Happy Mothers Day! Another beautiful weekend of sun and lovely temperatures. The tulips are blooming just in time for the start of Tulip Fest - which we have not yet enjoyed as we were too busy in the backyard (yahoo!).
Our big project this weekend was to build the garden boxes for the front. Last weekend we prepped the area, which included hours (!) of tacking the dense ground cover (ivy?) and moving the pebble rocks around to make space, lay down landscaping paper. Sort of tedious but had to be done, and lots of chatting with neighbours walking by. We learned that there used to be a huge tree out front that fell down two years ago - so that explains all the shade plants out front where there is so much sun and the roots in the ground. It was also nice to feel more and more connected with the area. All the kids know Chickpea and Garby by name. As of this afternoon, we now have two boxes that are 4 feet by 8 feet by 1 foot. We spent two hours yesterday to get the boxes built and in place. Abe found a good deal on kijiji to get a landscaping company to deliver a whack of soil - so much better than buying all those bags - and the huge pile of dirt was a real push to get the project done as we need the driveway for tomorrow. An hour later and both boxes are full of soil (our backs a bit sore), and a few things planted that we picked up at the Experimental Farm Plant Sale from today. Fun! We also planted a few cedars in the very front to get a little more privacy - and as a Bartlett of Bartlett Mills, I think I have a duty to plant a cedar tree. I'll probably plant some radish, spinach, lettuce, carrot later on this week provided I can figure out a good system to keep the squirrels out. Abe took the lead on installing a door at the front fence. Since we moved in, we've been using a little low doggy fence to keep Garby in but wanted a bit more security for the back area. We used to have a little shed off the back deck - which is now our future pantry, so they took off the door and closed up the gap. They were going to just throw the door in the garbage but figured we could maybe use it for something..... : ) To get shed door to fit, the door had to be shortened. Abe started worked away with the hand saw but was then suddenly very motivated to fix our electric circular saw. He watched a few youtube videos, did some googling, and lo and behold the saw works. I am still super impressed he fixed that circular saw. The revamped shed door is in place, looks a bit kitsch but is a good temporary measure until we tackle the bigger project of updating the fence. I liked having a lock entry to the back yard. In terms of the house renovation, it was a big week. All the electric and plumbing are roughed in and we passed the inspection. I am only mildly amazed we passed. Things should move along quickly now, dry wall up soon. Or the dry wall better be up soon, as our "kitchen" arrived on Saturday morning - so we now have over 150 boxes spread in the upstairs rooms. Not a huge deal, what's a few more boxes at this point, but all the same - shows how far behind the schedule is. The shower kit and laundry sink also arrived and are sitting outside under tarps. We are ready to be past this point, no more moving deadlines. Soon with the contracted work done, the shift of labour will be over to us. Our jobs coming up are to be ready to prime all the drywall once it is up , then paint, then install the floor- then the kitchen cabinets---and so on. No problem....or at least at that point, the schedule is under our control. Looking forward to plugging away at all the upcoming projects. :)
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Author: Leah BartlettLover of projects, big and small! I try to not be intimidated by lack of experience/skill/know-how. Archives
September 2018
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