Ohmystinkinheck

If you walk out our back door, onto the back porch, and look to your right - you’ll see a chicken run. Initially it was a dog run, but that is a story for another day. Between the chicken run and the edge of the back porch is a mess of worn down grass, grass shoots, sandy dirt and mud. Every day several feet traverse this well-worn path to the chicken run; tossing out scratch, refilling the water, gathering eggs, or feeding them.

And people aren’t the only ones that frequent the path…our dogs do too. Back and forth to their watering bucket, their favorite “elimination” spots, or just to irritate the fire out of me by finding the only muddy area in the entire back yard. For if there is to be any mud in the entire backyard, it will be on THAT path.

The area was originally sodded 2 1/2 years ago with St. Augustine, but St. Augustine doesn’t stand up well to the constant wear and tear of pathmakers. Nor has it stood up to the water that runs directly off our roof (yes we need gutters - it is on the list). This is probably the #1 reason the ground has not fared too well in this spot - shifting sod and deep pits from water erosion have done a number on our landscaping all alongside that side of the house.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like a well-worn pathway, they’re rather romantic when hidden away in the woods, or circling a garden. However, ours is about 3 steps from our back door, which means whatever is traipsed through on the path - be it dirt, mud, or chicken poop - tends to make its way back into my house, smeared across the kitchen floor.

Not good.

In our attempt to find ways to eliminate the amount of dirt and excrement ENTERING the house, we decided a rock path made from river pebbles just might do the trick.

And so, another backyard project was started in the dead heat of the afternoon in OMSHville. In this part of TEXAS any project done during day hours is done in the dead heat.

After digging out the grass, Mr. OMSH leveled out the remaining dirt and clay beneath the sod.

It isn’t easy work and he was hoofin’ it pretty hard. I know it isn’t easy because I was doing it too, between camera shots. Of course, he did MOST of it, but he is a strong burly man - he can handle it. Oh, and he also has quite a strong opinion of how it should be done and that means, in my opinion, he should be the one to do it.

After hoofin’ it, he’d heff’it right over his shoulder and the chicken run fence.

Oh, how the girls loved that. It was like watching hens at a concert rushing the stage. They’d scurry up looking for a bug or a juicy night crawler, squawking the whole way, and then, right when another shovelful was tossed, they scurry away screeching and cackling.

It wasn’t long before the ground was ready for the weed cloth to be laid atop the newly raked and leveled dirt.

But first, we dug a bit more of a “trench” to place our Pavestone. I really do like how these interlock - they seem more secure and continuous, and I knew they’d keep the rocks in and the grass out. We made the whole rock area wide enough to encompass the dog’s water bucket, the backyard hose, our BBQ grill and a few potted herb plants I’m going to fit into the back corner.

We liked the Pavestone so much we figured we’ll use them again when we landscape in the front yard.

With the border in place, the weed cloth was laid-out and then began the pouring of the river pebbles.

It didn’t take us too long to figure out we needed about 24 bags to complete the job; naturally we underestimated and have to go back and get more tomorrow. Aarrggh!

At this moment I want to personally thank Helga, my ‘burb, for lugging home hundreds of pounds of river pebbles and Pavestone borders.

Did she pop her tires? — Nope.

Did she grunt? — Nope.

Did she decide not to start? — Nope.

She was a trooper - and of course she was - she’s HELGA after all. Such a good strong ‘burb.

After loading and unloading all the rocks and Pavestone we could never have imagined it wouldn’t be enough. Seriously, it felt like we bought enough to cover the entire back yard. Still, after pouring, pouring, and pouring SIXTEEN BAGS, we quickly surmised our eyes had deceived us.

Funny thing is, the package did NOT deceive us. It SAID we needed 24, but of course we’re all, “Nah, 24? That is a LOT! There is NO WAY it could take 24 bags!”

Next time, we’ll believe the bag and stop thinking we know it all; clearly we don’t.

As we were working Grace kept coming over to the fence line as if she was inspecting our work. Grace is more sociable than the others, but you still have to watch your fingers, toes, or anything else that resembles FOOD because she’ll go after it if she thinks it is a consumable.

I kept getting the feeling she didn’t like what we were doing on the other side of “her” fence line. At one point she called over the other girls, to discuss the matter.

Because they have so much “say” and all…

Even Kenny came out to check out the new rock path - straight up from a mid-afternoon nap and feeling a bit groggy.

“Are these always gonna be here?” he asks.

I thought I’d square away right now that these were not rocks for him to relocate through the air or in his pockets…“Yep, they are always gonna be here - and they aren’t play rocks; these rocks need to stay ON the path.”

He obviously, wasn’t too thrilled.

Or maybe he just needed a bit longer to wake up.

More photos when we’re done - maybe you can be more patient than me. And then? We’ll be scrubbing the back lower part of the house (where all the moisture from poor drainage has caused a nice film of green mold). Once we get gutters, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue anymore.

If it isn’t one thing…it’s two, right?

