Beds

Last year, I tried to grow vegetables in pretty colorful patio pots. It worked....sort of. We got a couple zucchinis and a few tomatoes. But for the most part, it was a failure. The plants didn't spread as well as they needed to and with no automatic watering system, they took a beating on days when I couldn't get out there in the AM and PM to soak them.

Today, we did what we always do the day after J.'s annual bonus check goes into our account: went out to eat and then headed to Home Depot. Roughly sketched out plans on graph paper [not to scale lest you think we are engineers] and a list of things we needed in hand, we bravely headed to the lumber section of the store. Before getting there, we were assisted by a very tall man (6 1/2 feet is my estimate) who helped us find the drill bit and screws we needed, as well as a carpenter's square. We were sure we had one of those from J.'s dad somewhere but it is not find-able. So we bought a carpenter's triangle which we do not have....and will feasibly use again someday.

I don't like to ask for help at stores. I like to figure things out for myself. J. likes to ask for help - so we followed this giant around the hardware section - gathering exterior screws, etc. - and then headed over to lumber. The hardware guy was very helpful - but I never trust that they're giving us what we need - I think they give us what they think will work - and we're at their mercy. But we took his advice on things and bought what he suggested.

The great guys in the lumber department humored us as we pondered how many 2" x 6" x 16' boards we would need [you would never know I do math for a living 'cuz it was really hard for me to wrap my head around how to figure out how many boards to buy] - and we had to modify our dimensions a bit to avoid having too much leftover wood. We navigated one of those huge lumber carts to the check out stand...and J. grabbed a bag of salt pellets for the water softener. If you ever want to get more help in Home Depot than you know what to do with, be a totally grey haired gentleman lifting a 50 pound bag of salt pellets and see what happens. Immediately, the cashier came running out from behind the cash register and schlepped the bag to our cart herself. The pellets were right by the exit door, about 10 feet from the register. She put it on our cart (after she put it on the counter and rearranged some lumber to make room for the pellets) and then went over and got us another bag. I checked out while J. went to get the car - and pulled up to the door. She had called two guys over who helped load everything into the back of the car for us. Such service! We must have looked like we would both keel over any second of heart failure or exhaustion - the way they sent in the troops to help us....still, no complaints. We were happy to be helped. By the time we got to the checkout, I think it was hitting us both that we'd just bought 64 feet of lumber and planned to put it back together into two rectangle boxes. Yikes! Manual labor! On a Saturday!

We also went to Petsmart for cat litter [right next to HD] and then to Starbucks for a treat. Called H. and asked begged him to come help us at home (he was at a friend's house - where else would he be?) and bribed him with a java chip frappucino. [J. wants me to add that H. came home to help immediately and willingly - we didn't have to plead with him because he wouldn't - we had to plead with him 'cuz we were desperate for help. Poor kid with aging parents]. He helped unload the lumber and helped us create the first rectangle. H. is just so great at those kind of things - steady handed and strong - and then he returned to his friend's house and we were on our own. Sort of comical in many ways - moaning and groaning our way through leveling dirt, leveling wood and me wrestling a drill that I can barely hold. J. swears it's the drill I have since my college days - but no way. This drill is super heavy and very fast and I'm not all that strong. Still, we managed. Team work.....and a good sense of humor for us both got us through.

It is now 5:48PM and it's getting dark. J. is cutting up the two shrubs we removed (to have room for the two beds we're building). We have one bed 1/2 done and we probably should finish it ('cuz it's supposed to rain tomorrow) but I'm beat. That, and I have a huge amount of our New Zealand Tea Rose bush in my pants and underwear and no matter how many times I try to get it all out, it's still sort of prickly. I need a shower!

We will hopefully finish tomorrow and still wedge in The King's Speech.