Count the Blisters

Who would have thought driving a little tractor around would cause blisters. But after 10 hours of riding the little Tonka Toy, I had 3 blisters on each hand. And I was wearing gloves. A neighbor of ours needed fill dirt, and I had a lot to get rid of. I went to Home Depot and rented the 360, which has a 34.5" width, and used it all day moving dirt from my backyard, out the front, then down the street one house and dumping it. I'd guess I moved over 10 yards. I was going to add a link to the tractor, but they don't have it listed on the web-sites. I ran up my brick walkway and through a 36" gate more times than I could count. First the four-plus yards from my pile I had been moving around, and then I started lowering the area right behind the patio. I did not get it done, just ran out of time. I had to turn the tractor in before they closed that night, and I made it with 15 minutes to spare.

Several times it rained/misted on me while I was working, but I couldn't afford the time to stop. It made it a little slick, but it was still kinda fun. A big kid with a Tonka toy.

While it doesn't show well in the pictures, there is about a foot between the upper and lower sections of the yard. I probably still have 4-6 yards to remove from the back side, and to level the ground. I took a break today and just weeded one of the gardens in the front. I probably will build a wood retaining wall for now, and change it to brick or stone later. I'll need to add a step as 1 foot is too high for the Misses to step. Sorry about the picture quality of me on the tractor, I wasn't taking them.


I also added a current picture of the patio. I have a few wedges to cut/grind, then sand, but it needs to dry out before I can put the sand down.

Almost donewith the patio

Well here you see I've run bricks all of the way to the driveway ramp. Only a few more to fit in, but I needed to get some flowers planted so I leveled out the ground next to the patio and got the initial plants in. Grass seed may get in tonight yet so I can beat the weeds. I still need to move the pile of dirt, so I'm checking with a neighbor who another neighbor thought need some to level out the yard. Hope he can use 4-5 yards. Only problem is there is some pea gravel mixed in.

Enjoy, and be careful of the blisters.

The Cats Hat

I had a request for a bottle stopper shaped as a turned hat from the Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat series. Since I've never seen one that actually was straight up the sides, I turned one from Myrtal wood and finished it by carving the shape I thought was most appropriate. The wood is really hard to hand carve, so I used a rotary tool to get the shape I wanted. Take a look.



Now for a patio update. It is raining again/still so I haven't got as much work on it as I would like. It may stop raining next week. The month of June usually gets 1.5" of rain, they expect 1.65" to fall in the next 2 days. Great way to start summer. The pictures here show where I'm at. Still a lot more cutting to do. I now have holes in 3 pairs of gloves from handling the bricks.



Enjoy, but be careful of the blisters.