Bogieblog

The Washer is Back

Since way back in early March, when I replaced the leaky kitchen faucet with a spray-head faucet (not thinking clearly until after buying and installing said faucet), I have been washing dishes by hand. Sure, for 1 person there aren't many dishes to do. But it still took time out of each day; weekends were worse since that is when I make most of my food for the week.

Plus it irked me that I was probably using more water to do daily dishes than it takes the portable dishwasher to clean a couple of days worth of dishes (the washer takes about 3.5 gallons. And if I load dirty dishes into the dishwasher, they are out of sight and off my limited counter space until time to run the dishwasher.

I had been searching for a faucet in oil-rubbed bronze, which would go with the spray-head faucet, and swiveled, but that didn't cost MORE than the spray head faucet (which was not cheap itself). In fact, I was adamant that I wouldn't spend more than $100 although I could have been persuaded to up that a little if the perfect faucet came around. I was also hoping for a smaller faucet such a one that would go on a bathroom sink, but that was negotiable as long as it would swivel out of the way for daily use of the spray-head faucet.

I searched high and low all thru March; Google searching, searching at physical stores, going thru all kinds of websites. I pretty much quit looking until a couple of weeks ago. For some reason I started the search again, and low and behold I found one of the faucets that had been in the running (at close to $200) was on sale at several websites (I paid less than what is being shown at the link - and with free shipping). True, it is Parisian Bronze, but close enough to make no difference to me.

So, I am one of the few people out there with 2 faucets on my kitchen sink. I have saved the soap dispenser that came with the other faucet in case I ever decide to sell - I can easily return to a traditional set up. But I am just thrilled that since last Sunday, I have only had to do the dishes thrice. Obviously I thrill easily :)

Flower Gardening

Last weekend I decided to do something where I had pulled out the smallest stump (stump #4). I lengthened the existing flower garden to where the planter was (the planter that I placed phlox and dianthus in), and moved the planter a little towards the road.

 
There is a bleeding heart to the right of the lupine that I had planted when I dug up the stump, then three primrose, then the planter is dug into the ground a bit. Of course I stripped off the sod (moss, and weeds), placed landscape fabric around the plants and under the planter, then put rocks around the planter for a more tied-in effect. Plus, the rocks make a straight edge for the mower - although I think I managed to stack them in such a way they don't look like they make a straight edge - nice visual trickery.

Vegies are In!

Memorial Day weekend is usually the time that I plant the vegetable garden. However, this year, Memorial day came early, so I was unsure I would be able to plant. Saturday morning was cold - in the 30's and it didn't warm up much during the day. The seedlings spent the time inside, as they had been much of that previous week. However, Sunday was supposed to be gorgeous, and the weather guessers said it was supposed to be quite warm for the next week; with lows in the 50's and 60's.

So, I planted. Not as big a garden as I used to have, but several tomatoes and peppers went into the new raised bed. I also planted basil in between the vegies.

In the refurbished raised bed, or more accurately, into the front half of it, went 4 zukes and a pepper in the middle.

Then, Sunday night, a former neighbor emailed and asked if I wanted some phlox as she needed to thin out her garden. I said "Yes," and we arranged for me to go over on Monday to get plants. Her husband dug up plants, and there were way more than just phlox. I placed them in pots, then placed the pots into the 3rd raised bed and the 2nd half of the refurbished bed.

There was a spirea shrub (on left in large white planter), a couple of different hostas, hardy begonia, tall phlox and creeping phlox. The two tall phlox in the front to the very right were some I had gotten on sale last fall and overwintered in the bed.

And, there were Japanese iris (I have plenty of wet spots they will enjoy) and more creeping phlox.

I will be busy for a while!

Small House Projects

Last weekend I wasn't in the mood to do a whole lot, but there was one thing I definitely needed to get done; I needed to put a privacy film on the bathroom window. Up until last weekend, I just had plants in the window and a frilly, see-thru lace curtain on a tension rod (the curtain came with the house).Since the bathroom is still torn apart, I don't want to put holes in the wal or window frame to install a better curtain or shade.

