I am reclaiming the entire area to the east of my garden this year.
Mr. P. turned over the maintenance of the compost pile to me, and my compulsive nature has kicked in, full force. I think it has to do with the season and the fairly friendly outdoor conditions. Sometimes we get the loveliest weather in February around here.
The following pictures aren't much aesthetically, but I'm putting them on here as a 'before' reference for myself.
The existing compost pile and all it's detritus.
I consulted Mr. P. about it before I got too far in, and he approved my idea. I think I'm going to make this into a small 'pond'. There won't be a liner and the water will come from letting the faucet run just a little bit all summer. Around here things can get pretty dry and the birds and animals don't have a lot of sources for water. I might put some gravel in the bottom. We'll see. It won't be much, but it also won't be a weed pile either as I intend to plant things all around it.
I'm not just 100% sure why I'm taking on this extra work. But I will venture one small guess.
Months ago, Jordan Peterson was doing a podcast about what was going to be in his next book and he read the chapter headings. One being something along the lines of "Make one room in your house as beautiful as possible" As soon as I heard him say that, I was struck by the wisdom of it. He is a psychologist after all, he knows what effect our environment can have on us. And since I have exhausted my ideas [and my budget] for Ten Forward, I have turned my eye to this area near my garden.
Now I may not be able to make it 'as beautiful as possible' but I can certainly make it more pleasant. I'll settle for that. Though it will require a lot of hard physical labor and I am no longer anything even remotely in the vicinity of 'spring chicken', I am breaking the project into one hour chunks of time and so far it's working. Things are getting done.
Entropy is a harsh law of Nature.
But I have a secret weapon in my tool kit.
(Lack of good judgement?)
Nope.
Stubbornness.
