Project Runway

 Project Runway Driveway

Five Steps to a Freshly Sealed Driveway

Time Schedule:

Day 1: Steps 1-4

Day 2: Dry Time

Day 3: Step 5

 

Step 1 - Remove grass along the edges of the driveway.

We have Bermuda grass which is in competition with the violets and the creeping Charlie on our dislike scale. 

Cost: Sore Fingertips

Bonus: No materials from True Value needed.

Step 2 - Power wash the driveway to remove dirt and debris.

Ian seems really into this job!

Cost: A trip to Costco for the sprayer.

Bonus: No shower needed afterwards!

Step 3 - Patch LARGE cracks and fill holes.

Cost: 1 bucket of Driveway Patching Material + 2 trips to True Value on account of being 2 buckets short the first time

Bonus: Putty knife left behind and sun setting

Step 4 - Fill small cracks.

Cost: Driveway Crack Filler and sore back

Bonus: 1 free bottle of Crack Filler left behind by previous owner

Step 5 - Seal driveway at the crack of dawn.

By the time our prep materials were dry, we were ready to seal the driveway.  This fell on the hottest day of the year, to date.  A heat advisory had been issued and the race to finish before the sun hit the driveway was on!  Our plan was to get up at 6:00 a.m. and get started, however, the snooze was accidentally pushed a few times and we didn't get started until 7:00 a.m.

And we begin sealing the catwalk driveway.

Bucket #1

That darn snooze button kept us from beating the sun!

Bucket #2

Bucket #3

Bucket #4

Cost: 4 + 1/4 buckets of Driveway Sealer
Bonus: Tomorrow we get the day off!!

Each bucket covered 350 square feet of driveway and we came up a tad short at the end.  We took a quick break and headed back to True Value to pick up one more bucket.  According to the directions, this project should last us 7 years.  We'll be satisfied if it holds up one year!

Fire Safety

A long standing tradition at the Casa de Carle is that before any type of safety upgrade we have to blast this through the house and try our best at imitating Artie.

Jen and I have both had fellow teachers whose houses have burnt down, so although these things don't stop fires they help save lives.  We take fires very seriously.  

Today's Improvement Number 1: Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors (all rolled into one)

Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are supposed to only be used for seven years before replacing.  As we were testing ours the following happened: Some fell apart, some didn't make a sound, and some didn't have batteries (those didn't make a sound either).  

No Batteries

Making sure I got everything down.

Smoke alarms are actually pretty easy to mount.  All you need is a screwdriver to screw in the mounting plate and the rest is simply sliding the front of the alarm on by matching up groves.

Screwing with mounting plate.

Ta-DA!

What is cool about the new alarms is they talk or rather screech what is wrong.  For example if there is smoke you hear "Fire! Fire!" after a series of beeps and if we are in peril because of carbon monoxide it screams "Warning! Carbon Monoxide!"  If you are sleeping  you won't have to decide which beeping means what.  It talks to you.

Today's Improvement Number 2: Fire Extinguishers

We had the right idea about getting a fire extinguisher, but this one doesn't belong under the sink like we originally had planned.  This one is more for electrical fires so actually this one will be going down to the basement where our fuse box is.

The Imposter Fire Extinguisher

Today's Improvement Number 3: Fire Ladder

We sleep upstairs and if there is a fire down stairs we would be in trouble so we tested out this fire ladder and it worked just fine.

Step 1:  Don't fall out window throwing ladder.

Step 2: Make sure ladder is secured at the top.

Step 3: Ask yourself, "Do you really want to do this?"

Step 4:  You think, "Here goes nothing..."

Step 5:  At this point you are past the point of no return.

Step 6: You are now in the clear because falling from this height no longer means for sure death, only broken bones perhaps...

I'll leave you with this last song.

 

Violet vs Charlie

Violet and Charlie are the two different WEEDS growing in our yard.  I believe they are competing for complete reign over the entire yard.  However, Ian and I are single-handedly taking them out, one root at a time!  A couple pictures of the super invasive and domineering culprits.

Opponent A - Violet

Opponent B - Creeping Charlie

Here is how I plan to be Queen of the Yard:

First, I use my trustee weeder and search for the Violet roots.  Once they've been located, I dig down deep and RIP them out of the earth, place them in my bucket, and then deposit them into the Yard Waste bags!  

Trustee Weeder

 Violet Roots

Violets = Thumbs Down

The Creeping Charlies aren't so easy to remove.  They are viney and  S T R E T C H  far and wide in different parts of the yard.  You have to find their vines and slowly pull them out of the yard.  We plan to use some Weed B Gone in October to completely destroy them...or at least make a dent in them!

Rain, Rain Drain Away

While Jen has been toiling away in the garden this past week, I was working diligently on making sure our house didn't wash away. Recently I was walking around the outside of my house and noticed a large hole in one side of our garden. I set out to discover what was causing the ground to erode away.

Hard to see in the picture, but trust me it was eroding away.

