Green Cone Compost Digester

I am a total fan of composting. The back-yard compost bin has been a godsend - not only for reduction of the amount of waste sent to the local landfill, but also because it makes gardening that much easier when I can augment my beds and planting with home made mulchy-goodness.  Vegetables are happier with more nutrient in the soil, I send less garbage to the landfill, so I am happier too.

A couple of years ago (maybe more) some friends living over in Comox installed a Green Cone Compost Digester in their back yard,  I didn't pay too much attention to it at the time (I wish I had!) but did note that they had placed it, smartly, in the corner between a couple of raised vegetable beds. I remembered thinking at the time that it was kind of a silly place to put a compost bin since they would eventually have to dig it out... turns out that they don't need to be moved / turned / stirred UNLESS there is a problem with them!

This spring Mum & Dad, and I, got Green Cone Compost Digesters.  The great things about these is that you can actually digest things like cheese that goes too mouldy to eat and other dairy items that may hit the best before date before consumed, meat (and bones!), cooked things like leftovers that go bad... generally you can put almost all of the kitchen waste that CANNOT go into your back yard compost bin - and major bonus - as long as it isn't within 10-15 feet of things you are planting to eventually eat, you can even put in dog bombs!! 

I was worried about the bear issue - you may remember about the bear that pulled down a section of my back fence a couple of years ago? These things are actually sunken into the ground (by almost two feet!) and as a result, there is no smell to them at all.  I am told they are not 100% bear proof, but considering where I have it installed, I should be OK.

Tucked in along a side fence near the Wigelia... 

They come with 4 parts to them (plus screws and connector plates) and the fully assembled unit stands about 4 feet high - bearing in mind that the bottom basket is almost 2 feet deep and is to be sunk into a hole that will have the entire basket and connecting seam underground when installed.  There's a bottom basket -that looks like a round laundry basket) an inner cone, an outer cone and the lid.

These work in conjunction with a regular above ground compost bin (or pile, if you like) where you can compost all of your garden and yard waste.  My regular indoor compost pail will still be emptied into my usual bin, but this one can take things that would normally go into the garbage.  I should note that where I live there is a composting program, but my contributions to it would be negligible and so I don't participate.

With love across the waters....

Fencing - And Not With A Sword

You may recall that back in November I had an issue with a bear. The bear pulled down a section of my fence, pulled out a wall in my wonderful compost bin and had a munch on some apple leavings from when I made and canned my applesauce in the fall.

 

THIS year I will not make that mistake.  THIS year I will dig the apple leavings directly into whatever vegetable bed I am working on in order to augment the soil directly AND avoid any bear invasions to my yard.

 

This weekend saw the initial stages of the New Back Fence project get off the ground.  Or into it, if you like. 

 

On Friday my Mum & Dad and their dog Querida, and my Brother and Nephew came for a part of the day to visit and help get the old fence torn down and taken apart, dig fence-post holes and brace up the posts to hold in place until I can get concrete into the holes and also to put up a temporary fence to keep Miss Jasmine contained in my back yard while all of this is ongoing. Because it was a Friday, my Sister in Law was working and unable to come (I asked her to skip school but she has a good work ethic and went to work instead of coming to goof off with us up here) but I am hopeful that on the next fence project day she can come too.

 

While Mum and I distracted Finn (my gorgeous Nephew) Dad and Rob went to town on the old fence.  The pulled it down, pulled out the old post that the gate was hung on, dug deep holes, braced and placed the new fence posts (in readiness for concrete insertion - which one of my neighbours is going to help me out with) and then erected a new temporary fence to keep Jasmine in the yard.

 

Here's the state of the union before:

Before the bear pulled it down

After the bear pulled it over and
I propped it back up

Fence post in the corner - yes, it really IS
not touching the ground!

The fun part of Friday for me was actually playing with Finn and my Mum in puddles.  Mum & I walked Finn around to the Number 6 Mine Park in Cumberland where they have some great toddler-friendly activity thingies like slides and wheels to spin around on posts.  The skies opened up and POURED on us while we walked over so we took temporary refuge on the platform and waited for the rain to ease off a little.  We checked out the fun stuff and then on the way back we sploshed Finn in puddles.  Mum and I each held onto one of his hands and played "one, two, three - WHEE" with him - whee being the part of the game where we swung him up in the air and he landed both feet into the puddle. Finn had a ball with this and made some great splashes as Cumberland has some rather significant potholes. Needless to say, Finn`s clothing all came off when we got back to my house and it all went into the drier!

