Almost Done…. but is it?

It has been another action packed summer. Last year at this time the furnace and ducts were installed and we could start the plumbing! Wow, it only seems like that was yesterday and now we’re finishing up this years outdoor projects. I think it is true, when you get near the end of the roll, everything moves faster!

While we waited with baited breath for the gravel – Jim took a 4 day holiday so we had some extra time – I installed facia and soffits on the garage and Barb found something to do in her quilt room! I’m sure I have lamented about the Ash trees that have to be taken down due to the Emerald Ash Borer but they are not being taken down soon enough but rather coming down by themselves! On Sunday morning, we heard a load disturbance outside. We found a large limb laying beside the house and lots of leaves and debris on the roof. There was no damage but when I called, the on call guy came around to see us. Of course, our delay is because of the electric wires and the removal had become a politicol football and no one wants to claim responsibility for the job – they’ll wait until something more serious happens or someone gets hurt!

So, the gravel has arrived and Barb & I are psyched up that it is a small job to distribute and rake it out, after all, it is only 15 tons! You know that it also had to be one of the periods of hot weather just to make it more interesting. We tried having Jim spread it with the truck but the electric and telephone wires were in the way so he dumped the rest in the middle on the driveway. Bring on the wheelbarrow, shovels and rakes, let’s get this done! After a couple of hours, both our clothes were soaking from sweat and we were ready for a break – it must be happy hour somewhere! While we were sipping a cool one, we noticed a Red Headed Woodpecker busy with the kids in a nearby tree and we were able to get a couple of good shots.

We didn’t do much else for the next 4 days, shovel, dump and rake and finally, the driveway was done. As you can see from the photo, we have gravel left so we were going to move it to clear the driveway but we didn’t fancy the notion of touching it more than we have to so off to the rental centre and get that sod cutter again – we decided that it would be smarter to spread the gravel where we finally want it but we have to prep the yard first. It didn’t take us long with the sod cutter or exert too much energy and by the end of the morning, we were ready to spread more gravel – hurrah!

 

 

 

Hope all is well where you are….

More Driveway Work to be Done

You might think that after our week
with Nate, we would take a few days for ourselves - wrong, we have a driveway to finish.... but first we're off to a friend's 50th wedding anniversary in St Thomas Ont. We made it a day trip so we could get back to get started removing the asphalt on the driveway. John & Di celebrated their 50th with family and friends in Di's brother's new restaurant. We had a nice time, saw friends and then back on the road for home. Our trip back was uneventful but we decided to see if there is a more expedient way to get to our little house. Again, wrong.... even our GPS got angry with us for not following his directions and the trip took another 60 minutes longer!


We had removed
some asphalt earlier but that was just to get some trenching done for drainage but now that we have all that done, it is time to pull up the rest of the surface, move some of the 'old' mud laden gravel that provided no

drainage and widen the foot print so we can have space for guests to park - and maybe an RV can set up for a few nights too! With a pick ax, shovels, rake and a couple of old people pulling, raking and shoveling the crap into the back of the truck for disposal at the landfill. The truck was able to handle about half the driveway but we were dodging rain storms - we were half way to the landfill when the clouds opened up and dumped lots of water on us and not wanting to unload the truck in the rain, we turned around. The total job to get
all the asphalt up took a little longer than we expected but we persevered and finally we were ready to widen the foot print.

We decided to rent a sod cutter to remove and reuse the grass along the one edge of the expanded driveway. It was a beast to maneuver but after a quick lesson, Barb was able to do the job! We took the cut sod and placed it along the
street side of the deck to finish that off. After we were done, I had just enough energy to wash the truck. This showed us that we still had a drainage problem where we removed the latest turf so we dug yet another trench along that edge of the driveway. Will it ever end - oh the joys of home ownership!

Randy & Norma came over for a day of Fast Track, food and beverage and some good times. I couldn't talk them into moving any asphalt but Randy did help me with the empties! It was a welcome day off for us and we had fun to boot.

The next day, we're off to the landfill in Welland to be rid of the 'old' driveway. Our first trip cost us $11.00 and this one was $16.00! Their rate for disposal is $10/ton so we're sure our poor old truck was happy to see the end of that stuff too - I know our old bodies were. Now we have a trench across, down the centre and along one edge so we're confident that we won't be stepping out of the truck into muck or puddles again.

It has taken us awhile to decide on a border for the driveway. We want to minimize the amount of gravel that will overflow onto the lawns. We checked out wood products, cement products but decided on a rubber garden curb. It looks good, easy to install and it was on sale! Once the curbs were in, we were ready for gravel. Our gravel guy thinks a load (15 tons) might be too much but we have plans for next year so bring it on..... Wow, 15 tons....

I'm tired just thinking about it so I'll stop here. Hope all is good where you are and come back again to read about more fun times.....