It’s nearing the end of the semester – a time when college students start scrambling for extensions. I don’t recall ever asking for an incomplete myself as a student, but as an instructor, I awarded my fair share of them. This type of inequality doesn’t sit well with me, so I am giving myself a number of incompletes to even the score.

Putting Away/Clean up — Incomplete

There is little reasonable excuse to be given for not putting things away, but I will give some anyway. Excuses and incompletes go hand in hand. The items in this category were in their present location for so long, I really thought they belonged there. Certainly, it would not take much to move them to the barn or other preferred spot, but it’s really windy outside. The cut cedar tree at the bottom greets us at the bottom of the drive every day – a constant reminder of things to be done. It’s almost in the way and will likely need moving before any real amount of snow falls.

Skirting Project – Incomplete

Once I made it far enough with the corrugated metal deck skirt to work on the steps, all work on the skirt seemed less fun. It still seems less fun. Extension granted to next Summer or late Spring when the ground is dry.

Gravel Piles – Incomplete

These are not snow drifts. They are piles of gravel that were supposed to be fill for the massively washed out driveway and pathways in the garden. Instead, they remain piles of gravel until next Spring. The workshop also has much interior work to be completed, but I can keep working on this during winter, so no incomplete is necessary.

Hoophouse – Incomplete

The hoophouse frame was assembled, but the cover material never materialized. It probably would have blown off this weekend anyway. Incomplete granted until cover is available.

Garden/Grape Maintenance – Incomplete

Early last season I spread some black plastic to solarize a new area for a raised bed. I buried in the edges to keep out the light and water – probably spent a couple of hours working on it. Later in the season, we noticed several tears in the plastic, but it had done its job – the grass underneath was dead. I never managed to prepare this bed and now bits of torn plastic remain resembling buried trash bags among weeds.

The grape trellis has been rather neglected. At a minimum the wires need some tightening. Perhaps I took the safety warning “Keep Hands Clear” a bit too literal. There are always incompletes around the garden, but these two stand out as items I had intentions to complete.

This very post was also an incomplete as the photos and idea have been around for a couple of weeks now. But now that it’s done, I can check this off the list. Complete.

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