Feeling the Easter Burn Today

First off, happy Easter!  To those that celebrate it, anyway.  I no longer get the day after Easter off, so it's just Sunday here.

I got a lot done yesterday, and I felt it.  While I got a pretty good night's sleep, in part due to the muscle relaxer, I was still sore when I got up.  Not just my back, but many other underused muscles from head to toe.  So no, we are not starting in on replacing any gardens today.  And this week's weather looks like we'll be wet off and on, so maybe next weekend as the forecast looks almost as good as this weekend has turned out.  Still have a few small things to do, but nothing is critically urgent.

One thing I had to do was make a quick trip to the store today, and along the way I noticed the banks of our section of Starkweather creek had been burned off.  My wife and I went on a short walk to go take a look, but also so I could try to work out some of the kinks in my muscles.  It was a relatively slow walk, and I'm not sure it helped but it surely didn't hurt.  Too much, anyway.  But enough of me whining!

We had been notified earlier this spring that they were planning a controlled burn, but we didn't know when, and were surprised to see it as we've been under a local burn ban for a few days now due to how dry we are.  That means I had no fires this weekend, though the weather would have been perfect for one, both Friday and Saturday evenings.  Anyway, for all I know, they could have done this almost a week ago or even more as I hadn't left the house in quite some time before today.  And with windows closed and working from home I wouldn't have smelled it or heard anything.

The water level is also the lowest I've seen it in years, see pics in this old post or that whole 2018 flood series here.  Probably about where it should be, actually, though it has normally been deeper since then.  And yes, work has been underway to dredge much of the Yahara river segments between this chain of lakes to help prevent floods like we had in 2018.  I've already seen canoes being carried or rolled up and down the street this year, to and from the creek and the canoe slide.  Plenty of headroom for them under the bridges this year.

The rest of the day will be spent mostly resting, sometimes with my feet up and catching up on the internet, other times sitting in the easy chair and reading the newspaper, among other things.  This evening I'll be grilling out some of the natural casing wieners we got when we picked up the cow last month, and they should be quite tasty.  Have a good week, everyone.

Spring Chores and Garden Progress

Today has been the nicest day of the year so far, sunny and warm, all the things we've been lacking lately.  This afternoon I opened up all the windows for the first time this year, and it was so nice to let fresh air into the house.  But also being Saturday, I had a spring to-do list and a need to check things from that list, and one by one I cut that list down.  Mostly a lot of little things to get done outside now that spring is here, but then there's this years big spring project of rebuilding the gardens.  So after checking off a lot of little things, it was time to start on the big ones.

It took about as long to put all the gardens together as it did to get that protective film off.  A couple hours, is all, and I did use a sealant between the pieces before screwing them together.  Despite putting them together on a makeshift platform atop the bins, they seemed to be self-leveling because of the corrugation as I tightened the screws.  I was planning on putting them together on the floor of the garage, sliding my chair along, but the state of my back recently made me try to get a big enough platform off the ground, and it seemed to work pretty good.

After the gardens were put together I started in on the deconstruction of the old gardens.  I had only planned on removing the fence and railings today, but two boards on the west garden just basically fell off.  For some reason the East garden has seemed to age better, but we'll see when it finally all comes off.  I put many of the smaller pieces of wood in the garbage bin, but a pile has started in the garage next to the stored new metal gardens.  Once I get all the wood removed I'll be cutting it all to a size I can transfer to dispose of it properly.

This was all done carefully today as my back has been acting up again, but I don't think I injured myself any further.  It's manageable as long as I take my time and minimize the stress I put on my lower back, and I will definitely be taking a muscle relaxer tonight.  I'm more sore than I care to admit since I've not had as much exercise this past winter as I normally would, but I'm hoping with spring and vaccination this will change and we can more confidently get out and about much more.  

But anyway, at this point we'll see what we can get done tomorrow, but it may not be as much as today.