 

The bulk of the work dealt with, after lunch all that was left to do was to take apart the old fence sections.  Rob, Mum & Finn headed back down to Nanaimo, and Dad an I made short work of taking it all apart and pulling out all of the old nails. I will not be able to salvage any of the old fence for use in the new fence - the boards are pretty rotted and worn away - but I WILL be able to recycle the old fence boards into my compost bin.  I`m going to be moving it (yes, again) and I have decided that I will be going back to a single bin as, except for Autumn (when the leaves make a great addition) one bin is typically enough for my needs.

 

I`m going to move it back across the yard to where it was in the first place - between the lilac tree and the shed - it will be less visible in the old (new) spot and with the help of the fence boards I am going to be able to incorporate, it should be sturdy and unlikely to leak compost guts out the sides.

 

Compost bin - current location.

 

New (old) compost bin location

 

Here`s a final shot of what the yard looks like at the end of today`s fencing activities.  I can only hope that no hooligans come around and push the posts over before the concrete gets poured!



Temporary fence in place
New fence posts in and waiting for concrete!

With love across the waters,

 

Right Now The Bear is Winning…

… But not for long.

On Saturday morning I got up for work as usual.  Let the dog out.  She came straight back in.  Cat wanted out.  She turned around and also came straight back in.

This is not usual, but on Saturday morning it also wasn’t wholly unexpected either as we were in the midst of what on the Island of Jersey (Channel Islands) is known as a Right Hoolie (not to be confused with a regular Hoolie which just blows the rain around and makes things generally miserable.  We were having gale force winds combined with rain so heavily pouring down that visibility was being impacted. I didn’t force the outside issue as I could let the cat out the front door to a covered (if windy) front step & Jasmine and I would be going out for our regular walk later on anyhow.

After the walk I actually had to strip at the door (inside, not outside) so as not to spread puddles of water all around my living room. Into the shower and ready for work I then got.

Last pre-departure pee time outside for Jasmine and what do I see, but a whole section of my fence lying down in the alley AND one of the walls of my marvellous compost bin lying on the ground with compost pulled out on top of it.

Hm.

When on my breaks I looked up how to repel bears from compost and also bear proofing fencing. FYI, bear-proof fencing sounds scary as hell as the best ones are electrified with high voltage as it takes a lot more than a simple electric fence to stop a determined bear.

Yipes!

I stopped on the way home to pick up some more zap straps, some 2.5’ screws and some groceries for me (I found mint flavoured rosebuds!!) and while looking for the zap straps and screws I also asked about purchasing some lime. Evidently it helps break compost down faster AND it masks the scent of anything a bear would consider to be “yummy”.  None to be had, but the gal I was speaking with DID offer an interesting suggestion – cayenne pepper.  Bears don’t like to smell it (having taken a big whiff when I was dousing my compost pile, I can understand that) AND the taste makes them think twice about eating.

All items in hand, I came home and went outside to prop up the pulled down panel and douse everything with pepper.  It was actually more fun than it sounds.

I spoke with my folks that night & Dad will be coming up to help me repair/replace at least the back section of the fence (which actually has no posts sunk into the ground – no wonder the damn thing just fell over) in a couple of weeks time, but my job for yesterday was to go outside and shore up the fence and compost bin.

While it wasn’t terrible work, it was raining and so it was damp.  Everything was even still in place this morning when I got up, so maybe the cayenne pepper is still working even though it’s wet out!

Today’s projects are more domestic.  Some leaves raked and into the compost bin, bread in the oven baking now and cookies planned as well. I also needed to make a couple of calls to find out where I could get something called “navijack” which is a composite of sand and gravel used to make concrete.  Great news, there’s a big gravel pit not too far from my home that sells it either by the yard, or at a $20 minimum – so the half yard I will need isn’t going to cost as much as I thought it would – woo hoo!

Anyhow, for your reviewing pleasure, here’s what I was working on yesterday…

Propped up

Yes, this is a corner. That's right - that "corner"post
is mostly gone and wasn't actually in the ground!

Look at the right side - yes, that's an 8-foot length
of re-bar, bent at a 90* angle!

