We are paved!

Yesterday was my day to stay home and monitor the job.  Even though I didn’t have to lay conduit, I still needed to make some decisions on the fly – the kind one makes and then has to live with.  Up to a certain point, adjustments could be made.  Pretty soon, though, things start happening very quickly and  it’s hard to reign the momentum back in.  Of course, changes can be made at any time, it just gets progressively more expensive to make them.

Paul couldn’t stand being away and came home in the early afternoon.  By then, everything was rapidly moving along and we both just stood back and admired their work. 

Although we don’t often contract jobs out (we are fairly handy and, um, cheap), when we do, it’s nice to watch experts at work. The good news: things got done quickly; they’ve done the job so many times before they didn’t spend time agonizing over minor nits.  The bad news: there was a lot of waste.  When just a small corner was needed from a brick, the rest of the brick was tossed (hopefully to be ground down and used again).  A lot of small corners equal a lot of waste.  If we had done the job ourselves, we would have used parts of one brick in several spots – much less waste.

Towards the end of the day, several cars of new workers began showing up.  We were told that these were all crew chiefs.  As their individual jobs finished, they’d send their crews home and gather at any remaining job sites that could benefit from extra help.  Watching these men work was truly amazing; each had a role and knew how to perform it.  In no time at all our job was complete (2 days!) and they were off to enjoy their weekend.  

Now that the pavers are in, we will begin to prepare the soil for planting.



This photo doesn't show the finished installation - we still have to clean and seal the bricks.



Finally, some progress!

The crew showed up at 8:30 this morning to begin the pre-installation work.  I have a previously scheduled meeting in LA today so my husband stayed home so he could be on site to “supervise,” answer any questions, and lay the conduit when it’s time.  In addition to taking digital photos for our records, I have asked him to text me with pictures throughout the day so I can see the progress.  Since I will be on the train for a good part of the day, I hope to get regular updates so I can feel at least part of the process.

I came home from my trip to find our front yard transformed to a gravel and sand lot.  I guess it’s better than the dead grass and weedy mess we had going on,  but I’m anxious to get the pavers in.   Paul said that a lot of the neighbors stopped by to see what we were doing (they probably were reluctant to ask before when our yard looked so bad, fearing the worse). 

The Big Dig

Our front yard is looking better and better!  I’m pretty sure our poor neighbors are wondering what the heck is going on; first, our lawn started to slowly turn brown (thanks to an overall spraying of Round-up), then large sections have been scraped of vegetation (albeit brown, ugly vegetation) and trenches have been dug for irrigation and lighting conduit. 

My husband and I have never done anything quickly so this process has taken longer than we hoped.  Since we seldom pay for someone else to do work we can do ourselves, what we save in dollars we lose in efficiency.   

Now, we wait until we are scheduled for the paving stones to go in.  The company we contracted with will remove soil and hardscape in the areas the pavers will be installed, slope the area for proper drainage, and lay the DG and sand foundation.  Then, the bricks will be installed.  The whole process should take around 2 – 3 days.

My childhood home

Over the past few months, my focus has been diverted from our front yard project (and from adding more blog entries) to clearing out my parents’ home to put it up for sale.  New paint, refinished hardwood floors, new carpeting, new appliances, and several other touches are being added to make the home look its best for perspective buyers.

This was my childhood home, infused with memories of both my growing up and memories of my parents in various stages throughout the years. Many of the house’s nicks, scratches, and scars that are now being painted over remind me of times way past (“that ding on the wall was where the bumper pool ball flew off the table during an especially rambunctious game with my brother”), and of times more recent (“the wall was gouged out over time from my mother’s wheel chair passing through the too-narrow doorway”).  

We were a family of five.  My two older brothers, my parents, and I somehow made do – fairly well I think – in a three bedroom, one bath house until I was about 12.  When my parents added a family room and master bedroom on to the back of the house, we thought we were living in luxury.  After that, I only had to share the teeny bathroom with my two brothers.  The house, even with the added family room and master bedroom and bath (themselves not all that “master” by today’s standards), is smallish and lacks many things expected in homes now (“what, no built-in dishwasher??”).  But, what it lacked in size and amenities, the house more than made up in love, warmth, and security – the things that are truly important to a child. 

                                                    Yes, we did have a gas dryer, but I do remember

                                                                     using this solar dryer quite a bit. 

I grew up in what I thought at the time was a “typical” American family.  We had everything we needed and most of what we wanted.  My mother was a stay-at-home mom until all three of us were in school.  Even then, she was always there to greet us by the time we came home from school.  We took a summer vacation every year (usually tent camping at a National Park in California or another western state).  Again, pretty calm by today’s “Disney Cruise” standards, but I bet my brothers and I have equally vivid and happy memories of those trips as the current crop of kids will have when they are my age.   

We were boomer kids.  There were lots of us in the neighborhood.  My best friend lived just up the street; we walked to and from school together and played kick the can over and over again with the other kids in front of her house (the only flat street for several blocks).  We continue to be good friends to this day and her folks still live in that house at the top of the hill.

When I go over to my parents’ house now, I can see that the neighborhood is starting to sprout kids again.  That’s nice to see.  I hear their laughter as they run around and play together.  They are building memories just like we did, memories that I hope will infuse their homes with warmth and love and that will last a lifetime.