And the Garage Begins!

The landscaper finished trucking away debris a week ago between bouts of rain. Now it's dry enough for the garage to begin. The photo shows the beginning of the forms--the frame into which the garage pad will be set. It is somewhat stalled because Lazy Gnome didn't think about what was happening enough to consider calling in One Call to mark the gas line, so the Garage Guy has done so and is going to wait to ensure he avoids an explosion. Yes, Edmonton has been the City of Exploding Houses this summer, and we don't need one here!!

After the forms are finished, the road crush will be set down then the concrete will be poured. It is SO exciting to see something positive, something going up rather than being torn out.

However, we must return to the evils of water: more in the basement last week. Why? The Usual Suspects: Poor grading still. Eaves troughs are hosting wee trees. Possibly weeping tile full of sediment. Today's worries: drain/ re-do the weeping tile? Put up new eaves troughs? There's little point in fixing the grade if the downspouts aren't working!!

Wonders of water....

Well, dear readers: Lazy Gnome's frustration over the weather might soon turn to outright melancholy. She must be strong, and remember that water gives us and the world as we know it life, beauty and strength. As events this weekend in Newfoundland and Labradour have also reminded us, water is stronger than we are. At risk of getting partisan, LG would just remind everyone that water is a precious resource but far more than a commodity and that the pundants assume the next great war will be over it or because of it.

We cannot live without water. This much is true. Here are a couple other thoughts to ponder:

~"Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water."~~ Albert von Szent-Gyorgyl (1893-1986)

~"Now I would give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground." ~~William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

~"The biologist passes, the frog remains." ~~Jean Rostand (1894-1977)

If you are terribly bored and frustrated over this weather and feeling creativity pent up inside you like cabin fever, feel free to write a 50 or 500 word essay, or a limerick or even a Haiku celebrating water or anything that comes to mind after reading the quotes, above. At the very least, guess which play the Bard's quote is from! (LG just finished reading a book that takes place in the late 1800's Japan which is full of images of balance and beauty, and all the strength and conflict it takes to create a moment of serenity. Highly recommended: The Teahouse Fire. Water figures prominently in the world of Japanese gardens and of course in the making of tea.)

Anyway, feel empowered to pen an ode to your basement flood or an elegy to the picnic that never was...or , if you are a Street Performer, well, you are allowed to just wail a bit.

Red Hot!

Well, nearly red hot, but large it's definitely not. Still, it's like a little miracle: with all this rain, and having been moved from the sun-drenched south side of the house to the shade-dappled West side to accommodate the landscaper guys, who would have guessed this wee tomato would be looking ready to pluck so soon!

Lazy Gnome bought this plant at the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market and plunked into this pot only about three weeks ago--and look!! LG feels like a real farmer! Well, maybe not so much but, it's a tiny step toward really local eating.

It's so cute, though, I can't really imagine eating it...oh, wait, yes I can!

Hope your garden is growing well; at least everyone will save on water charges this year, although we may bemoan the actual yield.

Cheers!

Work is progressing!!

Lazy Gnome is "happy" to say that this is the bottom photo is the view of the house from the alley as of this morning. Isn't it swell?

The Landscapers hauled away about 9 truckloads of concrete, earth, sod and green stuff yesterday alone. LG was surprised to see them here yesterday, and on Friday and on the day before that as there has been a lot of rain in River City this past week. One of the crew said that kind of work they were doing in my yard is about all they can do when it is this wet. He usually works in commercial rather than residential--putting boulevards into new developments, etc. LG realizes, too, that although she may be frustrated with weather-related delays, the companies also have to deal with the fact that they can't earn any money either.

The crew member also said that three years ago, some clients were waiting a whole season before their work could be done. Yikes!!

All this is to say that LG is less likely to be complaining about delays from now on--in part because the work has actually started and so there is some relief in that alone.

The top photo is the wooden walkway that the landscapers have provided to ensure LG has a way in and out of the house....it's a long way through mucky sludge without this gangplank, for sure!

When the crew was packing up to leave for the day, LG asked the crew lead if they found anything interesting in the yard as they were digging things up. "Nothing we can sell on e-Bay", he said.

Demolitionland....waterland

The landscaper demolition crew were here on Monday for about 2.5 hours. They managed to dig up pretty well all the cement in the back yard and the deck and pile it up into these lovely mounds before they left.

