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there's been a proliferation of professional dogwalkers in the neighborhood. i don't have a problem with them except i have a flower bed in front of my house and i've seen dogs trampling the delicate perennials that are just now emerging. so yesterday i erected a simple string fence, hoping it'd be a discreet way to let them know to keep off the plants. this morning i watched this old lady walking her black terrier. i've seen her before and she's actually the worse offender, letting her dog scratch in my "garden" even while i'm standing right outside. as she walked by the house, i saw her letting her dog go right past the string fence into my flower bed. i couldn't believe it and knocked on the window to get her attention. she looked up and saw me, and without apologizing, pulled her dog away and walked down the street.

my sister was out of the house for a long stretch so i went to belmont to look after the dog. they weren't home when i arrived so i took the car to home depot to get some dirt and fertilizer for the raised beds.

home depot is only now stocking their garden department. when i was there 2 weeks ago it wasn't even opened yet. a lot of outdoor shelves were still bare. originally i was going to buy a combination of garden soil and manure, but ended up going with 10 bags of humus and manure mixture (3/4 cubic feet per bag for $2.47/each, apparently there's no sales tax on soil).

i planted about 50 sugar snap peas last thursday in raised bed 1 (RB1). today i raked off all the dried saltmarsh grass mulch and then mixed 2 bags of humus & manure into the existing soil, leaving a small section on the side for some overwintering arugula and carrots. the smell brought back memories of rural china. i then parceled out 20 roughly 8"x8" squares and planted 4-6 lettuce seeds in the center of each square. this will be the early season lettuce crop. i'm giving them plenty of space this year, hoping for a better crop than just a few leaves.

elsewhere in the garden, the increase in the rabbit population has taken its toll: they ate all my crocuses beneath the plum tree. at least the raised beds will keep the rabbits away, until they figure out how to climb into the beds.

my sister had a rosemary chicken baking in the toaster oven before she left. when it was done cooking, i ate a drumstick and put the rest of it back into the oven. in the late afternoon i watched a bit of the harvard-vanderbilt game before falling asleep in my parents' bed.

i left soon after i fed hailey around 7:00; my sister came home right when i was about to ride off. the temperature today wasn't very warm to begin with (in the 40's) but had dropped down to 37°F, so it was a cold and sniffling return trip.

my roommate was already back when i got home, locking his friend's bike to the signpost where i usually park. there wasn't enough room for my bike so i had to find another signpost. he made his noodles again for dinner, while i had some leftover pizza.