Killer Week

My back is just killing me this afternoon. Just thought I'd share that with you folks. I need to make an effort to relax, stop doing stuff, and go to bed earlier. At least for a few days. It was a rough weekend.

The driveway stuff delivery did not come on Saturday as scheduled. They told Mike over the phone that there would be up to 5" pieces of cement in the reclaimed mix - too big for our taste. He cancelled it all and decided to go and look at our options before making a decision. When he came home Saturday night, he had been to the materials yard and decided that crushed blue stone would be a better way to go.

Lucky for us, they deliver on Sunday and the price wasn't that much more. $170 vs $120 for the concrete stuff. Done and delivered before noon on Sunday. What service!

Sunday afternoon, Mike was out of the house and I took it upon myself to paint the white on the porch steps.

Just tilt your head - this one won't turn in iPhoto for me. Grrrr!

 I may have failed to mention that I also wet wiped/dry wiped the basement tile grout on Saturday. Feeling motivated after finishing that job, I cleaned up the drywall mess in the tub and moved in the vanity and the bottom half of the toilet. (I should not have been lifting either.) Then, I put in the recessed light bulbs and trim on all but one recessed light. (Turns out the shower needs an R20 rather then an R16 bulb.)

I also brought more summer stuff on the porch - the cushion for the chaise and all the small plant holder tables. I checked BJ's, since that's where I got all my awesome porch plants at this time last year. But this year, they don't have anything similar. Just small ones. What a disappointment. Now I'll have to go on the hunt for similar ones at a similar price...

Anyway!

Monday, Mike gave the stairs a second coat and spread the stone. Turns out we just barely got not enough. There's a little portion across from the garage addition that will have to go without stone for a bit. Tuesday, Mike brought home a compactor from work and hit the entire stone driveway.

Meanwhile, I've been busy with preparations for Mikey's bday party saturday. Neither of us have been back in the basement, which is regrettable, but unavoidable at the moment.

Today I'm just exhausted and in total pain. I need to take it easy. It's not even Friday yet.

 

PS - Garage Trim. Very late in posting this pic!

Rock'N Out

My back is kinda sore, but the rock wall is done! And we actually had a good time, Mike and I. Yes we did. We grabbed a couple beers, set up the work light, and chucked rocks at dirt for the better part of 2 hours. It was great. Just like old times.

And I must admit, I'm pretty happy with the results. We used up all the rocks we gathered on Sunday, plus some huge ones we managed to roll into place.

Can't Stop the Rock

So as you can see, the rock wall now turns neatly to the right.... or left, depending on where you're standing. We went as far as the amount of rocks could take us. What we're going to do with the hillside to the left of the rocks in this pic... unknown. Maybe that area will just be grass.

And speaking of which, Mike is going to attempt to just change the oil in his skid steere and make it go - at least enough to spread loam. Plus, while we were standing around admiring our work last night...he noticed a high area that he'd like to grade down. Urgh. In my opinion, that man could find fault in the yard for an eternity just so he could keep digging with the big machine.

Then, he also dropped the bomb that he doesn't want to re-gravel the side driveway. He wants to put down something... I forget the word. But it's the poop they scrape off highways when they repave. Old asphalt. I don't like that idea at all. He's slowly trying to pave the entire yard is what he's doing. I much prefer the natural gravel look - it goes with the rock wall, and it provides better drainage. HE wants to eventually put a car lift in the side driveway.

Nuh-uh. No ways.

We'll see who wins out on this one. We did not come to any kind of agreement at that time.

But seeing as how we made so much great progress last night - I want to keep the train going and have Mike bring home that meshy stuff that goes under the lattice for the bottom part of the porch. If we can maybe get that stuff on tonight and the lattice tomorrow or Thursday?! Keep up the pace! THIS is the spring I'm talkin about.

If At First You Don't Succeed.... Get a Bigger Machine

AKA The Big Machine Fiasco of 2011.

Mike brought home the big machine on Thursday - a Case skid steere on tires. As you recall from last post, he spent all of Thursday night cleaning the yard in preparation. Friday he planned to dig up the side gravel driveway so that we'd be able to have the loam delivered and dropped there on Saturday.

It was all so smooth and easy and going according to plan. So of course, something had to go terribly wrong.

Friday night's disaster started with the Case. It couldn't even dig itself out of its own way! Seriously - no power. Mike struggled for a couple hours and finally gave in when the stoopid thing couldn't even get over a small dirt hump. He switched to our own John Deere skid steere... which we hadn't planned to use because we always considered it an inferior machine. Turns out, it kicks the stuffing out of the Case. It was actually doing a credible job... that is, until the motor blew up.

Yes, that little machine kicked the bucket at the absolute wrong time. Mike spent the rest of the night trying in desperation to fix it - but gave in upon the realization that the motor should really be re-built.

Saturday. Obviously, we weren't going to order loam without the means to move it and without a place to put it. Sad days.

Then Mike called me on his way home from work Saturday night. He was on his way to a job site where he would pick up a bigger big machine from another friend of his. The same bigger big machine, it turns out, that dug our basement years prior. (Ah, memories.)

Saturday night we had three machines - three trailers - and one boat in the neighbor's yard. OMG just doesn't cover what the neighbors must have thought... although they've got to be used to it by now. (We are good friends with most of them, one family hates us, and we have one newbie on one side that I think likes us...)

Anyway, when Mike rolled off the trailer with that third machine - a big Cat on tracks - he drove right over to the gravel driveway, scooped a scoop, and dumped it over the hill. Power! At long last! Sunday was going to be good... except now we didn't have the loam. Only one day with the machine and no loam...

