Busy Days

I've been slacking.  Distracted and sad, really.  I started staying up late and getting up late.  Laying in bed for 10 hours.  Bad weather, Covid-19, not shopping, Iza's departure, repetitive news, clutter, ignoring my veggie garden, 2 crazy neighbors, no sports on TV, etc.

Suddenly, I feel a bit back in control.  I got the bike and air pressure charger and 2 trailer tires sold (less clutter).  I finally purchased a new riding mower to replace the 25 year old one that had been limping along and getting worse.  Still missing Iza so much but accepting that she is gone.  Laz was really difficult the first month, but is doing better (though I am learning he was poorly socialized when young).  I watch science and nature DVDs and listen to CDs more than the news (I understand the importance of current events, but 2 weeks of "Breaking News" on the same 2 subjects wore me out), no longer much worrying about dying everytime I had to buy food, and watching previous sports games.

Friday, I finally had enough of just laying in bed and got up at 7 am.  Which may be late for some, but I spent 35 years getting up at 5 am and I'm not recovered from that yet.  I got up and made breakfast.  For me, that is a weird meal when you normally get up at Noon.  But I make a very good 2x-folded cheese and minced bacon omelet  or 2 soft-fried eggs on a pancake breakfast when I feel like it.

So I was outside by 9 am Friday.  So many things to catch up on.  I had planned for it, charging up all the battery-powered tools.

First thing was to use the electric mower to cut the lawn 2 rows along the property line and around the utility boxes on the property line.  I mentioned recently that the next door neighbor has little concept of property lines and LOVES his big gas weed-whacker.  And I saw him cutting around shrubs and trees IN MY YARD.

He said he didn't know where the property line was So I yelled at him (he wouldn't shut his gas weed whacker off) to stop and I pointed out the property line.  And as I walked back to the house, he went FURTHER into my yard and started whacked one of my trees.  Some people are just clueless.  I ran back out and demanded he never step foot in my yard.  He was offended.  This is the same family that started burning bruch under dry low branched trees last Fall next to my wood fence and only put it out when I said I would call the Fire Department.  Having only a small child's bucket from a wading pool...  I was ready with a hose.

Weed whackers strip the bark of trees.  Diseases and insects get in (that's what bark is FOR).  So, since he is only there on weekends (none of my business to know why) I mowed the lawn and trimmed around the trees with sheers to avoid his temptation Friday...  And I keep my ears open for the sound of him mowing.

And then I used the electric mower.  Trimmed under all the shrubs and around stuff the riding mower can't handle.  That was a lot.  Recharged the batteries.  Powerful electric but the 2 batteries only last 10 minutes each.  But I got a lot done in the 20 minutes.  Used and recharged them 3 times in 2 days.  Lots of trimming needed.

My garden is mostly unplanted.  I think the pH is all out of whack.  So I scooped some soil and added some distilled 7.0 water and shook it thoroughly.   I can use pH strips to check the pH, AND as the soil settled over 2 days, it will tell me what my soil components are.

The soil has settled around Iza's grave.  I will lift all 3 memorials and rake the soil level, put down a cut-up heavy cardboard from a bookcase, and smother all the weeds around the area.  The memorials should show up better.  I don't want weeds around them.

I cut down all the weeds between my garden frame boxes.  I tried te string-trimmer, but the weeds were so tall, they just wrapped around the trimmer head and it was difficult to remove them.  I tired the electric mower, but it won't turn the corners between framed beds and lifting it around the corners was damn hard.  I finally discovered the hedge trimmer worked best.  I will cover the paths in packing paper.  That should smother the weeds.

I carefully mowed the daffodil bed.  There are some pavers there, so it took a while.  I also have briars and weeds between the daylilies, but again, the hedge trimmer worked best.   Stuck it in between the daylilies and moved it back and forth carefully to not cut the lilies.  And it doesn't kill the brambles and wild blackberries, but after I see what turns brown and pull those out,  I can use the razor hoe at the roots of the weeds after that..

