Open Mind, Empty Thoughts: Oh, what fun in the sun!

The sun visited our neighborhood this weekend. Well, today at least.
This meant yard work, which I don't really mind. The first step always means dog poo, which I don't care for--but if the grass is going to be cut, poo needs not be underfoot...
Going out to clean up the back yard today, I discovered the cat had brought home a juvenile gopher. Usually not a big deal. But today she just HAD to be an asshole and torture the poor creature. Of all of my many dislikes in the world, seeing a creature in fear is the worst. I will do anything I can to alleviate fear in an innocent animal, be it rodent or rabbit. In previous years we've (unwisely) taken in a young pigeon--Lucky-- and a young rabbit--Boonda/Roar. I wanted to pick up that poor little gopher today and carry it away from my mean cat. And I know better, especially after the previous animals, which we eventually set free. So I tried to let the cat do her thing and be a predator.
Unfortunately, after watching her leave the critter to lay in the shade 2 or 3 times, I'd had enough. I tried to pick up the gopher with the pooper scooper, but it jumped off. The cat ran after. Brought it back, then went back to the shade. So I expedited the process and killed the thing. Which brought me to tears, because I have a bleeding heart.
Moral of the story is: next time I'm plugging my ears and turning up the music so I don't hear the repeated "eep" of the frightened thing. Ugh.

Moving on.....

After alllllll that drama, I cut the grass. I moved the hose, carefully trimmed around the strawberry patch and trees, and didn't bother with the middle of the back yard. As you can see in the pictures below, the yard has been attacked by dog pee. The yard lost.
After being in the sun for an hour, I had a little nap. And woke up to a kiss from the Mister.
He'd taken a break from helping his husband move in to the new house to come home and help me do a couple things. Outside we went, so he could take a look at the sprinkler heads before he turned the sprinkler system back on. The dogs joined us. Lily ran around like an idiot and Amber stuck to my side so Lily couldn't chew on her.
*side note: When the hell do dogs stop chewing on everything!? Lily loves to chew on Smudge and Amber. It's just not right. I want it to be a stage she'll grow out of, but what if it's not!?

Once the sprinkler heads were confirmed ok, Mister went into the crawl space and turned them on. Then went to the control panel and started checking their sprays one zone at a time. After hearing the front and side sprinklers come on and off, I knew the back was next.
The hissing of air being pushed out of the lines came first. Lily, of course, went right up to a head and started checking it out. *sniff sniff
That didn't last long because soon water was spraying out. Right into her face. She backed up pretty quick. Then went in to "attack" the spray. She took no prisoners.
Amber joined in the fun when the Mister came back to adjust the spray directions. Eventually they were both soaked and having lots of fun running around the yard like idiots together. Lily was too preoccupied with the water to chew on Amber, thankfully.

If we can get the dead spots in the yard taken care of, I'm hoping to make the space an area of peace. An oasis. A place to go in the summer and relax after a long day. The back faces east, so we get a beautiful sunset view of the Bridgers. I treasure the view every single day because I know eventually houses will be built and block my view. Maybe we'll build a second floor and add a balcony so I can get the sight back...?