New View of my New Path

On a few warm days in January, I started creating a path on a slope.  I found a huge rock at one point and came close to digging it out, but decided to put it off for another day--I think I was afraid I would screw up my back again and never finish the path.

I had a couple more days in February where I could work the ground.  If I recall, I finished it early March.

Here it is with an aerial shot.

(Well, I guess it isn't finished until I get that rock out, fill the hole, remove the garbage that I found, and, hopefully, seed it with something native--maybe path rush.)

Thank you, babe, for the aerial shot. :)

The other day, I added some elderberry cuttings along the slope--hopefully, they will root with no trouble and grow in in the next couple of years...along with some other native shrubs.  I have some silky dogwood still in pots that I can add...and I hope to buy some other species.

One Thing Leads to Another

As so often happens, I start one project and end up elsewhere in the yard.  Everything is interrelated.

Almost two weeks ago, when the temperatures were unseasonably warm, and the ground was not frozen, I, unexpectedly, began creating a path on a seldom visited slope.  Uncovering a huge rock took time and energy away from finishing creating the newest trail on our property.  The next day, I had hoped to get the rock out of the hole, but decided I better not overdo it--my back had been pain-free for about a month or so, and I did not want to aggravate the herniated disc which seems to have healed.  Instead, I decided to continue creating a terraced path.

I had completed almost half of it they day before.   I was able to make use of a few moderately sized rocks and move them to the pond's edge.  Farther along the slope, there was a bit of trash left from a previous owner who, apparently, used sections of the property as their own private dump.

I ended up spying a pot caught under a multiflora rose bush.  Being a seldom-accessible area in the yard, two or three multiflora rose bushes escaped my not so ever vigilant eyes.  I ended up removing them and adding them to one two of my brush piles.  I gathered the garbage and stopped before the path was completed.  It is over two-thirds complete.

Unfortunately, the weather turned, with two or three inches of snow, and temperatures well below freezing, this project is on hold.

Maybe that is a good thing--almost a week later, I am noticing symptoms of discomfort where my painful bulging disc is.  I am doing my stretches and taking it easy.  I need to get symptom-free again, and continue working on my streambed and waterfall come spring.

Creating a New Path

Yesterday, January 11th, we had a high of 62°F!  Not good for the planet, but I enjoyed the reprieve from winter.  I accomplished a lot today.  I am so glad I went outside to enjoy the warm weather.

As so often happens, I start out just meandering through the yard and, unexpectedly, start some random project.  This time it was a path I had been planning in the back of my mind for a few years.

Instead of removing them, I decided to weigh them down to keep them off the path.

This is a slope on the property which I rarely have access to except in winter.  It has not been a priority (I tend to work on the meadow, woods, or pond)...but, I have been wanting to create a useable path there for a few years--right now it is a narrow footpath.

I am pleased with the results.  I probably would have finished the entire path,had I not found and uncovered a huge rock.  I plan to use it for my pond/streambed/waterfall project.  (I had really hoped to uncover several large rocks and mini-boulders while digging my pond.  Although I found rocks of various sizes...none were substantial.   So happy to have come across this one--despite the fact i will have to transport it a fair distance.

I love finding an exposed rock...and uncovering a very large rock that can be used for my pond/streambed/waterfall project.

I had really hoped to uncover a lot of useable large rocks mini-boulders when digging out for the pond (Phase II).  Unfortunately, although I found small rounded rocks to use in the streambed, but nothing like this!  Happy to have it, but, it will have to be transported a bit farther than if it were found on the site of the pond.