By then, it was raining hard. And it continued to rain hard all that night and much of the following evening. Parts of the yard are secure enough to walk on, cautiously, but some is still too slick to really get a secure footing. This is the second full day that they haven't returned, and Lazy Gnome is assuming they may not be here tomorrow, either.

Meanwhile, Monday night at 9:30 water was discovered in the basement. Not a huge amount and nothing appears to have been damaged, however, water is water and water in the basement is frightening. By some small miracle the garage guy showed up at the door Tuesday morning so LG showed him the situation in the basement. He believes based on consultation with his business partner that it is due to the grading and that once that is corrected it will not happen again. This is why we are going through this whole procedure, so it might be a huge sign from Mother Nature that we are doing the right thing and at the right time.

However, others have suggested having some magic composition injected into the wall at the point of the drip. This is worth checking out~~interjection: THUNDER! Surprise! So much for the sunshine which appears in the photo taken 15 minutes ago. This is reminiscent of the summer of 2004 when LG and her neighbours were trying to get fences built...hours spent hiding from the rain on the verandah, watching the water flow across the front of our properties and down the road...it was fascinating.

Back to the water in the basement: The most extreme possibility is that the weeping tile needs to be re-done. That is a huge intervention but should be entertained NOW given that the landscaping work is underway and why do everything up pretty just to dig it up again next year, say? Plus, it appears to LG that a poor backfilling job of the installation of the weeping tile originally is what has caused all the land around the foundation to slope toward the house.

Okay--more thunder: time to go close all the windows, again. Any drying the mud did today is now shot.

LG might crawl under the covers and hide...or, she might pull out the paint samples for the back entry and the back bedroom that she picked up although one should really select colours based on sunlight....

Or, she could wait in the basement for the first signs of more water.

...and now they have left

Well, the landscaper's demolition crew worked for a couple of hours in the rain, calling it quits around 6 PM. This is reasonable.

They piled up a montrous mountain of wood scraps that were once my deck, which sits in the shadow of the higher mountain of cement that was once the old garage pad, various sidewalks in the back and the patio underneath the old deck. Both piles are high a forboding, and awaiting ferrying away to a dump or recycle centre soon.

Lazy Gnome uses the word "ferry" purposefully: the torential rains out there now will force anyone trying to get near those piles tomorrow to use a boat, a special boat that floats and navigates through rivers and lakes of mud...no doubt over night the cement pile will glisten its cleanliness in the moonlight should the clouds clear, having been showered all these hours by loving Mother Nature. argh.

In short, every drop of rain that pummels down now melts away LG's waning optimism that this project will ever finish. There is no way they will be able to operate their wee bobcats in that gumbo in the morn...

They're Here! They're Here!!

Yes, the landscaper's demolition crew are here...they started about 20 minutes ago and already the place looks, well, under demolition....it's exciting, a bit sad and very distracting at the same time.

Three guys and two wee bobcats, which surprises me. The sewer guys had a backhoe whick broke up the deck and old patio really easily; this is taking more work. And they are going to hurt their backs.

The first thing they did was drill some pointy attachment on the front of one bobcat through the hard surface of the gravel driveway right above the gas line. I freaked out a bit even though the drill-thing wasn't very long. Edmonton: City of Exploding Houses.

The house is rattling a bit, but that will be worse as they get closer to the house. The old deaf cat hasn't noticed, but the younger two are hiding or running about with their bumbs as close to the ground as possible.

So, I'm home on vacation and in part am happy to be in order to see some of this...perhaps this is not such a good idea. I might snap some pictures but do have other things to do.

More later....

Okay, the house is really rattling now...they must be breaking up the patio right by the backdoor...

Thistle Forest: A Story of Clearcutting and Murphy's Law

As careful readers have concluded, Lazy Gnome prefers to lounge rather than to work in the garden. The whole idea of having the landscaping re-done was in large part intended to escape repeating long summer afternoons of pulling weeds in the back forty, an activity that only intensifies LG's dislike for yardwork.

During the period of waiting, it has become evident that LG cannot ignore scenes such as the Dark Thistle Forest on the excuse that the landscapers will take it away when they come. No, some of these plants are as high as LG's chin and are budding out, and it is not possible to claim ignorance of their existence.

With a sigh, LG commenced the planning of removing this patch and another where the carport once stood. However, ever the procrastinator, LG waited until the day after good rainfalls--of which there have been many this last month--which made it much easier to simply pull the evil green prickly things up, root and all. And the work did go relatively easily. Of course, LG did not try to do both sections at once; the work was spread over a week and, ever so nicely, Mother Nature cooperated. The forest in the photo was pulled down July 1--a little Canada Day project.

