Hydrology

Sort of.

The rocks on Grammy's pond waterfall have shifted over the past two winters and were in need of an overhaul. Erkie-pie moved all the heavy rocks for me and I took advantage of a brief spell of warm weather and began rebuilding the waterfall. We went for a longer drop this time with a smooth veil of water. The new rivulet has a nice deep sound as it hits the pond.

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But then I look back on this picture of the old waterfall engineered by Pierre two years ago. It looks so natural as it fans out on the rocks, splashing and tumbling on the way down. I wonder if I really improved on the original?

Even Stevens

Kharma and Zelda weigh exactly the same amount as of Easter Day. Zelda is almost as tall, but not nearly as long as our lanky blonde girl.

The tug-of-war is now played on an equal basis--although age and treachery still trump youthful enthusiasm.

Zelda knows more tricks than most grown dogs--and she's only 15 weeks old!

Photo Safari

They aren't exactly camera-shy. They're more non-cooperative than shy. Here we are at the Rio Grande Zoo. Do you think I could get them to turn my way for just one family photo op? Not when there was a good excuse like the darling baby chimp right in front of them. I can't compete with that level of cuteness. Instead I have this photo of four anonymous humans who may or may not be part of my family. Hmmm...those buns do look a little familiar.

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Occasionally they will humor me, but getting a good photo of them is still a challenge. They're looking at the camera, they're posing, they're actually smiling (which I attribute entirely to the fact that they know we'll be waving goodbye in five more minutes). Now if I could just get everyone to keep their eyes open at the same time--two out of three ain't bad. Let's count noses: Pierre, check; Leah, check; Romeo, check; Deni...uh-oh, where's Deni? It's hard catch all four of them in the same place at the same time and willing to pose.

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Of course, if you can trickflatter a little girl into thinking she's the Lion Queen...you might, just might, get one lucky shot.

Before and After

The front yard before

The front yard after

The little Bobcat--driven, or should I say piloted?--by Pierre gets most of the credit for any changes. It not only rearranged the massive landscaping boulders poorly placed by the previous owners, but also moved soil into terraces, dug a dry creek by the aspen, smoothed everything and revealed many of the rocks and boulders used to finish the dry creek.

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A pile of granite boulders in the backyard and a slope in desperate need of a retaining wall

Voila! A retaining wall composed of granite boulders

Pierre could earn a living manipulating things with the Bobcat if he didn't want to play with computers! First of all, I'm amazed that he could even get into the backyard--the Bobcat has no steering wheel, just pedals and levers--and he only had about eight inches of clearance between him and the house stucco. Some of these boulders must have weighed a couple tons--I know I could feel the earth shake under my feet when he dropped them into place. Yet he was able to orient them nicely. He smoothed down the construction "piles" into natural-looking hills that enhance the view towards Tijeras Canyon.

Too bad there wasn't a bucket attachment to use like a backhoe. If there was, he could have excavated a trench for the irrigation system. That's the next big project. I'm sure he and his friend Geoff from freshman year at UNM will share a Ditch Witch rental sometime soon. There are soooo many basketball-sized rocks in the soil that I don't envy them that task. I'm guessing that there will be as much pick and shovel action as Ditch Witching.

Our role was that of sounding board, consultant and intermittent rock picker uppers. When you're swinging a pick, there's nothing better than having someone else get down in the hole and remove that rock while you wipe off the sweat! Fortunately, the weather was perfect for heavy-duty yardwork and the soil was nice and soft and moist after the winter.

And yes, the food was deluxe. What can I say? The child has talent at the barbeque--his chicken was exquisite! Yep, Spring Break was fun!

White River

The new granite top was installed today!

The stone reminds me of a storm on Jupiter with all its swirls and bands. It's white with grey bands and golden clouds. It wasn't what I had envisioned originally, but JR liked it and I think it worked out well. It's got plenty of drama and I know I'll like it even more as time goes on.

I'm hoping the new light comes this week. Then we'll see if the old mirror fits in the new space. We raised the vanity height and lost a little over four inches in mirror space. We'll see how far I get on installing the new faucet set before JR comes home.