I wanted to move the biggest plant outside which would remove the biggest screen to anyone outside viewing the going ons inside. Plus, if I ever get the bathroom remodeled the way I want it, I will have a light in the center of the bathroom (right now it is behind a wall from the window), which would make it more likely someone could see things at 4:15 AM that I would rather keep private.

During the day, there isn't much that can be seen from outside. This is the sight without the plants and curtain in the way.

If you look closely, you can see an aluminum grab bar that is installed on the framework the shower is attached to.

I had gotten some treatment film a month or so ago, so I finally got around to cutting it, cleaning the window, spraying the window, installing the film and squeegying the air bubbles out. No, it wasn't difficult and I don't know why I didn't do it before - but it's done now.

Now a night view from the outside isn't even possible. Yes, the light is on in the bathroom - it is screened effectively by the wall it is behind and that is why I haven't really worried too much about it until this point - especially with the Rosemary and lace curtains. I have no doubt it will be lighter when the light is in the center of the room, but it should still do a fine job of affording me some privacy.

And here is what it looks like with everything in place.

I Must Have Eaten My Wheaties

Actually I ate a banana, some chicken and ice cream. This evening I managed to get stump #3 out. No chain saw just brute strength.

Now I can really dig in and get my front flower garden defined. The main project is for tomorrow, assuming that we don't get a pouring rain.

 

Rememberance

Please take a moment to remember what this day is all about - remembering and honoring our military personnel that have fallen while defending our country and freedom.

 

Please also stay safe in you Memorial Day activities.

Stump Work

Yard work is becoming more of the norm, with my mowing for the fist time this season last Tuesday after work. One of my projects this summer is to take out the several stumps that were in the yard when I moved in. Last weekend, I managed to remove a couple, and get a third stump dug down quite a bit.

The first two stumps were next to the stairs leading to the front door. They were most likely cedar and had been planted too close to the stairs, so had to be cut down as they encroached. The first stump took quite a while to dig out.

The second stump must have gotten scared and gave little resistance - it took perhaps a total of 30 minutes of digging and prying - the stump actually gave me a nice place to lever against itself.

The third stump is next to the driveway. I don't know what it is, but it was certainly a larger hardwood that was evidently planted too close to the house. To add to the difficulty, I have to be very careful with the dirt because Japanese Knotweed is growing right next to it (that is the green stuff next to the stump - I cut off the 2 ft canes, after applying shrub killer a couple of days previously). JK is a very invasive plant that needs lots of sun to grow, but when it grows, it grows so fast you can almost literally see it (up to 6"/day). Evidently it got enough shade from the Cedar that I cut down last year, that it didn't start growing until last summer. This year, without the cedar to shade it, it took right off.

I gave up on stump 3 until I can get ahold of a chainsaw to cut the two roots on the downhill side, and Monday evening I started on the 4th stump that was between a flower garden and the planter that I placed the (now dead) Peace Rose in last summer. Even though it turned out to be the smallest of the stumps (it is the one on the right in the picture below), this one was challenging as there were lots of rocks that had to be removed.

I still have 3 stumps to go, but those may not come out this year. I have the two cedar stumps from the trees along the driveway I had removed last year. Those two were great at blocking my snow blowing and throwing the snow back into the driveway. There is also a very large stump between the willow and maple in the side yard. It is not only large, it is located in an area that is always wet as it is near the swamp next door.

I placed a couple of lupines in part of the hole left by stump #4.

I have plans to fill the rest of that hole with some moisture loving plants - let the landscaping begin.

Flowers of Spring

The spring has not been abundant with flowers. With two hard winters in a row, and a late spring, that is not to be unexpected.. But, there were a few bright spots that made me smile;

Although I got a lot of greenery, only one lone daffodil flowered (and none of the hyacinths along the tree line bloomed)

The crabapple was gorgeous this year. Last year it was pretty, but it was even better this year. Unfortunately the blooms only lasted a week, so enjoyment was short lived.

