I'm So Easy. To Please, That Is!!

I mowed my lawn! I know, that's not exactly exciting to most people, and I'm sure that I will eventually return to your side, the dark side, of yard work one day.

If you think back a few weeks I planted grass. First a "test patch" to see if my idea about building my own top soil would work, and then more recently I seeded the remainder of the yard. Then a couple weeks ago I bought a lawn mower as the original area was getting very long. Since then it has rained every few days, so the grass hasn't been dry when I had time to mow.

Well, yesterday was that great window of opportunity when the grass was dry enough and I had time to do it. I got the mower ready and took it out back before the rain came, and .... TA DAHHHH .... mowed my lawn!! The oldest section looks really good. There are a few spots that haven't filled in, but they are small, mostly less than my hand print. I think they will fill in on their own, and if not, I have more seed that will go down before a snow in the fall/winter. The most recently planted, that section that I was so worried about during the flooding rains, looks good, too. There is not a full coverage there as yet, but the little tender blades of grass keep popping up as time goes on. Even the areas that I reseeded are coming up now.

I am so relieved. And I'm delighted that when the dogs go out, even after a rain, they are coming in with less mud or dirt on their feet. My sweeping and mopping of the tiles in the laundry room has greatly decreased, and the carpet is looking less brown at the end of a day.

Another good thing, speaking of carpet. There have been just two puppy piddle/poo accidents in more than 2 weeks!! Jazmyn seems to be completely trained, and The Boys continue to respond to the Pavlovian techniques very well. I'm encouraged enough that I actually began the serious cleaning to remove all stains and odors in readiness to having the carpet deep cleaned. I know there will probably be uh-ohs in the future, but the biggest hurdle has been cleared. [big relieved sigh] The babies will continue to sleep in crates until I can trust them 99.9% of the time.

I have to confess that last night I fell asleep without putting them in crates. I usually let them have some time with me on the bed just before I put them in their crates for the night. An hour or so of TV or reading with them napping is a good time for us all. I woke at 2:00 with everyone but Ali on the bed, and I was so sleepy that I couldn't do anything but close the book, turn off the light and go back to sleep. This morning I checked the whole room and found nothing!!! Whew. But they'll still be crated for a few more months. I'm encouraged, but I haven't lost my mind!

Speaking of Ali, he has decided to join us in the living area of the house over the last couple days rather than staying in the bedroom all day long. I don't know why the change. Perhaps my being gone three days had something to do with it. Perhaps he has resigned himself to having the little pests around and believes they are here to stay. Perhaps the presence of Jazi has changed the dynamics. I donno, but I'm really happy to have him present with us again.

OK, I need to get out and do some yard work before it rains again. Not supposed to rain till this evening, but who knows about that? And it is cooler now (10:15) than it will be at 1:00. So ....

Later, y'all!!