Concrete Plans

We've found someone to build the concrete steps in the front yard. This is a real sign of progress, as it will help give some shape and substance to what we're doing. We also have someone doing a bit of design work for us, so things are really moving.

The concrete work was supposed to start this past Wednesday, but Stacy got a call from the guy on Sunday. He was out elk hunting and was not planning to be back working if he didn't have an elk. The season ends tomorrow, so he'll be back in town and will hopefully start on Monday. Stacy was gracious about it, going so far as to say that while she normally comes down squarely on the side of the animals in the whole hunting equation, she would be rooting for him.

In the meantime, we've once again used a gasoline-powered tool in the yard. I'm happy to report that the roto-tiller is far superior machine to the sod cutter.

Several Things

I am surprised by how long it's been since my last post. We've been pretty busy, what with the Olympics, political conventions, school starting and of course, yard work. So in no particular order, here are a few comments on recent goings-on:

1. If the milkman is here, it must be Wednesday. I've always been pretty time-and-date conscious; I think I started wearing a watch in about second grade. (Today I have no idea where my watch is.) The work week has certain patterns and markers such that I pretty much always know what day it is. But a couple weeks ago, I spent a good five minutes sitting in the living room trying to figure out what day it was. I'm sure it was during the Olympics, when it was never quite clear what day it was--between China being 15 hours ahead of us and watching events live on Canadian TV and then seeing them rehashed and repeated seemingly a couple days later on NBC -- it got confusing at times. But once I realized the milkman had come that day, I finally knew for certain it was Wednesday.
2. Appliance Day. We took the plunge and bought some new appliances from my favorite purveyor, Albert Lee Appliance here in Seattle. We've replaced our fridge and washer/dryer, all of which are 10-14 years old. We got one of those cool front-loading, money-saving washers and a much better dryer than we had before. We bought a dishwasher too, but need to have some plumbing done before it can be installed. And we had to get an electrician out to change the outlet from a range outlet to a dryer outlet. We weren't aware of this condition and don't know what its implications are in terms of drying speed, but a load of clothes that formerly took over 2 hours to dry now dries in 34 minutes. (It is also the case that the new high efficiency washers like the one we bought remove more water during the spin cycle, so they go into the dryer considerably less wet than with the old technology.)
3. Retro-appliance acquisition. Stacy's sister visited from Arizona, and delivered a juicer that Stacy's mom is no longer using. It's an Acme (really!) Juicerator 5001. Not sure how old the actual machine is, but the manual that came with it has a 1962 copyright date. The manual is hilarious and worthy of a whole separate post at some point. Anyway, aside from some frequent problems with extreme vibration, I'm really enjoying making carrot-apple juice blends.
4. Food find. We went to Home Depot today (the one on Aurora around 120th Street in the north part of Seattle.) Bought some plants and a rake, and as we were leaving we noticed a "taco trailer" and decided to try it. It's nestled in among some nice old trees in the north end of the parking lot, and has a nice little seating area and great music. The food is prepared inside a rather slick looking black trailer. It's called "El Camion" ("the truck") and the food was very tasty. I had a pork tamale, which featured a very smooth, silky layer of masa surrounding a spicy pork mixture. Also a small soft taco with carne asada. We also tried a quesadilla. All were excellent, and it appears to be very popular with many of the Hispanic workers in the area--always a good sign.
5. Sarah Palin. I have to say something, or a few somethings. First: how do you run against a skit? McCain and Palin appear to be basing their wacky act on Dana Carvey's grumpy old man and Church Lady skits from Saturday Night Live. Second: nobody knew for sure when McCain selected her whether she was qualified. To me, the very nature of the campaign proves that she is not--she is simply playing a character, based partly on her own "story" but mostly created by the McCain campaign. It's simply not real, and her script is made up almost entirely of lies and insults. The McCain-Palin ticket should not be taken seriously. Third: I don't think Barack Obama is perfect, but for the Republicans to seriously question his experience and qualifications relative to Palin's is absurd. He has endured 19 months of intense scrutiny and won a gruelling battle to secure the nomination. She was the impulsive choice of one desperate man.

Today's Lessons From the Garden

1. "Garden" sounds better than "yard."
2. When you decide to move a plant, it's a plant. When you actually move it, it's a tree.
3. I now believe there is a strong correlation between how long it takes to dig out a plant and how difficult it will be to move it, as well as to the size of the hole required for successfully re-planting it.
4. I will no longer assume that living things roughly twice my height are easy to move.
5. There are a lot of metaphors in the garden. I believe they are a type of fern.

