Stepping stones

Ohhh critttttttttttttttttter, thank you! I am so sick and tired of receiving all this junk mail and I simply do not understand how they are able to send us all these crap pre-approved credit cards when one has contacted NY???

I know there is a number out there to cut down the solicitation calls we get on our cell phones too and I called that number and that was the end of getting junk phone calls on our cell phones.

Ripping them to shreds and sending the wrong credit card ap in the envelope that requires no postage is just so much more fun! I love doing that and do it quite often. I tried to opt out a few times from e-mails. All that did was get me sent more e-mails.

You would be the one to derive pleasure from costing them money on pre-paid postage. Believe it or not, I thought about but decided against it because of the time element and why waste our spit sealing the envelope?

Aw Terry... I can see you are my kind of person!!! *evil laugh* It would give me GREAT pleasure to send a little junk mail back to them at their expense!

I was told to NOT try to stop any emails by using that "to stop further emails' link. THAT will only confirm your address and they will sell your email address to MORE COMPANIES!!!

I'm more the type to turn a negative into a positive; like all this free mulch! Easier on the blood pressure.

Well, I'm probably going to head back over to vegie & rose gardening for a while where I'm learning a lot from the experts in those forums, but will check back in now & then. Take care all. I'm just a D-Mail away. : )



This message was edited Sep 18, 2007 3:15 AM

Oh for Pete's sake Equil! It takes less than 30 seconds to rip the papers into pieces....just as much time as it takes me to shred them. I don't lick the envelope, that's why I have water. I rip, I stuff, I dab water on my finger and seal, pop it into the mailbox and let the mailman carry it away......

And yes Pat, it lets them know that somebody actually gets the e-mails and they sent out more. That's my fear of calling a number to not receive any more credit card pre-approved mailings anymore. I call them and they now know that somebody is getting them, so they sell my name to more and more places.

30 seconds times a thousand pre-approved credit card applications over the past few years plus the walk down to the mailbox to send it back to these idiots??? Most of our bills are automatically withdrawn from a checking account and the others we pay online. We don't walk down to the mailbox with any regularity any longer because nothing of consequence is out there any longer. Deliveries she brings right to the stoop. We get the mail once a week if that.

I've never mulched any of this junk mail because most of it seems to have those little cellophane windows and I was too lazy to tear them out.

Back outside to my husbands!

"Back outside to my husbands! "??????????????????
How many you got, girl??????
LMBO!

This thread's a hoot!

LOL... She hired extras! Genius!!

Girlfriend, I done got me two spares from some hire-a-husband rental place and let me tell you they worked their lil buns off today. I was a good lil wifey and ran back and forth bringing them bug spray to ward off the skeeters, cold drinks, lunch, and snacks. Must keep all husbands happy or they don't perform well.

Looks as if we're able to set about 50 per day so the man who sent my husbands to me was right. It would be three husbands per day for two days or two husbands per day for three days. This will not include the finish work around each stepping stone where you kneel down and use your hands to scoop the soil that was removed from the hole back around the stepping stone. I can do that myself.

Sorry critter, I can't take credit for hiring them. Hiring husbands was recommended many posts back. Take a peek back to see who the real genius was.

So ladies, eat your heart out because my husbands did a bang up jog today. Can't wait until they come back next week.

Here's a starter photo giving you an idea of the bare bones to this little project. The entire area was a thicket of buckthorn and Japanese honeysuckle not too many years ago. More work to go removing garbage plants but at least you can walk through there without a scythe to clear the way. I will be filling in with more native ground covers and such in the future. Not all of the stones you will see are set but we're on our way-

Here's a photo of another area that was started and there's that urn (needs to be leveled) my real husband bought for me along with a decorative garden piece that was a gift from an Upper Midwest RoundUp two years ago-

Last photo from today of the other area that was started. Again, not all stones photographed are set but many are and you can see how these woodland paths will wind back deeper. Believe it or not, I'm liking the look so much that I might go to other stores to see if I can get more on clearance-

Next Tuesday they come back. I don't know the day they come back after that to set the last 50 but I definitely want them back. All stepping stones are being set in around 3" - 4" of sand then I stand on them. Not the most professional way to set them but I weigh a heck of a lot less than either one of them so it works. Other than that, I stand around serving my husbands and picking worms out of the ground that they unearth when they are digging. The birds love me today.

