Sunday, April 18, 2010

My Parents = Awesome

Okay, let me just start by saying that if it wasn't for my parents, Joe and I wouldn't get nearly as many projects finished. And the thing is, I shouldn't even be using the term "Joe and I" because it's mostly them that trudge along, project after project. Of course, I know it's because it's all stuff that they have a lot of experience with, where as this is our first Spring owning a home. Translation: we really have no clue how to do things, even though we have a general idea. Over the weekend, this is what we got done: (Heads up that this is mostly for my own documentation and don't expect anybody to actually read this whole list...)

Friday:

+Parents arrived.
+Ate at Green Acres in Sauk.

Saturday:
+Got up at 5:45am.

+Joe went to play paintball somewhere like 45 miles away.
+My parents and I drove to Madison to go to Home Depot and Midwest Stone and Lan
dscape. +We picked through and loaded almost a ton of stone.
+I headed to work from the landscape place.

+Parents c
ame back to the house and then went rummaging at garage sales.
+Joe got home.

+They cut down 4 dead trees (which wasn't even on the "to do" list!)
+Cut & stacked limbs into fire wood piles.















+My mom painted more in our living room (a continuation from when she was here last.)
+My mom pressure washed our retaining walls.

+They dug the fire pit.


















+I got home from work.
+Grilled dinner.
+Relaxed.


Sunday:
+Slept in till 8!
+Coffee & breakfast.

+Mixed, poured & leveled concrete for fire pit.
















+Unloaded and sorted stone according to size.
+Made a template to set up mock fire pit base.
+Moved stone back and forth, trying to make a circle. It was fun for me- geometry is the only math I ever liked!
+While we did the fire pit, Joe and my Dad got our wood chipper working! (a gift from my parents. my dad got it at an auction and fixed it up for us!)


+More fire pit stuff. Simultaneous wood-chip action.

+Burned all the small (and I use that term loosely...) branches from downed trees.

+Ate lunch & dran
k malts.
+Planned out new design for garden for better flow around the fire pit.

















+Dug up grass to prepare garden area.
+My mom divided/transplanted like 20 of our plants that were taking over our garden.
+I finished pressure washing.








+Stood back, admired our work, and thanked my parents.
+They went home.
+We're sitting on the couch.

Fire pit progression photos to come!

3 comments:

Caitlin said...

sweet! sounds like a great weekend!
There's nothing like getting stuff accomplished in the sunshine. :)

Wolfie and the Sneak said...

sounds awesome, and the pit looks terrific! you're never going to want to leave your yard.

Liz said...

wow, what a cool project! i'm excited to see it as it progresses...