The Former Floating Home

It’s another gorgeous day and that means I will finish section one of the backyard project today. When I finish, I’ll take photos to let you see what I’ve been doing.

It’s been strenuous work. Much of my time has been spent removing old construction materials from the base of the tall Firs in the yard. Whoever built this place, dumped their detritus at the base of the trees and then spread a thin layer of soil over it, so yesterday involved a lot of depressing reveals as I continued to prepare the surface of my first section of the backyard for seeding.

I’m pleased with what I’ve done. The front yard looks so, so much nicer now that it has a lush green (weedy) lawn. I don’t care about the weeds; I love its rich deep colour. And that is what I hope my backyard will look like when I’m done.

Today, however, will be harder on me. Around 1:30 yesterday, something in my shoulder got damaged from my work. I now have a very  painful shoulder and my plan is to be using it a lot today. I’m going to steal some soil from the lot next door to fill the areas where I removed the rocks, concrete and wire.

From tomorrow until Friday, it’s supposed to be cloudy and showery. Then Beth comes for a few days and she’s followed by Edwin, so it will be a while before I start on section two of the backyard and the visits will give my shoulder time to do some healing.

When I moved here, my house floated in the forest. The lot had been cleared, the four buildings had been built and a single Rhododendron had been planted. The yard was Salal, Ferns, Oregon Grape and innumerable forms of weed were where there was soil and my land faded into the forest on three sides. A short fence defined the property line between my home and the cottage next door.

I remember thinking how lovely it looked and how nice it was that there was no fence so that my home felt part of the forest. 

Then I built the fence to for Sheba, and since then I haven’t stopped. Come Fall, I’ll have transformed 85% of my half acre. 

Clean Your Window!

I’m excited because today I will finish the first of three “large” sections of the yard that I plan to seed to lawn in the Fall. By “finishing,” I mean it will be prepped for the addition of a mixture of peat moss, manure and purchased (loamy) and purloined (barren) soil.

But part of today will also include creating a small garden in one part of the yard where I am working. It’s where I’ll put some plants that are not doing well in gardens that now get much more sunlight. It’s going to feel good, rescuing them and creating a new garden space. I do everything instinctually; I have no plan, so I make mistakes that require correcting.

Given the speed with which I’m working, I’ll have finished the landscaping of the vast majority of my half-acre lot this Fall. I have often asked myself why I do this work—I have few guests and they could care less about the landscaping. It’s not like many see what I do. But I now know it gives me something to do. 

It’s a hobby, not a necessity or something I do for others. Doing it fulfills me in the same way that making the paper dresses did. 

I can remember vividly how terribly foreign this place felt when I came here. I lived with a constant sense that my life here was temporary; I felt I’d have to leave. Now, with almost every inch of this place purposed by me, its more my home than anywhere else I have ever lived.

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I learned something fabulous yesterday. My mouse was not working terribly well and hadn’t for a long time. I’d had the problem before and solved the problem by buying a new mouse—in fact, two, in case the problem happened again. 

But rather than searching for the other mouse I bought, something made me think to clean the little “dot” of window that the mouse uses to “see.” And eureka! It’s like new again. So clean your mouse “window” on its underside and see if it becomes much more responsive.

To the Big Island

I went out to start work on the “back forty” Friday morning with no idea as to where to begin. I’d been thinking the Fern garden was the place to begin, but instead I started clearing areas I plan to seed with grass. Come autumn, I’ll cover the area in soil and seed it.

It’s hard work that involves long unused muscles. I have a pitchfork kid of thing I use to break up the hard-packed soil. I thrust the thing deep into the soil and pull and push to free the roots of the weeds and vines; I use the tool a bit like an axe and scathe. By Friday night my arms and shoulders were aching.  

I like the work. I like the changes I’ll see in the Fall when I seed; I don’t see what is, I see what will be. I’ll do more today and through the week.

Yesterday I was up and outside by 5:00 am watering the gardens. I packed quickly and left at 6:30 to be sure to be on the 7:30 ferry. I needn’t have hurried. There was hardly anyone travelling so early on a Saturday.

I took Her Highness for a nice walk in the park we always go to in Nanaimo, and then I went to Walmard for ten (!) $3 bags of soil, two large bags of birdseed, a huge container of kitty litter and lots of rawhide dog bones. It was my first time ever inside a Walmart (the garden centre is outside). It felt like an airport.

Then I was off to Jane and Dana’s in Parksville. I followed them to Qualicum Beach were we went for a lovely beach off-leash walk with the dogs (legal until June 10). Then we ate in a beach shack recently taken over by a very friendly fellow we met. We took our food to a picnic table in the shade and ate remarkably delicious food. It was a glorious day with my dog, my friends and so many essentials bought so inexpensively.

Today, before getting back to the landscaping, I have to tie up all my peas. They are not very good at climbing and need to be helped getting started. It’ll be satisfying work.

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Sheba has graduated to Genius status. 

I now leave my gate open all day when I am here so she can free-range. She spends a lot of her time just chillin’ at the front of the lot guarding us. She causes me no concern running free.

I hear other dog owners howling, over and over, the name of their dog and it’s made me reluctant to do the same thing. It’s so quiet hear, screaming for a pet jars—and we all know who is yelling because we all know who owns what dog. 

My brilliant dog and I have a fabulous system: I just clap my hands once and she comes home. It’s wonderful and it’s anonymous.

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The second order of Tool Library brochures has arrived. They are my donation to my friend, Patsy’s, current major concern.

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I ordered a new wheelbarrow wheel. Fixing my wheelbarrow will earn me my Tool Repair badge—a badge of which I’m terribly proud. (I also recently fixed—against all odds—my vacuum!) I continue to be amazed by what practical things this modestly educated “city boy” is driven to by necessity.