Just for my own knowledge when I come to visit....do I step with my right foot first or my left foot? Looks like it's a one or the other kind of thang......??

I don't know. Good question. I sort of layed them out based on what was aesthetically appealing to me. Some sort of zig zag while others don't zig zag at all. Pretend like you're Tiny Tim when you come over and tip toe through the tulipless woodland I guess.

LOL Miss Terryr!

Mebbe after a few of Equil's 'Cold Drinks', ya won't be needin' ta thank about which foot goes first...hahaha!

Equil...looks lovely so far! The last pic makes me wanna wander down the path just to see what's beyond...very interesting!

What's that thang in the second pic??!!?? :o

It must be nice to have a lot of ground.
I used to...before I moved to Flarda. *sigh!

Well, my mom was outside a bit ago and she saw a HUGE coon sneaking up the steps to get to the cat food. She yelled and my dad grabbed the gun but by the time we made it out there he was gone. He has a spotlight and we STILL can't find him. We are calling him the Ghost Coon. lol

I don't drink. We keep liquor for guests but probably wouldn't be a good idea to give liquor to husbands ;)

Thank you for your comments about wandering down. That was the effect I had envisioned when I bought all of the stepping stones. Very rarely does something I envision turn out the way I envisioned it. I knew this was exactly what I wanted for these areas when I started placing them where I thought they should go. Didn't quite know what they would look like when they were set but now I'm getting a better idea myself.

That thing in the second picture is a make shift post to rope a horse. Doesn't everyone walk around and garden with an old horse for company? That horse passed on a bit ago, he was very old but he liked getting out and I'd go across the street and walk him over every once in a while. I got a few stares but there are a lot of horse people around here so most didn't bat an eyelash. Aren't ya glad you asked- tee he.

No, it's not so nice to have a lot of ground. I'm barely keeping my head above water removing ickies and nasties. To top things off, those buckthorns change sex. Just when I think I've gotten all the fruiting females, they swap over on me leaving thousands of seedlings in their wake. I hand pull them when I come across them but go for them with gusto when it rains. I just pick an area and pull as many as I can. I think if I had it to do all over again, I'd go for one acre some where and call it a day. We're committed now and with the work I've done here we certainly aren't leaving this place unless we do so in a pine box.

ACK!!! No, no horses, please!!! I won't be able to see to walk on those stepping stones if my eyes are swelled SHUT!! I'll tiptoe thru the tulips if you're playing a Ukulele at the time!

Ah ha no ukelele, but if you go to MoBot with me next spring I'll promise to fan big bad stray horse hairs that end up by the house away from your face.

Eq, I don't care how much those extra husbands work, I don't want more. Don't get me wrong I LOVE my husband but doing all the wifely duties to keep up more than one would wear me out!! Drinks, bug spray yatta, yatta!!

I never thought to ask you what your stepping stones looked like, THOSE are perfect for the area. It is an amazing beautiful project!

Ah ha, the genius who suggested husbands to me stops in and NOW she tells me that keeping up with a husband is a lot of work? Well! Too late now! It wasn't that hard taking care of them and it was pretty hot yesterday in the 80's so I didn't want them getting dehydrated or going hungry. The skeeters are real bad around here and on a hot day you waste a lot of energy slapping them plus their bites itch so I really didn't want them having to slap and scratch all day long while having to shovel.

Glad you like them, I do too and the price was right so that makes me like them all the more.

I sorely miscalculated the amount of sand I needed to set each stone. I've got to have 2 more yards of sand delivered here by next Tuesday.

Incidentally, I opened a d-mail earlier and learned that uncorking some bubbly was in order. Does the person who we should be congratulating and hi-fiving want to share what she just accomplished? If not, I totally understand.

I'll send up a random high-five anyway and hope it connects!

Ya, what she did is pretty impressive and beyond worthy of accolades.

Who did what? Such secrecy.....

LOL... Eq you are something else!!! Ok, folks, break out the sparkling apple juice! I scored a 138 on my NCE (National Counselor Exam). I only needed a 102 to pass. I did not pass my comprehensive Exams at the end of my Masters the first time I took them so my academic confidence was rather shaken. Doing well on the NCE was a HUGE deal for me. I would have gladly gotten a 103, called it passing and been "good enough" but scoring the 138 was a confidence booster.

