New House Blog: Episode LXXIIII - Phase Two

Phase Two is complete.  And Phase Two is also complete.  Or, to put it another way, we have recently completed the second phases of two different projects.  One of them is, of course, our grand winter-spring-summer project, and the other is an unnamed but important project.  In this Episode we will discuss both of these projects, provide an update to Project G.R.O.S.S.S., showcase an unexpected artifact found in an unexpected place, and more.

Phase Two, The First

Many months ago, almost a year ago, in fact, we replaced some round stone things near our driveway with some flat stones - as seen in this Episode from August 18, 2013.  Here are the before and after pictures.

Before

After

Though this was a vast improvement over the original round stone things, it wasn't quite enough: it was a good start, but it needed more - more stones.  Thus Phase Two.

 This picture shows the state of the stones after almost one year in-place.

This picture shows the Phase Two expansion.  There is not currently a plan for a Phase Three.
















Project G.R.O.S.S.S. Update

You may remember our anti-squirrel initiative, Project G.R.O.S.S.S., from the previous Episode.  I am saddened to report that our anti-squirrel measures have so far proven to be completely innefective.  The very first day after we put up our alleged squirrel deterrents (the shiny spinners and the squirrel repellent) we saw one particularly slimy squirrel trouncing atop the fence with one of our pears in his mouth. In the days following we noticed more pears on the ground and fewer on the trees.  At the time of this Episode the slimy squirrels are no longer stealing our pears, but that is only because they have already stolen all of the pears from our pear tree!  From our bountiful crop we have consumed exactly ONE pear ourselves - the slimy squirrels got a few hundred.  Here's hoping for another bumper crop next year, and more effective anti squirrel methods.

Phase Two, The Second

Our grand winter-spring-summer project is finished!  You saw the completed Phase One, and now you will see the completed Phase Two.  But first a quick review of our construction methods.  Step 1 - dig out the trench.  Step 2 - lay down some paver base.  Step 3 - lay down some sand.  Step 4 - lay down the pavers.  Step 5 - apply the polymeric sand.

 Step 1 - the trench has been dug.  Notice how green the grass is and how small the raspberry bushs are.  All the trenches for Phase One and Phase Two were dug at the same time.

 Steps 2, 3, 4 - you can see some of the paver base, and the sand and pavers are partially laid.  Paver base used for Phase Two - 48 bags.  Sand used - 24.5 bags.

 Step 5 - the polymeric sand has been applied.  We're done with the project.  Hooray!  Note how dry the grass is and how much bigger the raspberry bushes are.  Polymeric sand used - 1 bag.

 Phase Two as seen from the yard.

 As seen from the balcony.

This shows how all of the paver paths fit together in the back yard.

Our material staging area is mostly empty.  We have leftover one bag of paver base and two and a half bags of polymeric sand.  The polymeric sand spread a lot farther than our expected.



Turtle Update

We now bring you a turtle update.  We have a new turtle planter in our pottery garden, and it is currently growing lettuce.

Unexpected Artifact

We close this Episode with a Back Yard Archaeology update.  While churning the contents of the 'Mposter recently we discovered a mysterious unexpected artifact.  We put up the 'Mposter, so there should be no pre-Bishopian artifacts inside, and it turns out that this is not a pre-Bishopian artifact.

 But what is it, and how did it end up in the 'Mposter?  After some serious study and prolonged research we know exactly what this mysterious artifact is, and we have a good idea of how it turned up in the 'Mposter.

Do you remember Clippy, our brand new Fiskars grass clipper from this Episode? Well, Clippy had been mysteriously missing for a few months, and we have already bought a replacement grass clipper because we gave up on finding Clippy.  This artifact is Clippy!  Clippy has been slowly composting for a few months - possibly since March, 2014!  This was truly unexpected.

What likely happened is that when I was clipping some grass in the back yard, and putting the clippings in my green multipurpose tub, I may have absentmindedly tossed clippy into the tub along with the grass clippings.  And when I emptied the tub into the 'Mposter there went Clippy.  I have churned the 'Mposter several times since, but Clippy never showed up until just a few days ago.

As you can see, Clippy has degraded a bit, but at this point we don't believe Clippy is beyond rehabilitation.  A little filing, a little sandpapering, some lubricating - Clippy might still have many useful years of usefulness.

Clip clip here, clip clip there...
    bIsh