So Much Better than Going to the Gym

Hard physical labor, I'm LOVING it!

Lost 3 pounds this summer working my butt off up here at the cabin.

I'm pretty sure I sweated it off  LOL

We had rain again this past week.

YES!!!

This time it was a steady gentle rain that really soaked into the ground.

But because we are still in a drought, the pine needles are dry and dropping like crazy.

So I started cleaning it up first in the pail but it got to be overwhelming so I switched to the wheelbarrow.

I filled up and spread 11 loads of needles.

My right side was super sore when I went in that night.

Ibuprofen please!

These are vinca shoots that I dug up and re-planted along the side of the house.

They are related to the periwinkles we have down at the bottom of the mountain.

They are great for keeping down the weeds and holding the hillside in place when they fill in.

And they hold up thru the freezing winter months.

But they are thirsty.

So I took some of the pine needles and lined both sides of the hill where we've been doing a lot if planting this summer to help keep in the moisture.

While I was at it we have an area that flooded really bad during the first rain this summer, so I've taken it upon myself to build a dam with logs that I drag home from my walks with the dog.

I dug a little deeper as I was getting under the pine needles for this section and picked up the richest mulched soil imaginable.

I dumped all this over my logs and I'm hoping it will hold the water back in the next heavy rain.

Below you can see where the water will flood too if I haven't done a good job,

my little barn/studio we built this summer.

Hopefully we'll have lots more rain so I can test it out.