With love across the waters,

On Being The Ant

Remember Aesop’s fable about the grasshopper and the ant…?

Once there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow.

All day long the ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see by, and toil back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her head. She would put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder, and then hurry back to the field for another one. All day long she would work, without stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.

The grasshopper would look at her and laugh. 'Why do you work so hard, dear ant?' he would say. 'Come, rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?'

 The ant would ignore him, and head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This would make the grasshopper laugh even louder. 'What a silly little ant you are!' he would call after her. 'Come, come and dance with me! Forget about work! Enjoy the summer! Live a little!' And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.

Summer faded into autumn, and autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and grey, the nights long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to fall.

The grasshopper didn't feel like singing any more. He was cold and hungry. He had nowhere to shelter from the snow, and nothing to eat. The meadow and the farmer's field were covered in snow, and there was no food to be had. 'Oh what shall I do? Where shall I go?' wailed the grasshopper. Suddenly he remembered the ant. 'Ah - I shall go to the ant and ask her for food and shelter!' declared the grasshopper, perking up. So off he went to the ant's house and knocked at her door. 'Hello ant!' he cried cheerfully. 'Here I am, to sing for you, as I warm myself by your fire, while you get me some food from that larder of yours!'

The ant looked at the grasshopper and said, 'All summer long I worked hard while you made fun of me, and sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! Find somewhere else to sing, grasshopper! There is no warmth or food for you here!' And the ant shut the door in the grasshopper's face.

It is wise to worry about tomorrow today.

Yeah – I always thought that the ant was a little bit sanctimonious – I would like to think that instead of shutting the door in the grasshopper’s face, she would  offer some food, but still – the moral of the story cannot be argued – prepare for tomorrow today.

I’ve spent the last couple of months playing at being the ant - harvesting, doing yard work and, most recently, getting the yard and garden beds ready for winter.  Today I gathered leaves that have come down and piled them over top of some of my garden space.  Next weekend I’ll do more of the same, only this time pile it up into the compost bin to let it gently rot down through the winter until, in spring, I can use it in my vegetable beds.

Garlic is planted & has set up shoots – I have mulched more leaves on top of that bed to keep them healthy and feed them come spring.

Canning is complete – I ended up with more than sixty jars of applesauce, pears and peaches and enough fresh apples and rhubarb to make up six crisps. I also made up plum jam (which is more like plum syrup) and rhubarb ginger jam. 

The last of my apples went to my brother’s home a couple of weeks ago where we ground and pressed apples to make juice - I came home with apple mash which was dug into the garden bed and a couple of gallons of the juice (both of which are gone now) it was delicious!

Putting the garden and yard to bed for the winter makes me think of the ant – getting ready for next year’s planned crops, gardens and enjoyment.  I will have a proper vegetable patch this year – fenced off and planted with things like beans, snow peas tomatoes, squash, courgettes, lettuces and carrots. When I was over on Jersey, my neighbour had an utterly brilliant way of growing courgettes and squash – she would buy a bag of soil, cut a hole or two in it, and plant her plants directly into the soil. These bags sat on her patio. At the end of the growing season, that bag of soil was used to fill and seed lawn or to augment garden beds. I figure I will do as she did and plant squash and courgettes in those and then cover the rest of my garden space with other items…

This coming year’s garden will be smaller – eventually I want to have a larger section of my yard – all the way back to my compost bin actually - fenced off for vegetables.  Being able to plant, grow, harvest, preserve and then, through the winter, eat the foods I have grown myself is my eventual goal.

For tonight, though, I will have a dinner of roast chicken and trimmings (stuffed with bread I made myself) and a yummy desert of baked apple and rhubarb crisp. If a grasshopper shows up at my door seeking food and shelter I won’t be slamming the door…

With love across the waters,

Transplanting and Other Weekend Fun

This weekend was a typical summer weekend for me.  Or rather, is typical of how I hope my summer weekends at home will be.

On Saturday before work started I went into Canadian Tire and picked up an outdoor laundry umbrella rack – you know the kind – once they are positioned you have about 5 lines on either three or four panels on which you can hang laundry? Saturday after work rushed home, set it up and hung out some laundry.  Yay for energy conservation AND for laundry that smells like fresh air! That night I had been invited to a friends’ house for a dinner and visit with a few other people I know – yummy food, good laughter and great people – a wonderful way to start the weekend!

