I got the stones laid for all the pathways, except for the one on the east side of the yard that I will have to carve out once I've redistributed the giant pile of dirt that's in the way. I wish I could have planted the creeping thyme today, since it's going to rain for the rest of the week and it would have gotten a nice watering in, but I couldn't find it at Loblaws and I wouldn't have had time anyway, so alas. The outlines of the stones are rather smudgy at the moment because of the topsoil I swept over everything to get it in between the cracks; I am looking forward to seeing it after the rain, which should wash things clean and settle the contours a bit.

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of this project so far. Some of the stones are still not perfectly settled, but that will come with time/rain/ground cover, I think, and after all there's a limit to the perfection one can expect from dry-laid fieldstones (vs, say, perfectly flat flagstones laid in mortar). I have a good deal of rock left over, which I figure I will put down in the garden beds as needed for access purposes, and - more problematically - also a good deal of sand and topsoil. The topsoil I can use, but I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do with the sand...I'd make a sandbox for Rose, since God knows my sisters and I enjoyed the sandbox we had in Calgary, but she'd be too little for it until next year, and since it's building sand I don't know if it would be any good for that purpose anyway. I guess I'll throw an ad on craigslist/usedottawa and see if anyone wants free sand to schlep away.

So with THAT craziness mostly out of the way, I need to turn my attention back to the plants. I have seedlings that need to get in the ground and also seeds that need planting...damn, should have done that today, too. Well, if the rain lets up one of these evenings I will scoot out for project time; the ground will be wet, after all. Shasta daisies and pampas grass can go in the brand new sunny bed - pampas grass at the back, since if it survives it will make some nice height back there. Seedwise I have some little poppies that will be nice in the front, along with some wildflowers (scarlet flax, purple coneflowers). I have some annual seeds I may try, too; temporary solutions are better than nothing. And I may move some things (rose, peony) that are getting too much shade where they are...although maybe that should wait until the fall. We'll see how hacking out ferns and rhubarb stalks improves the light conditions. Meanwhile canterbury bells can go in the new part-shade bed, along with the lovely fuschia hardy geraniums that I haven't gotten around to planting, and some forget-me-nots.

I REALLY need to move some of those damn ferns; they are waist-high and thus would be good for height in the shade next to the west fence. Also I need to finish digging up the back of the west bed. I think I will buy one of the magnolia shrubs Loblaws is selling for $60 and put that in the sun bed, and then I need to find that flowering tree I've been speculating about for the back corner. I believe I will make a mid or late June nursery field trip.