Weekend warriors, water barrels and concrete!

Weekend Warriors woo hoo!

This past weekend  I didn't let the blazing heat keep me from work on the yard (or anything else for that matter) The downside is the need for constant fluid breaks.  When it's over 90 degrees and 50% humidity, being in the direct sun is exhausting. Nevertheless, Sunday I couldn't sleep so I got up around 5:30am (normally I sleep until 10am on my days off)  and began cleaning, organizing, and project fun. When Tim (my husband) wasn't melting he pitched in wherever needed.   Much of the work was in the garage but the yard and garden got a bunch of work done too!

  Cleaning and upgrading the shed...

  We added a shelf in the shed made from an old cupboard door and a spare 2x4 (kindly included in the purchase of the house). This meant I could hang up all those hoses that I keep tripping on.  I re-used twist ties that came with yard products (or string) and simply twisted or looped on a nail on the front of the shelf. They kindly turned themselves sideways improving my original plan and allowing me to put them very close together. 

The shelf turned out to be the perfect length to make a support space for some of the garden tools in the corner.  Excellent!

It's all about concrete

Mixed 12 buckets of concrete using a hand shovel and the grass edger turning myself into a human version of cement truck. This was used to stabilize the woodshed front posts (the back already had concrete) and the brick pathway that is under construction (picture below).



I kindly let Tim move the 80lb bags of mix. 

Concrete as stabilizer and weed reducer

I had originally started the path project without using sand or any intent to use concrete.  Mistake. Trying to get brick remotely level without sand is, well, almost impossible. Walking on it shifted the brick and weeds starting growing in the open squares.  Sure it looked good for a couple of hours but then the soil shifted, got wet, compacted etc.  As a result I had to re-set sections and there is more to correct.  I'm not so serious about  this project that I'm using a level - it's all eyeball. There is no doubt it slopes downward, but no worries - this will ultimately keep the rainwater run-off away from the house in the winter.  This area can get really muddy and It's the path to Tim's recently constructed paint booth.

www.dropoutart.com

Eventually the small spaces that I filled with concrete will have gravel/pebbles added for texture and interest. Maybe even glass pebbles?  Hmmm.

for other projects in process 8/11/14-8/17/14 -see additional posts