SUMMERTIME

LEMONS

BIRDS IN THE POND!

The impetus for all this hard work in the backyard was to invite more birds in to use the pond for water and bathing.

A few days ago, the first bird I saw using the pond for a drink was a crow...not what I really had in mind.

But yesterday, as I sat on the back porch I saw a swarm of European Sparrows gather, looking longingly at the pond.  Eventually, one brave soul landed and hopped over to the edge and proceeded to bathe.  

FRIENDSHIP

CARVING FOR PEACE

I finally got around to carving an image into my piece of the Peace Puzzle Project.

I sat on the patio, under the umbrella, with the sound of the waterfall nearby.  It was very pleasant.

Now I just need to get it into the mail to Maria in Las Vegas.

BEFORE AND AFTER

Here are the before and after pictures of my backyard project:

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After!

After

MOMENT OF ZEN

FINISHING THE PAVERS

The final step - putting 'Paver Lock' in the space between the pavers.  This will 'lock' them all together and prevent anything from growing up between them.

First you sweep the sand into all of the cracks and try to get it even and looking good.  It's a lot like doing tile grout - you sweep one direction and get it looking great, and then when you sweep the other direction it messes it all up.

It took me most of the day.  It was a slow process.

Once you get it looking the way you want then you 'mist' it all with a fine spray of water, getting enough on there to soak all the way down to the bottom.

Sweeping

Misting

Cooling

It was a very warm hot day.  My feet were tired and hot, so I soaked them in the pond afterward.  Excellent.