Now, while there are several honourable reasons for undertaking a project of this size and general icky-ness, LG had another motivation. LG's heritage, going way back, is Irish, and she bows to some of the supersititions common to that gene pool, and this case was no different. She even said to someone, "you know, no doubt as soon as I get all this thistle taken out and the place looking half-decent, the landscapers will probably show up!" LG applies this Murphy's Law type of logic a lot in her life. And, well, guess what: It WORKED!!

Yes, the very next day, the landscaper gave a date in the near future as the estimated date of starting the work--weather dependent, of course. (Note the hesitancy to mention this, and the refusal to provide the date: more superstition, of course, but you use what you got!!)

So, more news soon~~

Th wish is father to the thought. ~~ Derived from Shakespeare's Henry IV.

J's Rose

Last summer, a friend donated several shrubs and perennials to Lazy Gnome's garden. She and her husband were having their own home demolished in order to build a green-conscious dream home, and so loves her garden she couldn't bear the thought that these plants would be trod upon and smashed in the process. LG was quite touched by this donation, and a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for these newcomers.

To LG's surprise and delight, all of the donated plants have survived--even the potentilla. (LG is probably the only human alive who can, without intention to do so, kill potentilla: they grow in Wal-Mart parking lots for crying out loud, but LG has killed every single one she has planted, until the one that arrived in July 2009.)

This photo shows that even the dry-root rose bush made it through the winter, and even bloomed! This was taken June 26 and a few days later the petals were gone. It's hard to see any more buds forming, but the foliage shows it it still going strong. LG is grateful to J for the donation, and promises to look after it through the landscaping project -- the rose garden is out of scope for the landscape work.


~~

Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result. ~~ Oscar Wilde

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure. ~~Mark Twain


Success is relative:
It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. ~~ T. S. Eliot

Persian Yellow Rose...sign of hope!

This shrub makes LG very happy. It is the same as one planted in the last house, which was a mound of yellow for a few weeks, but sadly, it did not return the following year. LG was very happy to have found it again last fall in time for planting. LG had thought it was a hardy shrub, but a worker at a garden centre told her the Persian Yellow is a climbing rose.

LG would be very, very happy if this week rose could be safely lifted, placed in a pot, saved and then replanted once the landscaping work is done. She has visions of it climbing up and over an archway at the entrance to the backyard, its yellow blooms forming a welcoming frame to the garden beyond...who is going to dig it up, care for it, re-plant it, erect the archway, train the branches, etc., etc., is any body's guess...the very thought of all that effort gives LG hives.

But, then, perhaps she will muster the inner resources for this lovely Persian Yellow...

~~
My life has crept so long on a broken wing
Through cells of madness, haunts of horror and fear,
That I come to be grateful at lasts for a little thing.
~~Lord Alfred Tennyson, Maud

Pointer

This guy and his buddies are constant reminders that we are all wild, deep down! He paused long enough for the photo, but LG sees here in the photo, thanks to Mr Squirrel's pose, that there really is quite a chunk missing from the corner of the foundation...sigh. Is this important, readers?

Push Mowers are Heaven!

Lazy Gnome loves her lawn mower. Now, she doesn’t often get all excited about a tool, let alone a gardening tool because being a tool, by definition, it represents work. And, as we know, Lazy Gnome is all about not doing work. However, if a tool can make a necessary chore more pleasant, that is a good thing[*].

This particular lawn mower is a Gardena 380C, a lovely wee push mower. It is LG’s first push mower but not her first tool for cutting the lawn.

This is push mower has so many advantages over the electric or gas-powered alternatives. First, it is quiet so you can safely cut the lawn without worrying about ruining your neighbour’s attempts at entertaining. Second, it is very light making it easy to manoeuvre and in LG’s case, take up and down the stairs as it currently lives in the basement. Thirdly, there are hardly any moving parts and what there are, you can see all at once—no mysteries! Fourth: no bagging. Okay, this is a choice but given the operation of this mower, bagging is not a necessity for safety because the blades can’t get moving fast enough to fling projectiles into anyone’s eyes. And no doubt there are other ways to sign its praises.

Others may find they prefer the power and likely increased speed of the actual mowing action of an electric or gas powered mower. However, the Gardena 380C involves no usage of electricity (so no charging or power cords to deal with) or messing around with gas. (LG’s last mower was a 2-stroke engine that involved mixing oil into the gas. Yikes and yucky!!)

