A Mystery

Hullo!! I have a mystery on my hands... Somebody is stockpiling pallets in our backyard! Now, I know they are free, but not sure why anybody would want these things!

I suppose you could smack the boards off and make kindling out of them...

Hey!! Is that a little bear?? It is a little bear!

Ooohhh... he's a handsome little bear! Must be Ben... or I suppose it could be Jerry too (just to be fair).

Ah!! It's me!!! There's a mirror behind these pallets... sometimes humans are very strange. Why would anyone store a mirror back here?

*** crunch... crunch *** What the heck?? What is underneath the grass here??

It's a bunch of glass! See, that's why people should not put glass or mirrors in their backyard - because they fall down and break and make a big mess that is dangerous to little bears and little animals and little humans. I'll have to get my work crew to clean that up...

They' been busy digging a hole in the ground over here... apparently it has something to do with pallets. Anybody have a clue?? Kitty doesn't seem to care...

I have to say, I don't think this would be a good place for a garden... it is super rocky in this spot!

Look at all the rocks and dirt that got dug out! It's all going to be dumped over...

Here... My, that is quite the scary pile of stuff... rocks and dirt and branches and Morning Glory and blackberries... and old railway ties. Ugh... Oh and some grass clippings... This would not be a great place for a compost pile though!

Hmm... the pallets have moved around a bit...

Maybe this is meant to be a jail for bad little bears??? A penalty box... let me out!

Nope... apparently this pallet thing is going to be good for the garden!! (We had to cover the baby plants with some wire fencing to protect it from gone-wild rabbits).

OK, I will supervise this mystery pallet construction from my lawn chair! 

I'm not quite sure how to supervise something that I have no idea what it is going to be but... I will do my best!

Hmmm... an interloper again! She disappeared pretty quick once the work really got going... there was some sawing and banging and mutters of frustration but in the end...

Voila!! A pallet box!! Can you guess yet what it is for??
I figured it out!! It's a compost bin!

It was super cheap to make... only cost $3.99 (for the bailing wire)... pallets were free and the wood post was behind the shed...

These are the latches on the front pallet, one on either side...

It looks pretty solid and sturdy...

And there are even some little blocks inside to prevent the front gate from falling inwards...

What do you think? I think I did a pretty good job supervising... It might need some chicken wire around the outside. And a second one might get built next door once this one fills up...

And finally... a reward for a tired little supervisor bear!! Honey!!

Sticks and Stones (and Seaweed)

I got out for a hike today!!! Yay!!! I was being to wonder if this was becoming a Gardening Blog instead of a Real Adventuring Blog. I know gardening can be a serious adventure but... seriously... it needs to be interspersed with other things.

I went for a hike down by the ocean and saw some weird little succulent plants. There are strange plants by the ocean sometimes.

Isn't that a fab view!!?

Those little shacks on that tiny island are old fisherman's shacks that people have converted into summer cottages. Maybe I need a summer cottage!

I saw a bald eagle too... Actually I heard it making it's squeaky-gate-in-need-of-oiling cry before I saw him.

Sometimes a little bear needs to take a break from garden supervision... and just chill and hang out for a bit.

But not too long... because little bears get bored quickly too! What? We have a project!!?? Oh yay!! We are collecting driftwood sticks to write on and use as plant markers...

I can do this... I do pick-up-sticks beary well...

Oh, and now we are picking up funky looking rocks for the same purpose... Hmmm... these are all a bit too big for a little bear! I'll look around a bit more.

Oh yeah... forgot about these... a washed-up jelly fish! Stay away from that.

Isn't it beautiful here!!? Hmmm... what was I looking for again?

Oh yeah, rocks! These ones are a perfect size for a little bear but Mama says they are a bit too small for writing plant names...

That's OK though because we got lots of sticks and underneath that is a fair pile of stones. There is one thing left to collect though...

Seaweed!! We've heard that seaweed makes a great mulch addition to the garden and so this is an experiment...

I sacrificed my ziploc bag (keeps me from getting wet in the backpack)... and collected some seaweed. We'll see how this works...

Did you notice the backpack was fully of sticks and stones and seaweed!? That means I had to walk the whole way back!! Which also means I got to see a lot more and stop the walk a lot more for photo ops... This is a driftwood shelter of some sort. I wanted to go in but some other people were hanging out in there...

It's low tide now and way over by those trees is our truck! Rather than walking all the way around it (long way for a tired bear), I suggested that we cut directly across!

We saw some cool birds with red beaks...

It seemed like a long way once we were out there, with lots of clam shells, barnacles and baby crabs everywhere.

Uh-oh... Hmmm... didn't see that one coming! Now what???

Time for a boat!!

Vroommm!!!

Actually not a boat... and the water was too shallow for vrooming... I had to be ignominiously carried under
Mama's arm while she waded through the water. I Keep saying I could ride on her shoulder but she thinks I'm not a great balancing act. Hmmph... some people!

Garden Progress

Hullo!! Yes, another gardening post... I have no idea when I'm going to go on a real adventure again... sigh. Little bears have to be patient sometimes!

There has been quite a bit of activity lately... this is a pile of pruning!!

You see, there was this shrub that was growing under the pear tree, next to a big rhododendron and it was super tall and gangly with hardly any leaves... So the big old stalks got hacked off, and if the young ones survive... then they do! If they don't... well, then they don't.

Mama says we're not even quite sure what this thing is... it might have little white flowers and at first she was leaning towards Mock Orange, but now she's leaning towards Honeysuckle... Any ideas?

Of course, the rhododendron had to get pruned a bit as well to open it up... 

Oh, and remember the frighftul side beds from early on??

 Well, the near one is still quite frightful...

But the far one is getting a make-over! I shoveled out all the dirt into the wheelbarrow in installments and weeded it and put it .... what?? My nose is getting longer??? No it's not! Is it really? Hmmm... OK, I did it with the help of Puss! Still longer?
Hmmm... OK, Mama did all the hard work! Whew... nose is back to normal length!

And the area between the two raised beds got cleared of all the cedar mulch that was on it...

Which is stockpiled here... Honestly, some kitty cats!! She is crashing all my pictures!

Oh yes, and we have this weird plant too... sort of a succulent... no idea... it looks long and gangly though...

And then... again, Kitty??? Sigh...

Oh brother... here she is again! Anyhow, these were old pieces of wood that were hidden behind the shed, so we are going to build a third raised bed in between the other two!

That's a beary good use of... pieces... of wood... hmmm...

Sigh... tickles from the kitty!

Anyhow... I better get my shovel out because this is going to be hard work and...
What??? She crashed my picture again!?? Take 2!!

Oh goodness... I can't even remember what I was talking about...

Oh yes, gardening and building a raised flower....
There she is again...

 I might as well just give up and cuddle with the kitty!! She is obviously in a cuddling mood!