WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first picture above is my newest project. Our landlords decided earlier this spring to remove the old wire fence and put in this wooden fence. Major improvement, I just love it. Well after the fence was up, I had my brother come and rototill in front of the fence. You see when we first moved in here I spent the first spring and summer adding a border all along the inside of the fence for flowers. Not an easy task, but it was enjoyable and I just took my time. Last spring and summer, I just added more plants and flowers and it was looking pretty nice; I even hauled up old posts from the landlords and laid them all along to add extra charm.

Now comes the fun part! We got this wonderful little puppy, the kind you just hold in the palm of your hand; we knew she would get about knee high and weigh about 40 lbs. Surprise, Surprise....Dodger now weighs close to 80 lbs and is still growing and her head is about my mid thigh ( I am about 5'3" to give you a better clue). Dodger loves to run up and down all the fence areas; yup...right on top of every thing that once was looking pretty. So, I decided I would have to take and transplant all of my flowers to the front of the fence and on the inside area where Dodger runs plant ground cover flowers and very sturdy plants that she would not destroy tromping on. Alot of work, but it will be worth it.

Well a couple weeks ago, the weather was playing tricks, so I transplanted about 3 plants. It was such a job; the ground that my brother had rotatilled is filled with rocks. I decided I would have to take the time and sift the bigger rocks out before planting any more. Then the rain and cold came. Today it is beautiful outside, a perfect day to sift the rocks. Well, the ground not having had any activity in it for many years was really hard. I get the shovel and start breaking it up, not to hard just a bit annoying. But wait...I can not get the shovel down any farther than about 4 inches. I move a tad bit down...same thing. Well how big is this rock? I start actually shoveling the dirt away from the area and low and behold what do i find...no not a rock or even a root. No some "Idiot" from years ago placed carpet down to control the weeds. Landlord said the person was a neighbor of her mothers and he put it down probablly ten to fifeteen years ago.

After major cursing (which I do not do very often) and a lot of hard, hard work (for me anyway) I managed to dig down to the carpet. Move all of the dirt off to the side in a bucket, pull up the carpet, dump the dirt back down and move a little farther down the fence line. I did not get but a small area done today and my whole upper body is sore. So, will have to wait until tomorrow and do another couple hours. It may take me a month or so to accomplish my project...heck it may take until fall...but I am ging to do it. Will post photos now and then of my accomplishments. I am pretty sure it will not look pretty this year but by next spring it should really be looking pretty good.