Sunday I did another little bit of laundry, puttered in the house and just generally relaxed.

Today I took Jasmine for a short walk, mowed front and back lawns, cut off dead peony blossoms and then headed into the front yard to remove the boxy looking hedge shrubs that were running along the side of the driveway.  My plan for that space is to eventually move the pink peonies from the centre of the back yard (as well as yet another couple of roses I have found) out to the front yard and to replace the ones moved from the back with things that are more highly scented. 

All of the peonies I have found (as well as the roses, come to think of it) are scentless – and I LOVE scented flowers… so the eventual plan is to move anything unscented out of the back yard and replace with flowers that will fill the summer night air with perfume.

Cool, huh?

For now, though, most of what I have been getting up to is actual W O R K!! Digging out the boxy shrubs was hot sweaty stuff.  

With boxy shrubs

Granted, I actually didn’t NEED to do it in full daylight with the sun beating down on me – I could have done it earlier in the day – but you know how it is – the urge to do stuff didn’t actually hit me until AFTER I had some lunch and cider.

Boxy shrubs gone!

Horrible soil and rescued rose...

Come to think of it – maybe it was the cider that caused this urge to do stuff!

Anyhow… what I am thinking I will do is now leave the peonies that are in the back yard where they are until the foliage starts to die off – and then around the time I am turning the compost, replant them all then.  The thought for that one is that, since I will have all of this lovely black compost to use, I may as well use it to bolster up the dry and very unhealthy looking soil in the front.  I’ll dig a trench, fill it with compost, plant the peonies directly on that lovely rich stuff, and then top fill with the less that stellar soil that’s already there. 

I will need to spend some time with a shovel and screen – much of the “soil” in the front garden bed is filled with gravel and stones – and I’ll want all of that stuff out of there…

Isn't that soil terrible??

But look how pretty Rescued Rose is!

Hm.  This is looking like a LOT of work.  Maybe I should think about this and have another cider?

With love across the waters,

Last Few Hours…

Well, as all great weeks off must do, mine is coming to an end.  It’s 5:00 PM on my last day off before returning to work and I’m just doing a little puttering and thinking.  In looking over the past week I had some great successes and some items not done.

First of all, I have to tell you that I had glorious weather for my week off – GLORIOUS!

A couple of days before it started I wrote out a list:

• Wednesday night – hang screen door
• Thursday night – have drywall done
• Friday night – relax
• Saturday night – primer
• Sunday – paint & have friends over for dinner
• Monday – Nephew and Grandma day
• Tuesday – Lay insulation in attic
• Wednesday – pull carpet & underlay
• Thursday – have friends from work over for coffee, have a load of stuff taken off to the dump
• Friday – Mum, Dad & Grandpa up for lunch & then do some gardening & yard work
• Saturday, Sunday and Monday – relax & go to the cabin for a few hours in there somewhere.

Lists are funny things.  They give me a guideline of what I want to accomplish, but remember the old adage of “man makes plans & God laughs”? Yup – that was what actually happened.

What I didn’t count on was having a HELLISH 5 days of back and neck pain accompanied by the most horrific of headaches – starting on Wednesday.  That took me out until roughly Tuesday.  It also changed how I got things done, but all in all, I managed most of it.  What didn’t get done was the insulation and having some friends over for dinner last Sunday… everything else eventually got done, just not as I had initially planned it. There were also a couple of unplanned additions – namely having to have Giant Hogweed removed.

Sunday, my first official day of vacation, started out sunny and bright, with me and Jasmine in the back yard enjoying a late and lazy breakfast and coffee. My neighbours were out as well and just in passing, the wife of the couple mentioned that I would want to get rid of what at a glance looked to be cow parsley.

I was game (if still a little sore and headachy) and thought that I would tackle it after breakfast.  My usual modus operandi is to just jump in and do things, but this time I thought it might be smart to see if I could compost all of that lovely green material or, like walnut husks, would it be poisonous to my compost… and so in after the computer I went.

A little bit of research later I found out that it WASN’T cow parsley – though it looked quite a bit like it.  It was actually something called Giant Hogweed (the Latin name is Heracleum mantegazzianum) which in pictures looks like HUMUNGOUS Queen Anne’s Lace, but in reality is considered to be a pernicious invasive plant, not native to North America and extremely dangerous to humans.  The sap is toxic and sensitizes the skin to ultraviolet radiation - causing third degree burns that come back over and over again, any time you get sunshine on it. If the sap gets into the eyes it can cause blindness - PLEASE take some time to review the information here on the Coastal Invasive Plant Committee website and here on the BC Ministry of Agriculture website.

