Spring! The trees haven't leafed out yet, but it was 60-ish this weekend and we got a lot of yard work done. The everyellow and the spiky red triffid in front have been replaced by a dwarf burning bush (looking more like a stick at the moment, hopefully it grows fast) and some white Mediterranean heather. In the back, we put down grass seed again on the side (we're giving up on the back until the fall), this time with biodegradable protective matting. It would be really nice if this worked. I also set up our Christmas present from my folks, a gadget to trap biting insects. The placement may need fine-tuning, as something took a good chunk out of my neck this afternoon while I was reading the latest Dortmunder, but it's definitely catching some insects (you can see them caught on the sticky paper. Take that, bugs!).
The doggie was very pleased to be outside so much this weekend. She even hung out in the front yard with Chad (tied on a long leash to a tree), which she usually doesn't get to do because it's not fenced. If only she wouldn't insist on eating clumps of topsoil . . .
I also got my hair cut yesterday, hooray. The bad cut had gotten positively unbearable, so I walked into the first place I came to on upper Union Street on the theory that as long as it was shorter, it would be an improvement. I think I like this cut, but I have to live with it a bit; it's much more shaped, with the very bottom considerably thinner than usual. We also had dinner out last night, a Mexican place in downtown Albany, which was nice though I ate far too much.
I even got some reading done this weekend, though the book log won't be updated tonight because I have Work. It's going to be a bad couple of weeks for Work, alas, so I really ought to go check on the laundry and then get to it.
For the record, I did manage to plant some grass last spring and get it to grow, so it's not completely impossible. I hope that the netting will help somewhat with the birds, as well as with the "all the soil gets washed into the neighbors' yard" problem.
The thing with fall is you do it early fall, after the worst of the heat (which kills grass), but hopefully early enough to get it established before the freeze. Winter doesn't kill established grass after all, otherwise we'd have to re-seed every winter.
OTOH, he did say that if we hit the lottery and wanted to pay someone to dig up the entire yard and put down sod, well, hey, it's your money.
However, when I heard that we couldn't just lay sod down on the little paths the dog has worn in the yard, but would have to dig up those areas and fit the sod in, my interest dropped to zero immediately, as you can tell by the less-than-clear explanation here.
Very best wishes with that, Kate.
WHOA!
It hadn't penetrated until I was reading the above and saw "Union Street" and "Albany". Have we met physically? Because we're in the same area; I lived in Schenectady for many years, now I live in Troy.
WHOA yourself!
Did you know your web page was down, btw? I figured nitty-gritty details about where we live would be better in e-mail, so went there on a hunt for it, but no go.