Busy Weekend

So this weekend saw lots to do. Ok ok. Maybe not "lots", but a fair amount.


Saturday - Heavy lifting day:
We had two main projects we bought stone for on Saturday, the front flower beds, and the tree ring in the front. The beds will use a single row edging brick in tan (it's like the scallop edging, but is more like a fort front - high on either end with an arc in the middle. Ok. I'll try and get pictures.) The tree ring will use the common "castle" blocks, often found in retaining walls. The ring will also be tan (goes with the house better than the red or white).

So we went to the "Depot" and loaded up a flat bed, then hauled it up the parking lot to the car, and transferred it in, and then of course unloaded at the house down the side hill. I only go into that detail because it was a HALF TON of stone. I was tired at the end of each transfer, but mostly the one at home, probably due to the fact that I'd already moved them twice, and there was a longer way to walk, and let's not forget the hill...

(I know I don't do the dog posting, but Roxie had decided to play with the nail clippers and chew on them, so she got an "on the spot" nail cutting. I don't think she'll be biting the clippers anytime soon, and may not even complain about the dremel after that session either.) Oh! And the dogs also got a bath!

Saturday wasn't all chores... Da wife actually requested sushi for lunch, and she's so nice how could I say no? So we headed over to Arigato and had a most enjoyable lunch. Apparently on weekends they also provide for a cold noodle dish next to the miso, I did not partake this time, but will certainly sample it at the next opportunity. And I've always preferred the smaller selection but higher quality of sushi at Arigato vs. the massive selections but slightly lower quality of foods at Todai. (I will still go there, but think Arigato is just better.)

We also got 20% of our microwave purchase back from Sears (go Wifely unit!) because they put it on sale a week after we bought it. The old one we suspect succumbed to lightning. It took them 25 minutes to figure out the transaction, but Frank the sales guy took care of us (he's at the Fair Oaks Sears btw).

So that was most of Saturday.


Sunday: Project in motion

The first big project was one we'd already planned on doing, fixing the front flower (or lack thereof) beds. We decided to start with the smaller bed first. And by fixing I of course mean pulling all the old mulch (mostly dirt now), removing the barrier, putting in a new barrier and then finally a new coat of mulch. So after removing the green plastic $1 per 10' of edging, we began to rake and shovel through the old mulch (some bearing grasses and weeds). It was at this point, that I noticed a large portion of the ground "moving". Yep. Ants. Not the big friendly ants that JamesF keeps, but the small, annoying, "we like to live in mulch" ants.
After finishing with the old mulch and the ants (mostly), and leveling off the planting area, we began to excavate for the new stone edging. After a small change in plans for the starting point (I think it looks better where it is now) we managed to get them measured out and leveled (mostly) in. We spooled out enough weed block to cover the area and leave a little under the stone edgers and pegged down the back corners, and proceeded to place the stones in their final position. I must say that after we filled in the 3' X 4.5' square with two bags of pine mulch (about 3.5" depth), it looks so much better than the old weed infested, plastic bound hole near the house. I can't wait to see the main bed refurbed.

We also picked up some grass seed "shield" at the "Depot" to try and repair the side hill. (The dogs love to do racing games up and down the hill, and took one too many trips in the mud.) It's basically a wood fiber "matt" that lays on top of grass seed and fertilizer (which we put down first) and helps keep it moist and protected. We put down a strip about 39 inches wide by about 20 feet long. Hopefully that will bring back a nice luscious side lawn. Which in the future will be bordered by landscape timber edged mulch beds, which should make it look fantastic, as well as help with the erosion.

In other tasks I made brownies and homemade garlic bread for an internal group luncheon tomorrow (homemade lasagne, yum!). Then I took some of the yellow squash I had plucked from the garden and sliced that up, seasoned it up, and sauteed it up for a side dish to go along with the main course. Tonight's main course was yet another experimental culinary adventure - Pineapple Apricot Pork Chops Thai Style. So I used some of the old jams I have and combined it with some wine, salad dressing, a soup packet, garlic, and some chili paste to make a simmering sauce for a large pack of boneless pork chops. They were delicious without being too sweet or too spicy. The pork and squash were balanced out nicely with wife prepared sweet potatoes. Who needs Fat Punks when you've got dinner like this?

Did I mention the trip to the grocery store? Where I learned that my wife had never tried Cookie Crisp cereal? I just ~had~ to buy her a box. Ok, had to buy US a box, because if she thinks she's getting to eat it all she's crazy. I only ever got to have this stuff at my grandparents' house (probably because it's not too good for ya), but they're still pretty tasty. I think I may prefer the Vanilla Creme frosted mini-wheats, but I'm a vanilla fanatic so go figure.

Well that's about all my weekend entailed except for the horrifying admission that not only did I watch a few episodes of Design Star, but that I now want to go upstairs to see the next to the last episode, AND that I've programmed my TiVo to record the finale. How could I resist? It's a combination of HGTV, home improvement, decorating, and reality TV all rolled into one show! It's even got Vern Yip as a judge (he was the best designer on Trading Spaces a TLC show), and if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then just forget you even read the last paragraph.