The forsythia was treated harshly this year. Between the heavy Thanksgiving snow that bowed a lot of the branches so badly they snapped off (and what was encroaching in the driveway I pruned off hard), and my spring pruning so that I could get under it to mow, I'm surprised it gave me the benefit of any flowers at all.

The trees in back have leafed out enough that it is tough to tell I have neighbors back there.

Looks like the Peace Rose that I planted last year didn't make it thru the winter. I would have been surprised if it had. However, I got another rose at Agway a couple of weeks ago and it has been both beautiful and sinfully scentful.

 

And, I have been lugging seedlings and tender annuals in and out during frost dangers

One of those times, I'm pretty sure I brought in a hitchhiker :)

Soon, I will be able to plant the vegetable garden and I am getting the itch to do some landscaping - yep, spring is definitely here.

Raised Bed ROI

In a previous post, Making the Bed(s), Cop Car commented, "What are the pros and cons of raised beds? I've been tempted to put a couple in, but couldn't figure the ROI." I started to comment in reply, but found it was longish, so decided to make a new post.

Pros for raised beds: 

• Don't have to hack out any sod to create (can just cover with landscape fabric then fill in with dirt);
• don't have to worry about the clay/hardpan/rock underneath;
• you can make you soil composition exactly what you want it to be;
• helps keep grass out;
• easier to reach vegetables that are close to the ground;
• don't have to worry about accidently mowing or weed wacking into the garden by mistake;
• if you have an herb that can be invasive (like mint), it is easier to control;
• neighborhood cats don't jump up into beds to use them as litter boxes (ask me how I know - LOL);
• No rototilling needed in subsequent years.

Cons:

• Prep work labor (making the ground somewhat level for the base)
• Cost of materials (I spent less than $100. However, I only had to by the cinder blocks for 1 bed, but those are cheap and can sometimes be found on CL for free. Of course most people use wood or composite for the base to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

I have never had raised beds before this house so may not have covered all the pros/cons. Other issues may crop up over time but I liked them enough last year, even with the minimal gardening I did, to add the 3rd raised bed.

Making the Bed(s)

When I moved into this house, there were two raised beds that I used for limited vegetable gardening last summer. One bed was in decent shape, the other waws really falling apart. The beds were about 8 feet apart and I hate mowing (actually, I dislike having a lot of grassy area), so I covered the section between the two beds with landscape cloth. I had a vague plan to put in a 3rd raised bed at the time, and this year I decided was as good a time as any. The existing raised beds are on conceret cinder blocks, with wooden structures on top and I decided to carry the theme forward.

Instead of wood, I found raised bed kits online that are made of composite material and are easy to put together - no tools needed. The bonus was they are cheaper than buying the wood and hardware necessary (at least the sale I stumbled onto made it that way). The end of April I set up the lower cinder block structure then the first weekend in May I added the composite material and used excess dirt from the other two beds to fill it.

I filled that bed fairly full of dirt, including filling the cinder block holes since I left the landscape fabric in place. However, there is still plenty of room to add mulch/compost/manure in future years.

I also tore apart one of the old beds that was in really horrible shape - the wood was twisting away from the corner brackets and was very rotted (of course no pictures of that). I also wanted to move it about a foot closer to the new bed, from where the cinder blocks were. I dug out the cinder blocks and spent quite some time getting all the rocks, dirt and weeds out of the holes before setting up the new base.

Since I was relocating it, I also had to dig out more than a foot from the outside (you will see why in future pictures)

Finally I got the composite structure placed on it. Since this bed is not on landscape fabric, I did not refill the dirt quite as high as I did for the new bed. I didn't realize the new cinder blocks were slightly shorter than the old cinder blocks, so one edge is quite wide on the outside - oh well, I'll put in some thyme or something there.

The one remaining old bed will not be touched this year. It is still in decent shape even though the cinder blocks have been shoved out from beneath the wood. These pictures show why I actually ended up moving more than a foot of dirt for the restructured bed - the cinder blocks were pushed way out from the actual bed itself.

I do enjoy these flowers around the old bed too (flower pictures taken this morning). Not sure what they are, but they bloomed most of the summer last year so it looks nice.