Wowza - had one of those days where everything just sorta went right. There are days you just aren't motivated, or little things like trying to find the right drill bit, or the right size screw; just completely throw off your best laid plans. Today was not that day...
I was gonna just do a smile / ticked post...but there was just too much - i'm more than surprised at how much we got done in so little time.
We started by getting up very early and going to register for the March for Babies (march of dimes event). It was 35 degrees...and it's a Lake walk (around Lake Superior). The wind was blowing fierce - 25-30mph, massive waves were spraying the walk path, it was only 8 above w/wind-chill and most folks, ourselves included dressed for 35 degree weather, not 8 degree weather...it was cold...but it was invigorating too and once we numbed up, the walk went quickly - felt good.
We were good an hungry after the walk - but the day was still quite young. We hit up lunch at Clyde Ironworks - an old iron foundry and machine shop that is now a massive (physically) and very cool restaurant: http://clydeironworks.com/photo-gallery/
Once home, only around 1p now we had a bunch of jobs planned. There was no wind at home, so it was plenty warm, especially once we got working.
First, we had to move 4,000 pounds of river rock - we are using it for aesthetics around the house, but also it helps to mouse-proof as well as rain water drainage around the foundation:
80 bags, 50lbs per bag. 4,000 pounds - doesn't look like much, but you feel it after the first 10 bags.
This pic is the left front of the house - along the side are the bags unopened, just laid out. Across the front we've opened and poured them out over the weed-guard paper.
Then poured the expansion of our pool base. We've had a 15' diameter pool the past 3 years; this year it'll be 18', so another 15 bags - or 750lbs of sand lugged over and poured out.
Then we walked the woods of our property lugging all decent sized rocks as my wife wanted some larger rocks around her garden (instead of the black edging that has been there since we moved in). These rocks are anywhere from about 20lbs to 150lbs. The big ones wear you out something fierce - but they cover a whole lot more ground too and the job goes quicker.
This is a random pic of our mound septic system. We worked closely w/the designer (yes, there is a designer / soil expert) you work with and while massive (120' long, 15' high, 30' wide) it was built into a natural slope and blends right in with the back treeline:
This is the opposite corner of the property and this is where the kids picked to put their treehouse - this might have been the longest project all-day, about an hour to scope a secluded place w/good tree, but still close enough that we could see them from the deck:
Then, we moved the baby chicks to a larger brooder:
Then back outside - dug out 2 post-holes for the next phase of our ninja course. The high-bar goes here, next to the parallel bars:
Hauled and dumped 20 - 50lb bags of cedar chips around the playground:
Unboxed my new table saw:
The stand had about 30 pieces I need to put together and it looked like it could be the project that bogged the day down - so I just left it there for now. Instead I decided to build a work bench to build the stand on and it will serve as a long table for my chop saw:
It was now getting a bit dark and we were all pretty tired. First, having had such a productive day - I attacked a project i'd been putting off for a year. I remodeled our bathroom last year, but i'd been putting off some of the grout work - between the wall-tile and wood trim, but I attacked it today and i'm really happy w/it:
Then, I re-arranged my shelf, moving my NAOMI boxes to some open shelving:
When I went upstairs the boys were relaxing w/some THPS3:
So, with everyone occupied - I went back downstairs and came within a ladybug hair of getting the ALL in DDP DFK 1.5:
So yeah...a very very productive day...and I am wiped!
my back is now sympathy tired for you! that is one hell of a productive day so good job! great way to end the day too!
"The librarian does not rue the library, nor the curator fear the exhibits. Rather they revel in their potential. And that is the beauty of a big backlog; pure potential." - Exhuminator
Nice! Thanks for sharing - It's awesome when those improvement projects just seem to 'click' and everything comes together. Reminds me of that year I worked for a landscaper. I really miss the sense of accomplishment when we'd show up and so vastly improve the property in one day. Beautiful place. Cheers!
Cheers Mike. Hope you're resting now after such a productive day. The most I can say I did yesterday was clean the house and run five miles. I'm sure your family appreciates it!
What a great house and property! Good work on all your projects!
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