Rain temporarily halts yard work at the Hardy Smith House

The yard work continues to prepare soil for seeding of beautiful grass. We got rain earlier today. John continued sifting the yard by hand at 9am today. Luckily, the rain did not hamper his efforts to continue working. More rain is forecast this afternoon so John will continue to work until the rain starts again. My wildflower green shoots are poking through the ground in the flowerbeds in greater abundance but no flowers have started to bloom yet. John's goal is to have the yard look like a golf course.  The yard will rival the finest in Dublin.

Those mounds of soil that you see were hand sifted. From the dish to almost the first window in front of the house took John almost 7 hrs to do yesterday. Keep in mind he had to tackle the weeds around all the Red Tips that you cannot really see from the picture. That took some time too. I suggested a more efficient, faster way which would yield the same results but John prefers to do things the hard way which takes LONGER to do. So I just let him do his thing.

My dog, Lady, checking out the scenery from the front porch. She loves to trot around the yard with her tail up with a happy go lucky personality. She loves to lay on the front porch with the ceiling fans going while I am sitting in the rocking chair reading and relaxing. Lady is about 13 years old now. A couple of nights ago, when we went out to dinner, Lady decided to go exploring again. We came home and Lady was nowhere in the house. I think she went to Stubbs Park. When I called her she came troting through the parking lot behind the house in the direction from the park. I couple of weeks ago, she decided to go exploring in downtown Dublin again. Luckily, she was ok and she jumped into the car. She was thirsty and glad to be home. She knows where her home is.

A couple of days ago while John was working in the yard, he saw a Red Tailed Hawk sitting high in one of our trees in the back yard with a dead squirrel under one of his talons. A gang of Mockingbirds were dive bombing the hawk in an attempt to get it to eat his meal somewhere else. The hawk would not move. Those little birds are aggressive and will do anything to defend their nests. I videotaped the hawk getting dive-bombed by a gang of punk Mockingbirds which are on John's Facebook page and may post on U-Tube shortly.

Oh, and by the way, the bats are baack!!  There were only about 5 of them and they were dealt with promptly. We did not want a new colony of bats in the attic and hopefully that will be the end of them.  That is all to report for today. The rain is about to come and time to go grab a bite to eat.  Keep checking my blog for updates as the yard work continues.

Working in the Yard at the Hardy Smith House

Spring has sprung, the sun is shining, the air is warm and the yard work has begun at the Hardy Smith House.  The high reached the mid 70s and low humidity. Perfect weather for working in the yard. New pink and white azaleas were planted last friday in our newly created flower beds in front of the house.  I planted some beautiful wildflower seeds also. They are beginning to poke through the ground. By summer, we will have a beautiful wildflower garden. The area in between the front and back of the house where the bird baths and bird feeders are located will have pebbles instead of grass.


John cut down the dead water oak tree and another small tree in the back yard yesterday afternoon. I videotaped him using a chainsaw and with the final cut the tree came crashing down into the parking lot instead of onto the house.  The wood is chopped up and ready to sell or for future burning in the fireplaces at the house.  We will have to get a chimney sweep to come out to inspect the fireplaces and to do the necessary upgrades so that we can safely  burn wood in them.   

John began to til the yard as the sun was going down last night. He resumed in earnest around 11am today. He finished at 9:45pm. We had a couple of visitors to check on our progress today. My arms are sore, actually my entire body is sore.  I got a little sunburn from playing tennis yesterday in Macon. I have never seen an instructor effectively feed balls continuously from one basket in the center of two courts at the same time for nearly two straight hours. I was impressed. He commented to those hitting as he was feeding balls. He was like a human ball machine.  Today, I used the blower and rake to get rid of leaves and sawdust. I did laundry as well. So our day was very full.

The removal of all dirt, with the exception of a few river rocks in the basement, in the back part of the house, was completed a couple of days ago. That was a three month long project. The river rocks that remain will have to be pulled out with a chain attached to the truck. 

The next stage of the yard project will be separating all the dead weeds from the sandy soil, then applying the soil from the basement on top, BY HAND, by using a rake. That will take about a day or two to do.  After that, the bat dung fertilizer will be applied, then the grass seed. I suggested using a grass seed spreader to insure even distribution but John prefers doing it the old fashioned way. I have no idea what type of grass will be planted in the yard. 
We are working feverishly to get the grass planted before the summer sets in. 

I cannot believe I have the energy to type in my blog today. I am so wiped out. Enjoy the pictures of the work done on the yard so far. Keep visiting my blog for updates.

Confederate Heritage and History Month Proclamation- Dublin

Another beautiful, warm and sunny day in Dublin.  The temperature got into the mid 80s.  Check out this Honey Bee Hive John found on the way to Stubbs Park today while he was walking Max. Pretty close to the ground and not a good place to make honey. Adults and children could get stung or worse if they bother the hive as they are walking by on the sidewalk. It is near the apartments behind the house. The hive will most likely have to be relocated by Bee experts. I have never seen a bee hive so close to the ground. None of them bothered us. We just took our pictures and moved on. John did a short video to capture the buzzing noise of the busy bees at work. Glad they were not Africanized Honey Bees or we could have been in serious trouble. That species is known to be very aggressive.  Their venom is not toxic, however they attack in swarms, which can be deadly to human beings. The fact that the swarm can follow an intruder up to a quarter of a mile is pretty scary. Word to the wise: NEVER BOTHER A BEE HIVE!

John continued to work in the 'basement' to remove old dirt to be used in the yard. He is making great progress. Another couple of weeks and the work should be completed. 

He has found bottles, marbles, coal and other interesting items in this area of the house. Very dirty, muddy work. Can you see why I would not get down in there with him? He can play Dr Jones all he wants while I observe from above.

I went to the local home improvement store and
bought a palm tree for the master bedrooom. I had to transplant it into a bigger pot so it can
grow. It is a nice, inviting addition to the nautical decor of the room. Soon, I will be out in the yard planting flowers, shrubs and trees. I look forward to getting out into the yard and making it beautiful. 

Today, at 4pm, a proud John Hall, Rusty Henderson, and Mary Spivey met with Phil Best, the mayor of Dublin, to sign, the official Dublin proclamation of Confederate History and Heritage Month for the month of April. This effort was spearheaded by John, Rusty and Ms Spivey. With Dublin recognizing the importance of this all important event, it will open future doors to what the community can do to recognize and honor Dublin, Georgian and Southern Confederate ancestors and their descendants who want to keep the memory alive. A copy of the proclamation certificate will be put on my blog shortly.  It was fun to be a part of this signing event today.

After running some errands and grabbing a bite to eat, John did a little spring cleaning up in the attic. We plan to sell some items we no longer need to put forth towards the items we do need for the yard work we plan to do.  I purchased some white mini blinds for the bathroom today. John started to put them up but the wood screws were no match for the 137 year old wood. So he will resume the job on another day.

That is all to report at the Hardy Smith house today. Things are just getting started! Keep checking my blog for updates on my life in Dublin, the house and things going on around town.