New Garden Plan

It's been a beautiful day and I was out of work to do so I logged off early and decided to get a few things done outside.  The last week and a half have been mostly overcast, rain and cold and when we did happen to see the sun it was just plain cold.  While we've had some good days so far this spring we still get overnight temperatures below freezing and the next two days will be chilly with highs around 40ºF, about 4ºC.  We have yet to have a day with the windows open, but possibly this weekend, and I sure look forward to it!

I started by moving some dirt around to fill the gap in some areas under the new back fence.  I wanted it straight across the back yard so there were lower areas in the middle.  I think it looks a lot better not seeing sunlight come underneath the fence.  The hostas will start growing soon and cover it all up, then in fall I can look again and maybe add more before the next season.

I also cleared out the right side of the compost bin and shoveled some of the more recent additions from the left to the right.  Last fall we knew we were going to redo the gardens so didn't add the compost to them.  Well, in the east garden I had removed a lot of dirt to fill in some flowerbeds last fall, and that's where I put the compost dirt.  It was just time to get the compost bin sorted so the left side can do its thing while we add to the right, then do the opposite next year.  My goal was to move as little dirt as possible when rebuilding the gardens, but everything will likely need to be moved and replanted.

After that, I turned my attention to the new gardens we bought, galvanized metal raised bed gardens.  I had been thinking of building them out of treated lumber again, until I saw these in the Ama-zone.  They appealed to me because they may last longer than the wood. I didn't think my wife would like them, but she was very good with it.  I had a two pack on my list, but suddenly that was unavailable.  I found them individually for a bit more and, as quantities were low, we bought 4 of them that night at about 80 bucks each.

The gardens we have now I built 5 feet wide by 8 feet tall, outside measurements, with a 2 foot path in the middle.  The plan was always to put a 2 foot path in the middle crosswise, too, so there would be four smaller gardens measuring 5 feet wide and 3 feet tall.  These metal gardens are exactly that, 5' x 3'.  As for fencing, we kicked that can down the road and will deal with it as needed.

So, anyway, when I turned my attention to the gardens the first step was to get the blue protective film off them, which for 4 gardens was a lengthy task.  I spent two hours just on this, but was enjoying myself while listening to music in the garage.  When I was done I mocked one up on the floor with the rest of the pieces in the middle.  We lose a bit of space with the rounded corners but that isn't a worry.  

We'll have to see what the weather wants to do, but soon it will be time to roll up our sleeves and start in earnest.  First, all the old wood will need to be removed, cut, and hauled to the dump.  Followed by dirt moving and plant replanting.  This weekend is supposed to be our nicest weather yet this spring, so I'll likely be out assembling the new gardens in the garage, and probably starting the deconstruction of the old gardens.  I'm considering using a silicone sealant between the pieces of the new metal gardens when I screw them together, what do you think?

Car Constellation Mystery

My wife bought a new-to-us car yesterday, a minivan.  We were due to replace her car and she needed a vehicle to help get her dad around.  A specific make and model, actually, to accommodate a wheelchair lift in the back.  She's been looking for quite some time but it seemed as soon as one became available it sold.  She got lucky this weekend and found one online on Friday afternoon, called the dealer, and arranged for a test drive first thing Saturday morning.  It's a Dodge, so we are no longer an exclusively Toyota household, but that's okay as long as it fits the bill.  Next step is getting the lift installed, and I think once they get it delivered to the shop it will take maybe a week to install.  Just in time for the good weather!

We got the grill out and had burgers last night and it was delicious!  I had really missed grilled food all winter.  Later, I was out by the fire and we had a pretty nice and clear night sky so I managed to get a few shots of the easy to find constellations.  Not a bad view for the trees around us and living right in the city, I thought.  Of course, I had known the ISS was going to fly by but I totally forgot when I was out there so missed that opportunity.  These pics were taken about an hour after.  I'll also put a mystery picture after the break.  I will entertain guesses as to what it is, but at this time I will neither confirm nor deny!

Facing SSW, Orion is partially behind the tree.

Then facing NNW is Cassiopeia with the North Star in the upper right.  And Cassiopeia always points over to..

...the Big Dipper, here in the NNE sky.  And the top two stars of the Big Dipper
 always form a line that points back to the North Star, out of the shot to the left.