As most of you know, both husband Pieter and I got born with dirt under our fingernails... being the son and/or daughter of a professional market gardener. Growing fruits and vegetables, delivering to the auction for supplying grocery stores.
So... that made us knowledgeable for starting a GARDEN; right?
We had moved into our newly built home in November of 1990...
NOT SO!
Here I am on August 11, 1991, looking in horror at all the soil that got washed out from heavy rain, such as often in summer in subtropical Georgia.
We just got back on August 9, from work and living in Indonesia...
WELCOME HOME!
So after pulling weeds for one day and Pieter working with his weed eater, it was me on the shovel to fill wheelbarrows. Yes, we had two of them!
Pieter in turn wheeled them to the spot for filling it in.
Where did I shovel all that dirt?
Under the newly built house, where after opening the metal door in our staircase area I screamed because we were looking at a mountain of dirt.
Yes, our 'not–so–great-contractor' left it all there and just built the foundation around.
We dug out a big section as we needed it desperately here and later in 1995 we dug out more.
In 2004, husband Pieter dug out the remaining 60 tons (!) for filling in on the left side of our garden and constructing the Rose Suite. See posts below.
Oh, life can be so very glamorous!
Did wear my new bikini while at the shovel beneath the hot/humid home in the basement...
Bikini had arrived in the mail.
This was it, a Gottex bikini with a silk cover up...
Haha, nice and glamorous work uniform don't you think so?
Easy for jumping right under the shower after the day is over and rinsing it all off.
Pieter did the heavy pushing of the wheelbarrow and filling in of the dirt, while having his implant lens out of place... As got diagnosed in the morning. He went next day, after this big job, for the re–positioning of his lens under a light anesthesia.
Rest of the day relaxing... (Pieter!).
On August 20, we put a mixture of spent compost with peat moss between our azaleas as each tropical rain shower washed out the dirt. Hoping they will grow and spread out faster and hold on to the soil!
Oh, on May 16, the previous time off from our work/living in Indonesia (we were there two months at the time...) we both had laid these cross tires in the spots we wanted.
A company that took care of our garden, had laid them and not to our liking.
Yes, those suckers are heavy but we managed!!!
That lantern now was in the wrong spot and Pieter moved that at another later time ...
So much to handle in the four weeks we got off from work in Indonesia!
On August 28, we went again to a certain low spot near a larger creek behind the street where we used to live. We dug up nice patches of grass to fill in the bare spots where everything got washed out from heavy rains...
Our heavy duty wheelbarrow ready for a ride!
Pieter with his heavy duty spade!
Yes, we used our Mercury Sable wagon very intense, after bringing it back home from working/living in Italy...
It got cleaned up well for carrying our suitcases again on September 1, when we would fly back to work and living in Indonesia... 😉
The wagon could then rest for two months at the parking lot of Atlanta Airport...
Grabbing those sods by their sprites and helping unload.
We always worked as a team!
Unloading some right at the trouble spot...
HOPING they will stand their ground this time!
Yes, the lawn is still covered with straw in order to avoid further erosion...
Living on such a steep slope for sure was not easy to start growing grass!
But with perseverance we managed.
Related links:
Then and Now | previous post where I wear the very jeans skirt from 1987 and in 2020...
