EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY

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The beast barrier project is finally done.

It was a solution to the mud pit the dogs had made and their constant mud tracks onto my back porch.

Grass had no chance here as it is a pathway continually used by three dogs.

This weekend I was able to make considerable progress on the project.

The stakes to secure the 4x4 's were concreted into the ground and the 4x4's lag screwed into the stakes with 5 inch lag screws. I know it sounds like overkill but past experience with hurricanes has taught me to respect their ability to pick up and toss things around.

These 4x4's will not move now, even with me standing on them. I feel confident they will not become shrapnel during a hurricane.

Next was covering the dirt with fabric . I found some of that weed barrier fabric which is woven and lets water through . This should keep the dirt and weeds from coming up from under the rock fill.

As I was working Sunday on the project I was entertained by a free air show.

I live a couple of miles between the North Perry Airport and the Sun Stadium where they played the Super bowl.

Prior to the game and when a no fly rule went into effect the skies were filled with an aerial circus of banner planes, blimps and helicopters. Really wild!

Anyway, 28 bags of marble rock chips later the beast barrier was done.

later that evening when my son came over to watch the Superbowl with me he brought the beast Milo.
Milo is my son's 100 plus pound German Shepherd who made the original

mud hole and the main mud tracker. As is Milo's habit he ran out the backdoor full speed in hopes of surprising a trespassing cat in the back yard.

At full trot he finally looked up and saw the new rock barrier. He was so shocked he tried to stop himself, locking his front paws and almost flipping himself off of the porch.

He then delicately tiptoed across the rocks as if he was crossing a layer of ice over a pond. But only after turning and giving me a nasty look while I was laughing at him.

After seeing that look I knew that this project was a huge success and that the old saying," every dog has his day" is true.

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DEALING WITH THE BEAST

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The beast has a name . It is Milo and he is my grand dog. He belongs to my son but stays here at the sandpit a lot of the time playing with my other dogs.

Milo is a very good dog but is huge weighing over 100 pounds. Him romping around the backyard has dug up large sections of grass leaving barren dirt holes.

The dogs like to play around at the end of my back porch and have made a dirt pit. I have replanted grass there twice that I pulled up from edging by my fence but the grass is no match for the Beast and his big feet.


Milo has a water bowl on my porch and for some reason known only to him insists on putting his right paw in the water as he drinks. Maybe he is checkin' the depth. Who can say?

Anyway between his wet foot and the dirt pit he makes mud. Of course he tracks the mud across my porch and into my house leaving Milo prints everywhere.

I have been cogitatin' on some solution and finally reached a conclusion. That being that I need to make some type of barrier between the dirt and my porch and I best be doing it soon before the rainy season starts up.

I got some inspiration from reading one of my gardening blog friends post.

http://africanaussie.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-never-promised-you-rose-garden.html

She replaced an area with rock and removed the grass . It looks good and creates a barrier.

With an idea in my head I decided that I am fittin' to take care of this problem. For my northern friends when a southern boy says they are fittin to take care of something best stand by because something is about to happen.

This project is going to take some capital expenditures so I had to steel my resolve and get up off my wallet.

Not that I am cheap but I do tend to have a frugal nature. In fact I have been known to squeeze a quarter so hard that the eagle screamed as they say in the south.

Anyway I broke down and started puttin' up supplies for the project. I hope to work on it this week if time permits.

Getting off the subject I did notice that the Passion Vine is coming back out. You can see where the freeze from the first half of January partially killed some of the leaves. I read in the local paper that if there was still some green in the leaves it is best just to leave them on the plant so I did.

So I am making progress with my list of things that I really ought to do one day. This week it is the beast project that has my attention.
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