Public Service Announcement: Sod.

Maybe you are redoing your yard, or maybe you are moving into a brand new house.  But one day, someone calls you and says, "We're putting in the sod tomorrow."  Before you answer, I want you to think for a moment.

Are you quite content with a yard that is made of grass and you want the grass to stay where they put it, rarely digging or changing anything?  Great!  Then your answer is, "Go right ahead and lay that sod."

Are you perhaps thinking that you will, at some point in the future, substantially rip up that sod?  Yes?  Hold the phone!  I am here to tell you that sod today comes with a backing of fine mesh plastic.  I am sure it makes it easier to harvest and install, but that fine mesh plastic stays in the ground once it is down.  Then, when you come along and start digging up the sod, it will tangle your digging implements for years to come.  I know this because I've spent five years dealing with it and, while the volume has lessened, it is still out there, like yet another strange occurrence for Mulder and Sculley to discover each week.  I strongly suggest, if you have even the most vauge plans of digging to hold off on that sod installation.  Ask them to plant the grass from seed, or put in a ground cover or even some sort of mulch/bark/hazelnut shells/whatever instead.  When your shovel cuts cleanly into the ground and turns over without struggle, you will thank me.

New Feature: Four Hours per week in the Garden.

Back in January, I planned out my garden for the year and I made these four goals:
1. Steady production of: lettuce, kale, collards & beets
2. Continue working on the 60/30/10 principles.  This means 60% of crops are grown for carbon to make compost, 30% are root crops and 10% of crops are everything else.
3. Make compost a priority
4. Work steadily and regularly in the garden.

These were all very good goals and I can tell you that as of July 19, I have achieved none of them.  I have not harvested a single head of lettuce, bunch of kale or collards or pulled any beets.  I have manged to plant zero carbon crops.  I did make some compost bins, but I have not harvested any compost and I have not worked steadily and regularly on the garden.

So I'm implementing a new program:  Four Hours Per Week in the Garden.  Why four hours?  Its two hours of work over two days or a bit more than a half hour of work per day.  Also I want to see if I can manage my garden in four hours per week.  Maybe I need to rethink things if it takes longer than that.

The rules:
As I head out to do the garden chores, I will bring along a timer and keep track of how long tasks take.  This will help me have a more realistic understanding of how much I can accomplish in a work session.

I will record and report back on this blog.

I'm allowed to exceed the time if I want, but I need to do my best to meet the time quota each week.

And I'm off on another adventure.

Good bye to our trip

A quick picture of the entrance to the Olympic Club.  The sign says "Ladies Patronage Not Solicited" which is not still true today.
 

Waiting for our train we show off 10 years together with yet another timer picture.
 

An early morning walk

While Matt slept in (his favorite thing to do on vacation) I took an early morning walk (my favorite thing.)

I was intrigued by this awning as it reflected different stages in a business.
 

First it was Hometown something.  Then it was a business that "traded" offering "exchanges on Clothing, DVDs and Books, etc.
 

But then the business plan seems to have shifted to only baby stuff.  It was chock full of clothing and toys.
 

On this Handicapped space near the post office, I was intrigued by the green sticker.
 

I have never seen a Survey Marker on a sign before.  But, if I was curious, I could write to the Secretary of Transporation in Olympia and find out what's up.
 

Outside of an antique shop I found a bench made by someone who was clearly inspired by the cedar fencing going on sale at the home improvement centers for $1.99.  I find myself inspired by cedar fencing too.  He (or she?) created this bench entirely from cedar fencing.  Pretty impressive, though it didn't strike me as very sturdy.
 

A good meal, a cemetery and some roller fun.

Early in our trip, Matt went downstairs for some reason I've now forgotten and ran into a former colleague at the bar.  The colleague recommended this restaurant and so we made it a point to go and he was so , so, right.  It was amazing and I was blown away by the flavor combinations.
 

On our walk back we stopped at a cemetery.
 

It seemed to be the pioneer cemetery.
 

Here is where a John Brown lies a-mouldering, but I took this picture because I was curious what the A.O.U.W was.  Here's a nice description of the organization.
 

 

This grave intrigued me because of what it said under the dates>
 

I first assumed they were both poems because they were in quotes.
 

But curseory googling has told me no, not poems.  Perhaps nicknames?
 

Here's proof I don't carefully look at my photos before uploading.  If you turn your head sideways, you will see this is a modern stone on the gave of the founder of Centralia.
 

George's grave is the oblisque and his wife Mary Jane is the smaller grave to the right. I observed that her gave had broken (or been vandalized) and the thicker stone was added behind to repair it.
 

My favorite name I found.
 

Tree?  Nope. Gravestone.

Then we headed over to the Centralia Rollerdome.

For some roller skating.  Also they had a bouncy castle obstacle course that Matt took part in and I played a very fun game in the arcade involving moving a ball up a circular track.  If I had more quarters, I would have won.  I would have.
 

Marimba

Because we visited the local library, we found out about a Marimba Concert, sponsored by the library.  We wandered down and really enjoyed the music.  I hadn't experienced an entire Marimba Band before and that big marimba was quite impressive.
 

The name of the band is Mukana Marimba and their website has a calendar of upcoming events.
 

Near the end of the concert, an older gentleman wandered over to see the big marimba close up.
 

More walk

We wandered through the campus of Centralia College and found this monument to many people, among them Floyd Schmoe.  Matt got excited and wanted to meet his brother, Joe.
 

Here is the Kiser Natural Outdoor Learning Lab.  This sign explains that no, they haven't forgotten to mow and no, they haven't run out of money for maintenance, and yes, it is supposed to look that way.
 

Matt crosses a stream.
 

And climbs up the bridge.
 

It turns out that the Learning Lab is a tribute to a former Centralia Professor who, among other things, helped establish the Natural Area we visited the day before.
 

Map of the learning lab, encompassing the different Ecosystems of Washington.