As it turns out there were four downspouts draining to this one particular spot which meant a lot of water was being sent to this area. Upon further inspection I discovered a six inch clay pipe running underneath our carport that was full to the brim with mud. So the first step was to get all the mud out of the clay pipe.
Tools to get mud out - Garden hose and very long sticks.
Method of use - Shoving water hose and very long sticks into pipe repeatedly for about 2 hours to break up mud muck.

I didn't know I was going bald until this picture. Anyways one of the very long sticks used.

The next discovery was that metal downspouts were used underground and not surprisingly the decades of sitting in wet dirt had caused big chunks of the pipe to rust away. It was decided these had to go. In its place black drain pipes were used that were not perforated because as little water was wanted on the house side of the carport.
Tools to take off rusted pipe - Tetanus shot and reciprocating saw
Method of use - inserted into arm and cutting pipe off before it went underground

a) Rusty drain pipe in okay condition. b) Rusty drain pipe in not okay condition.

c) Not-rusty drain pipe in superb condition.

The next step was to make sure the water that went under the carport had a place to go away from the house. A drainage system was created by having a pipe run into a collection box to help prevent unwanted items going down the system. Leaving the box was a perforated drain pipe that let water seep out of the pipe and into the gravel that was put down surrounding the pipe. After that all that was left was to cover the gravel with a protective covering that allows water in but keeps silt and dirt out for 30 years.
Tools to dig trench - Shovel, level
Method of use - dig and dig and dig and dig and dig then fill and fill and fill and fill and pray it was level...or at a slope away...not an incline...

The final step was to prevent further loss of erosion. So I made a little cement basin to catch the water and send it on its merry way down the mudless clay pipe. After that rocks were gathered from around Independence and a rock wall was built and lined with more material to prevent dirt from getting in. It was fun figuring out what rocks to put where. It was a real life puzzle and I have always been into jigsaw puzzles.

And then it was complete

Hmm...two ladies watching me work.

Final Thought
The number of people that will notice what Jen did this week - ALL
The number of people that will notice what Ian did this week - only the sophisticated few that read this post. :)

Happy Flag Day

Last night Ian and I went to Home Depot to purchase a flag for our house.

In honor of Flag Day I made this delicious dessert. YUM!

The Forgotten Garden

I'm reading the book The Forgotten Garden and thought this a fitting description for the gardens we recently inherited. We are pretty sure that the gardens had not been maintained for about three years. Over Memorial Day weekend, Ian's mom helped us tackle one of the three gardens. She is our resident green thumb, so she was able to guide us in the right direction. Unfortunately, I did not get a 'before' picture of this garden, but here is an after for your viewing pleasure.

The dirt you see here was once covered by the super-invasive violets.

In this garden you will find a variety of hostas, tiger lilies, Asian lilies, irises, columbine, bleeding heart, a rhododendron bush, azalea bushes, ginger, helleborus, astilbe, and a magnolia bush.

Red Asian Lily

Pink and White Asian Lily

Yellow Asian Lily

Orange Tiger Lilies

Astilbe

One of the previous home owners happened to be master gardeners. We had the pleasure of meeting them last Sunday. They walked us through the 'jungle' and identified which were the actual plants and which were the weeds. We then spent our first week of summer vacation tackling the forgotten garden. Mom and I started along the edge on Monday. Ian tackled the larger vegetation and trimmed trees as well as the forsythia bush.

Jungle Garden Before - Monday

Jungle Garden Before - Monday

Jungle Garden Before - Monday

Jungle Garden After - Monday

Jungle Garden After - Monday

My goal for Tuesday was to find the path that led into the 'forgotten' garden. In my way was a swarm of violets and an unforgiving holly bush. A public service announcement from me: Holly leaves hurt even after they have fallen off the tree and turned brown! My fingers and rear can provide testimonials!

Jungle Garden Before - Tuesday

Jungle Garden Before - Tuesday

Jungle Garden After - Tuesday

Jungle Garden After - Tuesday

Jungle Garden After - Tuesday

Our neighborhood is called Golden Acres. We learned that it got its name for two reasons. The first, originally the houses were built on one acre lots. The second, there were several forsythia bushes found on the land. In early spring, these bushes bloom with golden yellow flowers.

Forsythia Hedge

Ian tackling the forsythia bush.

The forsythia bushes were hanging over this fence into the neighbor's yard!

I neglected to get a before shot on Wednesday. I spent a good part of Wednesday morning taking care of the weeds and plants closer to the house. Ian's mom delivered a hydrangea bush and stayed to help for a few hours. Here is what we accomplished on day three.

Wednesday's Accomplishment Part 1

Here is a third garden needing attention!

Ground level view of the third garden.

Wednesday's Accomplishment Part 2

This is what the garden looked like Thursday morning.

Thursday's Accomplishment Part 1

Project #2 Before - Thursday

Project #2 After - Thursday

After working four days in the gardens, Ian and I decided to take Friday off. There are still areas of the yard that need attention, and those pesky violets keep blooming. However, we have made amazing progress and are learning the names of all the plants in our yard.