Back to Yard & Garden Work

Our morning walk with dogs yesterday was really lovely because the Ocean Spray is out and the bushes, sometimes huge ones, are in full bloom and filling the forest with its sweet, sweet fragrance. I have walls of Ocean Spray at Pinecone Park, and so the yard is heavenly scented.

Chica, the chicken, remains with me. She’s been here for a week now, and yesterday I put out a hutch for her, filled with straw. If she’s still here when Winter comes, I’ll move her hutch into the shed for her and I’ll add a heat lamp for her.

I stained two deck chairs and transformed them from awful neglected looking things, into nice clean and comfortable chairs with cushions (that I cleaned). I’m setting them out on my porch with a low table where I’ll be spending more time reading and enjoying the heat. Inside my house is still very cool. I wear a sweater and cover my legs with two blankets at night.

After finishing the two chairs, I left them to dry and took back some building supplies that I didn’t need. And while in the village, I did some quick grocery shopping and went to François’ and Eoin’s for another ham. The first one I got was delicious.

Then I stained a third chair. And then Pete came by with a long list of dates when he and Ali will be away, and I’ll be charged with watering their gardens. After he left, I got started on cleaning up the lovely Maple worktable that was left here by a previous owner. I want to sell it or give it away via the Gabriola Community Facebook page. Once it’s gone, I’ll move my retired outdoor dining table into the shed to use for storing the small things that I use constantly.

I love having Chia here. In the afternoon, she’d settled into the garden where the sun shines. I love seeing her feeling secure enough to chill in the yard. But now I have another new task: picking up the chicken poop off the courtyard and deck.

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Today, I’ll finish staining the chairs, I’ll do a lot of watering and I’ll plant some delicate moss all along the edges of the new footpath. Then it will be time to start working on the gardens and yard again. During all the wood chopping and stacking, and then all the work on the deck, they have had no attention.

I have lots of time for yard work, and it’s going to be nice to work because there is naught but sunshine and temperatures between 27° and 29° predicted for every day for the next 10 days. If I tire of yard work and the heat, I will start working on the conversion of the studio. I’m going to give away all my craft supplies and take apart all my ladies so that I can give away the mannequins. 

As my devotion to working continues, so does the losing of weight. It’s amazing how much weight that I’m losing due to being active all day long and changing how I eat. I never eat meals anymore. I’ve become a grazer and I never suffer from acid reflux anymore. I was living on Gaviscon until I made the change, but no more. I’ve lost 27 pounds; that’s a lot of weight I no longer have to carry around.

The Ocean Spray on the west side of my lot. Yes, the lawn needs cutting.
I'll be doing it today.

The Ocean Spray on the south side of my lot. These photos don't
do it justice. I wish you could smell it.

A bad photo of Chica. She is not a poser.

This is the first year I've planted pots like hanging baskets.

The new garden. You can barely see the new Japanese Maple where the
garden butts against the steps.

A chair before.

And after one coat. I do two.