THE ROAD TO HOME DEPOT IS PAVED WITH HAPPINESS

Lots going on here.

Today I am over-the-moon happy and here is why:  This evening I'm going to Home Depot, my most favorite place on earth.  Every day at Home Depot is the new happiest day of my life. Nothing gets me amped like a trip down those holy, tangerine hallways; I could spend all day in the hardware aisle just picking out screws! But tonight's trip has been made even better because I'm going with a good friend who shares my enthusiasm for home improvement AND has a car! Which means the possibilities are endless. Bags and bags of topsoil and fertilizer, seedlings, maybe a greenhouse, the arbor...or even that teepee! Although I've recently begun rethinking the arbor. In case you haven't noticed, there is A LOT going on out here. There's the laundry ladder, the rusty, old shed, the straw-bales, the flower beds, the fire pit, the ivy wall, that strange door to another realm, and now this koi pond. Its a lot to process. I'm starting to wonder if sticking another vertical structure between the laundry ladder and the door to Narnia will disrupt the balance or harmony or whatever. Not very Feng Shui, if you know what I mean.

I present to you, my door to Dimension X.

Besides.  I have enough projects to plow through -- I need to pick up a ton of topsoil and lawn seed, fertilizer and vegetable seedlings. Getting that started will be enough work for one weekend, and its a busy one already! Dear, sweet Cricket Jean is celebrating her 6-month birthday with her sister, 4 brothers and her big ol' mama at Lucky Dog on Saturday plus I have to work Sunday night. So seeding a lawn and starting some baby veggies in a greenhouse seems about the most I can manage.

Although, I do need to pick up pond treatment to prep the water for the fish, and a net and possibly even a filter. The neighbor's tree just dumped a bunch of blossoms into the pond today which looks all kinds of pretty right now...but will likely turn to yuck in a week or so.  Also sinking all that dirty slate to the bottom was a bad move: Its looking more Gowanus Canal than Koi Pond Zen right about now. Maybe Home Depot has some fancy stones I could add?

Fancy stones for Fancy Fish!

Oh yeah. And then I need another hose adapter. Like most Brooklyn properties, there is no outdoor water source here. I picked up an attachment for the kitchen faucet, but of course my faucet didn't have the proper threading to screw it on correctly. I ended up jerry-rigging it with plumbers tape which held long enough to fill the pond but wasn't terribly practical for watering the straw-bales. So definitely need to figure that out. I'm way too impatient for watering cans.  

Below is the shopping list for tonight's extravaganza.  Let's get ready to rumble!

SHOPPING LIST:

- GRASS SEED

- LAWN FERTILIZER

- TOP SOIL (3 BAGS)

- 4 TOMATO PLANTS, BASIL, CHIVES, ROSEMARY, THYME, MINT, PARSLEY, 2 CUCUMBER PLANTS, ZUCCHINI, RED PEPPERS, CARROTS, EGGPLANT, BEETS, STRAWBERRIES & BLACKBERRIES

- NASTURTIUM, CRACKLING FIRE, GERANIUMS, MORNING GLORIES, MARIGOLDS, GERBER DAISIES, SUNFLOWERS, SUCCULENTS

- POND TREATMENT, POND STONES, POND NET

- SINK HOSE ATTACHMENT