I did not suggest "multiple husbands", I gave you the suggestion of hiring some casual labor, or kid's clubs, or other groups that frequently needed fund raising!!! You are twisting my suggestion!!! LOL... we don't have "hire-a-husband" or I might have suggested it!! My husband would be hurt by such a suggestion, he feels he does not do "his share" just because I do ALL the household work. I guess marrying a man that was divorced for 15 years has it's advantages! He KNOWS how much work running a household is. I've been so consumed with studying for this exam, getting the extra credits Idhao required, the extra intern hours AND getting ready for my son's wedding that he was especially feeling bad about not having more time to help me.

I can't get over how beautiful your path is. The "fake" log end cuts is the perfect look for your path. I have 4 cement molds with "foliage" designs I will be adding a little path in my yard, NOTHING as consuming as your project. I am in AWE of what you have done!

Psych!!! CONGRATULATIONS! That score is definitely worth shouting about. :-)

Yup! She's a winner all right, glad she came out of the closet to share the passing of her exams. Soon she will be on her way to making $$$ to be able to buy more plants!

My husband laughed and told me to go for it when I mentioned it. He could care less, less he has to do. About the casual labor, I thought about hiring kids but seems as if the work ethic is somewhat lacking in this area. Then I thought about finding day labor to hire but was told by several other people who had hired day labor that most of them didn't speak English all that well. The husbands have been perfect. They speak English, work hard, and have been an overall pleasure. I don't so much mind waiting on them as there's not much I can contribute to the process right about now. If it was my husband working for somebody else I'd sure want him to be offered cold drinks, skeeter spray, and food. It's hard working out there in this heat even if they are in the shade. I'm in awe at what they have done. I basically just spent several hours walking back and forth laying them out one by one.

Wow!! Congratulations psych on such a great accomplishment!!

Congrats psych!!

Equil, looks like everyone wins all around on that deal. It is looking great! I'm jealous!! :~p

I'll add my congratulations also psych. Great score!
The stepping stones look great in place, Equil. That wooded path is very pretty. I'm jealous of both the good deal you got on the stones and the extra "husbands" help. Where do I find these "husbands"?

They're mine mine mine mine mine! All mine!

Seriously, look in your phone book for casual labor or go online and type the word rent + husband + your town/nearest large city + your state, That ought to do it. I guess the Rent-A-Husband is a franchise. The place my husbands come from isn't the franchise rental place but very similar.

do they have rent a wife also? lol

You're in luck Len123, they certainly do have a Rent-A-Wife out there. How many of us do you feel you can take on at once? At least the rental wives probably don't talk back and you'd be paying to be "right" all the time. Tee he.

Oh ladies and gentleman, I went out this morning and was able to buy 61 more stepping stones. Tomorrow I'm going to drive out to two other locations to see if I can pick up more. My husband liked the way this project looked so much that he told me to extend all the way past the loop and then to come back and create another path to the back portion of the backyard. Based on me pacing off the distance and counting out footsteps along the area he pointed out, I need another 134 stepping stones plus 10% for breakage. And no.... these will not be set let alone even placed in position this year. We'll set them aside to be used next year.

*big grin* at how well this project is going for you!

Yes, I'm pleased and he is very pleased!

I've also decided that I'm going with rental husbands again next year. No sense me digging in that compacted soil when they do such a nice job.

Eq, You are a gutten for punishment! Just how many acres does this "Wildlife refuge" of yours cover? Any time you get a hankering to put another path in you can put one in here!! SOMEDAY I hope to put a simple little path in, unset flagstone I think. We have a TINY little mobile home lot but I LOVE the looks of a path.

here's a treat for you equil. this is blooming again in pasture, common ironweed. a wild plant.

Ahhh, that is a treat Len. I happen to like Ironweed. Wish it was common around here.

pshychw2- 5 acres here in this state. Combo of woodlands and wetlands with a house smack dab in the middle.

A tiny little mobile home, eh? Let me tell you, there are more days than not lately that I wished I lived in a situation such as what you described. I would go for that British Cottage Garden look and make it look like a jungle in no time flat. As it is now, I spend too much time weeding and never seem to get the time to do all the fun stuff you people on smaller lots get to do.

Flagstone is an excellent choice. Wish I could have afforded that but no way!