I discovered the new riding mower gives a great even cut on 4" grass but fails at 5"  so I will be diligent.  I like tall grass becaus tall leaves mean deeper roots.  But there are limits.  3' is right fo my fescue grass.

The other crazy neighbor is the same guy who was here several years ago having screaming matches with his girlfriend and taking off with their toddler late Summer nights.  But so far they are quiet.  If they are peaceful, I'm fine.

Seed Vial Tray

Some years ago, I built a quick little tray to hold vials of seeds in the basement refrigerator.  The seeds last a lot longer in the fridge, and the vials keep them from getting dried out or damp. Te vials are specimen containers I once found real cheap online!  I'm good at looking at things functionally, rather than just by intended purpose, LOL!

But the original had holes that were both tight and a bit too close together.  So I decided to make a new one.

I made the new one with holes 1/4" farther apart.  That may not seem like much, but it made a lot of difference.  And I knew because I drilled a couple of holes in scrap wood to check. 

I decided this one should have looser holes.  But since the vials wouldn't stand upright in loose holes, I made both a top and bottom.  To make sure the holes on each matched, and to save time, I screwed the top and bottom together, drew a grid on the top, and drilled right through both pieces at once.

I LOVE my drill-press!

The pencil line on the board in back allowed me to line that up the grid lines on the pieces without having to "eyeball them each time.  The drill bit you see there is called a "forstner bit".  They drill large holes with flat bottoms.   My set goes from 1/4" to 2 1/2".  The thing you see stuck in the drill where the bit goes is the  "chuck key" that tightens the bit .  I keep it clamped lightly in there so I can't lose it.

Here is the fully drilled top and bottom.  The solid piece of plywood behind them is the real bottom.  That piece is so the vials don't fall through the drilled holes.

I spread wood glue between the holes of the drilled bottom and the solid piece.  You can never have too many clamps.  If you need a gift for a woodworker, clamps are usually a safe bet!  

All those drilled holes created a lot of sawdust shavings.  I dump that stuff in the woods.  I don't compost it because of all the chemicals in plywood.  The trees don't mind a bit...

Then I needed to support the top 1 1/2" over the bottom.  I had cut sides from leftover plywood.  But I was going crazy because the kept coming out slightly tapered!  I kept checking the fence and the blade and they were perfectly square.  But I had actually cut them first, and didn't remember that, before that, I had changed the miter gauge a degree off "0" for another project and neglected to set it back to ).  Argh!  But I fixed that and the sides came out perfect. 

I glued the sides to the bottom upside down deliberately so that the glue squeeze-out didn't attach the pieces to the assembly stand.  Don't laugh.  Better woodworkers than me have done that...

I used scrap wood and shims to raise the bottom to even with the sides, then glued and clamped it.

Then I turned the whole thing over and repeated that to attach the top.  There was a slight difference in height in the center of the sides.  It made no functional difference, and no one would ever see it but me.  But I would, so I used a block plane to shave it down and a finishing sander to smooth it.  Putting it on my utterly flat table saw showed not the slightest wobbly in any direction.

Here is the finished try next to the old one.  A nice difference.

You can't really see it, but all of the vials are numbered.  I keep a list of the vial numbers and contents.  In fact, for safety, I keep 3.  One is with the seed tray, one is with the box of index cards listing the planting dates, planting depths, and growing notes, and one is in a permanent notebook.  Losing track of which seeds are in which vials would be a DISASTER!!!

And I got it done just in time.  Planting indoors starts next week...

So now I'm ready to build wood frames for the 2 bathroom mirrors. 

And I need to buy a trailer-load of compost for the garden beds.  My trash barrel of starter soil from last year is all used up.  Fortunately, the weather is going to be decent Saturday. 

Compost Bin Onsite, Part 3

The compost bin is finished!  Well, OK, I can add a lid ta keep critters out, but that's not urgent.  Last time you saw it, it looked like this.

