Waiting on the Rain!

It's finally finished! The rain barrel, that is. Bill got it installed this morning. Then he took the hose and ran water across the roof so it would flow through the rain gutter, and it seemed to work. He actually filled up the barrel, it's just tap water but he needed to check for leaks. There are a few, but that is not unexpected. It works great. We did drain it after he checked for leaks, and that water was used for plants around the yard so it did not get wasted. We could get rain on Wednesday.

You can see the downspot that leads into the barrel, it formerly went straight down at the corner of the house. The barrel is set up in the dog's small yard. That's my kitchen window to one side of the barrel, the dog's water dish is underneath the window and outside the fence you can see part of the deck and the trellis Bill built for Otter a couple of years ago.

Here's the King of All He Surveys. He loves to lay on the deck and soak up the sunshine. He especially likes to be in front of the door, probably so that he will automatically get attention if we are trying to go in or out the door. Dog's smart. He was miffed because Maggie got her picture up here last night but he didn't. Now he can't complain about being left out!

We got a lot of our stuff done that we wanted to. Otter trimmed a lot of growth around the bottom of the trees, I dug up a bunch of iris bulbs and relocated them, I turned the dirt on the tulip bed and Otter treated it again and Bill got the rain barrel set up. I also moved one of my shepherd's hook plant stands over a few feet from where it was at.

I still have plenty of iris bulbs to move, but I'm kind of out of places to put them! They are fine around the trees, but the dogs like to run around the trees like furry, canine maniacs so I am still relocating iris bulbs. We filled in empty spots in the two rows at the back of the house and originally planned a third row behind the first two, but it was almost impossible to dig in some spots so we decided against the third row for now. I'm thinking that I might put a row or two of iris along the side of the shed where the Farm Scene is, and possibly in front of the fence to the dogs yard - on the outside of their fence.

I think that the rest of the day is going to be spent taking it easy. I have slightly sore muscles from being on the business end of the shovel. I have a few things to do inside, such as the never-ending laundry. But nothing big. I did take a nice, hot shower after I got finished with playing in the dirt and it really helped but I'll probably have sore shoulders tomorrow.

The time change throws me for a loop. I like this one better, but it will still take me a few days to adjust. The dogs don't adjust, their bellies still want to be filled at the same time every morning no matter what the clock says! This morning, it was apparently Frasier's turn to wake the chef because he was sitting beside the bed on my side, talking. He's a very vocal dog. And today, he was extremely vocal! When I did finally manage to get moving, Maggie was in the living room waiting - turning circles in her excitement.

The weather has been warmer lately. After a brief cold spell with one freeze, it's been warm again. Last night, we heard tree frogs again. They have been silent for days, but I guess that the warmer weather has brought them out of dormancy again. We've been hearing birds all day and I've seen a few more bugs lately. But it won't last, and it will take people by surprise when it does get cold again. We need to see about some firewood, but we have to get the fireplace checked first. I need to call and get them out to check it, and we're also going to get the dryer vent cleaned out again. We are probably going to do that on a yearly basis.

Ok, the clock says 11:54. But my tummy says 12:54 and I think it's time to go make lunch!