Little by Little

Sometimes when faced with a big project, we can feel overwhelmed. I tend to want to do a big project all at once on one day or weekend, whether it's something time-consuming for work, sewing together a quilt top, or deep cleaning the house. But sometimes it's easier (and less intimidating) to do a little bit at a time. My backyard garden redesign project will be a lot of work. Hard work. Hauling rocks, digging, transplanting perennials, digging, hauling lumber . . . did I mention digging? But broken up into many little sessions of work, it shouldn't be quite as bad.

Last week I weeded the area and removed some plants I was not keeping. I bagged it all up and voila! Part of the job was done.

See the left side of the slope? That's where I've started my clearing out.

Today when Calvin and I came home from breakfast out, we went through the back gate. (Calvin's new thing is adamantly saying "This way!" or "That way!" while pointing dramatically. And he pointed to the back.) But once through the gate, he saw his sandbox. So instead of going in to play trains, we stayed out to play with a loader and dump truck.

While Calvin played, I started tidying up some things that had collected in the back yard. I put away garden tools and grill parts and camp chairs. Then I started tidying the garage a bit since over the summer it had deteriorated from "mild embarrassment" to "I'd-be-ashamed-to-take-anyone-(especially-my-father)-in-there." Calvin was still happily playing when I got done with the easy stuff, so I took a big bucket out to the slope that will become my kitchen garden and started filling it with the flat river rocks that I had under the birdfeeders to deter dropped birdseed from sprouting. These are the smallest rocks I'll have to deal with and I knew it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to do this part of the job. After I moved two buckets full, Calvin decided to help me. He picked up small rocks and put them in the bucket. He was happy to be of help and I was happy to see that he wanted to be involved.

Here's our little pile of river rocks.

Now that little part of the job is done. A half-hour here, a few minutes there, and some concentrated effort at the end and this job will be done. I don't have to do it in one day or one weekend or even one month. I can work on it until the snow flies. And if I don't get it done by then, I'll just finish it in the spring.