So, um, I decided last weekend that that new extension I just put in needed to go out another foot. Which meant that the entire length of the 80ft stone barrier needed to go out another foot. Which meant a lot of stone moving, sod ripping up, wheel barrow dumping, and oy, my aching back. Remember: we have caliche clay, and it's pretty much like rock. OUCH. eta To illustrate the severity of the suckiness, caliche can be mixed with sand to make BUILDINGS. That are CODE. Yeah. It's a few grains from cement, people.
So, um, I may have gotten almost 1/3 done and I may have seen a landscape crew a few doors over, and I may have bribed them to finish the job for me *cough* and rip another 3 ft. wide, 10 ft. long strip in another section of my property, cart it up and haul it away for cash under the table. (before you yell at me, it's a very good amount, I am no skinflint.)
I AM SITTING IN AIR CONDITIONING DRINKING A COLD BEVERAGE. THEY ARE DIGGING, I CAN HEAR THEIR LABORED EFFORTS. And I'm very content with this. I will, of course, bring them cold glasses of water - I don't know if I should offer them a beer, I think their boss is an uber-Christian-type.
Let me state for the record that I LOVE IMMIGRANTS, I LOVE HELPING THEM, AND I LOVE THEIR WORK ETHIC. My ethics are questionable, of course. (Is that wrong to say? I mean it though, with every fiber of my being.)
Muchas gracias, amigos, yo te love you muy mucho. :D
[ETA] Met with their boss, turns out to be a former Extension Agency guy + a horticulture teacher. Lovely man, knew loads, and informed me that my soil was bar none the worst he'd ever seen since getting in the biz in the 70s, and that he was impressed that not only did I get things to grow in it, but so beautifully. *BEAMS*
- Spock is::
guilty
'Oos dis bint, then?
stoney321- Laura Stone
- Hey, Don't Judge Me
Comments
Dude.
I am *all for* paying other people - particularly other people with stronger back and possibly Catapillars - to do my work for me. I mean - if i have the money to make it worth their while, and they want to? Hell yes!
Nice, tinkly glasses of cold water sounds good. Or soda. Or lemonade! Heeeee.
If I had lemonade, I would pour it down their gullets, happily. It's 92 today. 92.
*cough*
We're in the seventies. Wheeee! We had a very temperate summer last year, only had to run the AC for about two weeks total. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have a similar season this year.
*oh please oh please oh please*
kaliche? \o/ your poor back. well, that's worse than gumbo i suppose.
We planted strawberries and flowers Sunday!
Black gumbo would be a godsend. YUM strawberries! I've been nomming on mine for a few days now. Beat the rabbits for the first time in a while. :D
This is my 1st berry patch so I don't know how it will do. But it's what I decided on to replace the apple tree that Ike killed. *mourns it*
http://youtu.be/T0bhZXUq0Hw
I'll check out your link, thanks!
MASSIVE RELIEF.
And I'm with you: I do not need another back ache. (Oh, side note, the crew boss was telling me that in Africa, they use caliche for roads because they get STRONGER over time. *cry* I want to rent a back hoe and dig the lawn up to a depth of 4 feet, fill it in with loam and compost and start over. Suuuuuuure. :D)