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It was
hard taking out the old sidewalk as it was the original,
built by O.K. Malone from Sparta in the Spring of 1937.
We wanted to keep the same shape, though, so we formed it as
he did. I just hope I can get the forms out! |
Bob, a
friend of mine from kindergarten, did the hard part of
finishing the walk. I just edged it. We were
both pretty whipped by the time we got to that last panel,
though. Beer:30 never came sweeter.
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I
borrowed our neighbor's bush hog and mowed the meadow.
The crown vetch was about to go to seed and we have quite
enough, thank you. |
The
finished product.... |
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Bob
tore down the old chimney....
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and we dug out and chipped away at the old firebox until
nothing was left.
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The
new firebox is quite different, tall and shallow with
steeply sloped sides. |
The
throat is preformed and we even have a damper now! It
should be easier to not worry about critters coming down the
flue and wreaking havoc on the place.
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Our
neighbor, Jim with his "pet" hummingbirds. They will
even land on his arms if he sits there long enough and they
come to find him when they run out of food! |
They
go through about a gallon of nectar a day and will have
hundreds at the feeders when the youngins' fledge! |
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Our new water tanks! |
Here
are the new tanks totally buried and plumbed. New
grass and new chimney. Note the copper flashing!
That's my first effort at chimney metal work. |
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Joseph
and I tiled the hearth and hung the Dutch oven in there for
atmosphere. The new fireplace is really different and
we are looking forward to giving it a test drive.
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Well,
we finally got to light a fire in it. We got to the
cabin on November 1st and it was cool, so we lit up.
The fireplace didn't even think about smoking; it threw heat
all the way across the room instantly: and we could smell
the wood species that was burning, a first for us at the
cabin. THIS was a project well done. |
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Our
neighbors let us dig up a bunch of their vinca so we planted
it on the hillside below the root cellar where we can't mow.
If it takes off, it will be spectacular! |
Well,
it may not look like it, be there is a good stand of grass
growing here where all the construction took place this
summer. We feel like we are getting control of the
yard finally after over thirty years of war with poison ivy,
grape vines and tall, fast growing vegetation. It
would be so nice to have it be completely green with slow
growing grass that doesn't need mowing! |
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This
is pretty decadent. We hooked a hose up and watered
the vinca. THAT's a first at Possum Trot! |
An oak
tree fell across the path to the pond, so we got the chain
saw, the Kevlar chaps and the Tacoma down there and now we
have a LOT more firewood! |
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We
decided we needed to finally get our old cistern repaired,
so after the leak was (hopefully) sealed, we cleaned out
twenty years of gack. |
Not
bad, eh? |
