What a weekend of hard work. Shala & I had big dreams for this weekend to see if we could be successful in booking up every single free minute with an activity, chore or something other than sitting on the couch and eating ourselves into oblivion.
We succeeded.
Saturday we spent driving back and forth to Odessa to attend basketball games and in the middle of that we managed to move a piano into the shop. You didn’t know? We are turning it into an old fashioned juke joint… I thought I told you guys. 😉
Only kidding, it is the “temporary” home of the piano – Grandpa was getting rid of it and Shala had said something about wanting it a while back. Grandpa has always had a good memory and of course this was not something he let slide. Filed back under “crap that is cluttering my house that someone said they would take” – Grandpa pulled our card quick. So after some arranging and rearranging of people to help move the massive musical machine… we got it taken care of.
In the middle of my beautiful shop – sits a piano that needs refinishing like a constant reminder that I’m never done, until that piano is sitting in our living room and Shala is slapping away on it.
Sunday started off with a big breakfast at Cracker Barrel and we left there and hit up Home Depot to get some things we needed for the garden & such. After dropping a bill there, we had enough to keep us busy for the remainder of the day. We picked up a few jalapeno plants, a bell pepper plant, onions, asparagus, bulbs for the front yard and a huge pot to put our lime tree in. Lots of goodies.
We had cleaned out our front flower bed around new years – but failed to get every bit of grass out of there. Go figure. We planned to till it so we could be sure we got everything – then plan the bulbs for the flowers we wanted and get it ready for the rest of our greenery. Shala’s dad had a tiller we could borrow, so we headed back to Odessa – 3 times in one weekend… must be some kind of record. While we were getting it running and loaded up, Donnie & I talked about how we could cut those pesky neighbor’s tree limbs that were laying on my electric lines. After talking for a bit – we realized it could be done rather easily and he asked if we wanted to do it that day.
I’m trying not to be a procrastinator – remember – and so I said, its up to you, but we would be in the yard all day. He agreed that the day was too nice to pass up and said they would be over in a bit. After loading up and heading back home, I had that tiller dragging my ass around in no time. This was one of those old school tillers… the only kind I have ever had the luxury to use… and it had me smoked out like a hippie in the 70’s. I think I must have lost a few thousand brain cells in the brief 10 minutes or so I ran the thing – but… the job got done. That is all that counts.
If you have ever tilled before – you know that’s not all you have to do… then you have to get back in there and do the grass sorting thing. Not fun. Shala definitely was not in love with my OCD-ness on this occasion. She was desperately wishing I was a half-asser, but not the case with this fat kid. I like to get it done right the first time… wait… isn’t this why we are doing this again? Scratch that.
We got the bulbs planted (Shala can expand on that – don’t remember what we planted) and the stepping stones back on point. It all turned out good – minus the blisters on my poor computer-worn hands. 😉
My father-in-law and I climbed up on the shop and did our best impression of professional tree trimmers – getting all the neighbor’s tree limbs off my power lines. I had called the electric company and they told me they don’t trim it if its from pole to house, but from pole to pole they do. Which translates into – its your freakin’ problem… get to cuttin’. It really turned out to be not that big of a deal, except when Donnie was out back trimming a few trees that had popped up over the last 15 years and no one cared to trim them. He was back there by himself, as I was cutting some of the already fallen limbs into firepit wood – and he got pinned in between the shop and the tree for a bit. Wish we could have at least been there to see him… he wasn’t hurt – but I’m sure it would have been a funny sight. Some pics? Sure.
With all the limbs trimmed back, we all can sleep a bit easier knowing that it will take more than a brisk wind to take out our electric lines. All this time I thought it was the little wiener dog & the oversized labra-dora that kept me up all night?!
Since we were in the tree type of mood – we took some time to plant our lime tree in a huge pot. We decided to do that instead of planting it – since it gets a bit too cold in the winters for it. This way we can move it in and out if we really need to. I’m excited about the lime tree – so are my beers (honk honk).
Shala took some time amongst all the tree trimming & planting to put some jalapeno & bell pepper plants in a pot to get them growing prior to when the time comes to put them in the ground. So now we have 5 types of peppers potted waiting to plant in the ground, basil, oregano & parsley also itchin’ to get out in the open. We didn’t get the asparagus in the ground, or the onions… but that is ok. It is still early.
So with the tiller still at the house, we are planning to till up the rest of the garden (we planted some potatoes already in about a third of two rows), then mix in some plant friendly soil and get it ready for the summer farming. 😉 Farmers… who would have thought.
Today is my Grandpa’s birthday… I didn’t plan this post for that fact. I really was looking at my hands yesterday and thought to myself… Grandpa always had worn down haggard hands, and they got that way by doing the things like I did this past weekend. I sat there, back sore from shoveling and arms sore from the tiller and smiled.
I’m trying to get my Grandpa’s hands.
Update: I failed to mention we had 3 potato plants finally pop up in the past 3 days… very happy about that. We were doubting our skills for a bit. Ran home at lunch and snapped this pic below.