The front posts were constructed to form slots down the sides to accept horizontal boards that could be removed for easy access to the contents of the bins.  So the next step was to make the horizontal boards.

I could have just cut boards to length to slide down into the post slots, but allowing air into the composting material is very important.  So I wanted to add spacers between the boards to create gaps where air could get in.

One site suggested using 3" screws sticking out an inch to make the gaps.  I decided they would eventually push into the boards below. So I made 1" wide wood spacers.

 Glued AND screwed, of course...  I want this compost to last 20 years.  The spacers leave plenty of air to get into the composting material.  And the sides and back are all wire mesh, so that is even more air (see the top picture again).

When all the boards were set in place, they sit above the top of the posts.

That was deliberate.  It will make the top slightly sloped back so rain will run off.  The top will be hinged in the back so that I can easily raise it to add or mix the composting material.

I started building the compost bin in mid-May.  The major reason is for making the compost, and I have a LOT of compostable material in the yard), but it was also a labor of love in the construction.  I am no great wood-worker or even a decent carpenter, but I put a lot of technique into this project.

I used tools and jigs I have owned for a decade and never used before.  I deliberately did some things that weren't strictly necessary but improved the strength and future durability.  I overbuilt it in some ways...

Because the first compost bin I built here "fell right over" and it has annoyed me for a decade.  I knew all the mistakes and made sure not to repeat them.

And I loved every minute of building the new one.  I got much better at some routine building techniques and learned new ones.  The tenoning jig was a wonder to use and I am now amazed at my hesitation to use it before!  I developed some new skills of half-lap board connections.  I even finally used my jointer.

And my tenoning jig.

I can now read Sanskrit, can divide by zero, and program in C!  Just kidding...

But I did learn some really good techniques cutting and fitting wood.  And that encourages me to try some indoors furniture.  I think an end table with a floating top will be a good project.  I would like to get into building Arts&Craft style furniture.  Just for me.  I'll never be good enough for selling anything. 

But the compost bin will do for now...

Compost Bin, Part 2

I set the work aside for a couple of days to catch up on weeding while the weather was cool.  But it hit 90F yesterday, so it was a good day to work in the cool basement.


So, I mentioned using the tenon jig to make half-lap joints...


This is the jig.

It holds a board upright to cut a large slot high.  I apologize, this picture was a reconstruction and the saw blade was not as high as in reality.  Sometimes I forget to take pictures during my work and have to recreate them.

I can make tenon cuts in 4' boards.  I could do 5' by removing a ceiling tile.

There was massive sawdust everywhere.  I had to wear a nose/mouth mask! I tried wearing glasses too, but the mask directed my exhalations up and fogged the glasses.

 Here is the table saw blade going through the upright board.  There is a lot of wood being removed, so I had to push slowly.  Its a 220v tablesaw, so there is a lot of power, but I still don't like to push too fast.

The 10" saw blade only cuts 3" (part of the saw blade is below the table).  So I get only a 3" deep cut.

I tried a few ways to complete the cut.  A regular saw took too long, a flush-cut saw made an uneven cut (and was slow).  The Saws-All did the job wonderfully!  I love electricity over muscle-power everytime!

The weight of the saw is perfect for cutting down the right distance.  The cut part just falls off.

So then I was ready to assemble some frames.  I had everything ready.  One drill for pilot holes for the screws, another drill for counter-sinking the screw heads (to avoid splitting the boards), exterior glue,  a rag to wipe off squeezed-out glue, a square, and a tray of 1.5" square-drive screws (I love those things).

Here is the first assembled frame.

Then to add the wire mesh sides (to hold the compost in).  I used an electric stapler with 9/16" staples where possible.  Pressure-treated wood can be rather hard even though it it's pine, so sometimes the staples don't go all the way in.  That means some gentle patient tapping with a hammer.  Sometimes, they won't go in at all, so I also have some heavier-duty staples that have to be hammered in by hand.  That takes some effort to get them in straight.  Fortunately, with pliers to hold them straight and a patient hammering, I got them in.

