So on to the big project last summer: The Driveway.
The goal is to make it pretty enough to discourage Tim from piling crap there. I started at everyone's favorite place, BBG , and traced the picket fence posts in the Children's Garden. Tim used them to design and build a fence just past the side door.
The gate helps to obscure the mess beyond, but fails to conceal it. Plus there's some mess in front of the gate, too, including a nice dutch door (behind the bench) the merits of which we're having a *ahem* healthy debate over.Me: Yay. Visions of Mr. Ed sticking his head in to borrow a cup of sugar.
Tim: Needs significant security upgrades. Don't even ask for the details. It's not pretty.
K, so Tim's got this grand plan involving brickpaving and I want, duh, more room for plants, so the next phase involves removing all that concrete.
Well, the concrete was removed from the ground beyond the fence. What to do with all that concrete?
Pile it up on the other side of the fence, of course! We've been trying to evaporate it by posting on craig's list several times with the most interesting response from a production team that was pondering using it as an extra in a dream sequence from that TV show with Brooke Shields. Only in NY. Could I make that up? Turn around time ended up too short, so there went my concrete's chance for fame. Some guy took some for fill, but I'm afraid there's a dumpster in my future in the Spring.Remember the grand plan? See up a couple of paragraphs to review. That was another craig's list adventure, because you should know by now we don't pay for anything we can get for free. We found a couple out on the island ditching some bricks. We drive up to a neat, older home on a lovely street. Lawn is perfect. Backyard has a spotless barbecue, a table & chairs, and precisely stacked next to the EMPTY garage is over 300 clean bricks. "Thank you so much for taking this eyesore off our hands" she said with gratitude. Eyesore? I beg to differ. I got an eyesore for ya, toots (see above).
Say all you want about minivans, but hey, we got all the bricks home in one trip.
Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of the bricks in place, but it looks nice. I got a nice bed for some hosta & ferns (very shady) in, and a nice oakleaf hydrangea (gets a little peek of sun down at the end) that will hopefully grow to block the view beyond. The bench by the side door has been replaced by a nicer one from Avenue P. It's currently forest green, but I'm thinking it may have to be granny smith green. Tim finagled still more bricks from our neighbor Fred that will be the next brick project: Removing (relatively speaking) more concrete and bricking by the side door.
