Kids and Construction Projects
Jun. 16th, 2006 07:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gerisullivanI've long known that when moving to a new place, the quickest way to get to know your neighbors is to have kids. This works even better if your neighbors have kids, too.
In the absence of kids, construction projects can be useful.
Driveway Guy dropped off eight cubic yards of loam earlier today. Right about that same time, a couple of business things came up. They took most of the afternoon, but eventually I changed into grubby work clothes, tied my hair back, pulled on gloves, and started the job of spreading said loam along the edges of 275 feet of driveway. My tools? A shovel and a wheelbarrow. Oomph.
After seven loads from the pile at the bottom of the driveway, I took the empty wheelbarrow up to the much larger pile at the top. I'd asked Driveway Guy to leave about three-quarters of it up there under the theory that it's easier to push a full wheelbarrow down a hill than up it. Four more loads later, and my next door neighbor, Ed, came to investigate just what the dogs were still barking at. I was reassured to hear he'd had to do the same thing -- spread dirt and plant grass -- when he had his flat driveway paved.
A few minutes later, Ed offered to bring over his quad bike and trailer. Instead of shoveling a wheelbarrow-load at a time, rolling it down the hill, and dumping it all in one motion, we'd fill the trailer, take a lot more dirt partway down the hill with each trip, and shovel it out from there. It meant more shoveling, but faster work overall. And it saved 50 or more trips walking up and down the driveway with a full-then-empty wheelbarrow.
[cut-tag text continues here]
It also meant I wasn't the only one working. Ed wracked up his back a year or more ago, but he soon had a shovel and was having at it right along with me. Until his wife, Juda, came out. She had more enforcement power about not hurting himself than I did, but she also pitched right in. I wasn't surprised to hear she's a former weightlifter. But the third trailer-load, I was tuckered. She kept encouraging me to take breaks while she kept going. "I'm just getting started," she said. "You've already been at it awhile."
When we were finished spreading that load, I headed to the house for some water. As luck would have it, I had IBC Tangerine Cream soda on hand, one of Ed's favorites. I was also pleased to be able to cut several small chunks of Swedish limpa bread, just three hours out of the breadmaker. I took the refreshments up, tried to call a bit more of a break, then went back to shoveling.
I forget whether we finished two or three more loads before I called it quits for today. Juda claimed she's going to come back over tomorrow and spread more loam while I'm visiting![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kip_w and malibrarian and enjoying the honor of attending Sarah's dance recital. Juda's right; I can't stop her. But I'm gobsmacked and more than a tad discomfited by the notion of my neighbors doing the work for me when I'm physically able to do it myself. Their help today was awesome. We accomplished more than three times as much as I would have managed in the same time on my own. And it was good just getting to know them better. I'll gladly take their help again when they see me outside working on it over the next few days. It looks like the weather is not going to be on my side. Brutally hot'n'humid Sunday, possibility of thundershowers Monday and Tuesday, and maybe more rain on Thursday. What are the chances I'll be able to buy grass seed, landscape cloth, and straw, and get it all down it time for it to all be washed away? Or should I let just the dirt be washed away, fill it back in, and start from there?
What I do know is that if I wait until after the rain, the remaining loam...and there's lots of it piled high....will be that much heavier and harder to shovel. So I think I'd best get up in the morning and hope I'm not too stiff to continue the shoveling and spreading work then.
For my next trick tonight, I'll shower the dirt and sweat off, then likely indulge in a Lush bath. Hmm...Avobath or The Happy Pill? Or maybe a Black Pearl because I really could use a pearl of wisdom along with smooth skin right now.
In the absence of kids, construction projects can be useful.
Driveway Guy dropped off eight cubic yards of loam earlier today. Right about that same time, a couple of business things came up. They took most of the afternoon, but eventually I changed into grubby work clothes, tied my hair back, pulled on gloves, and started the job of spreading said loam along the edges of 275 feet of driveway. My tools? A shovel and a wheelbarrow. Oomph.
After seven loads from the pile at the bottom of the driveway, I took the empty wheelbarrow up to the much larger pile at the top. I'd asked Driveway Guy to leave about three-quarters of it up there under the theory that it's easier to push a full wheelbarrow down a hill than up it. Four more loads later, and my next door neighbor, Ed, came to investigate just what the dogs were still barking at. I was reassured to hear he'd had to do the same thing -- spread dirt and plant grass -- when he had his flat driveway paved.