So here are the 1st 4 frames.  These are the 2 backs and 2 sides.  I need to make a 5th, but until I make and set in the front posts (yet to be constructed) I don't know the exact size to make.  Some things just have to be "fitted" at the end.

The next part is to make the back corner and front posts.  The front posts need to have spaces for slats to fit into.  I could cut slots in posts, but it is easier to build posts from several boards to create slots rather than cut them. 

I'll show that next time.  Meanwhile, there are some old deteriorated beds where I want to install the new compost bin, so I need to demolish those first.  And there is a shrub I want to save from there. 


This isn't the best time of year to move a shrub, but I don't have much choice.  I think I will take a dozen tip-cuttings and try and root them indoors before digging the shrub up.  And I'll make the rootball extra large to give it a best chance to survive the transplant shock.

Tomorrow is predicted to hit 92F, so I don't think I want to do serious work outside then, but I'll break up the framed bed it is in and get that part done. 

And I have work I can do inside or outside in shade.  I really try to do as much work as possible in the shade.  LOL!

Waiting For...

Baseball season to start on April 1st... 

The last-Fall-planted tulips to bloom...  The buds are up on short stems, but that's good enough for the 1st year.  The wire cages they are planted in should give them protection from voles and squirrels for many many years to come. 

The last-Fall-planted daffodils to send up blooms.  Just small leafs so far.  And being toxic to nibbling varmints, they don't need cages...

The last-Fall-planted hyacinths to show up at all.  Not a leaf in sight yet...

Next week's seed-planting inside.  This time of year, there are always something to plant each week inside or out.

The wind to die down tomorrow.  I need to spray liquid corn gluten before the lawn soil warms up more.  The corn gluten stops seeds from sprouting.  The past 2 days were so windy, I couldn't spray it without the spray drifting to the vegetable garden and I have lots of seeds to plant there before the inhibitory effect ends in 6 weeks.

The NCAA basketball tournament to end.  It's painful.  The U of Maryland Men's and Women's teams had such high promise this year, but things didn't go their way.  They sure gave us exciting seasons though...

Cleaning the riding mower.  I figured out a way to elevate the riding mower to clean the underside of grass clippings and get at the blades to sharpen them.  You can't exactly tip a riding mower on its side to do that.  But I have ramps that will let me get at the underside.  I always did, I just didn't realize it.

Pruning low-hanging tree branches.  I finally got the chain saw blade on again and adjusted.  I have a LOT of branches to remove.

Seeing the first dandelion flowers.  I bought a COOL TOOL that lets you step on weeds, pry them up, and just flip them away.  I tried it out on some other weeds and it works GREAT!  Not an ad, just an appreciation for a good tool.

Fiskars Deluxe Stand-up Weeder (4-claw)

BTW, you can't just pull up dandelion plants and leave them to die.  The stems have enough food to ripen the seeds.  So you have to bag them...

Time to shift from long-sleeve flannel shirts to short-sleeved cotton.  It's "iffy" this time of year, but short-sleeve season is coming and I love the free-arm feeling.

Open doors!  The cats will love it and so will I.  It doesn't last long though.  Around here it goes from 50 to 80 in a month.  I can kill the occasional wandering wasp...

A warm day to wash the car outside.  It needs it.  At 11 years old and only 24K miles, I want to keep it looking decent.  A new one would have too much computer nonsense in it.

I'm sure there is other stuff, but memory fails after 5 am...

Good and Bad Day

Discovered I could transact business with my far away credit union through a different local one.  They call it Credit-Union-Sharing (real original, right?).  But it beats driving an hour and back.

Picked 22 ripe cherry tomatoes and 3 large heirloom tomatoes in the garden. YUM!

