averygoodun42 | An actual yay day?

I set myself three things to do today: cut tiles for the backsplash, plant my seedlings who have outgrown their little peat pots, and weed the front garden.

Guess what? I did all three! And all before it started raining!

I'm not finished cutting the tiles I set out to cut, because the blade needs to be changed (and the nut is on way too tightly for little ol' me to loosen), but I got a good portion of them cut. Half the bottom field tiles, minus one, and all the bottom half tiles! So this afternoon I will mark the remaining field tiles and have Geoff change the blade when he gets home. I doubt I'll be able to cut the rest tomorrow, as it's a busy day, but maybe Thursday? And be ready to tile on Saturday? That would be SO AWESOME!

And all of this is possible because G, awesome G, lent us the tile saw. SO! MUCH! EASIER! Seriously. If you're going to do tiling (especially with porcelain), rent a tile saw. Worth every single penny.

OH! And I had a very pleasant surprise when weeding: both the ostrich ferns are alive! I have no idea how the one survived without leafing out for a couple of years, but it did! Yay!

And as for planting my seedlings... Yes, it may be a little early to do so, but they were needing two waterings a day, the poor, growing things. It is possible a frost will come along and kill the more sensitive ones (like the basil, dill and cilantro), but, on the plus side, there are more seeds if they do die. And the two parsleys and one of the basils are in a pot I can bring in if there's a frost advisory.

Bad thing is I've almost run out of room in my raised beds. I have space for half a dozen carrots (organic carrots are cheap at Costco; I got carrot seeds cause Babe asked for them specifically) and maybe some spinach. Oh, no no no! Spinach has got to go! I've got kale seeds! Woohoo! That is what's going in the remaining half bed (and in the lettuce bed as it gets harvested)! The zucchini and three bean plants are going in big pots, as is anything else I decide to grow.

However, I think all the rows of sprouting lettuce (mesclun and red leaf) will be totally worth it. There will be enough lettuce to feed the entire cul-de-sac, I suspect!

I had an unpleasant surprise when finishing up the seedling plantings, however. I had an old bag of MiracleGro organic soil, and figured this is the perfect time to use it, right? Wrong. I went to pick it up where the top hole was, and was overwhelmed by the smell of poop. Not dehydrated or composted manure, but actual, omg!yuck-what-did-I-just-step-in poop. I thought maybe some critter had got in the bag and used the top as a litter box. Nope. Took it down to the leaf compost pile (we have skunks; no actual food composting here, unfortunately) and sliced the bag wide open.

Ew! Ewewewewewewewewew!

So I left it there. Maybe tomorrow I'll tip it out of the bag and mix it into the leaf pile a bit, but... ew. I swear it is not cow manure, but straight-out shit. Not something I want to be planting seedlings that might need house sheltering in. Yuck.

I think had more to say, but the power cut out and erased it from the post and my memory, so it obviously wasn't important. But now I need to go put away dishes and start preparing food (isn't that what I've been doing all day?) to eat.

I hope your Tuesday was as excellent as mine and may it move on into Wednesday!

*smooches all*