Friday, well what do you know.It's finished!

Yes after only a few weeks and well ahead of any anticipated time we have finished the Deck, Wall and Fence. Having all this completed before May is just well, lucky. The weather couldn't have been better and all things seemed to fall into place. We don't know exactly the final costs but we're sure it's about what we thought it would be and several thousand less then if we had a contractor do the work. Having do all the deck and fence was good for us and having the wall done by Davey was the smart thing to do. Yesterday we tilled the topsoil and now only have to roll and seed it for the new lawn to take hold. When the weather gets a bit warmer we will be staining the fence to match the deck. Till then it's time to relax and start enjoying my "us" time. Get the bicycles out, and the Harley and Monza ready for a season of rides and car cruises.

Tuesday-Wednesday

Another of couple of days has passed and slowly, very slowly are we completing the project that won't die! It only took two days to build two, make that three gates. One for the east end and a double barn door gate for the west end of the Fort. Cut down 90% of the 4x4 posts and placed solar lights on the corner posts. After finishing the barn door gate we realized it wasn't quite going to work in it's existing configuration so a slight modification will so take place to make it work. (more post hole digging !! ugh!) but should work and look better. And then, after that we can till the soil and seed it for a new lawn, we hope! Oh forgot we have to stain this monster but that will wait till May or June.

Oops, forgot the walkway still has to be finished...sigh.........

Monday...The Fort has risen...LOL

It's Monday and the weather has turned out nice. We began by going to resupply our wood at Rona and then back to the "build". No wonder contractors charge so much to build these things, bloody wood and hardware is costly. Oh well saved a bundle on the labour costs but not my back? Anyway this is the sort of thing that keeps one fit and active. neighbour walks by and comments that its looking more and more like a Fort!..hey I like that idea so Fort Hilder it is.
We finished all the fence boards and the only thing left on this project is to build the gates. Wonder how much it would be to install gun towers? Dar says no, so I can only pretend. Once all the building is done we can then concentrate on leveling out the topsoil, rolling and seeding the area. Hopefully by June we will have a nice lawn to walk on. Still trying to figure out where to put the Hot Tub...

In the two photos you can see the "before" and "after" shots. Only difference you don't see is a the few thousand spent!....

Sunday, BBQ time.

Sunday turned out to be a nice day, sunny but a bit windy. We had friends over for a BBQ and had a good time. Dar is going to attend something new soon and I hope she likes it. Had a great BBQ, love those Cowboy Steaks, and great conversation. Couldn't help but bring up some work talk (even retired) but after 32 years it kind of sticks in you. (sorry girls) Did a bit of landscaping this morning as I had run out of wood for the fence so I washed the truck. Black truck + construction area = never clean..sigh..and Jimmy, if your reading this then the outhouse in the background is waiting for you..so says Tom..

Saturday...is it a fort?

Well it's Saturday and progress on the fence carries on. The site "supervisor" has stated that she doesn't like the way the wind wobbles the fence (it isn't finished yet dear) so we are installing a third cross member to stiffen up the fence . Actually not a bad idea as it will prevent board spread. Four and one half sections are done and the remainder will be completed next week. Our neighbour was walking her dog and stopped to admire my handiwork. "building your self a fort are you?" she stated. Well I guess you could look at it that way because sections sit high on the new wall. Just a privacy fence, that's all. I wonder how many times she is going to back out of her driveway and into our wall this year? Old dear is not that good in her Lexus. Thankfully the wall should stand up to the occasional bump. (I hope) Sunday we are having friends over for a BBQ so no work, (or maybe only a little) on the project tomorrow.

Friday...the Fence has begun!

So Friday turns out to be an OK day, no rain as predicted. So off we go to Rona and pick up a few fence boards. ( 137, ouch) And when we return and after some discussion begin the process of screwing these boards to the rails. ( more $ then nails but much better). After a few hours the fence is beginning to take shape. I think we can see the horizon in the distance in the house yard work...maybe.

Thursday...isn't done yet?