After reading the information, I decided I needed help to get rid of this – for starters, I do not have a hazmat suit, completely rubberized gloves or, quite frankly, the bravery needed to attack this stuff – did you SEE the pictures???  It took me a couple of days to connect with the right people, but on Wednesday I managed to get in touch with the right person who sent out a crew to inspect the infestation & if within what they could do in one afternoon, remove it for me.

Tuesday was the day that I tackled the removal of the carpet and underlay - I did find a couple of surprises in the flooring, but nothing that can’t be dealt with eventually.

Starting the job & uncovering the painted wood floors

Surprise #1 - it isn't ALL painted!

Nice tight grain on most of the planks! This a a GOOD thing!

Surprise #2 - particle board AND tack strips to pull out!

Another pile of stuff to be removed to the dump...

Wednesday I puttered around and dealt with the rest of the flooring surprises issues, was the day the crew came to remove the Giant Hogweed AND the day that my extraordinary contractors came in to sand down and apply mud coat number 2 to the drywall.

Thursday did actually go according to plan – friends over for coffee in the morning and then the young fellows who have the haulage business came over and took away the carpet and underlay.

On Friday my parents came up for a visit and brought my Grandpa with them – his first visit to the house… it wasn’t quite as put together as I had hoped it would be by that point, but they were pleased to see all of my progress so far.

Saturday, eschewing responsibility and all of the unfinished tasks, I loaded Jasmine into the car and we ran away to the cabin for a few hours. It was great – warm sunny day, not too much wind, excellent visit with Rob, Carrie & Finn and traffic was relatively cooperative.

That evening, Kel and Roger (my contractors) came by to do the final sanding for me on the drywall. 

Wall completed, coats of primer done.

Yesterday I put on a couple of layers of primer and then painted the wall. I screwed up a little – I put tape on top of not 100% dry paint and when I pulled off the tape it pulled off the paint as well.  Oh well!

All done, furniture back in place - SO much brighter!

Pictures and masks back up

SO much nicer!

Today has been a do very little day.  I did some laundry, re-hung pictures in the living room, re-arranged the furniture, washed more drywall dust off of, well, everything, baked a cake and generally relaxed.

Tomorrow (sob) is back to work…

With love across the waters,

My Shoulders Are Sore But…

The composting system is now installed!

Before I go into the tales of today, I should share some thoughts on the placement of my new compost bin from a Feng Shui perspective.  The Earth Machine composter was just on the edge of my Creativity & Children and my Relationship & Love sectors of the yard.  The space I had available there was just not big enough to house the new composting system and I needed to locate another place that would be practical, not terribly visible and also, hopefully, not detrtimental.

I have placed the new compost bin (which is rectangular in shape and mostly made of wood) on the edges of my Family and Prosperity zones.  Right in the centre of my Family zone is a big leafy green shrub and right in the centre of my Prosperity zone is a very healthy Damson Plum tree - about to burst forth in white blossoms, but the fruit is a gorgeous bright reddy-purple colour.

The sector of the yard it is now in is represented by:

• the colours green, red and purple
• the shapes vertical, columnar or rectangular
• the wood element
• the symbolism for new growth, expansion, vitality, energy and determination

So... I am looking at the placement from the practical standpoint that this was the most reasonable location it could be positioned in, and from the Feng Shui standpoint that, with a couple of minor cures, it can also be a major enhancement to my family and prosperity zones. With the help of Mother Nature and her extremely industrious earthworms, this will be a healthy and productive addition to my yard.

The plan was to use old lumber pallets, zap straps and lengths of re-bar.  I started by collecting lumber pallets.  I saved the top pieces from my picnic table to use as shoring up pieces, and once I had enough lumber pallets (7 for the double composter I was planning to build) I got my hands on some six-foot lengths of re-bar and some extra large and heavy-duty zap straps.

Some of the lumber pallets

Lumber pallet and Earth Machine Composter

Pieces of two-by-fours

This morning, after coffee outside in the sunshine, I started the project by putting the first two pallets in place.

