Outside Kitty; Outside Outside Outside

I fear that the outside kitty has disappeared for certain. This is another one of those instances in which I'm not sure what I should have done. I feel that sense of loss that I've felt entirely too much the last 18 months.

Almost evertime I'm working outside, I think that I'll turn around, and she will be there.

Somehow I'm going to set up a memorial outside for my feline friends.

I finished clearing the north property line. It's all been bagged and hauled away by the crack removal people.

I also managed to break up the concrete block whose purpose I still do not understand. At first I tried a diamond-tipped drill, but that proved very slow. So next I used a metal chisel and hammer and that worked surprisingly well. I dumped the remains into two garbage containers, both about 1/3 full. Of course, the crack removal people left it behind. I guess they considered it industrial waste. But I'll split it up among a number of garbage bags, and they will never know the difference.

Odd that I have to figure out ways to disguise trash so the crack removal people will take it. Sounds like a story out of Hamish MacBeth.

On the south border, I'd discovered a hole that appears to be where a stump had been removed at some point.

Several months ago when the power company added another utility pole adjacent to the one at the street, they used a auger with a diameter of at at least 12 inches. Which left behind a two-foot high pile of dirt. Which proved perfect as fill for the south hole. The one problem is dragging it across the yard. No doubt, the next piece of equipment I'll buy will have to be a wheelbarrow.

(Now that I think of it, I wonder when the energy folks will be back. They transferred some of the lines to the new pole, but not others. Maybe they will leave both poles.)

As I was cleaning the south property line, I stumbled on part of a very short brick path under about six inches of soil. This is another one of those mysteries that defines any explanation. Why there? For what purpose?

I'm continuing to work along the south propery fence and have finally reached the end of the fence. One strange find here has been about six or seven pieces of l-shaped steel buried at odd locations. I can not figure any rhyme or reason for their purpose or placement.

The south fence is exactly on the property line. But I've also encountered a set of poles about six feet inside the property. My guess here is that these were intended for some type of vines. But I've managed to cut them into sections using the reciprocating saw - one of the best investments I've made.

Yesterday, as I was clearing I pick up what I thought was a stick, but it was a six-foot long iron pipe. Another anomly.

Also yesterday, I started trimming a cedar tree, A large tree with limbs within a few inches of the ground. What a tangle! I spend yesterday trimming and today clearing the debris. I went out three times today to work on it. And I still have a number of limbs to dispose of.

There is a six-foot section between the carport and the north property line. But it is riddled with roots. I thought of trying to build a platform over them but that would be too expensive. So I've attacked the roots with the reciprocating saw. I've removed enough roots that I think I can replace a brick walk that I took up to get at the roots.

The area is now so pitted and goughed that is looks like a minature battlefield. So Monday I went out looking for potting soil which I found at Lowe's at $1.47 for 40-pound bag.

Of course, I still have another set of roots to chop away. I even went so far as to buy a digger tamper bar - it's a 6-foot iron bar with a very narrow flat blade at one end. Ideal for prying up troublesome roots, blocks, stones, etc.

PAX!