Sunday, February 27, 2011

Diggin' Your Scene

This sudden emergence of warm weather has also brought about a flurry of activity here.A friend of ours (Rurality and her Hubby) gave us this old tiller. The motor had seized up on it, and for the most part, it had seen better days. I was a little sceptical that it could be made to run again. My plan now is to acquire some old manure to spread and till into the main garden.

I have also been working on the gates but that has turned into a much more complicated project than I originally intended. After hanging the one leaf I saw that the ground was so out of level that I would have to dig out several inches on one side. This was going to leave the makings of a big mudhole. So, after some deliberation, I decided to remove the gate, grade the area and lay brick pavers to make a nice, level entryway over which the gates will hang. This will also deter any critter from trying to burrow under the gates. I've had, for some time, a few cubes of miscellaneous pavers that I had scavenged and had been meaning to do something with and one type I had was just enough to do this. As you can sorta see, this is adding a bit of time and effort to the gate project but it is going to look really nice.

Some of you noticed this little critter in the background of my last post. After I decided that Lika needed to go live with another family I figured it would just not work out for me to have a dog. I was working a lot, the dog would be alone all day and Lika proved most wouldn't go for that. And I wouldn't want the dog to be alone. I refuse to cage or tie a dog also, even with company. Well, after I got laid off I kinda figured I would not be going back to construction. Things have worked out that I am here the vast majority of time, so I have time to devote to a dog but I did not pursue getting one. Then my little niece Katybug called and begged me to take this little pup a friend of hers had found on the side of the road. I came very close to not doing it but she swore her parents would take it to the pound if I didn't and I believe they would have. So, I said okay and they brought little Chigger to me. This was back in October and she was just a wee little thing. I didn't say anything for a long time because I didn't know if it was going to work out but I think Chigger is going to be a great asset to the place. She is just the sweetest little thing. t. She mostly just asks for someone to play Frisbee or kickball with, which I try to often. She is not a very big dog but tries to be watchful and alert. I am hoping I can train her to help watch out for the chickens when we get them but not sure how well that is going to work. She has a great deal of fun here now though and loves to burrow after the moles in the yard, snorting just like a pig the whole time. She's diggin' it here too.

7 comments:

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Good Morning, Annie. Just got done catching up on athis post and a couple earlier ones. You and Jack have been very busy and it was great meeting "Chigger" too. That little tiller will be a big help; Grenville has one like it an uses it to do small areas. The pantry is looking better and better too. Weather has been mild here too with rain coming today.

Anonymous said...

Chigger is really cute. I hope she won't chase the chickens? Do you all have coyotes up there? They are a problme down here with fowl. Have to pen them up @ night or make sure they roost in trees.
tammy

JoJo said...

Chigger is so cute. I was wondering what happened to the other dog.
You are going to have such a great garden this year.
And the pantry is looking fantastic.
Yesterday at 4:30 am I heard one to the nurse say it was snowing. But nobody came to open my curtains for me to see and I didn't think bothering them over that was cool. Anyway when I left the hospital the mountain were covered to the ground in snow what a beautiful thing to see on the way home.

Jenn said...

Chigger the digger looks like a nice little feist.

I love the small dogs, I have three - the oversized (throwback) Chi is the guard dog, and does a great job. Very serious, is he.

MamaHen said...

Hey Beatrice! yeah, we've really been busy!! thanks on the pantry!

Hey Tammy! she will not chase the chickens. one way or another. ;)
We do have coyotes here; they are quite a pest to some of the ranchers.
The chicken coop is going to be very secure because of them and raccoons and neighbors dogs etc.

Hey Jojo! yeah, ol' Chigger is a cutiepie.
Oh!! glad to hear your surgery is over and done with. I hope you have a very speedy recovery!

Hey Jenn! I think Chigger is just abut the right size too! I like the smaller ones also but not the real small yappy things.

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

I have been catching up on your recent postings. Life seems good. I am glad both Jack and the dog seem to be keepers in your mind.

I envie your Spring like weather and your yard work, which looks good. We still have snow on the ground. You are a month or two ahead of us.

The tiller looks great. See men can be handy!

I recognized what you were writing about the difficulty of putting two adult lives together. My friend Lynne would like my to join her in her lovely suburban home. She is economically well off, I make poverty and art form. Life in the old neighbourhood, sitting around the pool or soaking in the hot tube hold little facination for me. We would have to fire the gardener, snow removal guy, pool guy and maybe the house keeper so I would have something to do. I would want to put in a vegetable garden and raise a few chickens and ducks (which would defy a city bylaw). I think I would miss my life in the country and find it hard to redefine myself in the city. At least I can keep my big dog Heidi. I really would like another, an English Mastiff. I could see that as a deal breaker.

Rurality said...

I can't believe that is the same tiller! Great fix-up job.