topsoil, two Volkswagens' worth

Received ten cubic yards of very rich-looking topsoil today. Here we all are, striding around our new topsoil.

When I was deciding how much we needed in order to level out the backyard, the nice lady on at Cedar Grove explained that five cubic yards looks roughly the size of an old Volkswagen beetle. Somehow that was the perfect explanation, and it became instantly clear in my mind that we needed two Volkswagens' worth. Disappointingly, when it arrived it looked nothing like two Volkswagens. But it does seem to be about the right amount for the yard.

It's a good thing that Audrey is such a skilled Bobcat operator.

heavy machinery

For about 200 bucks I got to rent an earth mover and lift a lot of dirt without tweaking my arm again.







By Saturday afternoon the entire back wall facing Glen was done and the back and side of the tree wall were done. My arm was complaining. So next weekend to finish. Most likely we will also start on the fence next weekend also.

finished: back of retaining wall

Started the side. Much thanks again go out to Ken who helped finish the wall, and to Elliot who helped digg the new trench. We are now waiting on excavation machines offered by Matt and Shannon, as the amount of dirt we need to move on the street side is pretty overwhelming.

pear tree

Is now firewood.

building a wall

We started the retaining wall on Saturday. With fall well under way there was not a lot of daylight to work on it. We got to the house on Saturday morning around 9:30. By 9:45 I was digging a trench on the curve in the back. Following the survey, the back yard will be squared off but considerably thinner on the "street" side. In fact, the remaining tree in the back yard is actually growing in the street. I don't know how we will deal with this, so I just picked the back corner and start digging.

I dug for a couple of hours then stopped to get some lunch. When I got home Heather was in the back yard with the neighbor behind us, Shannon (Land Rover) and her husband/boyfriend Matt. Shannon is limping and distraught and I don't clue in quick enough. Turns out she thinks she broke her ankle—running to get here after her guest house manager told her I was outside "digging a huge trench in their parking lot." We suggested that she go to the hospital to get her foot looked at, and promised to stop digging until we can all talk (I am starting to clue in now).




I spend the next couple of hours with Audrey and Heather. When Shannon and Matt return we have a good long talk. Long story short, I really like my neighbors. We talked a bit about what we were going to do with the street side (put it off until the back is done), and generally things end on a positive note. I dig for a few more hours on Saturday.

When I wake up on Sunday its pouring rain and my left wrist really hurts. I go to the house and start digging in the rain (its about 45 degrees). I can't lift anything with my wrist twisted a certain way so I have to be careful with it (turns out I gave myself De Quervain Tenosynovitis and I will be in pain for the first part of the week). By 1 PM or so I am putting the first 4x4 into the ground with 2 foot rebar stakes (and drilling holes with the first major power tool purchase, a cordless drill, because I was too chicken to bring out the old metal plug-in drill in the rain). Turned out pretty cool. We should be finishing it this coming weekend, and starting on the street side.

I do some work

And to prove it I asked Matt to take this picture. Even if you look closely, though, you can't really tell what I was doing. And if you were to look at this windowsill, there is actually no sign of anything having been accomplished. And I didn't accomplish anything, actually. So.

survey

Well, damn.

Turns out we're losing a good four or five feet off the alley side of our property, just as our architect neighbor predicted. But we do indeed gain a bit at the far corner, and Land Rover (who actually drives a Range Rover, I noticed today, and whose name is actually Shannon) was very gracious about the whole thing.

wallpaper

We've really got Jenny's New Orleans look going: layer upon layer of wallpaper, variously exposed. The tough part is getting the backing off of the plaster. In some places it comes right off (and there's something very satisfying about peeling huge swaths of paper off the walls), but in many places the glue is there to stay, with a cardboard-looking layer of paper backing stuck to it.