Raked 10 piles of rocks out of the new leveled backyard.  Not sure what I will DO with the rocks yet.  But they have to go before I can plant anything there.  And I have a cool tool for raking rocks.  Get ready for the name - Rock Raker!  Maybe "Stoned Today, Gone Tomorrow"?


Actually, it works.  The front tines are curved slightly backwards, so it catches rocks and lets soil slide through.  I suspect some clam-digger adapted it to New England farming.

Fired up the charcoal offset smoker.  Cooked pork ribs and chicken.  The ribs are delicious; I'll have some chicken tomorrow.  And I have enough leftovers for 10 more meals.  Those hickory chunks make great smoke and flavor.

Watered the flowerbeds.  We aren't technically in a drought, but the recently-removed ridge soil was dry as dust 4' down and that's not good.  We we forecast "heavy rain" Thursday/Friday, but I got less than 1/4".  That doesn't even register on plants.  In fact, it's bad for them.  It encourages the roots upwards, where they dry out faster.

So I try to water deeply once a week.  We aren't low on water supply here (for the hoses), just not much rain  and lots of plants transpiring it from the soil even deep down.  Its the lack of water deep in the soil that worries me.

Watering is easy.  I have this thing I built...

 I bought 2 plants that I want more of.  One is a Knock-Off Rose and the other is a dwarf butterfly bush.  I hate buying plants that cost $25 in a 3" pot!  But I know how to take cuttings and root them.  So each of those plants will be 5 plants at least next Spring.

Call me cheap, but its the fun of doing the rootings I like...

And the cats are loving being outside.  Marley misses his mousies (destroyed when the ridge was leveled) but he accepts my promise that the new plantings will probably bring even more mousies around and he will have more hiding places.

I better deliver on that promise...

New Deck, Part 3

The deck is complete!  This is actually from yesterday, because there are too many pictures for a single post and I was just TOO DAMN TIRED to post yesterday.  So today's work will be in tomorrow's post.

The construction team was just 2 guys - JR and JT.   First order of work was to remove the old ledger board (holds the deck to the house foundation), cut away vinyl siding, and attach "flashing" to the house (keeps rain out).

Then a new bigger ledger board was attached.  I was surprised.  They used bolts closer than I did on the original deck and all my friends accuse me of "over-engineering"  everything I build.  Seriously, I always figure "if 2 screws are good, 3 are better".

What they did next, though, REALLY astonished me.  I build from the ground up.  Who doesn't?  Well, these guys don't, that's who!  They built the basic shape of the deck floor up in the air, supported at the corners of the ledger board and just 2 temporary boards.

I asked why (that's why I stayed outside for 2 whole days - to learn things).  They do it because it is easy to slightly adjust the deck floor box square when it is still flexible.  After the support posts are in cemtny, there's no changing things!

Forehead slap!  Of course.  And because we had talked a little carpentry, they asked if I knew how to make sure the box was square.  I said "sure, measure the diagonals".  I got a "high-five" (and a little casual respect) for that one!

But not even the professionals are perfect!  When they started to put the joists between the ledger board and the end cap, they were too tight.  I pointed out that the end cap was bowing out so their measurements were wrong.  They scratched their heads for a moment and had an "OOPS" moment.

See, the outside measurements of the deck box have to be 16' exactly.  So the senior guy (JR) had of course deducted the thickness of the end cap when he cut the joists to fit inside the box.  But forgot to deduct the thickness of the ledger board!  LOL!  Oh did he catch flak for THAT from JT.  And I got in a couple of friendly-kidding remarks later about that, which he took in good humour.

So after recutting all the joists anther 1.5" shorter, they were back in business.  Then I saaw a new surprise!  There are metal hangers to hold the joists to the ledger board and endcap.  Naturally, I would think you would attach the hangers to those and then set the joists down onto the hangers.  OF COURSE NOT!   They used a nail gun to hold the joists in place and then put the hangers under those tightly.  This is all contrary to my basic understanding of construction (and gravity, for that matter), but that's why THEY are building the deck and not me.  Me - 2 decks, Them - 200+, they weren't sure.

