A nontypical scarecrow?????

I started out the morning with the usual beautiful sunrise.

Went out in the garden and did my weeding and finished planting a couple things.  Got a mini watermelon patch going.  I had to transplant a few stalks of corn to even out the rows and fill in the blank spots where the seed didn't germinate. I also built my scarecrow today.  He isn't really there to scare any birds away and as a mockery I put a parrot on his shoulder.  I started out building a base using an old board and a 4x4 post.

I drilled through a 2x4 and ran a long bolt through it and through a makeshift bearing so he would pivot.

Next I built a frame for the upper torso

I attatched the frame work to the "waist line 2x4" and put his shirt on.

A couple staples held it in place.

I made the head out of plywood and attached his hat.

A little paint and voila!!

I drilled through the ends of his arms and inserted a couple pinwheels that will also spin in the wind.

He needs a name now.

Of course all this I could not do alone without my faithful companions.

I love these guys! Truly a man's best friends.

Campfires and Hot Tubs

We had the first campfire of the season last night.  Burned up that brush pile and a bunch of trimmings from the wood shop.  Mosquitos were out but the Off seemed to chase them away well enough.  I suppose we had too much blood for our own good.

It was a nice fire.  Kaitlin had smores and I had a big cup of Butterscotch-Toffee coffee and a nice Victor Sinclair-Monterey Cigar. 

This morning I was up early(what's new?)

Watered the garden and the flowers.  I love to watch the sprinklers in the garden.  I have two hooked up and they run at the same time.  It covers the entire garden and I watch the droplets glisten in the morning sunrise.

Nice sunrise this morning.  Why does anyone ever want to sleep in?

I worked on the dog kennel first thing this morning.  I had all the hog panels down and the t-posts dug up by 8am.  It was hot already.  I got most of it up I will finish it off one of these days.  The neighbor has a couple more panels I can have.  Thanks Bernie!!

I still have hog panels up against the house cuz the dogs will chew the siding.  Crazy Mutts!!

I filled up the hot tub this morning.  I hooked the hose up directly to the hot water tap for the washing machine.  That way I get hot and soft water.  Plus I don't have to wait as long for it to heat up.

We got in it after dinner and relaxed for awhile but the mosquitos drove us out before too long.  Gonna be a bad skeeter season.  I need to get some tiki torches around the tub.

Rascal the "barn" cat was on the prowl today checking out the new flowers.

I never did build the scarecrow today.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow and if so I will build him out in the wood shop.  I think the temps are gonna cool down a bit.  We found this neat little flag at the store today.  Had a B on it so we hung it from the front deck.

It was a hot day and I was tired so me and the Big Brown Dog had a little nap.ZZZZZZZZZZ

Yes I allow my dogs on the couch.  We keep a sheet on them to keep the dirt to a minimum.

If that bothers you then guess what?  Don't sit on my couch!!!  Besides my wife is OCD when it comes to cleaning so they never stay dirty for long.  TRUST ME  !!

It's not summer yet but judging by the boy's reactions today I say the dog days are here!

Not too often you see them both laying down especially when Remmi has his red rubber ball.

I planted some prety little vinca today in the bird feeder bed.

A very busy yet productive day.  Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Amazingly as the day began, so it ended.

Good night all.

Flower day!!!!!!!

We went shopping for flowers today.  We picked up 4 flats of annuals, 3 hanging baskets, a six pack of wave petunias, and Kaitlin got a little baby catus.

                                           The baskets were beautiful and well worth the $20.

I also picked up a couple rail planters made from coconut fibers.

Kaitlin and I planted the flowers in these

Then Kaitlin planted some flowers in the pots I got for Christmas last year.

Momma painted the front door on the house and planted her little planters on the front deck.

The front deck is great for late afternoon shade.  We have a hammock to lay in and relax or read a book.

I cleaned the hot tub and weeded out the bird feeder bed.  Filled up the feeders along with the hummingbird feeders out in the yard.  Hung up a new hose holder.  I will fill up the bird feeder bed tomorrow with the leftover annuals.

It was a great day.  When I was done I had a date with 2 beautiful ladies at the local Mexican restaraunt.

(Joe was house sitting)

After dinner we went to the Goodwill store to pick up accesories for the garden scarecrow.

Wait till you see him.  So far we have yellow pants, a green and yellow checked shirt. A sun hat and a parrot to perch on his shoulder.  Why the parrot?  Why not is a better question!

We also have some small windmills to put in his hands.  Tomorrow he shall live!!

Gunner and Remmi were a big help as well.  You just can't get the perfect soil compaction unless your dog runs through the flower bed while your working in it.  Most people don't know it:):):)

I forgot to tell everyone it's hold your toungue out for picture day!!

Friday grass cutting marathon

WOW!!

I wanted to cut the grass today and then collect/rake all the clipings up to fill my garden boxes.
I forgot how long it takes and how sun will burn my skin.LOL
I spent about 6 hours cutting the grass and windrowing it.  I would cut in big loops blowing the grass inwards at all times.  When I reached the middle I held a plastic leaf rake in front of the chute and all the clippings piled up in a little row.  It worked really good and my arm got a heck of a workout holding that rake.
I used a wheelbarrow and went around and raked it all up.  I opened the gate to the garden and wheeled it right in and filled up the boxes.  I didn't have enough to fill up all the boxes so I went into the pasture and cut a little out of there to finish.

Now the only thing I need to weed is the 20 inches between the rows which just happens to be the size of the rototiller.  I will be hooking up a sprinkler system to water everything at once on Saturday.

