Oh, The Glory of Morning Spas

I mowed the lawns yesterday (quickly and illegally, given the forest fire hazard rating) and watered all the gardens after going to the market. It takes 45 minutes to water everything—next year I’m getting soaker hoses for some of my gardens. 

The big task of the day was more landscaping. I decided to work on removing the lawn that I thought I’d leave in place. In this particular area, there’s soil—probably dumped from the excavation of the foundation house—so the sod is thick. I have to dig it out in big weighty chunks and shake off all the soil before I toss the mass of roots and grass.  

Taking this section on is extending my work time on the landscaping, but as I’ve said before, I absolutely love doing the work—in the casual earnest way that I do it. I love being outside in air that smells glorious. I thrill to the sudden thunder of a low-flying Hummingbird checking me out. And I love the sight of my Towhee buddies scrounging snacks from the soil where I’ve been working. And the sunlight! I thrive on it.

I took a break mid-afternoon and lay down on one of my outdoor chaises longues. Big mistake! It re-injured my back—boy, did it hurt! 

I haven’t done any baking for a long time, but last night I baked a peach tart for impending visit of Bruce, Caryn and Bill. I’m serving them chicken salad sandwiches, fruit and nice fresh salad before the tart.

•

Today has dawned mild, bright and beautiful but it feels like Fall already, it’s so cool in the mornings. The morning chill makes having a spa particularly nice, however. It’s predicted to get quite warm today so I’ll have a truly lovely day back at work after the big community dog walk. 

I’m going to complete the area I began yesterday and leave one small patch to complete after tomorrows visitors leave or on Tuesday and I’m going to check out the “work area” I left undone. It’s where I incinerate windfall. I’ve some sand left over from doing the courtyard so I may spread it over the surface of the working space.

I’m going to build a “folk fence” to slightly hide the work area. I’m going to build it with sticks I find on my walks and then train a vine onto it.