A few minutes later, Ed offered to bring over his quad bike and trailer. Instead of shoveling a wheelbarrow-load at a time, rolling it down the hill, and dumping it all in one motion, we'd fill the trailer, take a lot more dirt partway down the hill with each trip, and shovel it out from there. It meant more shoveling, but faster work overall. And it saved 50 or more trips walking up and down the driveway with a full-then-empty wheelbarrow.
[cut-tag text continues here]
It also meant I wasn't the only one working. Ed wracked up his back a year or more ago, but he soon had a shovel and was having at it right along with me. Until his wife, Juda, came out. She had more enforcement power about not hurting himself than I did, but she also pitched right in. I wasn't surprised to hear she's a former weightlifter. But the third trailer-load, I was tuckered. She kept encouraging me to take breaks while she kept going. "I'm just getting started," she said. "You've already been at it awhile."
When we were finished spreading that load, I headed to the house for some water. As luck would have it, I had IBC Tangerine Cream soda on hand, one of Ed's favorites. I was also pleased to be able to cut several small chunks of Swedish limpa bread, just three hours out of the breadmaker. I took the refreshments up, tried to call a bit more of a break, then went back to shoveling.
I forget whether we finished two or three more loads before I called it quits for today. Juda claimed she's going to come back over tomorrow and spread more loam while I'm visiting
kip_w and malibrarian and enjoying the honor of attending Sarah's dance recital. Juda's right; I can't stop her. But I'm gobsmacked and more than a tad discomfited by the notion of my neighbors doing the work for me when I'm physically able to do it myself. Their help today was awesome. We accomplished more than three times as much as I would have managed in the same time on my own. And it was good just getting to know them better. I'll gladly take their help again when they see me outside working on it over the next few days. It looks like the weather is not going to be on my side. Brutally hot'n'humid Sunday, possibility of thundershowers Monday and Tuesday, and maybe more rain on Thursday. What are the chances I'll be able to buy grass seed, landscape cloth, and straw, and get it all down it time for it to all be washed away? Or should I let just the dirt be washed away, fill it back in, and start from there?What I do know is that if I wait until after the rain, the remaining loam...and there's lots of it piled high....will be that much heavier and harder to shovel. So I think I'd best get up in the morning and hope I'm not too stiff to continue the shoveling and spreading work then.
For my next trick tonight, I'll shower the dirt and sweat off, then likely indulge in a Lush bath. Hmm...Avobath or The Happy Pill? Or maybe a Black Pearl because I really could use a pearl of wisdom along with smooth skin right now.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 12:33 am (UTC)You get to help shovel their loam in a few weeks. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 04:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 05:40 am (UTC)I have been addicted to LUSH cosmetics for many years after discovering them either in London, or Victoria B.C. My favorite Bombs are Titsy Tosty, and Butterball (hmmmmm, chocolate!).
A few years back, while on our way to the preview of Wicked in SF, we walked past the unmistakable scent of LUSH, I turned around and there was a store!!
We had stumbled upon the first US store that had just opened at that time. I'm so glad they're growing here in the US, but then again, it was fun everytime we went to a "commonwealth" area, I looked up where the nearest store was! Enjoy your bath!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 03:29 pm (UTC)K. [former Lush user of at least 6 products that are no longer available, and no: I am not falling for that idiot "vote for your discontinued fave!!!" thing that they're running now, because I am certain that I will be disappointed]
no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 04:57 am (UTC)Yes, I know I can order online and avoid scent problems all together. I don't know why that doesn't appeal to me -- I do enjoy reading the online reviews, and do a lot of product research before store visits, but I also like seeing the actual product I'm buying. Maybe it's the little individual differences, or the impulse discoveries. Or something. I'm sure it's something!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 05:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 04:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-19 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 04:46 am (UTC)Thanks, too, for the reminder not to get too dependent on any of their products. Budget considerations alone should help me with that, but the bath bombs seem to be my downfall, and the bubble bars could well be my next one.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-17 10:06 am (UTC)When we were putting in our mailbox about six weeks ago (after we'd closed, but before we moved in) I was stunned by the amount of help our new neighbors gave us. We'd brought the wrong tools with us, but people came by, chatted, and lent us the right tools.
Since we've moved in, though, we've hardly talked to our neighbors, except for a guy on one side.