Long weekend here, and I had plans for ze chemin de fer. Ha!
Wife has friend. Friend is keen gardener. Gardener has too many plants and wants to clear up her garden (a very nice one, BTW). Wife says, Chris needs plants for his railroad. Friend says, Tell him to come over, Chris, foolish boy, falls for this womens’ skullduggery. Now Chris has at least a week’s worth of work planting many many plants that really have nothing to do with the eisenbahnlein and everything to do with beautifying the manorial grounds.
OK, friend has saved us a passel of pesos, and Chris has an indisputable excuse (But, dear, it was YOUR idea) to be outdoors, away from the howling hordes of grandkiddom. So far, the transplants appear to have survived the attentions of me, Blackthumb. Much more to do tomorrow – ah, Monday can be blissful when “the job” isn’t in the picture (though Tuesday will be catchup hell – no silver lining without a cloud in it).
The backyard has suffered several years of neglect while other projects took my time, so I’m glad to have the chance to get at overdue improvements/repairs. I’m not much of a gardener, but I like mucking around outdoors (chorus of Mud, mud, glorious mud). And it really is starting to shape up (if I can says that without running afoul of Murphy’s Law).

Just pop’em in the ground, man…Mother Nature does the rest…

(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/Summer%20morning/yard010.jpg)

So, doe this count as a bitch or a brag? :lol:

We grow real nice brown sticks on the desert!

Ken Brunt said:
Just pop'em in the ground, man.............Mother Nature does the rest..............

Sometimes, the "pop'em" requires dynamite :p ... or at the very least a heavy shovel and prybar. Gotta a whole new bunch of rocks today while excavating for a mine ... oops, holes for plants. Younger daughter came over and applied the pruning saw vigorously to our diminishing stand of syringa vulgaris, so we have a lot more daylight beneath. I transplanted quantities of ferns that had taken up residence around the A/C compressor; be interesting to see how many survive the rough and ready move to a new home under the lilacs. Beastly hot day, somewhere in the 90s plus humidity. Ol' Blackthumb here had to take many rest breaks. Finished the day planting a bunch of donated flora in the shade of our honeysuckle hedgerow. Sometimes the shady side of the street is better for one's health :D

Steve Featherkile said:
So, doe this count as a bitch or a brag? :lol: :P

Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts. ;)

Jan pops them in the ground and the new pup pulls them out. It’s a process, but the enjoyment factor must be felt quietly on the inside. Sometimes walking away and letting them work it out is the best way to survive in this hostile environment.

Time for annuals, and filling the planters. SW favours marigolds this year (we rotate plant choices year-by-year). We have space in the planters for about two dozen, absolute max. SW bought two dozen times five!
Ah well, there were a couple of corners that desperately needed de-weeding and fettling up, so Ol’ Blackthumb spent the day, which he had been intending to use for getting the layout running, on slashing down monster dandelions (more like dandetyrannosaurs), shifting 80-lb paving slabs, and planting said excess marigolds – well, most of 'em. More to go tomorrow.
Lovely day, though. Not too hot, not too cold.