8am Mike started up the machine. And it went so fast, I was convinced he was going to be finished with the whole job at noon! Sure enough, the driveway was done before 10.

Before noon, Mike had brought down the grade of the entire back yard to the correct level. Before 1, he cut a bit out of the hill on the other side of the garage - where we hadn't even planned to cut! Before 2, the entire back yard was smoothed over. Mike took the machine down back into the hole, where we picked up rocks to create a rock wall where our current rock wall now makes a sharp right. Before three, Mike decided to dig a hole out in the way back and bury two huge stumps.

Before 4, the machine was washed and back on its trailer and on its way back to the job site where it came from. Before 5, the cruddy tire Case was back on its trailer and on its way back to where it came from.

And we were all home about 8, having stopped for dinner on the way home.

The Old Gravel Driveway, now Dirt

The Opposite Side of the Garage soon to be Tie Wall

The New, Flat Back Yard

Now the only problem is the loam. How are we going to spread it once it's delivered? We may not be able to get the machine again... and ours is kaputkz.

For now, those thoughts are going to have to wait. This week, I hope to complete the rock wall on the new right hand turn of the back yard. I also hope to get some PT ties for the side yard on the other side of the garage. We can't have either side washing out... but I have no clue what's involved for the ties. Rocks are easy. You just throw 'em on. Looks rustic. I might even do that tonight if I can muster my strength enough.

Can You Dig It?

Just call me A Mess. After a near- recovery, I've slipped into relapse town. I don't know if this is allergies, viruses, infections, or just generalized internal chaos (great band name by the way) but I'm sick and tired of it. So sick and tired that I've resumed all normal activity - whether I feel like poo or feel like sunshine, I do whatever I normally do. I just have to. That's the bottom line. I can't stay stagnant for weeks on end.

Since the garage doors are in and working and since the remainder of my railings are still on back order, Mike and I have moved forward on other projects. Just last Friday I came home early and painted a lot of the farmer's porch trim and puttied some more nail holes. I still have the front facing, exterior farmer's porch trim to putty and paint - but that will have to wait until Mike sets up the ladder for me. Because I'm petrified of heights. (As my good friend Ryan put it, "I'm not afraid of heights - it's just that 'Woe!' feeling you get when you're on top of the ladder.")

Mike, meanwhile, continues to clean up his mechanical hoarding. Last weekend he gave away a set of rims and a giant tire.

And just this week, we're gearing up for warm sunny weekend weather with a couple projects in mind. Just last night, for example, I tidied the camper in preparation for its departure on Friday. Tonight, Mike will install his brake controller so he can safely tow the thing to our friends' house. (Yes, we share the camper.)

This move will free up the gravel driveway so that Mike can use his skid steere to remove all the rocks and fix the grade. (Out and away from the garage this time!) Once this has been accomplished, we'll order a dump load of loam and have it dumped right in the once-gravel driveway area. And this is because....

Next Sunday the 8th, Mike is borrowing a bigger machine from some friends of his to grade the backyard and spread the loam. (Nothing says Happy Mom's Day more then big machinery....) And I know we previously decided NOT to re-grade... but Mike has the opportunity to borrow the machine for free and we're eager to dig below and cover up any broken glass and debris leftover from last year's vehicle headaches and trash burying of years past. SO, there ya go.

Additionally, Friday or Saturday night, Mike is going to pick up stain and the porch staining machine. (Three non-rainy days in a row? Yup, I'll stain for that.) Tonight and/or tomorrow night, my task will be to clean off the porch in preparation. And hopefully with the machine, it won't take too much time once we get started either.


Stay tuned - this renovation freight train is coming through....

Full Frontal Photoshop

I'm getting waaay too ambitious again. Either that or my vitamin D level has dropped to catastrophically low  proportions.  Whatever the reason - I hit the photoshop again. And despite the fact that I'm not totally finished with this pic, I have a need to share anyway.

 

Click to Enlarge

Check it out!!! The green grass, the lush trees, the fully-doored garage, the nicely paved driveway, the shutters, the front steps, the maple tree on the left hand side that you can barely see, the lattice, and of course the rock wall.

That's the unfinished part. I have to put some plantings in there. Listen to me, I talk like the photoshopping is the hardest part of this whole landscaping thing. If I think this is difficult... woo! I ain't seen nothin yet.

Here's the "Before" picture. (I quote it because in reality, we're still in the "Before" state.)

Thwarted By the 4th!

I seem to have forgotten last week that this week holds the infamous 4th of July holiday. The 4th is traditionally Boat Day, as Mike and I and our compadrates set sail for the Lewis Bay fireworks. (And when I say "set sail," what I really mean is "not in a sailboat because I hate sailboats.")

But alas - our new boat was not yet ready to go.... If you may recall from a bz'gillion years ago, it was on stands in the backyard... sans trailer... which was in the sideway (side-driveway)... sans functionality.

So Mike took as much time as he could on Sunday - had a friend of his over to help - and worked tirelessly to fix the trailer, pull the boat on, and replace the power steering lines..

The roof? Not yet. The porch? Not yet.

But I'm still quite pleased. The separately parked boat and trailer were taking up double space in the yard and sideway. Now, with the boat on the trailer, the back yard is... well, it's not clean. There's still that stupid Dodge #2 back there. But it's a yard minus a 23' boat - so I'd call that progress!

This weekend? There's that 4th to contend with, of course. Plus, in typical 4th fashion, a party on the eve of the 3rd. I've got the 5th off, but no doubt we'll be dealing with the repercussions of the 3rd and 4th if we even make it to the 5th in one piece!

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