Working

Fall has finally reached Arizona.

That is, I hope so.

Today was cool and lovely but every time my hopes got high I had to remind myself that it still might be a false start. Tomorrow could be hot again. One never really can trust the cool until at least November.

Last night the Mr and I talked about starting a project in the yard.  I told him I thought it would feel really good to make a plan for a project that could be started and finished all in one weekend and then see it through.  He agreed with me and we discussed building a fire pit in the back yard. It would be nice, we agreed to put in a patio around it but the digging leveling tamping and etc would be too much for the quick start and finish project we were after.

This morning after my run when it was so beautiful out and I was already a sweaty mess I decided I'd just clear the rock out of the way to give us a good start on that fire pit.  Two hours later I had the bulk of the rock scooped off whole imagined patio area.  So much for planning ahead and taking a weekend's worth at a time.

Duke was napping but the other three manned shovels by my side.  Zizza went through various tools scraping for a minute with  hoe, rake, or shovel and then moving on.  I assigned Moo a little hand spade so as to avoid being whacked in the head by the over long handle of any other tool she may have wielded.  Enzo took up shovel duty and matched me bite for bite out of the rocky expanse.  "This is fun," he said, sounding just like his father "working in the yard with my family "

"I'd be working too if there were another shovel to use." Ziz informed me every time she happened over.  For awhile she and moo were scooping rock onto Enzo's shovel with their spades but by this time they'd tired of it and moved on to other amusements.  This increased Enzo's productivity a good deal.

Before I hung up my tools for the morning and went in to fix lunch I traded my shovel for a rake to round up that stubborn bottom layer where the crushed granite has partially embedded in the dirt below.  Ziz came over and started her statement.  "I'd be helping too if there were a shov..." She noticed I wasn't holding a shovel. "If there were another shovel like that one I could use," she recovered and pointed to the shovel Enzo was now using. That's right girlfriend, you just sit and relax until it's your turn with the best shovel.