Phew...

I've been one busy lady here.  Since I work alone on my Courtyard Garden Wall, I don't have anyone to take a picture of me working.  And to take a "selfie" - well, you'd never be able to see more than my face and my BIG hat!  So, a wheelbarrow filled with dirt and a shovel will be it today.  When it's not too cold or too rainy, I have been outside [and that hasn't been much].  But I have gotten some things done.  The "Puppy Pen" I built

in the Garage, is not there any longer.  After 2 weeks of trying to get the Pups to "go" out there...they absolutely REFUSE to.  They stand there and look at me...wondering "why does mommy want us to "go" out here?  We always go in the Puppy Pen outside."   So, I dismantled it and moved 70 blocks and caps to the drive-way...put out my FREE sign and within the hour...they were all gone!  Yippee!!

Then I thought I would use the wheelbarrow to move dirt to the Wall Garden in the front.  That didn't go too well.  My knee [which has had 7 surgeries] hurt almost immediately...and then my back and shoulders got too sore to do anything else.  Just 2 wheelbarrows full of dirt made it there.  I had to quit.  

I ended up having 3 back to back rainy days to try to recover.  While I did, I tried out different shoes to find some that were more sturdy than others...and I ended up with a tie-on pair of sneakers.  I also practiced the motion of digging the dirt up from the fallen wall...turning and throwing it into the wheelbarrow, filling it up...rolling it to the wall and taking the dirt, turning and throwing it into the wall.  It was both the action of digging the dirt from against the wall and turning that created the problems.  I've dislocated both shoulders a few times over the years so shoveling into a firm wall of dirt didn't feel too good.  But I found a way around that.  

So the next time I tackled the dirt, I went on the other side of the wall and used to shovel to loosen the dirt from the wall.  It worked!  Looser dirt, less pressure to shoulders.  I also found a good way to stand that kept my right knee more stable...preventing it from turning too much with every shovelful.  Remembering that I had only been able to do 2 wheelbarrowsful of dirt the last time...I figured I would set a goal of doing 5...then stopping for the day.

When I was finished with the 5th wheelbarrowful of dirt...I felt fine and continued.  I wound up doing 15 that day!  No pictures to show...because it doesn't look like much was done.  But, believe me, having that front section filled with dirt...is BIG to me!!

 Then more rain came...and stayed.  So, I've been busy inside the house.  

More on that and Jury Duty, another day.

I am joining TOHOT today...stop by and see who else is.