2026, My year of Garden Narcissism

[ducks4you]

My Weeds are pretty...
We three were gonna mow tomorrow. I don't think so. It's been steadily raining last night through today.
We.are.soaked.
Since I bought stuff for three good meals, I am hoping to persuade DD's to do inside sports at my house tomorrow.
I bought them 2 more bags of weed and feed. The others are hiding behind the brickwork on their cement/brick porch. I also brought them over my grass spreader. I have tried to make it to so that, between the 2 households, we only have ONE of any items that aren't used that often, like the grass spreader, the Bissell, flat floor, low nap rug cleaner--stuff like that that moves back and forth.
I went shopping at Harbor Freight. I asked for help and I bought the cheapest battery operated drill that they had. I intend to drill holes in tree of paradise and raspberry AND maple saplings that I want to kill and pour poison directly into them from above. Don't mind stumps, just the forests of volunteers.
Eldest DD was looking for clamps. Harbor Freight had some very nice and heavy metal clamps,

MUCH better than those plasticky orange ones. I bought 4 of them.

 

[ducks4you]

Did you stay at the brewery for all that time?

I hope there was additional entertainment.

No, sweet @digitS' .
I took it Home with me and enjoyed it for four.straight.hours.

 

[ducks4you]

Some stores are very knowledgeable and helpful, others...not so much.
Menards is one of those places where you often have to help your Self. I have learned that you grab a clerk to ask where in the store something generally is, like materials for a clothes line, then you grab a clerk working in that area to be more specific.

I have this green plastic clothesline, probably bought it over 10 years ago FOR a new clothes line, decided that nowhere on the house acreage could I avoid birds messing on my sheets, so I stored it.
When I painted my new grape vine metal fencing, all 8 of them, I wondered How I could afix this To the vertical posts.
A clerk found me These, and although I thought he grabbed 8, he really grabbed 9 of them. There are designed to connect the clothesline to itself and tighten it. I watched a video about this, and That guy said to attach and stretch it. Also, should it sag, I can loosen up the screws, pull some more clothesline through it and re tighten.
I decided to store these 9 pieces in the box with my new tow wagon bolts, washers and nuts.
I also took a clean yogurt container for the hooks to hold the wires on the inner vertical metal fenceposts. They are similar if not Identical to those that we used when we moved here and had to constantly repair sections of old cattle fencing, except I dunno what happened to those.

 

[ducks4you]

Sorry to tease without pictures, but when DD took our hike on Sunday we came upon numerous small stands of invasive bamboo. I'll ask her to send me the pictures.

 

[flowerbug]

those clamps are very useful for doing things with boards and oddly shaped furniture and ...

i don't have a woodworking shop or much room for storing things (including tools) here but i do have a few clamps like those on the shelves in my closet for times when i need to glue a chair or some boards together or ...

 

[ducks4you]

Harbor Freight has cheaper products BUT I never did care for those long orange clampy...thingy's..
They always looked a little bit flimsy. THESE clamps are heavy and metal.
We will probably go back and get more of them.
Generally, though, 4 clamps is usually enough for any glueing job.
UNLESS, your are Olaf

home - Olaf Grawert Violin Studio

What services I offer

olafgrawertviolinstudio.com

 

[ducks4you]

Yesterday my 2 DD's totally blessed me! We used the tractor and my God mower to mow the 3 acre north pasture, And the 1/2 acre south pasture and youngest DD used my push mower to get the trim...EVERYWHERE!!
This was our plan, although we all didn't have the energy to do Everything on the plan.
Youngest DD got around ALL of the fruit trees in the Inner Sanctum (fenced in area in front of my barn,) and we burned Almost all of it.
No worries--we moved the undone jobs to Friday night.
I found a too-big-to-manually-haul limb in the south pasture and we dragged it with my tractor. COULD have dragged it with my God mower, but I really ask that machine to do So Much...
I want to go back to the south pasture this afternoon and pick up any burnables and take them to my fire pit for another fire. HEAVY rain expected tomorrow, so good timing.
I planned out all 3 meals yesterday and wrote them on my chalk board.
Doesn't Everybody have a chalk board in their kitchen?!?