Front Yard

I asked Underfoot what he would like to tell people in the weekly email. His response was “Temple”. Underfoot likes the Temple. Baby K2 can roll over from front to back. He can also sit up some of the time without assistance. He is smiling a lot. Underfoot can make K2 laugh, which causes Underfoot to laugh even louder which causes K2 to laugh even more. In engineering we call this a feedback loop, like when a microphone gets too close to a loudspeaker.

The action this week was on Saturday. We got up early. Mama took the boys in the Scout to the north side of Tucson (just over an hour away) to pick up three mesquite trees. The electric company offers cheap trees once a year to help provide shade in Tucson. On her way home, she made several pit stops. She stopped at Costco, Lowe's, and a tree sale happening near our home. She was surprised to find out that a local neighbor has a small nursery and sells trees at very reasonable prices. (We could have bought the mesquite trees from the local guy for less than the electric company, and not had to drive the two hours to get them!) Mama arrived at home with three mesquite trees, three beautiful red bougainvilleas, and three lantanas. The lantanas are a ground cover.

In the mean time, I was busy at home working on several projects. I sprayed the block wall, sand box, and exterior of the house for bugs. I dug three holes for the mesquite trees. (I was pleasantly surprised that the digging process was relatively easy- our lot must be on fill dirt!) After the digging, I repaired the gate it had come loose as a result of the concrete work. By the time I’d finished with the gate, it was already after 1 and I was expecting Mama and the boys at any moment, so I went inside to make some tuna fish sandwiches for lunch.

Mama got home and we devoured lunch. We unloaded the Scout and went about placing the various plants and trees in the front yard. At one point we decided to employ some redneck landscaping techniques. (Some of you may recall when this technique was employed at our former residence with Chuck the Truck.) This time the Scout made quick work of two ill-placed bushes in our front yard. All that is left of the original landscaping is one tree in the front yard and the Chilean mesquite tree in the back yard. Everything else has been removed, although there wasn’t much to begin with!

We spent a bunch of time figuring out where to place the lantanas. I then dug holes for the bushes, planted everything, and started working on the irrigation system. This involved sending Mama and the boys on an emergency run to Ace Hardware for drip irrigation connector pieces. It seems I always run out at the must inconvenient times! Mama returned home with the needed supplies and we went to the local American Legion building for a Boy Scout dinner. The local troop has a fund raiser each month on a Saturday night. Our neighbor is in the troop, so we like to support their efforts. (It is also nice for Mama to not have to cook on occasion.)

After dinner, I returned to working in the front yard while Mama got the boys ready for bed. I finally finished everything in the front yard around 9 p.m. At that point I came inside and Mama went into the back yard. She planted flowers, a honeysuckle plant, mint, and in the process removed a bunch of plants from one of our raised beds. It was all over at about 11 p.m. It was a long day.