11.27.08 - 11.30.08

Thanksgiving holiday weekend….

As the holidays approach, I anticipate a slowing of progress. It’s understandable and totally expected, but still a little hard to deal with. But if I were to try to still go full-bore with all of my plans AND enjoy all of my family and friends and travel and holiday-gluttony, I would make myself crazy. So I’m prepared. Sort of.

The ThanksGiving weekend was wonderful. It was a long one, spent in the cozy warmth of my in-laws’ home in Abilene. We brought all 3 of our pups with us, and Jan and Dan have a little moppet of a Maltese named Kinsey. None of the dogs knew quite what to think of each other. Kinsey is still mostly a puppy, and I think is a little taller than Margo, but not as thick. Nola was still warming up to her new family, and this little spark plug just pretty much blew her mind. Violet figured out fast that she couldn’t eat the little white fuzzball and completely lost interest afterward.

Between watching football and visiting and eating and napping, I finally drew up the first actual plans for the yard. I had all of the measurements and some graph paper and some map pencils and all that good stuff. The drawing got tweaked a bit as things progressed, but provided a very strong foundation for my future efforts. I kept meaning to do another version of it, colored in and looking like something straight out of a professional landscaping company’s bid process, but have yet to get around to it. I can either be inside drawing and coloring, or outside making things happen. I’m pretty sure you know by now which I prefer…

Here it be…

The yard is pretty rectangular, so there are no odd angles to deal with. Once it’s bisected by the door-to-sidewalk walkway, the driveway-side is a few feet shorter than the other side. I decided to really make the most of the rectangular shape, and plotted three 4’ x 8’ areas on each side of the walkway. On the driveway-side of the yard, the two 4’ x 8’ areas closest to the street will be for planting. The one closest to the house will be for composting. I will also be planting blueberries along the fence line on the driveway-side of the lawn. Cross the walkway and you’ll find the same arrangement of 4’ x 8’ areas, but all 3 will be for planting. Because this side of the yard is the wider side, I will also fit in 3 fruiting trees. I’m thinking I’ll try a meyer lemon, a lime, and a Satsuma. To mirror the blueberries, I will be planting Brazos and Kiowa blackberries against the fenceline on this side.

I’ve left 3’ paths between each of the beds. I’ll eventually lay 2’ of pavers in the middle of each of these paths, leaving 6” on each side for ground cover plantings to soften the edges of the boxes. The weed cloth under the boxes should help keep the ground cover from creeping up into the boxes. I’ll make quick work of any interlopers.

The walkway is going to be one of my very favorite parts. I’m not sure I’m going to tell about it just yet. I think I’ll wait. It’s too cool, and frankly, I want to get it installed before I share the idea!