20 Responses to “Because dirt and excrement do NOT belong in the kitchen.”

1. Mr. OMSH

   Don’t hate me because I am beautiful…

   Half mine and Kenny’s wardrobes are designed to hide us from (OMSH) paparazzi…That’s why Kenny was sitting on his haunches and burying his face, hiding from all the on-lookers.

2. Kate

   I love it! What a great project. Not too complicated, yet will make a world of difference. Can’t wait to see the final product. Great work Mr. OMSH!

3. Kate

   p.s. I totally would have had to have the same “these rocks are made for walkin’ on” talk with my son. Such a collector!

4. RebelRescuer

   I can sympathize. Two years ago we tore out 33 pickup loads of trees, bushes, etc from our “new to us house” and laid 52 tons of rock. That would be two illegally overweight dump trucks. It sucked.

5. Elizabeth

   Awesome. Nice work. I’m looking forward to seeing your finished product.

6. Becky

   haha where do I find one of those husbands that does work like that??? and son’s that actually listen about the rocks?? currently I am transferring rocks –err treasures - back out of my house to the outside where they belong..

7. Nancy

   Looks good! Can I get Mr. OMSH to call my Mr. and relay how one goes about doing yard work and landscaping? I believe my Mr. is unsure of how to do that type of work. LOL. Can’t wait to see more pictures of my favorite Texans.

8. Starwoodgal (aka Jamie)

   I hear ya, sista! Being the owner of three dogs (yes, I should be legally called insane) and the only female our house, I’m constantly sweeping up something or wiping something or using the vacuum on something. Why can’t that stuff just stay outside where it belongs?

   The rock looks good though. Nice project!

9. Marue

   Hey there, we were at Sam last weekend for a hs graduation. Weedcloth and river pebbles? Hum, I know what I’m doing for part of my vacation time this weekend. Lowes here I come.

10. bluejayecrafts

    That’s not mold….that’s moss on your house. We have tons of that in the Northwest. My car is covered with it. I have to use a tooth brush when I wash it. The roof of our house is growing a forest. I hear tell that ‘Tide with bleach’ is the best to remove it. You are supposed to just throw it up on the roof and it does it all by itself.

    I love the path.

11. Val

    I get that green stuff on my house too…I live in a heavily wooded area and its on the north side of the house where no sun reaches. I spray Clorox Clean-up on it and it comes right off the vinyl siding. Good Luck and I love the upside down tomato plants….who knew?

12. April in CT

    It’s so much fun to watch someone else’s project come to life! Thanks for sharing.

13. Shannon

    I love the idea. I just wish that our monsoon season would stop and dry up the ground so I could do some work like yours.

14. JackieW.

    Gonna have to start photo documenting my honey do lists.

    Buy that boy his own sack of rocks !

15. Mrs. Wilson

    Am I the only one that finds it funny that we buy things like rocks and dirt and water? It seems strange, yet it’s quite a normal occurance.

    It looks great so far! Anything is better than excrement on your kitchen floor!!

16. 9milemom

    so I have two questions…

    1. how do you get the copyright thingy-which I absolutely love!–on the corner of your pictures? Do you have to photoshop every one? Or do you have another cool trick?

    2. how many chickens do you have? And the dog run idea was a good one. Our 3 chickens need more room…but something that isn’t enclosed means that the golden eagle or the fox or the coyote might eat them!

    That is the annoying thing about those rocks…the bags are deceivingly small!

17. clistyB

    I JUST now realized that the ‘girls’ you were referring to digging for worms, etc, were actually the chickens and NOT your own daughters!
    I kill me..

18. citystreams

    When you get done at your house, feel free to come do any and all of this at mine!

    Also, I’ve been wondering the same thing as 9milemom. How do you brand your pictures? Teach us, please!

19. OMSH

    RebelRescuer - I’m all of a sudden feeling so very thankful for my small little project!

    Becky - My son is so kind…he just lets me find them in the washing machine.

    bluejayecrafts - Really? Moss? Okay, well I thought I’d try an Oxyclean mix first, and then I just might hit something stronger.

    JackieW - You think we haven’t thought of that already? We have - don’tcha know what is “found” is so much better than what is purchased?

    Mrs. Wilson - No, we have commented on that as well. Multiple times - usually with receipt in hand.

    9milemom - Oh, I use Photoshop to watermark my photos - and yes, I do them one at a time. Although I imagine if I was being smart, I’d create an action for it.

    We have 4 chickens.

    clistyB - Yeah, my HUMAN girls gave up night crawlers AGES ago! heh heh

    citystreams - What? Having a new baby slows you down? Not supermom enough? heh heh - JOKING!

    There are one gazillion watermark tutorials online, but I just might acquiesce and do one of my own at some point. But not today - oh no, not this day.

20. JackieW.

    I vote for a how to watermark also.

    Have GIMP2 & just found an Adobe photoshop 5 disc. Need to see how much it would be to upgrade.