While the push mower is very light to use, a person can still get a bit of a work out taking it around the yard. All the energy in its operation is from the energy burned by the user. And burning calories really is the only redeeming reason to sweat. Sweat = less guilt while drinking Mojitos. This is important: LG’s weekly usage of the 2-stroke monster drove her to drink. She would take an entire evening to do the lawn—to start, it was 45 minutes of edging by dragging two 30-feet electrical cords around tree trunks, under shrubs and around the corner property to operate a $2.00 garage sale weed whacker before she could even pull the mower out. And the bagging—the endless hoisting of the mower bag over her shoulder to carry it over to the contraption set up to ease the operation of dumping the clippings into the black garbage bag, so pleasant a task in itself. Then, every night after all this, she had a beer. Once week all summer over 10 years can build a bad habit: Pavlov would have been proud. It got to the point where even the smell of freshly cut lawn would trigger the beer reflex.

So, here at the “new” house, LG has been fighting that impulse so far with some success. Given that one tactic is to divide the lawn care over several days or evenings, this is a good fight because that could mean a beer every day at this pace!! So, LG owes even her current sobriety to the Gardena 380C...

*Unfortunately, there are some who disagree with LG’s understanding of pleasant activity in relation to cutting the lawn. For instance, the June 2010 issue of Family History Monthly magazine has an essay called “Products that Changed the World: Turf Trimmers” about the evolution of contraptions meant to address a fad that arose from the 1700’s, in which “[a] well-cultivated lawn became a status symbol.” They conclude with this: “With their manpowered equipment, our ancestors found lawn mowing a heavy, tiresome chore. Today, the task has been greatly improved with lightweight, electric-powered hover or petrol-driven machines. Thank goodness for progress and the development of these grass-guillotining gadgets!” Well, they are entitled to their opinion. However, it might be pointed out that the alliteration in the final phrase packs extra punch as the opening paragraph blames the initial fashion for formal lawns on the French...a-hem.

~~~
A bad workman blames his tools~~ Proverb
A bad excuse is better than none~~Another Proverb

Thoughts of Greece....yum!

Okay, not exactly gardening! However, Lazy Gnome has had a fantastic day by her own standards: shopping at the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market buying veggies and meats[*] from local producers (her latest thing); more shopping at another, new grocery store in hopes it would be a breath of fresh air and would, just maybe, focus on local producers--no such luck but at least they sell bus passes; more shopping yet at one of the humongous chains (okay; managed to buy the rest of what was needed); clothes shopping at a local consignment store and managed to buy something like 6 or more pieces for less than $100 including a suit for work(!?); and then visits with neighbours new and those who have moved on; and then naps! Two naps!!

Lastly, and what brings us to the name of this post, LG tried a recipe from a magazine purchased at a liquor store: Santorini Salad. Hmm...yummy! The salad included the requisite feta cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, and so on, with a simple olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Although Lg is not a big fan of raw red onion, she included it, and to her amazement, the acidy yuckiness of the red onion seemed neutralized when she had at least one caper in her mouth. She tried this magic combination again, and again, and in fact had to eat half the salad--to prove her theory and therefore make it publishable in this fine medium--but it worked, every time! Wow!

The angle of the article was about the lowly caper, and LG must recommend it to you. The magazine is called "Tidings" and was provided as a promotion when LG made a purchase some weeks ago at Vinomania on Jasper[**]. (The magazine is free there because the store's owner, Mr Gurvinder Bhatia is a contributing editor to the magazine.)

Of course, the magazine recommended a particular Greek wine to go with the salad...perhaps still scarred by that nation's various alcohols during her soujourn to Greece 20+ years ago, LG is unable to string the words "Greek wine" and "good" together in a positive sentence...Instead, LG opened a Spanish red (of course) and found it to be quite pleasant...but, then, she also used Spanish capers where the recipe called for Greek...

Needless to say, LG is hardly a foodie, but she highly recommends this salad--plus, it is easy!! No doubt real foodies have known this secreat all along...but, hey--it is worth sharing.

* "Meats" including chicken sausage, pork sausage, ground beef and pork cutlets. Yes, for those aware that LG had been off things with legs, feathers or fins, that phase is, well, phasing out...

** http://www.vinomaniawines.com/

~~~
"Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise." ~~Alice Walker