A Visit With Peep and Stitch
We needed to call in the troops to help with a drainage ditch...and as you will see in this blog...we needed a lot of help!
Peep and Stitch came to supervise, dig, trench...just help with just about any job that we had to do and then some. Stitch came to play with Ella, Tobi and Seau. She was also practicing her sneaking skills. She might be long and slow but she is the best sneak-er-offer you have ever seen. Don't you just want to take her home with you?
Project #1 Mark had other ideas for us to begin with but Peep and I wanted to get this project finished first. I had seen a pictures in a magazine from the library for a fountain using an old watering can. This is our version of that picture. We all went to Lowe's or Home Depot..I can't remember which one because it seems that we live at both...and we found all the things that we needed. We had to start early in the morning so it would be cooler to work...you know all us old farts...hot weather takes it's toll.
This is the finished fountain...but later on in the blog you will see that this fountain was incorporated into a new flower bed...can't imagine that can you! The process went better and faster than I thought it could ever possibly go. I transplanted hosta and some other flowers from the yard and them Mark found some flowers on clearance at one of those home places. It sounds so good. And if we open the window in the kitchen right by the table you can hear the water hit the rocks. I love that sound. It is really nice...calming. Wonder if the deer will find it and drink out of it? Stitch drinks out of the grinding stone fountain every chance she gets.
Project #2 Does this look impressive...do they look like they know what they are doing...do the boys know that if they are that close they might get hurt? Mark and Peep rented a ditch digger. This would be tons faster than digging a ditch for the drainage pipe from the front yard to the front yard. You would think so, They managed to get it off the trailer and up the driveway. They even got it to the correct location to begin the process. Even turned it on and dug a little hole. But then something happened and the machine sat there for almost 24 hours not being used because we couldn't get it started.
I even went next door and asked John and Renee's brother, Bob, if they could come over to see if they could help. They pulled and pulled until there was sweat everywhere. We even got out the direction booklet that was with the machine. Nothing they tried worked. Mark called that place and told them it wouldn't work. They said that they wouldn't have a tech until the next day around 2PM. So this machine sat in our back yard while we did everything else that we could around it.
They guys finally showed up and worked out the problems and my Dad somehow sweet talked them into digging the ditch for us. One hour and 45 minutes later the ditch was dug...but one of the things wasn't working so we had to go back and shovel out the dirt. Calling all hands...Bryce came with Tini and the dogs to help. We ended up having to buy a cool shovel made especially for dirt removal out of a 4 inch ditch.
One ditch dug. One ditch dirt removal accomplished. Time for the inspector...did we do it right? We got two thumbs up for our job. Now all that we had to do was add the black pipe and make sure that it was at an angle that would take all the water down the drain and out the pipe. I had to make sure that it was at a quarter of a bubble. We got her done before Mark came home from work. He was impressed.
Project #3
When Mark and I cleaned out behind the barn we found two end fence posts that were left over from all the fence building in WI. What to do with them? Put the in the ground. Go buy to rails and add a fence to the fountain bed. They had to be really careful not to dig in the hole that we just filled in.
Mr Fit-It
I think Mr. Fix-It came at just the right time. Seems like everything was starting to fall apart. Maybe because they are were used just about everyday. Our tiller...my favorite garden tool in the world...just stopped one day. Mark figured out that it was a cable and Peep figured out how to fix it again. I got a lesson on how to fix it just in case it ever happens again.
This hose reel had never not leaked. We would always have to be sure to watch how much water was on the ground after turning on the hose. A pair of channel locks did the trick. It is so dry around it now. Life is a wonderful thing.
Then there was cement chipping. We had to chip away a couple of inches so our drain would fit up snug against the patio. My job was to go after tools that anyone needed, keep the boys busy and out of the way, give my two cents worth...without Mr. Fix-It, we could have never finished all the projects that we did. I can only imagine that he will think twice before he comes again. The next trip will be in the winter when we don't have so many things to do. He needs a break.
Finished Projects
In a few weeks we will have grass in an area that has not seen grass I am sure for 10's of years. I have been instructed to water twice a day and to pray over it. I can't wait to see the grass. It will look so different.
Here's the almost finished product. I would love to be able to find a trumpet vine or some vining plant to bring the humming birds over. I plan on eating tons of meals out here as soon as we find a square table and chairs on sale. It is all starting to come together.
Next Project Michael and I are going to turn the play set into our version of a beached pirate ship. Out neighbors are in the Outer Banks now and they are on the look out for some great pirate stuff for us to use. We gave them a list.
