cedar into something resembling a small tree…
it is going to live in the garden for the summer…
then, we finished the irrigation system… yay… the hose was straightened, holes were punched in various places and tubes with sprinklers were connected… they had no trouble connecting the tubes to the hose, sigh… we ran a test and made sure each little piece was spraying appropriately…
we need a few more pieces of tubing, but most planters, baskets and perennials now will be watered when I turn on the tap… I am sure they will all be happy about this, lol…
so excited to see how well the garden will grow when it is watered regularly…
then we had barbecued steak and asparagus, baked potatoes and a salad on the deck…
I spent a good part of the day in the garden… the sun was blazing…
went around and watered all of the planters and then turned on the irrigation system… it worked fairly well and I am excited to get the rest of it connected…
had a nap in the house over the hottest part of the day and then sat on the upper deck in the shade and read…
dug out the grill and barbecued a steak which I enjoyed with some homemade potato salad and asparagus…
nice to do some grilling… my beloved would have cooked the steak better, but as time goes on, I am learning;-)…
began the day listening to the drummers at the Park as they welcomed runners participating in the Manitoba Marathon…
then I put out all the cushions, made breakfast and sat in the garden, listening to the drums and the waterfall…
although we only did it for a few years, I always remember the early morning trips to the UofM when the girls took part in the Marathon… it is such a wonderful reminder of what great dads do to ensure their kids get all the opportunities… and on Father’s Day, lol…
sure do miss that great dad, but am spending the day reminiscing about all the things he did to make their lives better and the life lessons he taught them…
Friday’s project had been to get the little irrigation system I purchased last year installed…
I read through all the instructions, watched a video, and gave it a shot…
a number of weeks ago we had attached the main hose and run it about halfway, so I finished laying it out so that the newly planted ferns will also get water on a more regular basis…
then I started fastening the feeder hoses… I started with the hanging baskets and then moved on to the perennials in the bed…
connecting the feeder hose to the main hose involves punching a hole, with a very handy tool, and then pushing the connector into the main hose…
this was the difficult part and my thumb took a beating… eventually I stopped because it was becoming painful…
for sure I won’t be working on it for a few days, lol…
got a rain barrel and new pots for the front flowerbeds a little over a week ago…
the pots were filled and planted shortly after… three were moved into their correct places and three were put along the driveway waiting for work to be done on the north side bed…
yesterday my grandson and his landscaping friend arrived to beautify the space…
they worked for five hours… removing ferns, weeds, and most of the wild rose which had taken over the space… they redesigned the shape of the bed and put down landscape cloth, laid paving stones where the pots were to go, moved a fountain and the very heavy birdbath… and lastly, dumped and spread fifteen bags of mulch…