Pandemic Projects - Summit Yard
Today was the first time that I can remember that we were not at May Day. There would not have been a May Day this year anyway, even without the pandemic. But it still felt like something was missing.
This week and last, Patrick and I have been working a lot on the Summit yard. I think we can safely say this will be the earliest we've gotten that space cleaned up and usable. The bonus is that we've been able to work there while the magnolias and other trees have been blooming, so it's been beautiful.
Last week we got everything raked up and cleaned up (we finally caved an ordered a yard waste bin from our trash service), including mulching under the magnolias, which I have already written about. We also cleaned out the garage, which had suffered a severe squirrel invasion, and plugged up the hole in the chimney where they had a nest.
This week, Patrick re-trenched the irrigation system, which always creeps up above the soil. It's a thankless, horrible task, but he chanelled his inner Ron Finley and got it done.
Beatrix set out her fairy gardens.
I washed a ton of the outdoor pillows, picked up more river rock for around the hot tub, fixed some squirrel holes (see a theme here?) in our big Chank sculpture, and repainted our planters:
But the big project was recoating the deck. If you've ever been to one of our pool parties, you know that everyone congregates on the deck and it gets a LOT of use. It was looking pretty bad:
We wanted to try out a desk coating, so Patrick braved Menards to get it while I scribbled down the deck. The first color turned out to be too light — almost a white — that I thought would be too reflective and show dirt too much. So Patrick went back and got a new gallon in "slate," which we like much better:
It was hard work, kind of like painting with peanut butter. It dries fast, and you have to stay on it, and crawling around on a hot deck painting all day is a lot of work. And we made it with just a few ounces of paint to spare, which was nerve-wracking. But I think it looks great, so it was worth it.
And it will be perfect for margaritas served from the set I found in someone's free pile on the way home!
This week and last, Patrick and I have been working a lot on the Summit yard. I think we can safely say this will be the earliest we've gotten that space cleaned up and usable. The bonus is that we've been able to work there while the magnolias and other trees have been blooming, so it's been beautiful.
Last week we got everything raked up and cleaned up (we finally caved an ordered a yard waste bin from our trash service), including mulching under the magnolias, which I have already written about. We also cleaned out the garage, which had suffered a severe squirrel invasion, and plugged up the hole in the chimney where they had a nest.
This week, Patrick re-trenched the irrigation system, which always creeps up above the soil. It's a thankless, horrible task, but he chanelled his inner Ron Finley and got it done.
Beatrix set out her fairy gardens.
I washed a ton of the outdoor pillows, picked up more river rock for around the hot tub, fixed some squirrel holes (see a theme here?) in our big Chank sculpture, and repainted our planters:
But the big project was recoating the deck. If you've ever been to one of our pool parties, you know that everyone congregates on the deck and it gets a LOT of use. It was looking pretty bad:
We wanted to try out a desk coating, so Patrick braved Menards to get it while I scribbled down the deck. The first color turned out to be too light — almost a white — that I thought would be too reflective and show dirt too much. So Patrick went back and got a new gallon in "slate," which we like much better:
It was hard work, kind of like painting with peanut butter. It dries fast, and you have to stay on it, and crawling around on a hot deck painting all day is a lot of work. And we made it with just a few ounces of paint to spare, which was nerve-wracking. But I think it looks great, so it was worth it.
And it will be perfect for margaritas served from the set I found in someone's free pile on the way home!
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