I did all this work yesterday but was too tired to sit at the computer.

That brush pile in the middle of the yard is the fire pit.  That will disappear Saturday as well.

Here is a shot of the chicken yard I finished up the other day.  The girls are starting to use it more and more now.

 

My little bantam is beaking out the door.  Yes I said beaking-- get it?  Yah yah I know crude attempt at a little poultry humour!

Sunday Sunrise

         Today started out perfect.

I woke up!

Anything more than that is a gift from God.

It is wise to remember that.
I stumbled my way to the coffee pot and
saw this out the window.

                                

It was beautiful.

I fed the boys and waited for the sun to peak over the horizon.

It did(another gift)

While I was running around barefoot at 6 am I snapped a couple pics of the plants I put

in yesterday.  I have a little more work to do but the bulk is done.  Now I just need to collect the grass clippings and fill the wooden boxes and cover up the fabric.

Did a lot of grass cutting yesterday as well.  Was pretty tuckered out by supper time.

Today I need to finish the lawn, collect some clippings, do a little more planting, catch a noon meeting and maybe work on the outdoor chicken room for a bit.  I figured I would relax a bit today.  It is Sunday!!

Also have a guy coming to check out a plumbing leak somewhere in the ceiling between up and downstairs bathrooms.  He is supposed to be here at 8 AM.  Momma just loves that!!

There is a new grill at the store I have my eye on.  I will do my best to talk Momma into a purchase.

It is only like $225 and it has propane on one side and charcoal on the other.  Seems like I saw something about an available smoke box for it too.  Sounds like brisket heaven to me.  Both my propane and charcoal grills are about junk.  Both were given to me 5 yrs ago or more so a new purchase is warranted.

(in my mind anyways)

 The boys were ready to go this morning and I promised them some play time so I had better get on it before I have a canine mutiny on my hands.

Carpentry in the Garden

Today started with rain:(

I was planning on planting the garden today but alas...
I started out the morning with a trip to the local hardware store.  (you would think we lived on Rodeo Dr. with the prices these guys charge)  I needed screws and they had a sale on a Corona by-pass hand pruner that I felt I just couldn't live without.
The great thing about a hardware store is they carry all the stuff you forgot that you made need someday.LOL  I ended up with a handful, no an arm full of goodies.

Grass seed, hose sprayers(2 fer $5.95) pruners which were only $12 -50% off,  a magnetic bit holder, a bag of #2 phillips bits and a 5 lb box of 3" coarse thread drywall screws.  Oh yeah, the grass seed says NEW!(like I thought they were gonna sell me old seed !)

So I returned home and headed out to the woodshop to finish building my garden fence.

It was quick work as I had my jigs already set up so no measuring was necessary just cut, drill and screw.

The drill press makes quick work of drilling all the pilot holes.

Staple on the chicken wire and done.  Once finished I took them outside and screwed them together and to the railroad ties that surround the garden.  That should keep the critters and the dogs out.

Then I built some more planting boxes out of scrap 2x4s and laid them out in the garden.  Tomorrow I will lay weed fabric under all the boxes and plant the veggies.  Then I will collect the grass clippings from the yard and fill the boxes with grass mulch.  This keeps out weeds and holds moisture.  By simply running the rototiller up and down the area between the boxes I keep the garden weed free.  Well except the corn and beans.  That I do by hand.

There are more boxes than in this pic but you get the idea.The dogs were not very happy though. 

They are not allowed in the garden.  I'm a meanie!!

I finished the building just in time because we had a heck of a little storm blow through.

So I am almost prepped.  Tomorrow I plant.

So far I have 20 tomato plants, 12 bell pepper, 2 jalapeno, 6 Cayenne, 6 Chili pepper, 6 Banana pepper, 6 cabbage, 4 Broccoli, 6 cucumber, 6 zuchinni plants that I need to get in the ground.

Plus 36 Roma tomato plants for the neighbor

By seed I have corn, beans, lettuce, mesclun salad, radish, swiss chard, iceberg lettuce,

Well it's time for dinner so I will be back tomorrow!!

Happy Spring planting to all:)

Redneck neighbor

I was surfing the net and came across this person's webpage and found it very entertaining so I though I would share it with you:
Redneck Neighbor



I will be in the garden tomorrow so check back for pictures.

Hey everyone guess what i'm still alive!!!!

Holy Moley was that a long winter!

Didn't think I was gonna make it there for awhile.  Whew!

But I did and it's now May 16th.  My last post was in February and I apologize.

If you live in the North with snow and cold you will understand the seasonal depression and the resulting lack of interest in the world:)

I've been busy getting the yard in shape and getting the garden ready for planting.

This morning I worked on building fence panels to enclose the garden with.(keep the critters out)

I got all the wood from work.  They were just tossing it.  So I ripped all the 2x4s in half and made frames from them.  I need to build about a 110 foot of fence.  After the frame I stapeled chicken wire to it.
I got 13 panels built before I had to head to St. Johns for a soccer game.  When I returned I started installing the panels.  My two faithful helpers were waiting by the door as usual to assist me in my endeavors.

These two are a hoot.  Their favorite foods as of late are chicken poo and cow poo:(

Remi just loves to play ball and Gunner just loves to knock Remi down on the way to the ball.  They are good for each other.  I am so glad they can go outside now while I am at work.  No more running home on lunch for potty breaks.

Here is some pics of the fence panels and garden.  They are phone pics so bear with:

Still got a ways to go but almost there.  I will be planting lots of veggies so check back for updates.