Well Thursday turned out to be a nice day and I took this opportunity to set all the fence posts and pour in the concrete. Have you ever mixed 16 bags of ready mix by hand in a wheel barrow? It is a bitch of a job. With the help of the "Inspector" we managed to get all the posts straight and true and over the next few days will begin to build the fence. The top soil still has to be raked out and this whole area seeded. Better then waiting for 4 weeks for sod to be available. Should turn out nicely. ( We hope) Forgot to take some pics so here is one taken at 11:00 PM. Get some more tomorrow.

Monday & Tuesday..wall erection

Well it's been a busy couple of days as the Davey's Landscaping crew have been real busy building our retaining wall. These guys are really good and are perfectionist. It has to be just right before they continue on to the next step. In a matter of a few days we will have our wall and then can start on the fence.

Friday, well what do you know.is that going to be a wall?

Friday, cold, damp and miserable. We are discussing how the landscaper hasn't called about the retaining wall when we hear a bit of a commotion outside. We look out to see the orange Kobota digging up some dirt where our retaining wall is going to be. John has started the wall and by the end of the day has the foundation in , leveled and packed ready for the blocks Monday. Hope Monday is a nice day.

Tuesday-Wednesday

Well these two days have been kind of cloudy,cool and wet. Really not much to do while waiting for some sunnier and warmer weather to arrive. We did take down the black shutters and paint them a rust/brown/red colour to better match the house brick. They look better then the standard "black" issue. This is the colour we are going to paint the main door and side lights. Should look nice when completed. We also painted a section of the porch bench to match the new colour. Also took some time to finish off painting the interior walls of my garage. Oh yes, had to strip the old paint off the door and found out it wasn't a very good paint as it practically peels off.

Sunday--Monday

Actually kind of a quiet two days that we had here. The only real work was to scrape off all the builder's paint from the front door that was crap and get the door and shutters ready for a nice paint as soon as it gets a bit warmer. Dar's real birthday was Sunday and together we all celebrated that day. It's hard to imagine that she is 61 years old, she doesn't look it at all. Guess the good genes were on our side. I'll be joining her in June at the 61 mark..sigh..

Saturday..Gazebo up..

Well its Saturday and its turning out to be another nice day. Brother-in-law, Rod, is here and together we all managed to put up the gazebo on the deck. It is 10' x 10' and takes up a good chunk of the deck floor, but at our age too much sun is not good. The gazebo is situated in such a way that you can still get plenty of sun if you wish or sit in the nice shade if you so desire.
After this was done we took a nice drive through Cobourg to show Rod the town and waterfront, and that took all but 10 minutes!...nice to be small and have most everything close. This evening its BBQ'd steaks!

Friday...what a beautiful day.

Turned out to be a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, the wind was calm and it hit 25 C on our deck ! We had our longest and dearest friends over for a BBQ and chat. Christened the deck with spilt wine. We also celebrated my dear wife's birthday. She is 61 years young come April 4th. doesn't look it, no way no how. It's always nice to celebrate something new with those you hold dear. We had a great time and plan to have many more this season. So after a nice day it's time to rest as next week once again bring things to do.

Thursday...oops why did the battery die now?

A beautiful day, time to take the Harley out of hibernation. WE wheeled her out of the basement (love that 42" door) and fired her up. Makes a big difference when you store your bike in a nice warm place, she started like it was running yesterday. (helps to have a battery minder plugged into her over the winter.) So off I go to the Sunoco station to get some fresh gas. Get there, gas up and ...NO START...the damn battery in the security fob has gone dead. duh! Now the bike thinks its being stolen and shuts down big time, ...Luckily I'm only a few blocks away from the Wal-Mart. Trudge over there, buy a new battery and trudge back to the station. The old girl fires right up and off to home I go. Dar is really pissed since I didn't take my cell phone and she had no idea what had happened. Poor woman thought I had been smucked by a truck or something. Told her what happed but still got shit. I should know better.

BTW we have almost finished staining the deck...hard parts done...only floor deck to do.