Peep and Stitch came to supervise, dig, trench...just help with just about any job that we had to do and then some. Stitch came to play with Ella, Tobi and Seau. She was also practicing her sneaking skills. She might be long and slow but she is the best sneak-er-offer you have ever seen. Don't you just want to take her home with you?
Project #1 Mark had other ideas for us to begin with but Peep and I wanted to get this project finished first. I had seen a pictures in a magazine from the library for a fountain using an old watering can. This is our version of that picture. We all went to Lowe's or Home Depot..I can't remember which one because it seems that we live at both...and we found all the things that we needed. We had to start early in the morning so it would be cooler to work...you know all us old farts...hot weather takes it's toll.
This is the finished fountain...but later on in the blog you will see that this fountain was incorporated into a new flower bed...can't imagine that can you! The process went better and faster than I thought it could ever possibly go. I transplanted hosta and some other flowers from the yard and them Mark found some flowers on clearance at one of those home places. It sounds so good. And if we open the window in the kitchen right by the table you can hear the water hit the rocks. I love that sound. It is really nice...calming. Wonder if the deer will find it and drink out of it? Stitch drinks out of the grinding stone fountain every chance she gets.
Project #2 Does this look impressive...do they look like they know what they are doing...do the boys know that if they are that close they might get hurt? Mark and Peep rented a ditch digger. This would be tons faster than digging a ditch for the drainage pipe from the front yard to the front yard. You would think so, They managed to get it off the trailer and up the driveway. They even got it to the correct location to begin the process. Even turned it on and dug a little hole. But then something happened and the machine sat there for almost 24 hours not being used because we couldn't get it started.
I even went next door and asked John and Renee's brother, Bob, if they could come over to see if they could help. They pulled and pulled until there was sweat everywhere. We even got out the direction booklet that was with the machine. Nothing they tried worked. Mark called that place and told them it wouldn't work. They said that they wouldn't have a tech until the next day around 2PM. So this machine sat in our back yard while we did everything else that we could around it.
They guys finally showed up and worked out the problems and my Dad somehow sweet talked them into digging the ditch for us. One hour and 45 minutes later the ditch was dug...but one of the things wasn't working so we had to go back and shovel out the dirt. Calling all hands...Bryce came with Tini and the dogs to help. We ended up having to buy a cool shovel made especially for dirt removal out of a 4 inch ditch.
One ditch dug. One ditch dirt removal accomplished. Time for the inspector...did we do it right? We got two thumbs up for our job. Now all that we had to do was add the black pipe and make sure that it was at an angle that would take all the water down the drain and out the pipe. I had to make sure that it was at a quarter of a bubble. We got her done before Mark came home from work. He was impressed.Project #3
When Mark and I cleaned out behind the barn we found two end fence posts that were left over from all the fence building in WI. What to do with them? Put the in the ground. Go buy to rails and add a fence to the fountain bed. They had to be really careful not to dig in the hole that we just filled in.Mr Fit-It
I think Mr. Fix-It came at just the right time. Seems like everything was starting to fall apart. Maybe because they are were used just about everyday. Our tiller...my favorite garden tool in the world...just stopped one day. Mark figured out that it was a cable and Peep figured out how to fix it again. I got a lesson on how to fix it just in case it ever happens again.
This hose reel had never not leaked. We would always have to be sure to watch how much water was on the ground after turning on the hose. A pair of channel locks did the trick. It is so dry around it now. Life is a wonderful thing.
Then there was cement chipping. We had to chip away a couple of inches so our drain would fit up snug against the patio. My job was to go after tools that anyone needed, keep the boys busy and out of the way, give my two cents worth...without Mr. Fix-It, we could have never finished all the projects that we did. I can only imagine that he will think twice before he comes again. The next trip will be in the winter when we don't have so many things to do. He needs a break.Finished Projects
In a few weeks we will have grass in an area that has not seen grass I am sure for 10's of years. I have been instructed to water twice a day and to pray over it. I can't wait to see the grass. It will look so different.
Here's the almost finished product. I would love to be able to find a trumpet vine or some vining plant to bring the humming birds over. I plan on eating tons of meals out here as soon as we find a square table and chairs on sale. It is all starting to come together.Next Project Michael and I are going to turn the play set into our version of a beached pirate ship. Out neighbors are in the Outer Banks now and they are on the look out for some great pirate stuff for us to use. We gave them a list.
Comments
Teresa