Parking Area Update.

The easy part was digging the hole, now I have to go back and fill the thing up, somehow the logic of that escapes me, but I guess the ends justifies the means..or at least the process.

This is not the final stage of Phase Three. It is the middle of the process, however I had some help. Which was very helpful and without a doubt the best help out there.

Wait a minute, that is not the helper I am talking about, that's me.

Here's the guy that really made a difference in the project.

My Dad...best help...anywhere!

The rest of this phase will be leveling and tamping down the sand as much as possible, then start laying the flagstone.

Extremely Slow Yard Makeover

Welcome to Extremely Slow Yard Makeover. Today the project is filling in the hole we dug Friday. What makes this show different than the one we did three years ago. Where we had some trees removed, was that the family went to Disney World for the week. This year the family is doing most of the work.



As you can see the gravel has been spread, however it seems that we may need more. The task was not as difficult as expected, the gravel was a mix of rocks, and dirt, making it easier to shovel. It is going as planned.

The next phase is to tamp this down, which will consist of the use of a tool we purchased a long time ago for this project, it has been used only once before on a similar yet smaller project we did a few years back. Had this tool been on trial for not having been used in the past six months, it would have been convicted and sentenced to a yard sale.

On a side note, this is a good analogy of my life, I spent lots of time planning, than actually doing anything. So when it is time to do anything, I am at least ready, as far as applying the "six-month" rule, with me. I would be sitting at a yard sale with a price tag hanging around my neck.

Well I am done for today, blogging that is. I am planning on tamping the dirt during the week and if needed, will call in some more gravel.

On the next episode of Extremly Slow Yard Makeover or in Phase Three, we will be laying the flagstone and we may have some suprise guest to help.

How to Remove Dandelions

It seems that spring has sprung as well as the dandelion population, a colony of them have decided to plant themselves in our side yard. There are various ways to get rid of them, some will pick them, others will spray with chemicals, however I have found a way to get to the root of the problem and make a statement to any other freeloading dandelions that just happen to be in the neighborhood.



Okay, now that I think about it, I may have overreacted.


Digging up the dandelions was more of a fringe benefit of what is actually going on. Normally I would park my car in that area. We have been working on ways to reduce the amount of grass. So we are going to put in a flagstone parking area as well as widen the driveway with flagstones on either side.

Currently this is Phase One, which is somewhat complete, I am in the process of getting all the loose mud out of the hole, for the beginning of Phase Two, which is spreading out a layer of rocks, which I have had practice doing before, and one thing I learned is that rocks don't like being moved..and can become very stubborn about leaving their spot.

Phase Two starts tommorow, so I need to rest a bit.

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning is two words, one I love, the other ...well... I do my best to avoid at all cost. Both inspire rebirth. Rebirth may not be the best word to use in this comparison, if one considers what may have not been cleaned during the other three seasons, something that has been sitting there alone in the dark, pondering it's existence, "Am I something someone wants or at least has an unwarranted or unexplainable desire to keep around, or am I something that can not be explained and attracts proclaimations such as "Oh my stars, What is that?" and the most feared, "I am not touching that, call a professional."

Let's turn to Spring. It's the best time of year, flowers bloom, pollen flies, nose get stuffy, but there is no more damp, dark and dismal days. The days get longer, the nights getting brighter...On Broadway, okay so that's not the exact lyric, but the sentiment is there.

Spring is the time of excitement, maybe not on the level of a Broadway production, at least the temperature rises and the landscape gets brighter, however, the ticket prices are more reasonable.

What about the dust, the reason for cleaning, to understand cleaning, we must first understand dust, it has to make it's home in this world, however, cleaning sets in, there are some that will clean before the dust has a fighting, almost suicidal chance to settle, to find a comfortable place to rest, but there is cleaning happening and the dust realizes that it must go elsewhere, to a place where the vigilante unrelenting mission of cleaning is not as "restrictive"

So the destitute dust shows up at my house, finding a place that is somewhat more "user friendly". It is quiet, silent and realizes that if it just lands on the places that have the least restrictive cleaning regimen, it would be..to use a word..happy.

This is the reason that cleaning is a difficult thing for me, the idea of putting many dust particles in a state of homelessness, is something that don't sit well with me. Well.. until my wife states the obvious, dust is bad..it must go!


Sorry dust, but I do love the Spring...