Family Bike Patrol

With John and Oscar fully mobile with their new bike power-ups, we can now begin exploring parks and trails further from our house (with Edie in the chariot of course). Here was our first attempt at such an outing.  We had to cross our local highway (Saginaw), which is at Oscar's school.  There is a metal sky bridge there that we can take!  I was not able to get any photos of the bridge but the boys had a great time looking down at the cars going 50 far below.  I thought it was less fun having to navigate the Tandem + chariot around the bridge's tight switchbacks, but it fit. We ended at a park in our neighboring neighborhood (I think it's called Whitehills maybe?) and had a really nice photoshoot of everyone with their sweet hogs or are they steeds?)

We thought that this was a path through the woods, instead my left foot discovered it was a muddy bog...

OSCAR! JUST TAKE A NORMAL PICTURE, YOU CREENDA!

And a photobomb.... You will notice she disappeared during one of the shots above... Very sneaky.

I think that's a smile? At least he's trying!

Now John knows how to pose!  I believe he was singing a power metal solo to himself while air-guitaring in this photo.

Edie took John's example and did her best rock-star poses in front of her hot ride.

Oscar might be better behind the camera then in front! He got these great pics for us.

And John got this one... While Edie found an ant.

As Edie would say: "My boys."  

It's better not to disturb them, they are conspiring something fierce.

Garden doings, 2

The path, top view. When we started, everything but the front rock wall was either bare dirt or covered with ivy and vinca!

Oscar for scale

Speaking of rock walls...

First we made a new garden border, someone had stolen the stones. And while we were at it we extended it all the way to the driveway.

I dug some turf out. Then it got really hot and then my man finished the job with the help of his men.

And then Eric called a rock-selling company and they agreed to deliver some boulders and some stones - the next day! Edie and John and I got to watch a dump truck in action. Oscar refused to watch.

So many boulders! Will it be enough?!?!?

Pretty much all of our neighbors stopped by that day to see what was going on. Never had there been such excitement as a load of boulders being delivered! They asked us, are you professionals? And, did you come up with this idea yourselves?

And then, because it was a nice day and because working at our real jobs is less fun, Eric became possessed and made a retaining wall out of those boulders that very day, June 10.

He dug back a few feet to give the boulders some room - and make filler dirt to fill up the garden-to-be

Ta-da! So tidy-bowl! Two layers of boulders and now the yard looks all tucked-in. But it's not done yet...

 

Oh-ho! Stones filled in all the gaps - there is such a difference, you see, between stones and boulders, and one wouldn't want to confuse one for the other.

Then we sowed a pollinator seed mix on June 12, just about 2 weeks ago. We've been watering it about every two hours every day, since we're home, and boy is it looking good now! So many different seedlings popping up, which I can ID to monocot or dicot but that's about it. They'll need a few more leaves before I know what's what.

And all along the rock wall and in amongst the stones I sowed moss roses, marigolds, sweet alyssum, bachelor's buttons, and cosmos. They're coming along too!

Going out to water is such a nice break, although at first I felt a little loony heading out to water my rocks. But they're not just rocks any more! And the green of the pollinator garden is big enough to see from the bedroom windows now. Some might even flower this year, fingers crossed!

Garden doings

There was a little evergreen bush here that I asked Eric to cut down. This made Oscar and John cry, to have a bush killed for our own purposes. But now there is a raised-bed garden for lettuces and arugulas and sugar snap peas!

I thinned the seedlings today and we had some micro-greens with our dinner!

Last fall my man prepared this garden bed with me and we covered it with wire mesh to keep out the varmints and now I have an allium army! Or a fireworks party! Or a garden of magic wands! Unfortunately just now the sun passes almost directly overhead, so the garden is in nearly full shade except for ~2 hours around noon. All their stems have started doing a little lean to the south. But that's OK, the bees are still coming by.

The area around the compost has gotten a lot of love lately. The sod farm now resides under the office windows, instead of a bunch of mulch. The stones that used to be the garden border got repurposed, as you'll see. The whole mulch/sod farm part used to be lined with stones, as all the other gardens were.

The path is finished! It's hard to remember that it used to be an impassable ivy jungle - the children use it so regularly now. Where did they walk before? 

Now there will be many photos of rocks. I want to remember how hard we worked!

Phase 1: this used paving stones and rocks scavenged from the yard. Yes, those rocks!

Then we decided to expand and bought more pavers - but for now all the boulders and filler stones came from the former garden borders. One bucket of scavenged filler stones is worth one Oreo.

Making a patio, again with flagstones that were just hanging around. In the back of the patio area you may notice a gaily-colored tree: this is Oscar's magic tree, which I think was a large branch we trimmed off of something. Well, he "planted" it and he and John painted it with acrylic paint. Then we painted pine cones too and hung them from its branches in a most unrealistic fashion - Oscar wanted to be sure it was obvious to everyone that it was a magic tree. Some bones have been placed under its branches, along with shiny precious stones and a GI Joe that I found in the ivy.

Here the stones are all in place but awash with mud.

Ta-da! The patio is revealed!

Phew! Time for a break to do ninja practice and meditate.

And talk about Pokemon, of course.

Phase 2

Phase 3, heading east

A little break to do some outdoor weaving

In this clearing now stands the canopy, covering the hammock and two picnic tables

Cozy, innit?

  

Heading west, once it was all done. We did end up buying some filler stones and boulders - too much perhaps? - and they spilled over into the gazebo/tent/canopy area. The loose rocks don't slow the children down as much as you might think - they have ninja powers after all.

Tomorrow I will take some pictures from the bedroom window and post them along with the saga of the front yard garden!