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Today, Linda capped off the new yard project by giving it its first haircut.
Jim's favorite azalea, planted when the yard was seeded last month, is now in full bloom!
Jim quit working on the yard at about 6 p.m. Monday and went inside to watch the news and stretch out in the recliner. Still, the work beckoned, as it always does - and he got back up and went outside to make these wood piles. If there is one bone of contention in his relationships (present and past) it is that he never stops. Today was no exception.
If you've been reading this blog, you'll know how important it was for Jim to get the swingset area ready. That was the first real area of attention in the back yard. Here, more bark mulch is added and the cherrytones are prepared. Because of the slope of the yard (and the fact that the cherry tones were put in level at the top), the bottom area would have had cherry tones stacked eight deep had they not been stepped down with the grade.
The pace of the work didn't slack because of the holiday. This project required endless hours of work, from about five o'clock every morning until seven or eight at night. And Monday was the big challenge, as Tuesday (being a workday) was just around the corner. If any substantial progress were to be made, it would have to be made on Monday.
With the addition of cherry tones and bark mulch (see "Landscaping - Rear"), the front landscaping is now complete! Now, just need to mow the yard, fertilize it, let it grow tall again, mow it and then the kids can play on it! The yard has not been mowed since it was seeded early in May. And let me tell you, that grass is getting TALL! I would have mowed it this weekend but it was too dark and cloudy. Usually in the summer, you can lay out in the sun and burn your naughty bits. Not THIS summer. All in all, it was a pretty dark and dismal weekend. And a back-breaking one, at that.
By Memorial Day, 2006 - the third day of back-breaking work - little remained of the bark pile. Fifteen minutes after taking this photo, even that was gone.
Another shot of the yard full of fallen tree debris. I had to keep moving my trailer around as I worked, and got a picture of it here.
When Daddy told Kayla that her swing would have to come down to make room for the trees to fall, tears welled up in her eyes. Thanks to Keith Gates of American Tree Service, he was able to drop limbs and trunks to each side of the swing, preserving it. That meant extending my cherry tones and using more bark mulch - but that's what Daddy's do...
Much of that huge pile of mulch ended up about eight inches deep on the side of the house. The rest wrapped around the house in the front and around the rear.
Linda helped move bark and here, during a break, Jim gets a picture of her dumping bark out along the side stretch of the yard.
What equaled two dump truck loads of bark mulch had to be moved all the way around the house, requiring hundreds of trips with a wheelbarrow. By the end of day one, about 3/4 of it had been moved. And then Jim's back gave out.
Keith Gates, owner of American Tree Service (Kingston, Washington) takes a break high up in a tree. This is the third or fourth time we've hired Keith to down trees for us. He is very precise and over-delivers, providing exceptional value. I highly recommend his services and urge you to give him a call if you need to have trees removed, pruned or toppled. Tell him you read about him on the photoblog.
Keith Gates and his hired hand, Scotty, examine a downed fir tree to begin chopping it up into woodstove-sized pieces.
After hiring Keith for the job, I added the downing of this large madrona tree. It wasn't in the way and wasn't blocking the sun but madrona is good, hard burning wood. I'm sure I'll hear from some enviro-whackjobs over the downing of a perfectly good tree but that's fine - keeps them busy.
Side view of the chipper setup as we grind the tree branches down to bark for landscaping. When done, the pile was twice this size, literally covering our entire driveway. That will have to be moved out back, one wheelbarrow load at a time. THAT'S how I will be spending my long Memorial Day weekend.
Here is the business end of Keith's large chipper. As with what we had Keith do out front, not one fir needle or piece of bark goes to waste as the bark mulch will be used in landscaping on the side and back of the house.
Finally, "Connie," the project VW Beetle, arrives at home - where he will sit until the kids are grown and child support is a thing of the past and I can afford to fix him up. But, knowing me, I'll start long before that - before he turns to rust.
I've bought many VW's in my lifetime. Come to think of it, it's been rare to get one home without needing a tow. This one was no exception. :)
The gentleman who so badly wanted to get rid of this car assured me that it would start right up and drive us home. Here, Linda drives it down Bethel Road in Port Orchard. The gentleman's claim wasn't exactly precise as the car died about two miles into the drive.
While driving home from work, I spotted this VW Beetle for sale on the side of the road. A half mile later, curious, I turned around to look at it. The gentleman basically wanted the car gone, and I basically wanted the car as a project car. So in the long and short of it, the car became mine. And I started referring to it as "Connie" - my grandfather Conrad Wolf's nickname. You see, he's the one who got me into VW's many long years ago. And after rebuilding numerous water-cooled VW's, I'm ready for a new challenge.
With the addition of a mini-loft shelf (7x5 feet) and the shelves inside the interior gabled trusses, the outbuilding is maximizing its potential. To the right are heavy duty shelves, 19 inches wide, 2 high. To the left is ample space to store a wheelbarrow, lawnmower, rototiller, garden cart, hand truck and a lot more. Everying in this outbuilding is easily accessible.
SOLUTION: - Have your wife do the final roofline! Gives you time to have a beer and relax, too.
Jim W. Coleman, never one to miss a square inch of space, designed these handy shelves to take advantage of wasted space on the gabled interior roof slope.
Kayla wanted to sleep on the couch but when I found her crying and asked what was wrong, she told me that she left her teddy bear at her mom's house. "I can't sleep without it, Daddy," she said, tears in her eyes. Not knowing quite what to do, I came up with the perfect solution. "Here, darling. You can sleep with Daddy's canning pot instead." That brought a huge smile to her face and she fell asleep in short order. :)
Gotta love going to my mom-in-law's house! She served us an instant lunch - in the cup is a Jack and Coke, with M&M's to top it off!
