Switching up the tools and the footwear!

In the spring we ordered 30 young bare root trees and shrubs.  We potted them up with a lovely custom mix of soil, manure and perlite.  With them all in one spot they got regular watering and some necessary tlc. We lost one (?)  and planted 40!  The Rooster is worried about his mathematical abilities but I slipped a few nursery additions into the plan.  lol 

We have groupings all over the farm as we try to foil the wind from whipping off shingles and depositing snow banks in inappropriate spots.  He swatted mosquitoes as he dug in the last tree and then proceeded to put his shovel down.  uhm?   Of course he'd be delighted to scoop up one wee struggling shrub from last year and move it.  Now he could put the shovel down???  of course but...  That tree in the mosquito haze definitely has to be moved over two feet!  :{  I explained it to him as he removed his work boots.  After all, he was the one who pointed out how close it was to its neighbour!   eek!

So tonight we, well, he, will schlep the poor thing over a bit to the left and then we'll cut all the grass, trim a few unruly spots and admire the yard before the next heatwave hits on Tuesday. 

The pots have worked out great because it gave us time to decide the best places to put them as we worked on cleaning up the yard.  We'll do it again next spring although the man on the shovel thinks we should try for a smaller number.  lol

I will be glad to change my rubber boots for running shoes as we put down the shovels and pick up the hammer so we can tackle the BIG project, the ol' barn.  Oh dear, there I go with the royal 'we' again!   I'm the gofer, hence the running shoes!  ;^)     The Rooster is back at his day job so this will all go a bit slower.

No, it doesn't look like much but the old fences are down and the ground has been cut and awaits further leveling.  The roofer comes this week to tackle the patching.  The replacement boards are all stacked in the barn.  The new front door design has been agreed upon and the windows will be replaced after the painting,  The barn paint will not be bright red but a rusty red.  The pails have been ordered but we'll likely wait for the temperature to moderate a bit.  The repairs will keep us busy at any rate.  

The temperatures for the coming week are all sunny and HOT!  It'll be good to hang out in the barn!  The other good news is that my rubber boots have a serious crack in one sole so I'm looking forward to a new pair of pretty flowered  replacements.   I wonder if I'll get new running shoes after the painting is all done.  I suspect that once this project is done I'll be looking for fuzzy slippers!  :)