More Progress on Path

Jeff and Sharon both had unfun birthdays this year. In June, on Sharon's birthday, we were organizing the garage. Yesterday, on Jeff's birthday, he got to cut and pound cement. Though, on the bright side, he got to use a big manly tool.The plan was for Jeff to cut a line in the cement so that when he broke the section next to it, it would break along that line. It mostly worked.Then Jeff went through with a sledge hammer and digging bar to break up the cement for removal.Jeff actually expected to get a bit further on this project yesterday, but it took so long to get the cement out of there.

This is where Jeff started this morning.Today we decided to find some help for Jeff; someone who could actually dig. We don't want to break Jeff.

Jeff and his helper, Buddy, got a lot done today. Actually, they got further than Sharon expected. They finished excavating the path area, laid down landscape mat, then put down 6 inches of gravel and used a rented plate compactor to compact it down. Then they put in snap lock edging, and filled it with an inch and half of sand.Then we started laying the bricks.
And we continued to do that until the bricks started to run out and the rain really started to pour.Obviously, we'll be cleaning bricks this weekend. We put down the cardboard in an attempt to keep the dog child off the sand; it probably won't work.

Lace Curtains!

A few weeks ago Sharon ordered a set of reproduction lace curtains from Cooper's Cottage Lace. They finally arrived today. We wasted no time in getting them hung up. They are so pretty.

Path Progress

Jeff had a volunteer teaching gig today at noon, but he still got lots of digging done before he had to leave.Shasta was extra cute tromping around in the dirt with her booties on. (It's funny how she walks when she's wearing them.)Sharon appointed herself the task of calling around for the best prices for the gravel and sand and for the tool rental. Most everything should be ordered today and we should be set to have Jeff finish this project this week. Go Jeff!

Front Path Plan

If the weather cooperates this week, Jeff is going to put in the new front walk. Today we worked on layout and figuring out the amounts of gravel and sand we need to order. Hopefully tomorrow, he can start digging. We still need to clean a few grey bricks, but we're real close.We're actually planning to remove the existing cement and run the path all the way up to the front steps. But we need to borrow or rent a masonry saw and cut it along the new steps before Jeff starts pounding. It would be bad to mess up our newly installed front steps.

We're going to recycle some of the big chunks of old driveway to put in stepping stones across the planting strip to the sidewalk from the street. That way we can exit our cars without stepping onto the soggy ground and hopefully it will further reduce the mud tracking into the house.

Stencilled Curtains

Sharon spent virtually all day stencilling. She was trying to figure out the colors for the new stencil. First she practiced on paper...
Then she practiced on fabric...
Then she just went for it. It's pretty hard to blend oil paints exactly the same way three times in a row so there are subtle differences between the panels.Strictly speaking, these are temporary curtains, so Sharon won't be embroidering them. Jeff wants a more transparent fabric, or we may later put up roller shades; we still haven't decided. But these simple linen curtains will give us some privacy for the winter.

A Busy Sunday

Sharon applied the first coat of the varnish to the side door. We ended up using Man O'War Marine Spar Varnish because, frankly, we had a can on hand and it didn't require any more shopping! The plan is to apply a couple more coats of varnish, as recommended by This Old House, over the next few days.

Jeff did another long session of leaf gathering this afternoon. Our neighbor actually came out and helped clean up the leaves in his front yard and Jeff hauled those to our backyard as well.

Sharon also worked on sewing up linen curtains for the front windows in the parlor. We had been planning to put up roller shades, but after a long, passionate email from Sharon's mother arguing that roller shades are AWFUL, we decided to hang up simple linen curtains for the time being. We may still at some time make and hang roller shades, but we're going to wait and find someone who has shades who can give us some feedback about how well roller shades operate.

Stencilled More Curtains

After staining the side door this morning, Sharon stencilled the last two living room curtains this afternoon. Since the stencil paint takes many days to dry, it will probably be a week before she can start embroidering again. She needs to remember to apply the stencils well before she's ready to embroider.We're planning to change up the stencil in the parlor area; Sharon's getting tired of embroidering wisteria. We're probably going to use this poppy stencil we bought from Bungalow Borders last year before they sold their business.