Life By Lindsey Rae

As I mentioned previously, I was building a dry stone wall along one side of our property. I finished it about 2 weeks ago, but I still have a few small things that I want to do to improve it.

I still need to post pictures of my work! I have some now, but Jerrod took so many for me and I still have to go through them and pick out some good ones.

So, I was getting my rocks from a lot of the nearby construction sites, but those houses are getting closer to being done, and as they get closer to landscaping, they've removed a lot of the piles of dug up rock from the surface that made them so accessible.I gathered lots of rocks for my wall piled up around here.
And, even though my wall is finished, I really wanted to get some extra rocks for repairs that might need to be done as it shifts with the seasons or maybe for an edge on a flowerbed in the future. They have huge piles one or two blocks down, at the edge of the subdivision, but when you are carrying a wheelbarrow full of a couple hundred pounds of rocks and it's 95 degrees outside, you don't want to walk any further than you have to (especially on hills). So, I've got to take advantage of the ones I've got here now before they are gone!

My neighbors across the street are a retired couple who spend a lot of time sitting on their front porch smoking their cigarettes. I believe they have quite enjoyed sitting out there day after day watching me carry 50 lb rocks around. I feel like I provide a form of entertainment or something. They always are telling me that I "work too hard" and I'm "so strong" and this sort of thing, which I think is absolutely hilarious. They make sure to mention this to Jerrod too. And my cousin, Steven, when he was over. I'm sure then both totally agree! haha.

Tonight they told me that they are starting to worry about me now that I am still gathering yet more rocks.I pretty much broke the first wheelbarrow from putting too much weight in it. We got this new one, which works pretty well. It's still holding up! I tried to explain why I was doing this and they just insist that I am doing too much all the time, (again, haha) and that I am too tough and I am going to seriously injure myself if I keep lifting rocks. I told them I don't exercise and I am pretty scrawny, so it's a good work out for me.

I probably won't get more though, because I am running out of places to put them. I just think it's better to have them while they are available, so I'm stocking up! Searching for the best rocks for your wall becomes a bit addictive, maybe....when I see see good ones that have been dug up after the fact, it makes me want to rip parts of the built wall down and re-build it with better stones to make it more stable. After you've already gone to all that work, it's tempting not to! I had to make lots of rock piles around the house...and then get them moved quick enough that they didn't ruin the grass!
The thing is, after you put so much time and effort into something, it's hard to leave it alone when you know how to make it better. Now that I have made one wall, I think I know how to make the next one better!

Jerrod always gets after me for not answering my cell phone. A lot of times I just leave it in another area of the house and I don't hear it. So, since I've started working outside more recently, I thought I better keep my phone out there with me so he wouldn't be upset with me when he tried to call me and I didn't answer it. I was keeping it on top of one of the pillars on the front porch and pretty much forgot it was there unless it rang.
Recently, there was one night before I went to bed when I remembered that I had accidentally left it outside after that day's yard work. When I went out to get it, I realized that I had watered the flowerbed right beside it, and therefore, had also ended up watering my phone. It was sitting there in a little puddle.

I tried to use it and, of course, it began acting strangely. I had to tell Jerrod what I had done and he helped me to prepare it to dry out, telling me to not expect much; I would probably have to get a new one. This was a little upsetting, because I don't really like talking on the phone anyway and as cheap as I am, the last thing I want to do is spend a whole bunch of money on a new phone that I wouldn't have needed if I had a better memory than a gnat.

We dried it out and fortunately, it worked the next day! I was so happy. But, from now on, I keep my phone in a plastic ziplock bag whenever I go outside. It makes it a bit difficult to answer the phone when it rings, but at least if I do happen to forget I have it again, there is a better chance of survival.

It was really hot today. According to my car, 96 degrees (which is about 36 degrees for the Canadians). It's supposed to be in the 90's all week. I have to give my trees extra water.
We've been watering them everyday because one of our trees (we have 2), in particular, has special needs. We had one planted in the back initially and then they recently came along and planted one in the front of everyone's house. But, as the ground is pretty much solid rock, they didn't want to put a whole lot of effort into digging a hole and so they pretty much just planted it on top of the ground and then covered it in mulch...which is good for about the first week. So, the tree is a little more unstable, being not completely in the ground. It needs extra help for awhile.
We put a rubber mulch mat on top of both of them, which was a little expensive, compared to regular mulch, but it is doing a good job of protecting the exposed roots and it really keeps the water from evaporating when it gets hot. Our trees are looking pretty much better than anyones now. We feel proud of them.

We also have a (volunteer) job of watering my neighbors tree. (Also planted on top of the ground). He has a house here, but he only lives in it 2-3 days per month. He lives in California most of the time. So, he asked us to take care of his trees for him. We had to give his tree a rubber mulch mat too, because when I watered, all the mulch just came off and the roots became exposed. We figured it would not do too well like that. I'd hate to be blamed for the death of his tree.

I have a lot more things that I want to write about, but I have had so much going on recently, I don't have as much time. This week in particular I have something to worry about almost everyday.

I think I'm supposed to be in bed right now, 'cause I have to "help" in the yard tomorrow.

We have to do lots of work tomorrow....We have been digging a trench through our back yard to put in a pipe to carry rain water that is causing some drainage problems. Only problem being that the only thing we can dig through is rock as top soil appears to be non-existent. We're digging about a foot down and 8 inches across. You should see some of the big rocks we pulled out in only a few feet of digging. We're probably going to need at least 60 ft more...It's pretty crazy.
I don't mind my job too much yet...I just scoop the dirt/rocks out with the shovel, but I don't dig to have to break rock...that's J's job.
Before we started, I told J he was too ambitious about this digging stuff and for once he finally agrees with me, Only took about 2 feet of trench digging for him to actually admit I was right.