The Day Wyatt Became a Garden Helper

This morning started pretty much the same way most mornings start around here.

I woke up around 9:00 AM.

That sounds late to some people, but honestly I've come to realize something about myself lately.

I can wake up at 7:30 in the morning and still not have any desire to get out of bed until after 10:00.

Today was no different.

Part of it was that I was waiting to hear whether my partner needed me downstate. Since I wasn't sure what the day was going to bring, I didn't want to get involved in any projects until I heard from her.

So I did what I've become pretty good at.

I laid in bed and watched the hummingbirds.

At this point, seeing them every morning has become part of my routine. It's hard to rush out of bed when you've got front row seats to tiny aerial acrobats fighting over breakfast.

Eventually I made my way outside.

The first thing I checked was the well.
For the second day in a row, the water was still clear.

That was a relief.

There are still occasional particles showing up, but I suspect that's always going to be part of life with a well. Eventually there will be a filtration system installed, but for now I'm happy to finally see consistent improvement.

Next stop was the temporary garden.

Everything is looking great.

Even better, some of the seeds appear to be sprouting.

It's still early, but seeing those first signs of growth makes all the preparation feel worthwhile.

By the time I finished checking everything it was around 11:30, which meant it was time for lunch.

I fired up the grill and made a burger and finished off the leftover tri-color pasta from last night's dinner.

Back inside, I checked on my little propagation experiments.

The asparagus I rescued from the garden is still green and healthy, but so far no roots.

The onion, however, seems much more enthusiastic about life.
It's already starting to put out roots.

We'll see which one wins.

After lunch I started thinking about the lawn mower.

The repair guy is supposed to be here later this week, and I wanted to make sure I had everything he might need.

I drove over to the workshop and took a picture of the parts list under the mower seat.

That led me down a rabbit hole.

The belt numbers listed on the mower didn't seem to match what I was finding online.

Rather than risk having the wrong parts when the repair guy arrives, I decided I'd just buy the other belts and return whichever ones aren't correct.

Before heading to town, I decided to make myself useful.

The pile of logs by the frog pond had been sitting there long enough.

I loaded them into the truck and brought them back to the firewood piles near the camper.

One less thing on the list.

Then something happened that completely changed my plans.

I was sitting on the front step when I heard several loud thuds.

Immediately I grabbed Wyatt's harness because I wasn't sure what was heading our way.

A few seconds later a tiny fawn came leaping over the stone wall and into the field directly in front of camp.

Right behind it was its mother.

They crossed the field and disappeared just as quickly as they appeared.

Moments like that never get old.

At that point I was supposed to be heading into town.

Instead, I found another way to procrastinate.

I decided it was finally time to test the new leaf blower.

The deck has accumulated close to ten years of leaves in some areas.

I've wanted to clean it off for quite a while.

The blower worked great.

By the time I finished, the deck looked completely different.

It's one of those jobs that doesn't sound exciting, but seeing the result afterward is incredibly satisfying.

Memory Lane itself still needs to be blown off, but at least I finally got the deck done.

Eventually I ran out of excuses and headed into town.

I stopped at Agway and picked up the mower belts.

Then I stopped at Walmart for oil and a few additional supplies.

When I got back, some of the Amazon deliveries had arrived.

Unfortunately the plumbing parts did not.

Those won't be here until tomorrow (hopefully).

That means another day of not crawling under the bunkhouse.

I can't honestly say I'm disappointed.

The next stop was the main house.

I replaced the burned out light bulbs in the basement.

What a difference.

It's amazing how much easier it is to evaluate a project when you can actually see it.

The original plan was to use a barrel and sump pump setup to remove water collected from the dehumidifiers.

I figured I could collect the water in a barrel and then pump it outside.

I planned on bringing one of the blue water barrels over from the garden.

But I've learned something over the years.

Never waste a trip.

If I'm carrying something from one place to another, I always try to accomplish two or three things before heading back.

Since I was already at the garden picking up the barrel, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to roll out the weed barrier that had arrived yesterday.

The barrier went down much easier than I expected.

The breeze wasn't nearly as troublesome as I thought it might be, and a few strategically placed rocks kept everything in place.

I covered the stone retaining wall that runs through the middle of the garden as well. While I could certainly keep weed whacking that area, my hope is that the weed barrier will eventually eliminate most of that maintenance altogether.

That's when Wyatt decided he wanted to help.

I gave him the command to COME and then DOWN on sections of the fabric while I went to collect rocks.

To my surprise, he took his job very seriously.

He stayed exactly where I put him.

Several times he held position for two or three minutes (maybe more) while I walked away to gather rocks.

Today Wyatt officially became a garden helper.

Once the weed barrier was secured, I loaded the blue barrel into the truck and continued back to the basement.

As soon as I carried it through the basement door, I noticed something I hadn't in the darkness.

A PVC cleanout.

And right below it, a floor drain.

I took a closer look.

The floor drain appeared clear and functional.

Suddenly the entire project became much simpler.

If the dehumidifiers can drain directly into the floor drain, I can eliminate the barrel and sump pump altogether.

Sometimes the easiest solution is the one sitting right in front of you.

As the day wound down, I headed back to camp.

A fire seemed appropriate.

While the fire heated up, Wyatt and I took our 7pm walk.

Dinner was grilled chicken thighs.
Two of them were left unseasoned specifically for Wyatt.

He supervised the entire cooking process to ensure quality control standards were met.

After dinner we headed inside.

Wyatt received his favorite reward, a piece of hot dog stuffed into one of his bones.

When he finished, he quietly put himself to bed.

Not a bad ending to a productive day.

The well is finally improving.

The garden is growing.

The mower parts are ready.

The basement project got simpler.

The plumbing parts arrive tomorrow.

And for the first time, I can officially say I have a dog that helps in the garden.

~ Making Memories.