July 29, 2007
Self Portrait Sunday for July 29, 2007
The face of exhaustion. I worked hard in the yard this afternoon, and actually forgot about my self-portrait until just before sundown as I was finishing up outside. I had had an inspection earlier in the day, unusual for a Sunday, and I had a chore that needed doing, so I had to do it in the afternoon heat.
I don’t let my dogs into the front yard. I found some suspicious food out there once and suspected that an irate neighbor might have been trying to poison them. I had a gate installed to keep them in the back, and I xeriscaped with gravel in their area. They could go right under the house to access the front, though, so I had to deal with that, too.
I dug a trench directly beneath the outside edge of the house and filled it with concrete, using a 1/2 X 2 inch furring strip to create a channel in the low concrete footing that I had created. My contractor installed the lattice and trimmed it all up for me. That was a year and a half ago. Lance (goofy beagle!) likes to rub up against things like a cat will do, and he decided the lattice made a fine rubbing surface. Unfortunately, he managed to bow in the lattice and today it finally popped out of the concrete at the bottom. I discovered this when I heard him under the house chasing a feral cat. I’m seriously considering swapping him for a goldfish or maybe a Basset Hound - either one would be lower-maintenance, I think. Anyway, I didn’t want to wait until I could find a helper, so I decided to tackle the chore myself. First I raked all of the gravel away from the lattice. Then I had to pull the entire eight foot length of the base of that piece of lattice out in order to clean gravel out of the channel so I could reseat the lattice. I used some 1/4 inch shim-like pieces on the crawl space side of the base of the lattice to make it a little more resistent to goofy beagles, then popped the garden trim and lattice back in place. I re-leveled the gravel to finish up. Sheesh, doesn’t sound like much written out that way, but it was a pretty difficult job to do alone & took several hours. Thus the tired self-portrait, with sweat and my cold-water hose-off dripping off of my face.
Now let’s go see what my friends are doing with their self-portraits today over at Digi-Cass, where you’re invited to join us with your own self-portrait each Sunday!
[tags]self portrait, Self Portrait Sunday, photos[/tags]
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July 29th, 2007 at 11:04 pm, Janna Says:
Now I have to find a dictionary and look up the word “Xeriscape”!
I thought of you today, while I was doing my Jantics post. I was talking about gas prices, and I found myself wondering what they currently are in Hawaii!
July 29th, 2007 at 11:23 pm, skeet Says:
Xeriscaping is dry landscaping, Janna. In most of my yard I have no lawn or gardens. It’s all graveled, with just a couple of potted plants and low-thirst trees & shrubs. I have a little ten by ten cultivated area on one side with a lawn surrounded by local plants and an herb garden, and that’s the only area I have to water regularly. I live on the dry side of the island & we’re in drought conditions almost perpetually.
Gas prices have been going down the last few weeks, finally. I think the high a few months back was around $3.70. Right now the lowest is $3.11.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:03 am, Jennifer Says:
You look so tired! Kudos to you… I’d have waited for reinforcements! Though, I’m decidedly unhandy, so I wouldn’t have had much of a choice
July 30th, 2007 at 12:07 am, skeet Says:
I’d have loved to have waited Jennifer, but those blasted cats are vicious. They fight when cornered & have ripped dogs eyes out. They don’t go into the boys yard, but they go in the front yard & under the house, so I needed to keep my guys out of those areas.
I’m pretty handy. No finished carpentry & I dont’mess with electrical at all, but I do a lot of the stuff that needs doing around the place. I’m cheaper than a handyguy.
July 30th, 2007 at 2:28 am, Corrin Says:
You’re one hard working gal!
I can’t believe a neighbor would try to hurt your dogs! That’s so terrible.
July 30th, 2007 at 3:05 am, Neighbors Says:
I cant believe your neighbour . . . . . what kind of person would think of hurting a dog. That’s awful.
July 30th, 2007 at 8:22 am, brettbum Says:
You look exhausted, but that seems to be a good kind of exhausted. The kind that might make you tired and your muscles sore, but its a well earned tired and sore.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:08 pm, Emsxiety Says:
You’re hard working and talented. Did you wear the tool belt?
July 30th, 2007 at 4:51 pm, skeet Says:
Corrin, I was president of the homeowners association for years. Every time we did something unpopular I was held personally responsible and suffered repercussions. I don’t know that that is why someone tossed half of a whopper over my gate, but I wasn’t taking any chances that my furkids could get poisoned.
July 30th, 2007 at 4:52 pm, skeet Says:
It wasn’t a good kind of exhaustion Brett, just plain old dog-tired.
July 30th, 2007 at 4:52 pm, skeet Says:
Tool belt and white cotton, Em!
August 6th, 2007 at 9:42 pm, skeet’s stuff » Defeated by a devious dog Says:
[…] a week ago I showed you the dog-proofing I’d installed to keep the boys from going under the house to get to the front yard. Lance, […]