A good weekend for growing grass

It was a dreary and overcast day when I woke up yesterday with temps in the 40’s, so I waited a while for things to warm up a bit before heading over to the Visitors Center and offices to take care of my watering chores.

This building has been closed for about a year, totally gutted, and retrofitted for energy efficiency.  This is most of the sod that was laid on Friday.  There’s a lot more sod arriving tomorrow.  My job this week is to soak the sod daily so it gets off to a good start.

If you look closely, you may be able to see one of the two sprinklers that I have.  I’ve been cautioned several times to not allow any of the water to get on the rocks on the side of the building.  The well water around here is very high in iron, and would make all of the rock fascia turn a rusty color.  So, I have to be very careful in the placement of the sprinklers, and move them often.  I didn’t even get too wet trying to dash up and move them as they made their circular spray.

I think you can notice how dismal the sky was.  After a few hours, those skies opened up with rain.  I had brought Emma with me for company, and she doesn’t like rain.  So I gathered her back up and sat in the car with her to see if it was just a passing shower.  Eventually, I headed back to the rig to check the radar. 

It turned out that the rain never stopped until almost 10:00 at night.  As near as I can figure, we had about 2”.   Good for the grass, but pretty boring for me and Emma. 

Eventually the skies cleared this afternoon, but fall temperatures have prevailed.  I was pretty much a lazy bum today, and spent the day in sweats and a tee shirt with the heat on for the morning.

I did put on shoes and socks of course, because I seldom do anything without them.  Emma spent the afternoon stalking another ground squirrel.  As usual, she was entertained, but unsuccessful.  Can you notice the purple finch that is even closer to her than the squirrel?

The birds have come to ignore her, and she ignores them.  This is one reason I think she is part terrier rather than a lab.  If it isn’t a hawk or turkey vulture up in the sky, she doesn’t give two craps about birds.  This is the only dog I’ve ever had that regularly watches the sky. 

I’ll be attending the staff meeting tomorrow to see what they want me to do this week.  I’m guessing I’ll be on grass duty until I leave in 11 days.  It’s easier on my shoulder than painting posts, so I’m happy with that.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy