Stand My Ground - Amiboshi

And the other reason I haven't blogged in forever . . . I finally figured out how to make a YouTube video. MU HA HA HA!!! Yes, this does mean my friends may occasionally need to disengage my fingers from the keyboard and drag me outside (kicking, screaming, gibbering - the whole works) for sunlight.

For anyone who has not seen Fushigi, this has major SPOILERS - so you may not want to watch (or read) any further. You can scroll down and look at the pretty pictures of my garden instead.

For everyone else, this video is my answer to T.'s question "Why do you like that guy so much?" Answer: Because he's AWESOME. Amiboshi has one of the hardest choices in all of Fushigi. He is caught in the ultimate soldier's dilemma: what happens when you realize you're fighting for the wrong side?

Nakago told Amiboshi that Miaka and the Suzaku Seven meant to destroy Amiboshi's country - to murder his friends, his family, and his way of life. A good soldier, Amiboshi carries out his orders and attempts to execute Miaka and her comrades. But in the end, he realizes Nakago lied to him, and to make amends he accepts his own death (plunging into the river), which evens the playing board and gives the Suzaku Seven their only, slim, chance at victory. But fate is never kind, and Amiboshi fails to drown, so he goes into hiding. And when the war finally catches up to him again, he helps Miaka, who feels she is a traitor to everyone she ever loved, understand that sometimes you have to make hard choices. And sometimes you have to face up to them. And sometimes . . . just sometimes . . . you have to stand your ground and defend what you know is right.

How could you not respect him?

Yes. I am a dork (and a hopeless romantic to boot). ENJOY!

Results

Three days and 3/4 a ton of gravel later (and a HUGE thank you to my friend S., who was kind enough to take the excess gravel :P :P :P), I have a beautiful back yard. For the first time in years, I can open the back door and let A. go blow bubbles . . . or the cats wander among the rose bushes, and I don't have to worry about nineteen safety hazards that are finally well and truly FIXED. To illustrate my journey:

The before picture.
Note: everything green (except the rose bushes climbing the trellis) is a dandelion.

The journey.
Note: A. got the camera. I take no responsibility for this part.




The end result.


It's lovely. Absolutely lovely. A few of my friends have asked whether I'm worried about the cats clearing the 8' fence. . . . The answer is a resounding no. Why? My kitties are not the brightest boos in the box. Hime (the siamese) can't clear a 3' baby-gate, let alone an 8' fence.

And someday, years from now, a future owner will be standing in the kitchen door, wondering how in the heck I got all t hat gravel back there.

In buckets. Two shovel fulls at a time. :P :P :P

Dandelion Dusting

I spent four hours weeding dandelions. Four hours. And my yard is all of 8' by 12'. Heck, if I let them grow a little longer (so they filled in the patchy parts) I could have had a new ground cover. As it is, I am the proud owner of a newly made dirt-pit.

Seriously. I'm proud. I've never been much of a "do-it-yourself-er" (yes, I'm make that a word) - but I am always gratified to discover how much I can do myself. I completely revamped my backyard, made plans to add stone flowerbeds (which will help A. keep from putting his hand through the wood slats and being savaged by the insane Jack Russell Terror next door), dusted enough dandelions to fill a 13 gallon trash bag, and made several trips to Home Depot for items such as gardening gloves and orange twine.

Nothing says gardening competence like orange twine.

Okay . . . so I only half-assed know what I'm doing. But the point is . . . I'm DOING IT!

Hopefully I'll be able to post before and after pictures soon . . . unfortunately, Snapfire has decided it wants to play in a separate part of the sandbox than Vista. It's on my to-do list.

Today was planning and weeding. Tomorrow, let the construction begin! Wish me luck!