The last Vacation Day of 2018
To-day I am taking the last vacation day from those alloted to me in 2018. It took me this long to spend it. It was the best time to take vacation, as everyone else had finished theirs and the new quarter had just started without our specific objectives assigned. Certainly I had things to do, like finish the assignment from last quarter, but as I was already graded on the work from the last quarter (75%, not 100%), I didn't need to push to finish right away (no incentive).
I did have an incentive to finish working on our yard before it became unbearably hot, so that is how I am spending my vacation.
Also I know I have been fatigued at work from constantly pushing, so really needed some time doing something other than looking at a laptop and attending meetings.
In fact, I just don't want to hear human voices other than Marisa's and on television programming of my choosing. Hearing the neighbors talk, for instance, is not something I am interested in. Hearing the crows caw at each other, or the song birds...that is what makes working outside worthwhile to me.
I was lucky to-day that chatter was fairly minimal and outdoor engines (such as lawn mowers, leaf blowers and the like) were not heard at all. Wish I could stop all cars and trucks from running, but the House70 car is a hybrid (very little noise) and there was no noise from that diesel truck across the street.
To-day my work took me in circles, well, maybe ovals.
My task was simple--open up a 36 inch wide end walkway area capping the end of the east driveway, level it, add landscape fabric, then add pebbles. Not so easy when I hit a massive piece of concrete which was once a walkway around that part of the house (northeast corner).
The concrete was under the table which I also wanted to move. So instead of completing my task as planned I added a new task--move the table from the northeast corner to the southeast corner.
It wasn't just moving the table, but all the things on it or under it. I had already cleared off and positioned another table under the kitchen windows as far west as it could go but not past the window well. I moved painted picket pieces and stacked them neatly on the table against the siding, then collected weeds as I walked west and then north around the house (lots of Poke), put the weeds in the green bin...then repeated this process with different objects and different weeds!
Eventually, with everything on top moved to the other table I was able to lift the table and move it to sit right next to the other. I stopped to pick up roof debris and blue plastic to put them in an improvised garbage container (sliced nested half-gallon plastic planters), then pulled more weeds and did the oval again.
Finally I picked up some objects sitting under the old table and in two trips managed to clear the entire area and have the objects on the other side of the house well-organized for later use.
Then--lift the concrete! It was a four-inch thick slab about a yard square. I couldn't lift it by the edge, but then I remembered my simple machines. My tamper metal rod allowed me to tip the slab up, but it was not enough. So I pulled a 2x8 from the pile. That created a better lever. Still not enough. Then I added a higher fulcrum (another chunk of concrete) and that did it. I counter balanced the weight with another chunk of concrete so I could get to the large slap and push it to the side. It worked! Once on its side it was much easier to manuever out of the area I wished to level.
I finished leveling the area and I put away my tools and came in as it started raining and I was tired, my back was hurting, I was thirsty and hungry.
To-morrow I will put down the landscape fabric, then dump pebbles I had from the Heating Oil Tank excavation. That should be enough to serve as base and prevent weeds from growing there. I haven't decided if I want to add the pavers for this now or wait. If I did it all with 6x6's it would cost me $108. I am sure mixing with 9x6's will end up costing about the same.
There are so many other things I need to do without spending anything, so I will do those first and if I can finish all of them I can move on to this.
[] haul away dirt (including dirt by rain barrel) to Byron Hill 2.
[] weed area between driveway cap, house, heat exchanger and the Chimney Memorial Walkway and cover with newpaper and then cardboard and some bricks to keep it down. When I can buy some medium bark I can cover with that.
[] prepare LBT to accept masonry.
[] move masonry.
[] move concrete posts and sidewalk slab.
[] weed northeast property corner
[] weed the back lawn, flower beds, pathway and patio.
[] mow the back lawn.
[] mow the park strip, sweep, rake and trim along the sidewalk and curb
[] clean front step and treat against moss.
[] put up pickets for garbage corner.
[] fix dip in front driveway.
[] level heat exchanger.
[] clean top of rain barrel and level.
[] weed area between prospective tetherball court and gate.
[] trench circle for tetherball court, add landscape fabric, gravel from front driveway, then stones.
[] dig deep hole for evergreen tree new location.
[] dig out evergreen tree and transplant.
[] paper/cardboard area around new tree location.
---------
Marvin's Garden looks really nice to me with the Douglas Spirea and a new red flowering plant.
The red shamrock plant I had transported seems to love it in Squeaker's Corner. The leaves are bright and I have seen yellow flowers for several weeks now.
