Tag: Around The House

Sand Imperfections

On the way home from work today I stopped at Rona to get the rest of the supplies needed for the sandbox. I grabbed a few 2X6’s, and some landscaping fabric.

I built the framework I needed, and laid the fabric down. It is done as I can make it without filling it with sand.

Unfortunately some of the angles with the cement pad mad cutting the wood difficult. This has left a couple gaps in places. Turns out that I am more of a perfectionist than I thought. Right now the imperfections are bugging me, but time is running out. Also, I don’t have the tools, nor the know-how to fix these small imperfections.

I know that in a while it won’t matter, and I know the kids are going to have lots of fun in it, but I can’t help but be a little disappointed. I want it to be perfect for my kids.

Ambitious Difference

Yesterday was yard work day. Sox’s dad was down for a visit, so we enlisted him to help us rework the back yard. The goals were pretty ambitious. There was a lot of clean up to do, new flower beds to create, a new fence to install, and the apple tree needed a good pruning.

With a lot of hard work out in the rain, we managed to get almost everything done. The remaining things to do Sox and I can handle on our own. I am pretty amazed with how it has all turned out. The back yard is now divided with a dog side, and a people side. This is going to allow us to let Sprout roam around without fear of doggie ‘landmines’. The new/clean flower bed look great, and if we stay on top of the weeds, will look great for a long time. The trimming made such a huge difference to the look and feel of the yard. Throughout the day I made 4 trips to the municipal yard, and each time my truck was full to capacity.

My only disappointment was that we didn’t get to the ivy patch. By myself, this will take another day’s work, and probably another 3 truck loads of crap to the yard.

Read on for the before and after pics.

Before



The back bed.



The back corner.



The back side yard.



The back walkway.

After



The back bed.



Cleaned up flower bed.



The new fence.



The back walkway.

Forward Weeds

Yesterday was such a nice day, and I was so looking forward to getting out for a ride. Unfortunately I woke up feeling run down, and I had a sore throat. I think I picked up this cold from Sprout, but I am not 100% sure.

Instead I took it easy at home. The longer I was home the nicer the weather got, and the warmer it became. Damn.

As I was taking it easy I could hear some of the neighbours out mowing their lawns. I knew that our lawn needed to be done too since the dandelions were beginning to flower. I also knew that if I didn’t get out there and do it, that sox would when she got home and then I would just feel too guilty.

So I got out and mowed the lawn. It looked way better once I was finished, but this just pointed out to me how beaten up our yard has become over the last year of neglect. I can forsee many, many hours spent toiling to work back the weeds and repair the damage.

I also managed to get a little work done on our composter to (hopefully) stop the critters from invading it. I screened off one side of the composter where the critters had dug under the edge, and tunneled into the compost.

No progress on the deck this weekend either. What a waste of perfect work weather. I know the guy needs a weekend too, but our landlord has promised this deck will be done by the end of March. That is next weekend, and there is a bit more construction to do, then the entire deck needs to be stained. It is kind of out of my control, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hope it will be done. I just want my BBQ back up next to the kitchen and not in the carport any more.

Next weekend sox and I hope to tackle the dumping ground that our garage has become.

Deck Luxury

The man is on a roll. The deck is nearing completion. The guy doing the construction was out in the back yard in the rain for several hours on Sunday. I think he stopped when he ran out of wood. I am actually hopeful that he will finish by the end of the month. I just need to find out if he plans to stain the deck. If not, then I get to bring the BBQ back onto the deck instead of keeping it in the carport. That will be luxury!




Deck Screwed

Another deck update. Slowly but surely we are seeing some progress. Finally after several months of nothing. This weekend more decking was added, and the stuff that was already there, got properly screwed down (there was only a couple screws per piece of wood).

I just hope that the guy working on it remembers that we need access to the back yard. I hope he will build to one door or the other, and not in long strips like he is doing now. If he has to stop and we can’t let Yoshi in the back yard, I will be very unhappy.

Necessary Construction

Here is another deck update. On the weekend of Feb 3, the deck guy came by and finished the stairs framing, then covered them, and covered part of the deck. But he ran out of wood. This past weekend he stopped by and dropped off the necessary wood.

The weather this weekend doesn’t look like it will be conducive to construction.

Sigh. I just want it done, and so does our landlord.

Materials Staining

Time for a deck update. Not much has changed. The materials are in place, but there has been no progress on the decking at all. No change in the stairs off the deck. The only thing that has changed since my last post is two stair risers have been attached, and some sort of staining has been applied. That took 2.5 months. Hopefully nicer weather will allow some more (and quicker) progress soon.

Deck Individuals

Time for an update on the deck replacement progress. Last post we saw the deck was half demolished.

This post the new deck is half built. Last post was on September 9. This post November 12. This has been an ongoing process for over 2 months. Time to take some action and maybe get the individuals involved moving a little quicker. Not having a deck is a pain when you have a dog that wants to go outside to pee a few times a day.

These pics were actually taken Oct 28, but nothing has changed since then.

Rotted Pond

A while ago a board on our deck rotted through. There were several that needed replacing, so I mentioned it to out landlord. Since he is not in town he sent a friend over to check on the deck, and in the end decided to just replace the whole thing. This is awesome news for us. As tenants getting a new deck on the house you live in is pretty good. We are looking forward to having it completed, but for now the demo work is in progress:

We also talked with out landlord about the fish pond. It takes up a large space in our yard and really isn’t toddler friendly (not that we have a toddler yet). We have re-signed our lease for another year, and he likes us as tenants, so he has agreed to do something about the pond. First step was to relocate the fish, and drain the pond.

I’m hoping that he will allow me to demo the entire pond and fill in the hole. The problem with leaving it like this is that rain water will collect in the pond and make it a breeding ground for mosquito’s. The fish ate the larvae before, but with no fish, this is not good. Plus it is no safer for us. I also think that filling it as is won’t work either. Even if we fill it with dirt, tain will just collect in the bottom and turn it into a swampy mess. We could cut the liner our and fill it with dirt, but it we are wrecking the pond that much let’s really wreck it, and tear down the cement too. I must admit that I am a little sad to see the pond go. I’ve been taking care of it for a while now, and it was a fun pet project. Sox and I have been talking about this, and it may be time for me to get an aquarium for the house. Now that would be fun too!