Slave Driver
Solar lights installed by Marc the day before Mom and Dad showed up. In the background you can see the last remaining cactus in my yard.
When Marc and I were in Montana for Christmas we helped Mom and Dad to install the stove in their kitchen and to connect and turn on their radiant floor heating (someday the story will be posted over on NeverDone). We figure turn about is fair play. Before they flew in I warned them that there were a few things for which I wanted their help.
First thing Thursday morning we headed off to YardBirds. Since YardBirds was bought by Home Depot our local YardBirds is having a 20-40% off sale just before they close their doors. Just the thing you want to see when you're raring to do home improvements. We bought a diningroom chandelier, random bits of wood, and contemplated a screen door. Marc and I had bought yard lights and ceiling fans a couple of days before.
YardBirds didn't have any shingles so we also had to run off to the nearby Home Depot. There we got the singles and the bougainvilla I've been threatening to plant in the front yard.
Mom and I tackled the front yard.
First we removed the last cactus. It put up a good fight. We used a hedge clipper, shovel and hatchet. Finally we got most of it out. We replaced this with some really sorry looking daisies I'd bought about a week before. They weren't sorry looking when I bought them.. but after a week of shuffling around the house they were looking a little ragged. Hopefully the daisies will survive. If not.. there's always more daisies. No after shot. I forgot to get one. Just imagine the red brick ring with really ragged looking grass bits in the middle.
Then we moved on to the fern. Despite being on the south-side of the house this fern was determined to survive. I'm pro-fern so I decided to transplant it.
The fern. This is just to the left of the front-steps. What kind of nitwit plants a shade-loving fern on the south-side of the house?
After: New Bougainvilla with action shot of Mom planting it. The plan is that the bougainvilla will grow up big and tall and balance out the front of the house and hide the fact that the dining room window is off-center when viewed from outside the house (it's centered in the dining room)
All the fern bits were piled into the goat cart...
...and transplanted to the north side of the house. I think Marc took the picture and had made some snarky comment.
Assuming the dogs don't tear it out of the ground, the fern should be -much- happier.
Dad and Marc crawled under the house to check on the supposed "termite damage" (see: Repairing a subfloor without demolition) and to scope out venting the dryer to the exterior of the house instead of just into the crawlspace.
The "termite damage" ended up being fixed on Saturday (more on that later). The dryer venting is such a huge event it deserves its own entry. Stay tuned.
Tags: Diary, yardwork