The violet plant's leaves look good but it appears to have stopped flowering. Oh, well, maybe it will come back next year.
The Self-Heal plant has pretty much finished flowering. It was really nice to have it this year in both Marvin's Garden and across the front walkway.
I did have an incentive to finish working on our yard before it became unbearably hot, so that is how I am spending my vacation.
Also I know I have been fatigued at work from constantly pushing, so really needed some time doing something other than looking at a laptop and attending meetings.
In fact, I just don't want to hear human voices other than Marisa's and on television programming of my choosing. Hearing the neighbors talk, for instance, is not something I am interested in. Hearing the crows caw at each other, or the song birds...that is what makes working outside worthwhile to me.
I was lucky to-day that chatter was fairly minimal and outdoor engines (such as lawn mowers, leaf blowers and the like) were not heard at all. Wish I could stop all cars and trucks from running, but the House70 car is a hybrid (very little noise) and there was no noise from that diesel truck across the street.
To-day my work took me in circles, well, maybe ovals.
My task was simple--open up a 36 inch wide end walkway area capping the end of the east driveway, level it, add landscape fabric, then add pebbles. Not so easy when I hit a massive piece of concrete which was once a walkway around that part of the house (northeast corner).
The concrete was under the table which I also wanted to move. So instead of completing my task as planned I added a new task--move the table from the northeast corner to the southeast corner.
It wasn't just moving the table, but all the things on it or under it. I had already cleared off and positioned another table under the kitchen windows as far west as it could go but not past the window well. I moved painted picket pieces and stacked them neatly on the table against the siding, then collected weeds as I walked west and then north around the house (lots of Poke), put the weeds in the green bin...then repeated this process with different objects and different weeds!
Eventually, with everything on top moved to the other table I was able to lift the table and move it to sit right next to the other. I stopped to pick up roof debris and blue plastic to put them in an improvised garbage container (sliced nested half-gallon plastic planters), then pulled more weeds and did the oval again.
Finally I picked up some objects sitting under the old table and in two trips managed to clear the entire area and have the objects on the other side of the house well-organized for later use.
Then--lift the concrete! It was a four-inch thick slab about a yard square. I couldn't lift it by the edge, but then I remembered my simple machines. My tamper metal rod allowed me to tip the slab up, but it was not enough. So I pulled a 2x8 from the pile. That created a better lever. Still not enough. Then I added a higher fulcrum (another chunk of concrete) and that did it. I counter balanced the weight with another chunk of concrete so I could get to the large slap and push it to the side. It worked! Once on its side it was much easier to manuever out of the area I wished to level.
I finished leveling the area and I put away my tools and came in as it started raining and I was tired, my back was hurting, I was thirsty and hungry.
To-morrow I will put down the landscape fabric, then dump pebbles I had from the Heating Oil Tank excavation. That should be enough to serve as base and prevent weeds from growing there. I haven't decided if I want to add the pavers for this now or wait. If I did it all with 6x6's it would cost me $108. I am sure mixing with 9x6's will end up costing about the same.
There are so many other things I need to do without spending anything, so I will do those first and if I can finish all of them I can move on to this.
[] haul away dirt (including dirt by rain barrel) to Byron Hill 2.
[] weed area between driveway cap, house, heat exchanger and the Chimney Memorial Walkway and cover with newpaper and then cardboard and some bricks to keep it down. When I can buy some medium bark I can cover with that.
[] prepare LBT to accept masonry.
[] move masonry.
[] move concrete posts and sidewalk slab.
[] weed northeast property corner
[] weed the back lawn, flower beds, pathway and patio.
[] mow the back lawn.
[] mow the park strip, sweep, rake and trim along the sidewalk and curb
[] clean front step and treat against moss.
[] put up pickets for garbage corner.
[] fix dip in front driveway.
[] level heat exchanger.
[] clean top of rain barrel and level.
[] weed area between prospective tetherball court and gate.
[] trench circle for tetherball court, add landscape fabric, gravel from front driveway, then stones.
[] dig deep hole for evergreen tree new location.
[] dig out evergreen tree and transplant.
[] paper/cardboard area around new tree location.
---------
Marvin's Garden looks really nice to me with the Douglas Spirea and a new red flowering plant.
The red shamrock plant I had transported seems to love it in Squeaker's Corner. The leaves are bright and I have seen yellow flowers for several weeks now.
The violet plant's leaves look good but it appears to have stopped flowering. Oh, well, maybe it will come back next year.
The Self-Heal plant has pretty much finished flowering. It was really nice to have it this year in both Marvin's Garden and across the front walkway.