27 April 2008

Weekend Wrapup

This week was supposed to be my week off, but when I commented last Monday at work about how ready I was to have the next several days off, our head tech reminded me that I'd agreed to fill in on Wednesday night. So my eagerly awaited 5 days off was shrunk down to 3 days. As I've recently mentioned, I really need a vacation, so this was not a very happy realization. Still, I had agreed to work the shift and it's always good to have a little extra income to pay down debt.

Wednesday night went pretty well, though, and I made the most of those 3 days - or at least the first two of them. On Thursday morning, I did my first workout at the gym around the corner from work and was suitably pleased. I also made an appointment for my first massage in 2½ years on Monday (which I am soooooooo looking forward to). Then I came home, got a few hours' sleep, then got up and went to get my hair cut at the Aveda salon in Portsmouth. I've been there a few times now, and I think I'm done with SuperCuts forever.

On Friday, my big project was this:

042508Garden_beds

I've been wanting to put in raised beds pretty much since I moved in here, and I finally got out the power tools and made it happen. I made them with very simple frames of wood/plastic composite decking stacked two high. I couldn't come up with a really good way of connecting the stacked frames, but I decided that I actually prefer them not attached to each other, as they'll be easier to disassemble and move if/when it becomes necessary. I just drove plain wood garden stakes in around the inside to help hold them in place and then filled them lasagna-style, à la Norma.

Of course, not having bags of leaves or newspapers at my disposal, I got a roll of thick paper and a couple bags of peat at Homo Depot when I got the decking and layered that with some of the mulch we had delivered this week and some composted 'paca poop (of course). I just ordered materials to set up a drip irrigation system and now I just need plants. Some seeds are on order from Fedco and I've put in a request for my mom to pick me up some more at Johnny's, which is right in my parents' town, but I plan on hitting Portsmouth Farmer's Market for the first day of the season next Saturday.

As for today, it was spent trying to recuperate from everything I did the previous two days. And addressing wedding invites.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, you really got a lot done in two days! I had 5 days off and didn't get a single thing done.

Paul said...

The raised beds look terrific! Vegetables, flowers, or both?

Sheepish Annie said...

It is always so interesting to me that I must rest after having had "days off." How is it that I need to recuperate from a vacation?????

The beds look great!

Anonymous said...

massage = good

Will you plant the beds using Mel Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" approach?

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/


Have you bought seeds from Cook's Garden? The mesclun mixes are very good.

http://www.cooksgarden.com/

And the cosmos mix was also nice, if you like cosmos. //sigh// I used to sit up in bed and read that catalog. It was ornamented with woodcut prints by Mary Azarian.

I miss my garden.

knittingboykit said...

I think I have the square foot book if you want to use it.

Oxfords or buckles. no slip on w/kilt!

are y'all registered anywhere??