The beginning - the first two pallets in place

The first length of re-bar was hammered down in between them and then I put the re-bar at the ends.  After the two back pieces were put in place, I muscled the sides & centre pallet into place, zap-strapped them to the re-bar posts and hammered in the next 3 lengths of re-bar.

Cross-Pieces in place

Note to self: sledge hammering one handed while holding the re-bar in place makes shoulders very sore.  I mean VERY sore - like I need an ibuprofen kind of sore.

I made a mistake here and zap-strapped the front pieces on… but when I started to move the material from my little Earth Machine composter over to the big compost, well, I took the front panel off of the left-side of the composter so that I could just dump the wheelbarrow directly into it. MUCH easier.

All done?

Look how much space there is there!

Front panel back on, I worked on cleaning the yard up a little and when I stepped around the front of my house I discovered that a friend from work had left me a couple of small rhubarb plants at my front door – so I pulled the shovel back out and planted the new rhubarb in the recently vacated old compost spot.

Rhubarb plant happily ensconced in old composter spot

When I was digging out the old composter, I saw loads of giant, juicy fat worms (which I happily transplanted along with the compost to the new bin.

Today also saw me acquire (from my neighbours) some new plants for my yard.

First up is some Lovage, which is a tall perennial plant whose leaves can be used in soups and salads, roots can be grated up and eaten like vegetables and tea made from the leaves can be used as an antiseptic.  The seeds can evidently also be used like a spice – VERY versatile! It smells sort of like celery. It can grow quite tall (between 5’ and 8’) and can be used as hedging.  I have planted it into a bare spot along one of my side fences and in that spot it will provide some privacy for both me and the neighbours.

Next up was some Crocosmia – they have ling spiky leaves and orange flowers & look like something that hummingbirds might like!

Last but not least is a pot of garlic chives, which will be placed into one of the two very large planters that I have reserved for something but not got anything of import planted in at this time.

All this work done, I came inside, showered and am now going to relax on my sofa for the rest of my evening.

Big day tomorrow – my Demxx delivery is arriving around 9:45 in the morning – so my new front door and 8 bales of insulation will need to be stored until I can have the door installed and I can get the insulation up into the attic and lay it out.

With love across the waters,

Feng Shui Update: Springtime, Abundance & New Love

Today is the last day of my February vacation week – back to work tomorrow.  Typical to me, I came down with the dreaded “Holiday Head Cold” and so have “lost” two lovely sunny days of potential yard work. Feeling somewhat better today, I decided that a good thing for me to do, in spite of the lingering runny nose, was to get myself outside and start working on the back yard.

As mentioned, my friend Dave came by last weekend and cleared out all of the excess debris and crap that I had piled at the back of the yard.  Looking out there I decided that, since nature abhors a vacuum, I would move some more things that need to be removed to the back yard and fence line in order to have it all ready for the next bout of crap removal. 

Gloves and jacket on, I got Jasmine and we went out into the yard and began by pulling all of the leaves and grass that I had piled into the flower beds as mulch.  I know that the fact that it’s all been rotting in is a very good thing – the soil and seedlings have been pulling great nutrients out of it and that now is the time that it needs to all be pulled out so that the mysterious little plants coming up can be seen.  We’re still frosty and freezing overnight, but let’s face it - anything growing here has been here for a number of years now, survived a number of winters and is hearty enough to have soil laid bare for sunshine to warm it by now.

I have dragged all of the ugly statuary out, pulled off the Astroturf that was on the cement pad & piled up a few other things to have hauled away.  It’s not pretty, but it makes a great new obstacle course for Jasmine to run circles around when she gets a good case of the sillies. 

Now all I need is my BBQ...

NEW pile of twigs & brush.

MUCH smaller pile of crap - to be continued...

Mentally planning ahead, I also scoped out the space where I want to put my vegetable patch (next summer?) and am decided on where my herbs will be planted as well as finally decided on where my compost bin system will go. Can’t do much more than plan right now as I need more $$, more time off and longer warmer days – all of which are speeding their way to me.

Springtime seems (to me anyhow) to be the best example of Feng Shui and the law of abundance.  One of the first things learned when starting to delve into Feng Shui is cleaning up and de-cluttering.  Today’s foray into the back yard was all about that. Flower beds cleaned out, more dead branches culled (and more clutter removed and piled up for final removal) cleared way for the new green shoots that are pushing through the soil – loads of buds starting to come out on trees and shrubs, the smell of green in the air

Pushing forth into the world

I *think* these might be irises...

