Please Note:
Ten Ping’s blue dress and bonnet set end this evening on Ebay. I hope you’ll take a peek…by clicking on the picture at the right side bar or you can click HERE. I hope someone’s Ten Ping sneaks downstairs tonight and bids on this for herself! :o)
Friday morning I had one thing on my mind…get the inside pieces of window trim sanded. It’s the trim that goes on the inside edges to finish them out…not the regular trim that shows when you look at the windows. It’s been plain wood ever since we put the windows in about 12 years ago. They’ve been waiting a long time for us to finish them. :o(
I got my trim pieces finished sanding and glanced over at my hubby who was working on planting my Hydrangea in one of the corners of our courtyard. We call it the courtyard, but it’s actually an inground swimming pool that was filled in with dirt and just the concrete edging in a big rectangle. I guess it’s more like a “cement pond!”
Here is a picture I found from 2013, when we had a downpour and the “cement pond” truly did fill up! (That’s our neighbor’s house in the background.) You can see there were just regular sized bricks underneath the fountain…and every time you mowed the grass, the mower would hit the bricks and they’d move, and it always looked kind of messy.
Anyway, he was busy getting the decorative blocks moved away from the corner and adding some new dirt. He built a box to put the Hydrangea in because it’s just a small plant right now…
I had this brainy idea to ask him if we could take out the bricks that were under the fountain and use the decorative blocks to make it look more uniform. (There may or may not have been a teensy little bit of eye rolling going on!) :o)
He got his car jack and raised up the fountain a little bit at a time all the way around so we could get it level. It took us over 2 hours to do it! UGH!
He had to do a little grinding on some of the blocks to get them to go under the fountain…there was a concrete pad under there and we had just spent all that time leveling it…there was no way he was going to raise it up any more…
We thought we better lay out the blocks to make sure the circumference would fit under the edge of the fountain…
FINALLY it was time to start arranging the blocks around the fountain.
My poor hubby spent a lot of time laying on his side today… I still can’t believe he stopped what he was doing and started on this… Maybe he hated the way it looked as much as I did.
So here is the finished project my hubby started working on… problem was he was too pooped to plant the Hydrangea… maybe tomorrow…
…and a look at the fountain… “finished” for now…
…and a final picture of both projects. We even straightened up the back right corner too… My Hibiscus will soon be popping through the ground!
We worked from 10:00 until 5:30 and were so dead dog tired, we could hardly walk…and don’t even ask me about the blisters on my hand. It’s too bad that really isn’t a fountain of youth… I may have been persuaded to jump in.
I’ll see if I can’t get my hubby to use his pressure washer on the dirty blocks, hook up the pump and let you see the fountain in action. As for me, I’m heading to bed… I’ll have to read your comments tomorrow…
Oh and I never got Word Press called… maybe Monday… you’ll just have to put up with “MY” pictures for now!
Have a great Saturday and Sunday!
See you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a project you undertook!! I would say that man really loves you, to be jacking up the fountain like that, and doing all that work (most of it, it seems, lying on his side, which couldn’t have been too comfy!) to put those blocks under the fountain base. But, oh, it does look Good like that!! Hopefully you both won’t be too pooped to plant the hydrangea now!
HI Charlotte,
I think I told him quite a few times yesterday, he must really love me to switch over to my idea instead of finishing his… We only had 2 mishaps the whole day… once he rolled over onto a brick and once he dropped one of those blocks on my foot… it hurt for a few minutes, but it seemed fine as the day went on. Fortunately it was only about 4 inches from the top of my foot when he dropped it… and I did have leather shoes on… thank goodness!
He got the black fabric on the ground, and the box on top…and the bark chunks around it, but he thought the Hydrangea needed to be inside a little bit longer… it’s pretty little.
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, your backyard will be just beautiful, once the flowers start blooming! The heck with stay at home orders, I would love to stay at home and look out at your yard! It’s your little Shangra La! (Did I spell that right? It doesn’t look like it!!) Kudos to George, your “man of all seasons” , for all the work he did, making it look just right!
Is the red building your chicken house? We have some new neighbors, and they have brought along chickens to live in their back yard! We now have “country” in the suburbs! It’s fun to see them out and about!
I didn’t comment yesterday, because I didn’t have time to read the blogs you had for us to look back on, since I had a busy day! So sorry about that! Time to get my dolls ready for their Easter parade! I’ll send pictures, but first you will have to get your blog “fixed” I guess!! Good luck!
HI Linda,
Thanks for your compliments on our yard. The concrete area that was around the old pool has settled over the years and isn’t great looking, but when the grass is all mowed and the flowers and trees are blooming, you don’t notice it too much!
Yes, the red building is his shed…birds are in the back and one side of it… it has a loft so we have stuff stored up there too.
I hope your neighbors don’t have any roosters… they’ll be waking you up earlier than you already get up! :o)
I bet your girls will look wonderful in their Easter dresses.