What Not Working Feels Like

As mentioned earlier, I am taking six months off work. After 21 years of employment at a well-known coffee company, I’m taking advantage of a benefit offered by the company. In short, I’m taking six months off work without pay and returning to essentially the same job I have now.
As it turns out, the company I work for is going through some difficult times; many people I have known for years have lost their jobs in the last few months. So there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety about the future, which makes this an interesting time not to be there. On the one hand, I’m happy to be out of what had become a very challenging environment in which to work happily. But…not being there to support others and try to contribute is difficult – not to mention that because of the situation the company is in, it’s not at all clear what might be going on when I return.

Overall, though, this is a great time to be away; I was ready for a break and there are few better places to spend a summer than Seattle. Because this is an opportunity many never get, people are curious about it. Lots of people ask me what I’m ‘doing,’ as if keeping busy is either a) important or b) difficult. The quickest good answer I have is that I have quickly become really involved in my life, and it is really fun.

I’m not a workaholic; my habit is to arrive at the office just before 8:00 and leave just after 5:00. But…when one works at the same place for 21 years, especially a place where high emotional involvement with co-workers and the company, work can easily become something close to all-consuming. When you’re not at work, you think about work; the more you care, the more you think about it…and when things aren’t going particularly well, it’s a recipe for lots of angst. So while living that way doesn’t sound like much fun and is a bit self-indulgent, it’s a way of life that’s terribly easy to get used to.

Thankfully, it was easier than I thought it would be to leave the angst behind. One reason for this is that I actually am really busy—but it’s not the kind of busyness that comes from over-scheduling or even trying to keep busy. I consciously prepared for the time off work, and decided (with the help of a Life Coach!) to focus the summer on just enjoying the family and establishing some new habits and patterns—routine stuff like exercise, cooking, reading, grocery shopping and consciously doing nothing at times. These routines use up quite a bit of time, and I've found that approaching them intentionally (seeing them as opportunities to learn or have fun rather than as a nuisance) adds texture and meaning to each day. Taking more time to cook a simple meal, for example, is a very pure form of fun for me, and it increases the enjoyment of the food. Working in the yard is great exercise and has already affected the way I think about and value different types of work.

Learning to value these things as part of life rather than necessities that exist on the periphery (or as someone else’s responsibility) is a great lesson. And it’s a lesson that will inform the second part of my time away, which is more about the future, beginning when the kids go back to school in a couple of weeks. (Though it is apparent that the yard work will continue well into 2009.)

Vrtually Wordless Yard Update

Rather than a long description of what's been going on, I thought I'd just use one simple PowerPoint slide to provide an update. It's a bit smaller than I thought it would be; the top bar represents how much we have bitten off, and the bottom bar how much we can chew. The four items on the left are Sod Removal, Shopping, Design Work and Physical Labor.

Sod Update and A Couple Other Things

Yard Update
First things first: Hertz decided not to charge us for the damage to the Ryan. Apparently what we did was mild compared to the frustration-fueled harm done by the average renter.

Last Thursday the remainder of our grass was removed and our big tree had some work done. There's a lot less tree now but it looks good and has created a lot more light in the front yard and in the kitchen.

We were strangely relieved that it took three people most of a day to complete the work that Stacy and I started. They had the same model Ryan Sodcutter we used, and they struggled with it almost as much as we did. It took two of them to maneuver the thing, using essentially the same method Stacy and I employed.

Since then we've bought and planted a few things, lest our neighbors worry or the dirt somehow asserts its own will. We have a general idea what we want to do, but we'll consult with a friend who is a landscape designer next week too, just to be sure we're not making any huge mistakes. The weather was great today and it was fun to get out there and get dirty, sweat a little and make some progress. Still plenty of digging to do.

I also had a chance to visit a great nursery, Swanson's, (http://www.swansonsnursury.com/) located in the north part of Ballard. They've been in business since 1924 and are obviously a local institution. Tons of cool plants and I discovered that there is LOTS of great gardening gear -- great looking tools that appear to be very well-designed and represent a huge upgrade over our old and rusty implements. Check out this great-looking cultivator (a hand tool that apparently helps one cultivate) made by Radius:

Beets
We joined a Community Supported Agriculture farm this summer. In the early going it was tough to eat all the leafy greens that made up pretty much the whole delivery. In recent weeks we've started getting some real vegetables including green beans, squash and onions. And beets. Red beets two weeks ago, then golden beets this past week. I would not characterize myself as a beet lover. Until a couple of years ago, my experience of beets was pretty much limited to the pickled beets that were always the black sheep of the hamburger garnish family. (I also know this: Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah uses "Beetdiggers" as the nickname for its sports teams; apparently a lot of beets are grown in Utah.)

