On Saturday, Carl and I were out early to get something done between rain showers. We had a tentative incentive plan to work as hard as we could, and then drop everything and go to the 100th anniversary of our local fire department's parade at 2PM. We worked on the shop bed right up until 1:45PM and then packed a lunch and headed to town with Grandma. The parade was very nice, with old fire trucks from all over the state.
When Joel came home from kayaking, we got ready to move the 'Piano Rock' from out back by the windmill to the shop bed. This rock is very large and to counterbalance the tractor, Carl and Joel loaded a large rock to the forklift teeth and then hooked up the Piano rock to the Manley wrecker. The wrecker is truly amazing, we were very surprised it could lift even a portion of the limestone.
In the picture below, Joel is approaching slowly down the lane. We were given a hood off of a Pontiac last fall for just this sort of project and it came in handy to put under the rock so it would slide instead of digging into the dirt.
It was approaching 9PM and starting to mist on and off
Going down the road, partially dragging the rock and the car hood
Nearly dark (with approaching rain) nearing the garden site
Removing the car hood so we can back up the rock a bit and hooking up the second tractor to pull from the driveway
In order to get the rock in the right spot, Joel had to drive past the area first, and when he tried to back up, the rock wasn't budging and the tractor was spinning. So, Carl hooked the H to the rock on the other side and with Joel on the 574 backing up and me on the H pulling forward, we managed to back the rock up.
The next job was to stand the rock up. Carl unhooked the rock from the wrecker and then placed a chain around the narrowest point and had Joel pull forward. After a few readjustments of the chain, it finally tipped up.
Now that we had the rock standing, the next step was to turn it about six inches to the northwest. Carl and Ann used our trusty steel bars to move the rock over.
A final pull to see if we could get the rock to stand up straight (no slouching!)
and that was it for the night.
While we were putting tractors away, we noticed fireworks in town for the Fireman's Picnic so we all hopped in our cars and went to watch them but by the time we got there, they were over. Still, we did see a few on the way. When we got back home, we had a campfire and ate the usual fare. I tried my first S'mores with graham cracker, marshmallow and with an exotic twist.....a peppermint pattie. Very progressive of me at age 52, never let it be said I'm not daring.
Fast forward to late Sunday morning...(and daylight, ha)........
Last night's damage to the hostas was unavoidable when working in such tight spaces, they'll grow back.
Rock #2 is on the way to join good ol' Piano Rock
Not as heavy as Piano, but still enough to make the tires squishy on the wrecker
Back out to the pile for Rock #3...this one was still full of gravel from the quarry, so Carl brushed it off on the lane.
Rock #2 is on the way to join good ol' Piano Rock
Back out to the pile for Rock #3...this one was still full of gravel from the quarry, so Carl brushed it off on the lane.
I had to leave before Rocks #2 & 3 were brought in for the wedding shower for our niece. While I was gone, Carl and Joel had those two rocks placed, and Joel mowed the lawn and then left to help a friend with a car. We had a photographer stop in around 4PM with a young couple who wanted their engagement pictures taken. I wish more stuff was blooming right now and that I had everything neat and tidy, but they did not seem to notice and asked if they could have their wedding photography here, too, in October.
When I came home from the shower, of course, I had to inspect the progress:
I forgot my kneepads!
All three rocks in place, now what?
The next step was to fix the stone wall which we knocked down by accident the night before. Ann arrived around 5:30 PM and helped rebuild and backfill the wall with dirt brought up from the backyard. We then had to move the hostas behind the wall forward and split and planted Gold Drop hostas in front of the wall, too.
More fine-tuning is definitely needed; we plopped hostas around and potted trees for effect, but nothing is decided yet on tree placement. We worked until dark again, ate supper and then Carl and I cleaned up and left to go to a graduation party for a neighbor's daughter. We arrived around 9:30PM which is late, but the neighbors know we're nuts, too, and don't think anything of it.
When we left, Cody and Briana stopped in to play cards, so they played 4-handed Sheepshead while we were gone. We got home around 11PM and played until nearly 1:00AM.
Another weekend over......and a garden walk approaching fast. Progress, not perfection!
Karen
More fine-tuning is definitely needed; we plopped hostas around and potted trees for effect, but nothing is decided yet on tree placement. We worked until dark again, ate supper and then Carl and I cleaned up and left to go to a graduation party for a neighbor's daughter. We arrived around 9:30PM which is late, but the neighbors know we're nuts, too, and don't think anything of it.
When we left, Cody and Briana stopped in to play cards, so they played 4-handed Sheepshead while we were gone. We got home around 11PM and played until nearly 1:00AM.
Another weekend over......and a garden walk approaching fast. Progress, not perfection!
Karen
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