Out With the Old

Last night after work mom and I took all of the drawers and shelves and pots and pans out of the lower cabinets. I then started removing the sink and counter tops. In the morning I added 3/8" spacers to raise the granite because it isn't as thick as the old counter.


In With The New.



The new counter top is here.







The finished counter top. We need to put the cabinets back together and after a 12-24 hour wait I can do the plumbing. The facet is just set into the hole to see what it looks like. We will post more after we finish cleaning.

A Fence Finally

Amy wants the fence finished before the reception. She said Tyler and her would help me put it up. We did the fence before the patio but sometimes it takes me a while to get things done. I got all of the materials together and Tyler, Amy and Harrison showed up to help.


Harrison wasn't much help.


I drilled the holes in the pickets and Tyler screwed them to the frame while Amy was helping mom weed the flower beds


It all went up pretty fast and looks good.


Careful it could be loaded.


When we put up the fence it was just a few weeks after surgery on my wrist. I couldn't even stand the torque of the of the drill when putting in the screws. It was a while later before I could finish what was left of the fence. Thank you Amy and Tyler for your help.

It's Finially In The Store

Mom and I went to Fred Meyers last night and I found the new Betty Crocker gluten free cake mixes. We bought the yellow cake mix and the brownie mix. They also have a chocolate cake and a cookie mix. They cost a little over 4 dollars and only make a 8X8 cake. Today is Fathers day and I wanted to try out the cake mix so while mom was making macaroni salad I mixed up the cake. When mom finished the salad she made lemon frosting.


It was surprisingly good. Gluten free goodies usually don't taste near as good after a day or two. I'll let you know if it still tastes good.

We are getting closer to a finished Patio

After another expansion to include the tree in the patio we then laid all of the pavers that didn't need to be cut.


The next step is to saw and install the rest of the pavers. I dug out the easy-up not because of the sun, but the rain. I needed to get the pavers cut and the saw returned to the Pro Rental.


Finely all of the pavers are in.


Here is where we dug out another three feet of sod and dirt to include the tree in the patio. We thought it would look better than have to jog the edge around the tree. What a nice feeling to have the major part of the work done. It took a lot of help from the whole family. Thanks everyone, there is no way I could have completed this alone.


The next step was to install the edging around the pavers to keep them from moving over the years. Melissa, Kayla and Allie helped me spread the quarts sand over the pavers to fill in between them.


We had to find enough brooms because everyone wanted to help.


A couple of passes with the plate compactor and then we swept the rest of the sand off.


A quick wash with the hose and the patio is complete.


After work and between rain storms I was able to relocate the sprinklers and reroute the poly pipe around the patio. With the sod down and the flower pots in place I think it looks very nice. We planted the flowers early in the spring and had to cover them at night for the first two or three weeks to keep them from freezing.


Thanks again everyone!

Next step in the creation of the Patio

Here is the hole we dug in preparation for the sub layers. We then put down 3 inches of gravel and compacted it. Next went 1 to 1 1/2 inches of sand which we leveled.


This is where all of the dirt, sod and concrete went.


One back hoe and dump truck and three loads later, plus some cleanup.


Then the pavers show up.


The RV pad is as close as we could get to the back yard.


Our little army of workers. Look at them work! It seems we moved a little too much soil and had to haul a little back down.


The next step is to move the pavers down to where we need them.


Cory is checking to see which side of the paver looks best.....


He then handed them to Nate with the good side up.


Nate laid them down in a modified herringbone pattern.


I cut the cut the pavers to fit in the edges.


I then laid them in place.




This is as far as we got Memorial Day weekend. It seems that I didn't order enough gravel and sand. We were able to finish most of the south side of the patio. Cory and little Tyler then helped me over the next week with more gravel and sand to prepare the base for the pavers.


Oh Here is our little "tographer's" just like Amy.
This one is Allie.


Here's Makayla she took a lot of the pictures of us working on the patio. Thanks Makayla

Our new patio May 16th

I went to update this blog but it had been so long since I have used it the log-in procedure had changed. So after some help from Melissa I think I can get on with it.

Before we started to work I made a trip to Lowe's and bought a 2 wheeled 8 cubic foot wheelbarrow.

Cory, little Tyler and I laid out the shape of the patio and started digging.









Mom gave moral support, took some pictures, fixed us lunch then had to leave for her other job. After working hard for as long as time would allow Cory had to go and pick up Angie from work.



The next shift was Melissa, Makayla and Allie. They were all hard workers, we just had to be careful to dodge the shovel handles from all the hard work Makayla and Allie were doing.




After we ask our little helpers to go play for a while we finished the last of the grass.




Nathan then showed up after working most of the day at his family's cabin. He made short order work of the old patio. We put a piece of formica up to protect the glass patio doors from flying debris. Kayla is working by the aftermath.



After a lot more loads than you would think an 8' X 10' concrete patio would create we cleaned up the last of it.



We made the haul to the drive way a little easier with a tow rope.





The last load for the day is in the pile.




I'm not sure we could have made any more loads.




All in a days work.



And to finish the day we had an art show and then some pizza.




Mom and I want to thank of you for all of your hard work. We will see you this week end.

Tyler Cory and their Grandpa's

Mom and Melissa were scrapbooking in their spare time as usual. Mom found a picture of Cory (7 months) with his Gramdpa Miles. It was taken in August of 1978. The second picture was taken of Tyler (4 months) and his Grandpa Miles in January of 2006.

Cory with his Grandpa Miles.

Tyler with his Grandpa Miles.