Phase 2 of the back yard work

 

It's a stump grinder being used as a roto-tiller.

Before Josh got started I was shifting some things around and my phone fell out of my pocket into the weeds, and I could not for the life of me see it.  I felt it hit my foot, so I asked if he could dial my number.  He was already on the phone to someone else, and walked over, and between having younger eyes and looking from a different angle, he spotted the phone right away.  

Yay!  The phone did not get ground into mulch!

While Josh did this work, I went off to work out with the personal trainer, came back, took my shower, and came out to take photos.

I now have a beautiful patch that would make a great garden, if I were a gardener, which I am not.  I messaged my DIL to be to bounce ideas off her, since she is a gardener.  If my ex still lived with me, he would be in heaven and planning all kinds of plants.

Measuring how big this area is:  15 of my paces x 10 of my paces.  My pace is about 2 1/2 to 3 feet.  I rolled out some "weed barrier" fabric I had in the garage.

I'm thinking for the non-gardener in me:  Ground cover seed. I don't want that good topsoil washing or blowing away.  I'm thinking white clover possibly mixed with high traffic grass seed.  Went online and ordered it.  To be delivered.

Phase 3 planning:  Monday evening I managed to make myself walk over to the neighbor's house to talk about the fence work.  Would you believe this is the first time we have formally introduced ourselves?  He's lived there 12 years, and I've been here 23.  It was one of those timing things at first.  I was on the short run-up to a surgery when he first moved in, so I was avoiding both the outdoor allergens and the potential of "catching" something.

Since then, no excuses:  I'm a hermit, what can I say?  We waved at one another, said "Hi", occasionally cleared one another's snow, or part of it.  I knew his last name thanks to a rock he has painted on his front porch (along with an Iowa Hawkeyes mascot).  

I rang the bell:  "Remember me, I'm the lady who lives next door."

The neighbor is cool with the workmen having access to his yard to do the fence work.  He was even OK with the branch that fell into his yard when I had them clear out the volunteers a couple of weeks back.  I asked which fence style he preferred for our shared lot line, and he wants the full privacy, which is in fact less expensive, and he volunteered to share the cost with me.  I am happy to defer the style choice to him.  

Then I e-mailed the fence guy to ask for a change in the estimate to reflect a mixed style, full privacy on the one side, shadow box on the other.  Haven't heard back yet, but I think he might need to come out and measure to split the estimate.  Neighbor dude would like to have his back fence line estimated, too.  Might be nice to get it all done at once.

Life is good.  Keep Sparking!