Anyway, I found a recipe for sea bass with beet sauce and beet greens and made it last Friday (substituting fresh ling cod for the $26/lb previously frozen sea bass they had at the store.) It turned out quite good and was easy. I roasted and then pureed the beets, adding balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and some sauteed garlic. The greens were sauteed in butter and some fresh ginger root and were great. There are tons of beet recipes on epicurious.com, so give them a try. Don't forget the greens--they're really good.

Working Hard AND Hardly Working

So...I'm not working these days, or I should say I'm not at work. I'm one month into a six-month sabbatical from my job. I have been employed for 21 years by a well-known roaster and retailer of coffee. This blog may ocasionally mention coffee...but it's not about coffee or my job. It's about what I'm doing while I'm not working.

I hadn't planned on doing a blog, but today I decided that I would, because of the Ryan Sod Cutter we rented. We actually rented two, because the one we started with was damaged in a freak sod-cutting accident.

Today was the day we decided to kick off an ambitous project in our yard. Bascially our plan is to remove all the grass and replace it with cool plants, groundcover and a new pathway to the door. As the day went on, it became clear that had a passerby asked Stacy and I if we were 'working hard or hardly working,' the only honest answer would have been 'both,' hence the title of my first entry. I'm pretty sure today's effort, on a blistering hot 87 degree day here in Seattle, yielded the most modest results possible relative to the effort expended. So modest, in fact that I now have an excellent argument for skipping the whole 'trying' thing should it arise in the future. I suspect the Professional Landscaper who's coming out tomorrow to give us an estimate on finishing the job will agree.

So, what is a Ryan Sod Cutter?

Let's be clear: Ryan is the First Name is Turf Renovation. (The second name will probably be Rainbow of Magnolia Landscaping and Design.) A sod cutter is essentially an immovable object powered by a gasoline engine. It appears to be mounted on two 'wheels' but the benefits traditionally associated with wheels were not evident. Here are some of its features, along with some comments based on our experience today:

• Good Balance, Easy Handling - Maximum traction and self-propelled action - 95% of the machine’s weight is on the knob tread drive wheels. I don't suppose they'd sell many of these is they were truthful here, since not many people would choose a machine that is 'prone to tipping and difficult to move.'


• Power for the Long Haul - Available with a 5.5-hp Honda® or a 6-hp Briggs & Stratton®; Built to last cast-iron gear case. We had the Honda. It did seem to have adequate power, but not all components are designed to withstand impact wtih our nieghbor's rockery. Also, for the record, I am more of a Briggs & Stratton man.


• Easy Depth and Blade Angle Adjustment for Varying Soil Conditions - Optional trenching and mole blade attachments. Whatever.


• Optional Tote Trailer for On-Road Trailer Use - Transports Jr. Sod Cutter, Lawnaire® IV and V Plus aerators. I don't think the trailer would have been much help, unless it came with a skilled Sod Cutting Professional.


• Choice of Sod Widths - Available in either 12” or 18” cutting widths. We went with the 12 inch. I think the larger model would have been a real mistake.

Why cut sod, and why now?

We chose sod cutting becuase it is purported to be an easier and quicker method for removing grass than using forks and spoons.

To answer the question with a tad less bitterness, removing the grass is something Stacy has wanted to do for quite a long time. I've generally thought it was a nice idea, because Stacy has done excellent landscaping in the parts of the yard she has devoted attention to. But it seemed like it would require either a lot of work or a lot of money. (Or, in the case of our approach, both.)

Stacy has worked a lot on the yard over the years, but the portion that is still grass, which I supose is technically my responsibility, isn't real exciting. It features quite a lot of moss and dandelions, both of which predate our moving in fifteen years ago, though they are thriving now to a degree greater than what our neighbors would prefer. The plan is to preserve the yard as a habitat for birds and squirrels, grow a few herbs and a bit of food, and generally replace the grass with mostly native plants. We also plan to have a proper walkway (likely an offset series of concrete steps) put in from the street to the front door, along with some lighting. This will make life better for pizza deliverymen, so it's all worthwhile.

What next?

There are still a few details to wrap up, such as the final bill from the Hertz Equipment Center in Ballard. The mechanic will be in tomorrow to assess the damage to the first unit we rented. It basically tipped over on some rocks. It may or may not have fallen a foot or so. I know I jumped down into neighbor's yard to avoid injury. It may or may not have fallen down there too. It seemed like it did, but Stacy disagrees and we're both pretty sure we wouldn't have been able to lift the thing if it had. Apparently there are plastic parts inside the sturdy metal cover that protects that rope you pull to start it. There were no injuries.

The Professionals will be here tomorrow to finish the job, and also to do some work on the big tree in the front yard, which is thankfully healthy but in need of some help.

We won't begin planting for a while, as we have to work on the soil a bit. We aren't planning on renting a tiller.