Sodding the back yard

This is the before photo. Before we did the sod, we had to prepare. While I was digging a French drain for the runoff from the downspout (behind the corner of the solarium at left), Freda was raking up rocks from the yard. Those large rocks laid in a line there were ones that I dug up in the process of creating the French Drain. BTW, the French Drain has nothing to do with the French, it is named after a man named French who invented it.

After I was finished with the French Drain, I helped Freda rake up the rocks from the back yard. We had a lot of rocks in the topsoil because it was unscreened - unscreened topsoil is the gift that keeps on giving (wry smile). We decided to get sod instead of grass seed since the soil itself isn't very good. After we raked up five full wheelbarrow loads of rocks, we spread out sphagnum moss (peat moss) and then spread bone meal (natural fertilizer) on top of that.


This photo was taken on Sunday. We had a number of friends help us with laying the sod. The sod was supposed to be delivered around 1pm. I called around 1pm and the office said it would be a bit later - say 3pm. I called at 2:55pm and was told that they hadn't cut sod the previous day or night because it was so warm, so the sod would be another 2-3 hrs later. It eventually arrived at 7pm. Because of the delays, we had to keep calling our friends who were going to help us lay the sod to let them know about the delay.

You may notice that we only got about the first 20 feet of the yard sodded. This is because (a) sod is quite expensive and (b) we knew we wouldn't be able to prepare more of the yard even if we could have afforded more sod!

Of course, we have been watering the sod regularly to keep it green & protect our investment in it.

pictures

Watching the trappers set up to catch the otters.
Update May 30th: The otters escaped. The traps are now gone.


The City of Ottawa came by and placed a couple of stakes (see orange lines on left side of photo by road).
Update May 30th: The street sign & stop sign are now installed.


Here's Tawny sitting by the stake for the stop sign.


Apr 23rd - it was very windy. Shingles blown off houses all over Ottawa. We were lucky - didn't happen to us.
Update May 30th: It turns out that we may have lost a shingle on the garage roof.

Pano Apr 7/07

Saturday April 7th, 2007
There was a bitter cold window today. That didn't stop Tawny from swimming.

Tawny actually gave us quite a shock today. Well, she got a shock too, to be honest. Tawny was walking on the ice on the lake and suddenly the collapsed under her, and she got thoroughly and totally dunked! Our worry about this, of course, would be if she ended up under the ice and could not see how to get out from under the ice. That didn't happen today, thankfully. Although Tawny shook quite a number of times after she got out of the water (which did did right smartly after the dunking!), her coat was covered in little icicles by the time we got home.

Tawny antics & occupations

Saturday April 7th
Occupation: Lumberjack

Friday April 6th
Occupation: Icebreaker (not the conversational type, though)
Tuesday April 3rd
Occupation: Goose spotter

Tired after all that playing

Tawny really wore herself out after a lot of playing on Saturday morning. Afterwards, she lay on the deck for a long time, soaking up the sun's warm rays...

The phrase "it's a dog's life" certainly should now mean a life of relaxation and fun, with no worries. The phrase apparently dates from the 16th century, when it would have meant “a life of misery, or of miserable subserviency” (according to World Wide Words).

Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm (very rare!)

This is a photo of the elusive Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm. Due to its colouration, it is rarely seen except in winter and is generally seen only on milder winter days. This soft-bodied invertebrate is a much larger distant genetic relative of the Ice Worm (click here for Ice Worm info), but has adapted to tolerate milder winter temperatures and can survive year round in Eastern Canada by hibernating in the warmer months.

The Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm is very slow-moving, and due to its low metabolic rate, one good feeding a year is usually sufficient. After a large feeding the creature generally goes into hibernation in small burrows underground. Although the Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm can tolerate milder temperatures, extremely hot summers can severely decimate the dormant population so global warming poses a severe threat to this rare species.

The Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm is a very shy creature and easily alarmed. Although it is most active in narrow temperature range of -5C to +3C, when frightened it freezes in position. To observe the movement, one must make an observation, leave and then return some time later. You will find the Eastern White Jumbo Snow Worm has moved. The worm is never seen in bright sunlight conditions, as they die quickly when exposed to direct sunlight with its strong UV content, and are more vulnerable to predators such as birds.

panos

Snow aftermath

house on Jan 25

Jan 25

sending pictures