Small But Mighty!

Oh man has it been a crazy couple of weeks! One weekend my sister Mary got married which took me away from working and the other three were great work days that got a ton done!So let's jump right in!

The crew on the 14th was small in numbers, but really pushed along the progress. We cut a lot of furring strips, installed some boxes around heating and cooling ducts, installed some furring strips and Uncle Tim put in some more roof vents. I think I have rented that stinkin' table saw so many times I'm paying for it soe The Home Depot is actually seeing a return on their investment for that one tool.

Angela H & Teryn O cut furring strips/Ron and Kirby build box-ins

Mary installs furring strips/Ron admires the good work

Kirby brings up 2x4s for Ron/More Furring strips - there's a LOT of studs !

Dan gets into the Furring strip installation business too


Then the big planting day and I mean BIG planting day. It was crazy. One hundred and eighty nine plants, bushes and trees went into the ground on the 21st. A crew of very tapersistant and sweaty volunteers dug, scratched and pounded at the ground to make the holes for full-size plants. It was another huge effort on everyone's part and the flower beds have been filled in. Now it's up to me to keep everything alive through the hottest month of the year.

I realize it may not have been the most ideal (read smart) time to order and plant these, but that's when things were avaialable - both materials and people. It just worked out that way so I'm rolling with it. I say that if I make it to September with 95% of the plants - I bring back the rest and we'll be sitting pretty. So I spend my evenings splitting my time between working on projects inside the house and running out to move the one sprinkler head every 30-45 minutes b/c the yard is so deep I don't have enough pressure to run two at the same time. Which means I'l probably be making a call soon to a friend from grade school that has worked at a sprinkler business for the past 15 years to see what it would cost to have a system installed.
Brian J and Ryan plant trees/Brent W, Kevin K and Debbie plant treess near play area

The 'corner crew' of Ben and Jen D plant perennials/Skid loaders can only MOVE the plants

Across the way, Grandma & Grandpa, Britter, and Mary plant the other corner

Jane, Kevin C and son plant the side bed/Leader Justin sets out the garage bed

The 'little helpers' pitch in - Go Ethan W. and Andrew C!

Don Jeckle & Hyde anyone??

More dissention in the ranks...

Grandpa, Lola and even Brit take a break from the heat - good idea


On top of all of the planting, the patio installer volunteers showed up agaia and knocked out 95% ofthe remaining patio work. It turned out beautifully and something that I know will get plenty of use in the fall evenings as the sun sets and a cold beer cools down a parched throat.

Ron, Kirby and friend Jasper place stones and sift sand into place


The final work turned out beatutifully and I wil enter another entry to go over those as I took them later. An amazing transformation that I will go over in the next one. Thank you all for your sweat, sore backs and huge smiles!