What a day

I was up late last night...

The first canned tomatoes of the year.

And more mess was made of the yard:

The view from the front porch.

Oh, the poor side yard where the dump trucks have been driving.

This is where I have been waiting for them to get this done because I want to put in a patio area where we can set up the fire pit. I'm glad I didn't try to plant my little shrubs out there! They would have been smooshed. As it is, I think they accidentally ran over K10's apple seedling from last year. We had planted it near another old stump thinking it would be safe but evidently not. He will have to start another one. Now, the ground there is so thoroughly compacted it's going to be a lot of work to make it fit to plant anything.

The partially finished sand filtration system.

They dug a hole 12 feet wide, 8 feet deep and 60 feet long. Yeesh.

The view from the orchard.

That backhoe is mighty close to my little apple tree!!

But, I am now on vacation for the next 10 days! Whew, I can hardly wait. It has been an emotionally draining week with lots of family stress and distress.

I had a chance to see my uncle one last time this morning before they transferred him to the hospice program closer to their home. Hopefully Dad will be able to get down to see my uncle tomorrow. I'm worried about how he will handle this. It will be tough for him.

I hope they can finish the septic tomorrow so we can start putting the yard back together. Of course, I figure this is an excellent opportunity to plant something other than grass since the grass is all gone!!! I just need to figure out what we are allowed to plant over the sand filter. Nothing with too aggressive of roots that may clog the dispersal pipes. Hmmm... maybe I'll move the iris again, or maybe invest in day lilies. Don't know. But we're only gone on vacation for 4 days so that leaves me 6 days at home to get things done. Woo Hoo!!