So here are most of the joists in place (I had to keep reminding myself; take pictures, take pictures).

THEN they put in the support posts.   I was getting the logic of it by then.  You only know where the posts and beams go when you REALLY know where the interior corners of the deck box are so you can push the posts up from below, put carriage bolts into the posts and beams, and THEN pour the cement into the holes to support!

The corner of my brain where my "Learned From Dad" experiences reside are all screaming "this is all bass-ackwards", but what I'm observing says "outside your box, watch and learn"!  So I shushed the Dad Corner and learned...

So here is a "support" post hung from the deck box, with cement poured into the hole.  Then when the cement hardens, it all flips around and the posts supprt the beams, which support the deck box, etc.  I'm still stunned.

This is the COOLEST gadget I don't own!  It clamps across a deck board, spaces the boards apart evenly 1/4".  Then you set a screw in the front and back holes (which are at angles), and drive them in!  The spacing is perfect every time and the screws are invisible.  Oh MAN, I love well-designed tools.

I also loved the screws.  In the old days, there were just straight-slot screw-heads.  Then there were   Phillip-Heads (an X).  Then there were square heads (which I use myself), then star-shaped and even "tork" which has 7 or 8 sides.  All the harder to slip the driver of the screw.  The guys use star heads.  But it this gaget that makes things so much easier.

Finally (yesterday), they attached the stair tread supports.  I am vaguely bothered by the deep cutouts on these pre-made stair hangers.  They just seem like they could break where the board is narrow.  When I built my steps on the old deck, I used solid 2"x12" boards and supported the treads on cleats attached with 1'2" bolts.  But I have to admit that 4 of those pre-made forms adds a lot of strength.

Still, I may add "sisters" (additional boards screwed to the sides of the preforms) the later. But 4 of those only a foot apart does look pretty sturdy.

Tomorrow, the completion!

New Deck, Part 2

What a couple of days!  Pictures at the end as a reward to those who read this whole chapter (or you can just skip down, LOL).

YESTERDAY: 

First, the foreman of the team that will actually build the deck was to arrive between 7 and 8 am to mark the spots for the posts.  I had barely gotten dressed (and all that routine morning stuff) when the doorbell rang promptly at 7.  I was shocked, but pleased not to have to wait.

The first surprise was that he went to mark a spot on my patio.  I stopped him to ask "why so close to the ledger board"?  Ledger board is a support attached to the house to support joists.  Turns out that ledger boards are no longer used so that decks are technically "free-standing".  Why?  So that if the house falls down while people are on the deck, they will be safe.

WHAT?  Well, it's The County Code and you can't argue with it.  That was my first big laugh of the day. 

So he sprayed an orange paint X on one spot and measured 6' further and was about to paint another X when I stopped him again.  "Thats directly in front on the sliding glass door.  I won't be able to move anything in or out of the basement.  Safety exit, too".  So he called someone and told me it can be 8'.  Just past the door.  OK, but 2nd big laugh of the day.

Then he went to where the posts had to go in the lawn.  I thought those were fine, so "no comment".  If it seems like I watch contractors carefully, you're right!  They do the damndest silly things sometimes.  I learned a lot from when the house was built almost 28 years ago.  I lived 60 miles away, so I visited every weekend to see how things were going.  Afterwards, I wished I had set up a big tent in the backyard and just lived there for 6 months so I could check on things every evening.  Utterly impractical of course, but I would have had a better house.

So then the guy tells me the hole digging team would be there "After Noon".  Not "This Afternoon", "After Noon".  They arrived at 3 pm.  But they said it would only take 2 hours to "punch out" the holes.  Fine.  They had a gas-powered auger and some 5' breaker bars (aka crowbars) and a post hole digger, and the 2 guys looked like former football players.  I figured there would be no problem.