In yet another awesome Linda picture, here is a little frog that Jim found hiding behind the outside wall-mounted garage door opener. Jim altered the word "Prog" to read "FROG" - making the picture all the more delightful. An excellent wallpaper for your computer. Ribbbet!
Our morning commute was once again interrupted by an accident. Here, a small car collided with a full-size Dodge Ram and tipped it over on its side. Not sure if there were any injuries or not but didn't appear so. Gave us something to talk about at work for a good hour, or so.
Today, Linda took advantage of the 80+ degree weather to put the first coat of paint on the outbuilding. Er, I meant ... the cathouse.
Doors hung, and hanging impressively. Perfectly square, no travel in or out on their own. THAT is the true test for how square the building is... And now painted blue, the first color on the outbuilding. Two more colors will be coming. Stay tuned...
Doesn't this just make you want to peel off your clothes and roll around on the yard like a kid? Go ahead. But you will likely end up on the photoblog...
Here is our front yard, two weeks to the day after planting grass on the bare, tilled dirt.
I've got to get a new hammer - this one doesn't work. It keeps hitting my thumb.
The outbuilding project continues with the addition of shingles...
Some low-life scum plastered the parking lot at work with flyers, one tucked up beneath the wipers of each car. Some others, obviously with not enough to do, removed all the flyers and "decorated" the BFD with those flyers. I have to admit that I laughed out loud at first, before discovering scratches in the paint where the perpetrators leaned against the vehicle to carry out their dastardly deed. They even poked rolled up fliers into the holes of my wheels. Seems like someone is a bit frustrated about not getting the opportunity to put things in holes ... and overdid it a bit here.
If you are one who has been paying attention to the work we are doing at the Lariat Drive house, you'll be as pleased as I was to see new grass growing! The lawn was seeded about a week ago (Saturday/Sunday) and today is Monday, a week later. I've been involved in controversial discussions about using peat moss this early in the growing season. Some say that it will trap in the cold and inhibit germination. So I peat mossed half of the yard very heavily and barely on other parts. I'm here to tell you that the ONLY place grass is growing is where I peat mossed very heavily. Just makes me want to take off my sandals (among other things) and run through the grass!
Here, a rare shot into a girl's slumber party. Notice all the sodas. the Hershey's candybars, the Lay's chips ... and any other product endorsements I could possibly give ...
After day two, roughly 12 and a half hours into the project, the outbuilding is framed and walled. Now, Jim just needs to get the shingles to complete the project. After that, a good coat of paint and interior shelves will cap off the venture.
Screwing for 12 hours straight - even with a big power tool - can sap the strength from any man. Here, Jim W. Coleman rests before screwing some more.
Here, at this very moment, Church begins to realize that Jim is probably building an outbuilding ... and not his own private cathouse.
On Sunday, May 7, Jim W. Coleman had the thrill of screwing all day. Unfortunately, it left him tired and hurting at the end of the day.
Kayla looks thrilled beyond belief to help Daddy build his outbuilding.
According to the plans, you are urged to set aside 50 hours for construction when building this outbuilding. This is where Jim was after six hours.
Marina dances with a friend in the unfinished outbuilding.
Church, the Devil Cat, continues to wait impatiently as Jim builds what Church is convinced will be his new home...
Jim takes a break. Thus far, everything still is level and square. But we'll see how long that lasts. :)
Jim poses with the front wall. Jim will pose at a moment's notice, apparently.
Only in the Pacific Northwest can your work consistently be interrupted by little green frogs. Perhaps this was why Church was so interested ... After playing with the frog, work continued on the outbuilding.
If you look closely, you can see that Church the Devil-Cat keeps a constant eye on Jim's progress as he builds the outbuilding. Er, I meant to say, the Cathouse.
Church, convinced that Jim is building him a new cat house and not an outbuilding, inspects the progress thus far.
Jim W. Coleman works on the flooring joists for his new outbuilding.
Jim's decorate "Stump Island" in full bloom on a cloudy May day, as photographed by Linda.
Linda, always with a great eye for a good shot, gets a great shot of a tree on the Lariat Drive property.
Jim W. Coleman walks about three miles a day while on his lunch break, always armed with his camera and a keen eye. Here, he photographs a breathtaking view of Bremerton with the Olympic mountains in the background.
Marina, as photographed by Linda.
One of the wonderful parts about living in Kitsap County - the water. This looks like a scene from the movie, "Jaws" but actually was shot at a quiet, interior lake...
Linda waits for her lunch at the Tortilla Flats restaurant, located out along the Apache Trail outside of Phoenix, Arizona.
Linda's brother-in-law, Tony.
Here, the Valley West Mall (as originally named when built) is demolished shortly after the filming of the wonderful movie "8 Legged Freaks." The movie was filmed in this abandoned mall. As a child, Jim W. Coleman watched as the mall was built and then spent much of his childhood in the mall.
Kayla waits in anticipation while at Hoooooga's school concert.
Here, a bald eagle sits in a tree at Kitsap Lake in Bremerton, Washington.
Back when Jim W. Coleman was rebuilding Volkswagen Rabbits (body, interior and engine rebuilts) he amassed a formidable collection of parts cars - right after moving into a new house. The neighbors were not all that impressed, to be certain.
Church, the spoiled rotten devil-cat, takes leave of his own personal "under construction" cat house when he hears the dinner bell ring ...
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