They Paved Paradise And Put Up A Parking Lot

As I sat down to write this post I was trying to think of a title and then all of a sudden the words to a song by Joni Mitchell just popped into my head – “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot” from the song “Yellow Taxi“.

It started out to be a normal day and then Rob had a bright idea that we needed some sand.

And why sand?

Up the hill on the main road, they are clearing some land. And the land they were clearing just happened to be near an old gravel pit or sand pit. And… as it was cheap, who could refuse?

So we had 3 dump trucks full of sand dumped by the quail’s roost outside our front door.

Asking the obvious question I say… “and what are we going to do with all that sand”. To which Rob answered ” I’m putting it into the forest so it’s not a muck hole back there.

Now, the forest behind the house is a little damp in one corner when it gets really rainy here, but basically, we are on gravel, so how mucky can it get?

Turns out, Rob wants to drive back there and keeps getting stuck so now we are making a road.

Now… the good news is before the gravel could be spread out in our forest there was a lot of clean up to do and this was a good thing.

Because “stuff” had been accumulating back there for the last couple of years and even though the forest was attempting to cover everything in ivy, it hadn’t made much progress yet.

Some of the things needed to be moved were

• car tents
• cars
• logs
• brush
• metal
• trees
• plastic sheets (roofing)
• tarps
• bench swing
• big old smoker that looks like a wine barrel but is lined with bricks
• tables
• chairs
• you get the idea

Now it’s nice to get the forest cleaned up, but I’m just putting it out there, I like the forest as a forest. Not a partial forest with a driveway through it.

So now the backhoe comes in and starts the cleanup.

I wasn’t watching so the first thing they did was to level off the ground and in doing so, dumped the soil onto my forest garden bed. I’m going to have to dig through this in the spring in order to find all my special plants.

Then they took out three cedar trees that we have saved to have totem poles made out of. I actually think we are only going to use one, but I guess if you have three you get your pick.

The forest floor is getting a makeover.

Rob got so excited about cleaning things up that he decided to do the sides of the house as well. I didn’t take any pictures of the other side of the house as they were working there.

We actually ended up scraping right to the deck and in a straight line.

Now the backhoe is parked in the yard and we await the gravel to finish off the road. There was just enough gravel to go around the front of the house and alongside.

Over the years the original gravel had settled and there were holes under the house where rodents could get in.

So now… either they are out for good, or trapped inside. Haven’t heard any noises so I think we’re good.

I know what you’re saying. “Heather… it looks lovely. All clean and new and you don’t have to pick weeds.”

But I like the forest floor, the leaves and moss and the smell of earth.

I like to see the plants growing and the birds that take advantage of all that greenery.

I’m not a manicured type of gal and I’m all for letting it run wild.

But hey… it is what it is and Rob is thrilled.

I have lots of forests around me that I can walk through and feel the fir needles beneath my feet. Just no longer in the backyard until it gets reclaimed over the years with tree compost.

And, I’ll have to wait for Easter to see if I still have any Trilliums left.

Now, only one thing remains to be seen… once the gravel is down and Rob can drive on it with the forklift, I’m wondering what he’s planning on putting there? 🙂