The first 2 holes in the soil near the house went fine, about 30 minutes each.  The holes have to be 2' square and 2' deep.  The hole inspector (yes, the County must approve the holes for the main posts - "Code").

The 3 lawn holes farther from the house were a different matter.  After the 4" of topsoil I'm built up over the years, they hit rock-hard clay and sand that their auger would not dig into.  They were "upset" (If I could understand most of what they were saying, I probably would have learned some VERY interesting new phrases *Coff, Coff*). 

They alternated between hand and power tools after that, completed 1 and 1/2 of the 3 farther holes by quitting time (5 pm on the dot).  I pointed out that the hole inspector was scheduled to arrive between 9 and 10 am the next morning.  I thought that was cutting it close...

But just before they left, they drew a 2' square around the 2 painted Xs on the cement patio.  So I asked about that.  "THAT" led to my third big laugh of the day.  They have to cut holes in the cement to make holes just like in the lawn!  "Why can't you just put the posts on the cement patio"?  "CODE" again!

Apparently, they have a huge circular saw that cuts "right through" cement, but not to worry, the soil under the patio was certain to be looser and would "take no time".  And they would be back at 7 am "plenty of time".

So it took them 2 hours to dig 1.5 of the 3 farther lawn holes.  Then it should take them another 2 hours to dig the remaining 1.5 lawn holes.  AND they had to cut through a cement patio, bust of the cement, remove it, and dig 2 more 2' deep holes in the dirt underneath in then "zero  to 1 hours time" depending on when the inspector arrived.

I apologize for the length of this, but more will be happening tomorrow, so I need to get through "yesterday and today" now.

TODAY:

One digger arrived promptly a 7 am.  One thing I will say is that these people ARE punctual!  He went right to work struggling to auger, chop, and dig his way to the 2' depth required.  With no better success than yesterday!  The other guy arrived at 8 with a helper.  And while one guy and the helper went at the lawn holes, the other guy went at the cement patio with the huge circular saw. 

OK, progress...

The contractor himself showed up at 8:30 am to make sure the holes were finished pre-inspection.  What a surprise he had!  He watched them work and than looked at his watch.  I casually mentioned that there was no chance of them finishing the holes before 11 am at best.

So the inspector arrived at 9:15.  Failed them, of course.  Rescheduled for tomorrow morning.

It took til Noon before they got all the holes "done".  They just disappeared while I was in the house.  I measured all the holes, and they were at 22", not 2" full feet.  I hope they don't get failed again and need a 3rd inspection Thursday morning.  The deck will take 2 days to build, and it hadn't occured to me that Friday is the Independence day holiday, they don't work on weekends and that would mean until Monday before the new deck is finished!

Now, for some pictures and comments:

One of the Big Red Xs.

And on the cement patio.  Little did I realize that meant cutting into the cement.  I assumed at first it was just for post anchor bolts.

The auger they used for drilling holes in the soil.  Carefully cropped for my more sensitive readers.   The guy on the right had his pants and underpants halfway his butt most of the time.  There is a REASON that careless fat guys should wear suspenders!

One of the lawn holes they dug.

Cutting the square hole in the cement patio was dusty work.  I offerred him a workshop dust mask, but he declined.

Their assumption was that the cut cement would be easily broken up with a sledgehammer.  RIIIGHT!  They had to get a jackhammer.  And that took them forever.

They finally managed to complete all the post holes.  

All this, and the actual building of the deck is yet to start.  This preparatory rough work is (finally I hope) OK.  But the work I care about is the new construction.  I bet I experience more "fun" while that goes on tomorrow and Thursday.

I Am So Lucky Sometimes

Unlucky at love and cards, I am pretty much lucky at most other things.  It balances out. 