Totally uncertain what these are...

VERY interesting... again, NO idea whatsoever!!

Even the trees and shrubs are working on waking up

New life on my plum tree

I think that, how I feel right this second (looking at my yard and thinking of the smell of fresh earth) must be how my Mum feels in the spring when she looks at her yard... and how my Grannie felt every spring - I am in tune with the feeling of my own personal sap rising.

From a Feng Shui perspective, my yard is ready to pull in all sorts of abundant energy for me now… and, hopefully, more love energy too!

And speaking of love energy, this week I welcomed a new little bit of love into my world and home. She hasn’t got a name yet, but she’s making a place for herself. 

Jasmine and No Name Yet under my bed...
Jasmine trying REALLY hard to get up close and personal

No Name Yet... 

With love across the waters,

Yard Cleaned, Piles Gone!

Well, my birthday was this Sunday just passed & as a treat to myself, I took this week off of work to have a bit of a break, do some visiting and some general puttering around the yard, provided the weather co-operated with me and my plans.

Sunday morning I headed down to Nanaimo – birthday lunch with Mum, Dad, Grandma & Grandpa at Rob, Carrie & Finn’s house. A GORGEOUS Mummy-made chocolate cake with chocolate mint icing.  Ok, before you have a big cringe at all of that chocolate, this has been my special birthday cake since forever – I can’t remember ever having anything else as my birthday dessert.

It was AWESOME.

I spent that night down at Mum & Dad’s house and then on Monday Dad & I went to Grandma’s old apartment and did the final clean out on it – some vacuuming & general cleaning and tidying in order to release it back to the property management company.

Tuesday I came home by way of a stop in with Carrie & Finn.  My poor little nephew has a bit of a snotty nose and some aches right now so although he was gorgeous and charming, I could tell he wasn’t his normal self.  Poor monkey!

When I got home Tuesday afternoon it was to find that there were NO MORE PILES OF DEBRIS anywhere around my home. Dave and crew were in over the Sunday/Monday when I was gone & they cleared out ALL of the piles – meaning that they got rid of all of the branches and tree trimmings and also did a dump run and got rid of the general piles of crap that were accumulating. They even raked the ground around where the piles had been!

Front of the house - no more pile of tree!

Back fence - all the branches are gone!

Holy smokes - I can open the gate again!!

All the logs are gone!

The ugly swing chair - also gone!!!!!

Yesterday, first “full day off” for me, I did a little bit of running around and then came home and started pulling leaved and debris out of the front flower bed – mostly spent the time pulling dead leaves and twigs out from between the flowers that are cropping up out there.

Last night I had a GORGEOUS dinner at Martine’s Bistro in Comox with some of the ladies I work with.  YUM.  Early night for me last night and then today I was up early-ish and did some more running around. Of prime importance on my personal list of things to do today was to get a wheelbarrow.

Once home, I puttered in the kitchen a bit – made some soup, baked a pan of gingerbread and had some lunch.  The rest of the soup is now cool enough to portion off & freeze and the gingerbread is now ready to be iced.  After lunch was done I changed into clothing I didn’t mind getting filthy in & headed outside to work on today’s project: clearing the rest of the front garden bed. 

There was close to 8 wheelbarrow loads of grass, leaves, rocks and gravel to remove – all of which went over the embankment across the street.  I’m told by my neighbour that it’s OK and everyone does it… I didn’t want to send all of the tree branch debris and shrub trimmings down there (all that wood, all dried out in the summer, could be a bit of a fire hazard) so it was shipped off… but all of the rocks and gravel went over the edge.  I figure that since it won’t burn AND it will help shore up some of the sides, it’s a good contribution to the embankment.

All the ugly white rocks are gone & now the front garden bed
is ready to have my Coral Bark Maple planted...

 With 4 days left of this week off, I’m thinking that, if I get clear enough weather to do it, I’ll rake up the rest of the leaves from the back yard and pile them up. Also, if the weather holds AND I can get help from one with a truck to help me get lumber pallets, well, I may even manage to get that compost bin built.  I forgot to get the stucco wire from Dad, but getting the frame in place would be a good start…

For now, though, I’m going to make a hot cup of tea and relax a little on the sofa.

With love across the waters,