Trench Story

Here a trench, there a trench, everywhere trenches! And you thought you'd be reading about brand new windows didn't you? Not yet my friends. Friday's window installation was delayed until Monday which was just as well because around these parts Friday was a busy day for trenches.

As in, trenches all over the back yard! First the plumber arrived to take water to the back side of the house. Our only hose was at the side fence, a pretty good distance to drag said hose. So....add a new hose bib, as the professionals call it, to the list of improvements. Weirdly enough, it was a man who we once knew fairly well, only to have lost touch for many, many years. In fact, it's been so many I did not even recognize him. Matt will surely recognize the name of Paul Wilson. At any rate here's his trench:

Note the size of those remaining roots! They are of the running variety which makes them more of a menace. This morning while I was helping at the museum, two fellas came to keep working on this area for eventual planting with the beautiful plants in the our holding pen. Of course with our new, or essentially new pool, the need to fill with water continuously to make up for leaks will hopefully be a non-existent situation. Nevertheless, there will be water when we need it.

Another improvement which will go unnoticed once everything is tidy again:

Notice the top left dirt by the fence if you will. Said trench follows the fence line down hill towards our neighbor's yard. Over the years our properties' grade was a little too high allowing water to not only pond in that pathetic grass area, but flood the patio as well. On occasion, in a torrential downpour, the water had the nerve to come into the sunroom uninvited. In the photo below, the drain, which looks like a box on his right,  will connect to the drainage tubing coiled to his left. Thus the second trench.

The third trench went unphotographed (is this a word?) because yours truly was too busy inside. What with our granddog Ginger here for the weekend, and a painting project underway, I didn't make it out to the side of the house where the electricians were digging a trench for power to both the shed and the fence. More on that later.

Once the hole was repaired it was time to finish the job with paint. Fortunately, because so many workman were here on Friday, Bruce elected to work from home. He helped me with the set up after I made a 7:30 AM trip to Sherwin Williams. In great timing for us when I visited there on Thursday to get some paint sample cards the clerk mentioned paint was 40% off on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You know how I love a bargain! For some time now I'd wanted to paint our bedroom anyway because I felt I wanted something a little lighter. It's funny how you can absolutely LOVE a color for a while and then you're over it. That's about how I felt regarding sage green. Arriving first thing with one of the curtain panels I chose a different color than what I'd planned walking into the store.

I just love that I have a super strong husband! I'd never get anything done without his muscles. The patch was done beautifully and now that the wall is painted you would never know. You know how I love to pick paint colors by their clever names but yesterday I had to settle for "Hearts of Palm" although with a name like that I may not forget it. Anyway here's when I was at the finish line:

It was so weird because as I put the new color on the other looked almost a bluish gray. Anyway, it's all done now and although this picture is not great due to faulty lighting you get the idea--basically a fresher version of the old:

Taking this first thing this morning,  I hoped you would be able to see the truck parked in our yard through the window. Remember the windows we started with. They are in there. Yep, Monday it will be.

Friday the window guy was here, as was Mark, and one of his carpenters. Setting up under a tent in our driveway, he cut all the framing pieces needed for the window install. Each glass panel is more than 7 feet tall by about 4 feet, not to mention 1" thick,  so it should really be something. All in all, I believe there must have been about 15 people here Friday. I told you it was crazy busy.

Naturally both Baxter and Ginger barked when new ones arrived.  Seriously, I was just a little crazy while it was all happening. And then, I was tuckered out, going to be at some ridiculously early hour.

Baxter is slightly intimidated both by Ginger's size and her activity level. We are accustomed to Baxter mostly laying around whereas Ginger is very, very curious. Probably disoriented as well. When Bruce came to bed last night, she barked and barked. Waking up a few hours later, I discovered Bruce sleeping on the couch with Ginger. He's not only strong, but sweet as well, isn't he?

My beloved Florida State Seminoles are kicking off any minute, so I'm signing off for today. Hope you're not bored with the renovation photos. Oh yeah, before I forget, Phil will not be starting the pool on Monday as planned, much to my dismay. It will be a week later. If you thought the yard looked bad before, you can see it looks even worse after the rain yesterday afternoon!

The saga continues........