Two weeks ago, I lost the nut that holds the sawblade on the tablesaw.   Its a special nut with reverse screw threads.  You can't buy it at the local hardware store.  I lost it somehow when taking off the stacked dado blades I used to cut slots in some boards.  I assumed the nut fell into the pile of sawdust, and I felt through it VERY carefully.  I brushed all the sawdust out of the bottom om the cabinet saw.  No nut.  So I sprinkled the sawdust out in the back yard. 

Obviously, I had set that special nut aside somewhere in the house.  I searched the basement for a week.  No luck.  I checked the pockets of all my clothes for the past week.  No luck.

I pulled the tablesaw forward and back and searched underneath.  No luck. 

That's "lucky"?  Yes it is.   Because I accumulate ""possibly useful things".  One of which is a Very Powerful Magnet.  I could possibly attach myself to the steel basement door with it.

So, as I had the tablesaw manufacturer site onscreen, I thought to make one more effort at finding the lost nut among the sprinkled sawdust.

I dragged the magnet along in the sawdust scatterred in the back yard.  And WHAT do you suppose  found on the SERIOUS magnet?  A nut!  It didn't seem to fit.  But it was a bit rusty, so I gave a good workover with a wirebrush.  My fingertips WILL heal. 

But a little oil after that and IT FIT!!!

My lost tablesaw reverse thread arbor nut!  Oh sweet baby of the tablesaw...  And oh sweet magnet of the "just TRY to pull it off the steel garage door where I keep you".  Thank you, thank you, thank you...

Good Yardwork Day Yesterday, 2

And by "yesterday", I mean Monday, since this is part 2...

After clearing out tree saplings and forsythia, I went after the running grass in the annual flowerbed.  The running grass is some evil grass that spreads by underground runners.  I don't know the variety of this one, but it is upright, single at first but will send up several stalks later, the runner roots are white, and they send up a new shoot about every 8-12".  Each one has to be dug up deeply individually, but you also have to dig up the soil between shoots to get the runners.  You can't even pull them up in soft soil.  The roots are brittle and snap of when pulled, and if you leave any part of the runners in the ground, they grow from that.  They probably arrived here in a coneflower or stella d'oro lily perennial I bought and planted at the sides and back edge.

Thank goodness for my leverage fork! 

I think it is one cool tool.  Oh of course, there are standard great tools like shovels and rakes and hoes.  But in the "unusual" category, I have to rank that up with the scuffle hoe and the pointed stainless steel trowel!  This thing is solid steel, when you put your foot under the curved part you have great pressure, and when it is in deep you just bend it back and the U-bar leverages the tines to push up the soil.  If you can step the tines IN the soil, the bar will pull the soil up and loose.  And it is great for chopping up big clods of hard soil too.

So I set to work on the runner grass with the leverage fork.  Push it in, bend it back, move it 4" and repeat.  Forever.  But the point is that it goes deep enough to get below the grass runners and the grass comes out roots and all.  If you soil is hard (as I hope it is not in any garden) you can pound the soil clumps on the U-bar to break up the soil and take out the grass runners.

I'm not saying the leverage fork makes it "easy", just "possible".  It still took an hour this time (my 3rd attack on the grass in 2 weeks).  THIS attack was on the difficult edges and around the perennials, so I had to work more carefully.  In fact, I soaked the target areas with a hose the day before to soften the soil.  When I used a roto-tiller to establish the bedding area many years ago, the edges were hard to get at properly, so the grass is harder to get at there.

I know from sad experience that I can never get ALL the below-ground runner roots.  But I bet I set them back 4-5 years this time.  Here is the de-grassed area...

Annuals will be going the bare spots next.  I like to have red salvias and blue forget-me-knots, but I had poor germination and growth of my annual seeds this year.  I even only got 75% of the marigolds to grow.  Well, the seeds were several years old.  I may have to buy some seedlings at the garden store.  Or maybe I'll plant a few various veggies.  I have some extra seedlings left over from the veggie beds.  Still, I'd rather have annual flowers there.  They bloom their little heads of all season.