Sorry--- It's been a tough time last month, since losing Finnegan, and I took a break from blogging....
I am back now that we are doing some National Folk Farmhouse Projects!
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As I said in my title, "UFF DAH" ... We are both feeling a tad bit achy this evening. Why? Hmmmmmm because Mr. Steveio had a new project in mind. Of course, as his sidekick, I had to hop to it and help him with whatever he comes up with.
He even bought me a NEW pair of leather work gloves... Good to be suspicious when your loving husband gives you WORK gloves?
(They are very nice gloves, I must admit)
Sooo what was this stinker up to? The snow has mostly melted this week, but the frost is still in the ground. Things have been getting a bit mushy on the sunshiney days, and we are getting some mud tracked in from the yard.
We know since building the little pergola between the garage and the house, the walkway is pretty good and our feet stay clean when coming from the garage. But if we come through the yard on the grass portion between the garage and the She Shed, the mud will get tracked in as soon as Spring arrives.
Right now it is lawn...
but soon to be mud.
There is also a 6x12 patio area near the back door to the fenced in dog yard that is cracked and in need of replacement or repair. Again, that will track in the mud as well.
Well, that Steveio had pondered getting concrete walkways and a cement patio poured this Spring. He made a few phone calls and got a few estimates. It was a tad bit more than our retirement budget can handle. Sooooo He took a good long look at his other options. Off to the local Big Box store we went, (Menards) to the outdoor garden center.
We put those work gloves to good use!
Each block weighs 32 pounds....
and are very rough on the hands.
We loaded up 30 blocks, and then we strapped a flat piece of OSB board over the top to keep them from possibly bouncing or sliding around. Just this load was 1,000 pounds, and we didn't want to overload our little trailer. Instead, we took three round trips of 44 miles each.
The stones we picked out are 16x16 cast cement slabs, that match what the previous owner had already put in the front yard for a sidewalk. Instead of pouring concrete, in three different areas around our yard, we decided to just create another walkway and a patio to match what is already here!
(this is the front sidewalk made by the previous owners)
Fortunately, Mr. Bargain Hunter Stevieo found that these blocks were on sale this week, up until Saturday. So it was important to haul them as soon as we could, and not be in a crowded store on Saturday with the weekend shoppers.
We unloaded the first 30 blocks and set them right into place on the frozen ground. As the frost goes out, they will sink down some. If we need to, we can dig up some of the turf underneath them later this spring. Once they are firmly in place, we will sweep in the special polymer sand that creates a cement type bond between the stones and prevents the weeds from growing up in between them. They are SO heavy, they don't shift around at all, even when they are just set on the grass.
While we worked, we had our "Supervisor" who made sure we did a good job. Since Finnegan passed away, she clings to us, and doesn't leave our sides. This is about as far away as she ever gets. Keeping a close eye on us, she won't let us leave or even turn away for a minute. I went into the garage for a rake, and she followed me just to make sure I wasn't leaving her behind. She is adjusting to the loss of Finnegan, as we all are. Sigh.
After the first 30 blocks we laid, we got back in the Saturn and headed up for batch number 2.... again, strapping things down securely and making sure that the load wouldn't shift around or fall off. I see too many crazy people who load things haphazardly on trailers or in the back of pickup trucks. I hate following them on the highway, and don't trust them at all. An extra strap or two is worth the time to keep other people safe as well.
Right after lunch, we got the second batch unloaded. We set the last few blocks to get around the corner and now out to the edge of the driveway. We will take a shovel to the gravel later to level out the last two blocks and ease any tripping hazards.
Once they are done settling, we can add a bit of gravel here and there underneath certain blocks until they are all level. I can just see Steve now, crawling around on the sidewalk, with his lazer level, making sure each one is perfectly aligned. LOL
We went back to the store for the third and final load. This one stayed on the trailer tonight, while we just backed it right into the garage. We will unload the rest of those tomorrow, or maybe the next day, depending on our aching backs!
Those remaining stones will go for the 6x12 patio area, but first we have to prep that surface and get more packing gravel and sand to make it level before we lay those stones. We can do that a few at a time, and not as zoom zoom zoom as we did this first part. I hope?
Are we getting too old for this stuff? Not sure, but we can see where people at our ages start opting to get handymen to do this type of stuff.
Steve would like the patio area out the side door by the dog yard, because he has treated himself to a NEW GRILL! His other little one in the motorhome has seen better days, so he will move the table top Weber Q out to the motorhome now. He has been just carrying it out and back into the garage each time we grill out at home. Now he will get a regular grill set up outside on the patio and we will order a nice cover for it. The extra bonus is that it is much closer to the kitchen, and he won't be traipsing back and forth through the entire She Shed to cook out near the garage.
(this is the new grill in a temp position near the pergola)
It even has a bottle opener
and bottle cap receptacle
built onto the grill!
This looks like a happy grilling man! I don't mind him wanting a bigger grill, plus he helps with half of the cooking tasks anyhow. Might as well enjoy it, right?
Notice the ivy plants? I left them out all winter in the frozen north sub zero temps. They are soft and pliable and greening up! Amazing, I never knew common garden center ivy plants would make it through a Wisconsin winter?
Speaking of Wisconsin Winter, since we have upgraded the attic insulation last fall, as well as replacing the windows on most of the house. Our heating bills are 30-40% less than last year. Plus our "heating degree days" are even colder than last year. It was a worthwhile investment to change out the windows and replace all of the insulation with better R value and more evenly covered attic spaces.
We have been trying to keep busy during the last month or so. I was working on this latest quilt. I call it the Coffee Break Quilt.
It is a queen size, and all finished up and ready for sale on my Etsy site:
Here is a closeup of the quilt... it has cute coffee motifs in the center of each block surrounded by "log cabin" style construction of the quilt pattern. Then there are swirls of my own free motion stitching that resembles the brewing steam emanating from the mugs of coffee.
Stay tuned for the next batch of upcoming projects in our old Farmhouse. I think it might be replacing these windows in the kitchen nook. We have the large window configuration for the right side windows already in the garage, waiting to get installed. The left window is on order, and due to arrive next week! We hope.
I hope we can handle the next project. For how much my back is aching tonight, I sometimes have my doubts. For now, I am going to relax in my tub and pop a few ibuprofen. I think Steve is going to do the same.
Little Binney worked hard as a Supervisor.
She has the right idea.
I hope to write more regularly,
now that we are facing Springtime:
More Camping
More House Projects
More Family Time
and
Less Covid!!
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