Renovation Progress

 

In what is record time for us, we have the stonework completed in the new 'canyon' of the Pachyberm in just over two weeks.  The new stone walls are steep which should eliminate a great deal of weeding.  We hope.

                                                                                       Walls going up

We need to be able to drive the lawn mower through the gap for mowing, and had been measuring as the stones were installed.  We thought the distance between the walls was ample, but unfortunately, the width needed to be increased after a test drive when I found there was only an inch to spare on the curve.  I'm glad we discovered the mistake before all of the work was done.

The rocks that were no longer needed in the area were hoisted out of the way.

We'll be using the excess stone in the next phase of the renovations.  Joel lifted them with the excavator into piles as he drove away, picking each one up and moving them in front of him where they are now stockpiled until needed. 

Carl has been raking and repairing the lawn and I've been replanting hostas and other perennials that were removed in the demolition.  

I've been going in circles thinking about how we can repair and rejuvenate the Quarry itself, and have stared at it trying to imagine what we can do without destroying all of the conifers.  We have attained our garden design inspiration from nature and other private and public gardens we've toured over the years.  I pulled up pictures of my favorite gardens online and watched videos, but pictures just aren't the same as being there.  

As it turned out, Joel wanted to see the legendary Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive as it makes its way across the Midwest.  The closest stop to us was in Illinois, about four hours away.  He said as long as  we were in the area, we could revisit my favorite public gardens.  

We haven't been away from home overnight for seven years as neither of us like to travel much, but this was a great opportunity and a much-needed break.
 

Red sunset on Wednesday night as I ran around watering all the pots extra-heavy to keep them going while we were gone. 

Time to pack our bags and be inspired.