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
All that hard work was worth the effort. Your yard already looks good. Like Linda said, it will be beautiful once things bloom.
We had freezing Thursday, Friday was cold. I hope Saturday turns out to be warmer. My dad in Northern Minnesota had 11 inches of snow when he got up Friday! He didn’t get his daily paper. My brother-in-law almost got stuck in his driveway because there was so much snow! They can keep it.
The latest dolly thing I made is a poncho and matching beret for McKenna. She has been renamed Kennedy and her twin, previously Elizabeth, is now Bethany. Bethany has a gorgeous knit sweater and beret set I bought on eBay years ago. They coordinate nicely. I’m not doing identical twins yet.
Julia,
I just cleaned out the winter things from my closet and packed them away. I certainly hope WE don’t have any snowy weather in the future. I would not be a happy camper to have snow arrive now…
It sounds like sewing for your “twins” is coming along nicely! When I get my link fixed, you’ll have to share some pictures with us.
Blessings, Jeanne
Nothing like spring to discover new outdoor projects eh? I never noticed the size of the fountain before. It is a big one. I’m so glad you and George were able to raise it and put in a better footing. Really makes it stand out. I hope you can get the pump going because it is such a lovely garden accent, and your local birds will love it I’m sure. Also noted were the newly planted trees beyond the fountain, and with the blue hydrangea your yard will make the cover of Better Homes and Gardens. Not that it wasn’t lovely before.
We’re supposed to have rain today so more inside time. Looking at making masks and a felt dolly. We’ll see. Have a good weekend.
Oh, and Google how to fix a dead link on WordPress. It tells how to fix it yourself. I’ll bet you can do it. 🙂
HI Joy,
Our fountain IS a big thing and VERY heavy… there is no way we could move it to a different location without a hoist! I can’t wait to see water coming from it… not today though…it’s been in the mid 40’s today with a wind chill factor right around 40.
Kristoffer and George were trying to talk me into making masks today… I certainly have the fabric, but not sure I want to make them… I can’t this next week, because it “Rebecca’s Room Renovation” time… we’ve been clearing out her room as much as she can… her clothes are in my closet, in tubs, upstairs, in the cedar closet…they’re everywhere… She has LOTS of stuff to find a new home for, at least for a week or so… I hope we get this finished quickly.
I did get the inner window boards painted and they are drying, but George and Kristoffer are outside working on a car for a friend of Kristoffer.
I did google how to fix that link and I don’t understand what they mean… I think I may have to text Sarah and ask her for some help…
Thanks Joy,
Stay safe and dry!
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, I think you HAVE discovered the fountain of youth, just find a worthwhile project and work on it. I think that keeping busy, keeps one young. The fountain does look amazing now.
I am making a list of doll videos on YouTube to watch. There are so many out there from doll box openings to doll re-stringings. I have become interested in the Izannah Walker dolls from the pre-Civil War days. I also like the Hitty dolls.
HI Dorothy,
Well, if keeping busy on a worthwhile project keeps you young… I should be aging backward every day… Pretty soon I should be 16 again! :o)
I hope you have fun watching all your dolly videos…and looking at Izanna dolls…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, Wow is all I can say. But this is how we roll. Because I do the same thing to my hubby..
It looks great. Get some rest, you deserve it.
Judi
HI Judi Kaye,
Thanks for your kind compliments on the fountain and yard work we did yesterday. I was so tired last night, I was too tired to go to sleep. It took me a few hours to unwind, I think.
We are hoping to get a new roof put on our house in the near future… another bit of eye rolling when I happened to mention something about changing the flat roof above our front door to a pitched roof…he said, “then I suppose you’ll want to raise up the ceiling on the inside of the house, right?” I actually hadn’t even thought of the inside… just the outside! I guess it was too much! :o/
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
Your fountain looks wonderful. Hubby did a nice thing even if there was a slight eye roll LOL. I think all hubbys do the eye roll thing…. I’m pretty sure they teach it to them when they are young. I hope you slept well and are rested up. I’m sure you two are onto the next fixer project.
Enjoy the day
Ingrid
HI Ingrid,
I’m glad you like the fountain… I do…and it just seems prettier sitting up straighter and taller!
I slept in a little bit was awakened by my hubby using the push mower around the house… he was up and at ’em.
Yes, the next fixer project is Rebecca’s room next week. We have the boards for the new inside window trim cut, primed and painted. I think we might try to get the boards up so we can start on painting the ceiling Monday. Lots to do and Rebecca is really getting excited, I think.
Thanks,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, please, can we all have a share of your “fountain ofor youth”.
An amazing day’s work.
I hope you took rest today.
Do make a few masks for your loved people. A pocket with Hepa filter material (vacuum cleaner bags) makes the even more effective.
Stay safe all