been a long time....

Geez! Has it really been over 2 months since my last post!?!? Goodness, I’ve been so neglectful. Updates: Ran that Houston half, did well knocked over 40 minutes off my time from the year before. Just ran another half last Sunday and knocked 5 minutes off my time from January, so I am improving that is good news, a sign that all the hard work is in fact paying off. B and I went on a little mini vacation to Fredericksburg, stayed at Barron’s Creekside and we had a wonderful time…we will definitely be going back. Now, for those of you that have been to our house, you know that the backyard is a baron sand box with some sparse bits of grassy life dispensed throughout. Well, although B wanted to tackle this project himself, I knew we’d already bought loads of sand and tried to level things out ourselves and it seemed to be a waste of money and time. Therefore I convinced him to get some quotes from a few folks on leveling things out and they all suggested putting a drain in behind the garage (the lowest point of the yard) and I’m thrilled to say that we’re finally going to have this project started on next week. First the drain will be put in and the following week the leveling of the yard, tilling and laying of sod will take place AND with any luck we will have a lush green retreat in a month or two. Lastly, I have an opinion based questions for everyone. I initially wanted to plant a raised vegetable garden behind the garage with a little gate to keep the dogs out, it makes sense because that is where the compost bin is, however I have finally come to the realization that there isn’t enough sun back there to grow anything but shady vegetables, which are few – therefore, I’ve abandoned this idea until we get a bigger place with more backyard space. So as a compromise to myself, I’m using the clay pots and have planted some jalapeno, cilantro and cucumber plants, and I’m using the topsy turvey tomato hanger to grow some maters – BUT either birds or squirrels keep getting into my jalapeno and cucumber plants – how best to avoid this? Also, and this is my real question, we have a space a HUGE space behind the garage that is totally unutilized and I’m not sure what do to with it. The space is about 8’x8’ and as I said earlier not very well lit, so therefore not too conducive to planting. I thought about maybe putting some pavers back there and a couple of little chairs and a table or a bench to make it sort of a retreat style, but as I also said earlier the compost bin is there. So, we’re sort of at a loss as to what to do with all this extra space. Thoughts?