A great Memorial Day weekend

So, we broke down and bought a "composter" this weekend. First, it's more visually appealing than our old pile of cow poop and rotting things but more importantly, it has a nice lid to keep our stupid dogs from eating said rotting things and then throwing them up in the house. It's also in a good place where it stays nice and warm. I didn't want a plastic one as I don't know how long it'll hold up to the UV here, but building my own is pretty far down on the list.

Next step is going to be to order some red wrigglers online. After an exhaustive search (including an odd conversation with the guy in town who "teaches" worm composting but never uses the right worms), I'll be ordering worms online, which to me feels almost as wrong as buying rocks.
Here's 38 cu. feet of rocks unloaded into the front rock garden. The sack hanging on the right is my thistle feeder.
Here's the veggie garden. The beans are in the back left corner with hopes they'll grow up the fence, the squash, pumpkins and cukes are in the front left square and the corn is on the front right. Tomorrow I'll plant the melons, tomatoes and peppers.
Here's for the most part our finished flower garden. I'll fill in later with some plants that flower later in the summer.

More excitingly, here's James installing our new toilet (finally!) It's a super sexy low-flow with dual flush. On the picture, the two buttons were labeled 1 & 2, so the curiousity was whether or not the ideas of bathroom issues being called 1 & 2 was universal. However, the actual buttons have a half-circle and full circle, which doesn't necessarily translate into "press here for solids and here for liquids" but we figured our guests could press either button 4-5 times before they would use the water of the old toilet, so we won't put up a sign on how to flush it, but will likely be known for having the weird toilet. (Just wait until I get my composting toilet eventually!!)

We spent Sunday visiting the local cemeteries and then had a nice barbecue with family and friends. As we were putting flowers around our families' headstones, it made me realize that I'm not certain how far down this tradition has been passed. My grandmother's generation (at least here) is pretty serious about this and I can remember going most years when we came to visit, but there were very few younger people out and about at the cemeteries. It's too bad, as I find its an excellent time to re-remember family history and reminisce. I guess since most people I know live far from where their ancestors did, it almost feels like an antiquated tradition, but one I am eager to keep as long as we live here.