Had enough for today. Some of my black-handled tools are almost too hot to hold without gloves.
Got a gravel base down for flagstone. I'm experimenting with "urbanite" as well. Looking rather good I think. I thought it would look more junky mixed among the real stones. Some judicious sledge-hammer shaping involved.
A morning spent shovelling clay-rich soil that has hardened to almost pavement without rain for so long.
I'm lowering the grade a bit and putting some foundation gravel & stone dust down for a flagstone path at the base of some stairs. Trying to manage the angles and ensure water runs away and doesn't pool.
It's hot - got an umbrella over my work area to stop from getting heat stress. Think I'll stay inside for the afternoon.
That burnt deck area was beckoning me to take care of it, so I added it to my afternoon.
Strangely, the previous owner's remedy of applying paint over it wasn't sufficient (!?) too bad as it would make forest fire clean up much easier.
I cut the skirt board back one joist and picked another 2x10 from my scrap that would fit. I sistered up the burnt joist, attached the new skirt board, and even applied some deck stain to it.
Whew, nothing like a shower after a long day working in the humidity and dirt! It was a muggy one today.
Got my deck-stairs' foundation laid and the stringers levelled, squared, treated, and attached, and half the treads were trimmed and mounted too. Should be able to put them into service on the weekend.
Fun reusing wood from the disassembled deck sections. Feels extra frugal and enviro-friendly. We'll see how it weathers the winter.
Whew another hour and a half done in the afternoon heat (32°C) and I've had enough shovelling and wheelbarrowing for today.
I'm still able to find places to put surplus soil from this project. If I liberate more in future projects it might require more creativity. Thankfully the soil is reasonably nice. Not too much clay, so versatile for various uses.
I persevered in the blazing sun to try and achieve my deck-disassembly goals for the day. Wanted to remove skirt boards on two sides, an outer rim and three railings and posts.
The last two posts were hell. After removing six screws from each, I had to remove some decking to get at their rear faces. There and on the sides I took 11 more screws out of each to free them.
Weirdly the posts along the opposite side had zero screws - just sat in a notch. Crazy Town.
Ugh - the sun. Always the sun. It was cloudy when I went out.
I swear I could go outside to work in the dark of night and ten minutes later I'll be baked and sweating in the intense sunlight. I must have pissed off Ra or something.
Here is the seed we used from West Coast Seeds. Look at the tiny white flowers starting to bloom in the new "grass"!
And a picture of last year's planting. It is 99% clover I thibk because we used an old bag and the flowers were no longer viable. But a few poppies did sprout!
#yardwork #diy #portalberni #alternativegrss #clover #bloomscrolling
The (alternative mix*) grass is growing in the driveway and the rock tracks are solid.
* It’s not grass at all. Mostly native clover, plus poppies and some small flowering grasses. It looks patchy but the stated goal on the bag is for about 75% coverage so that it can grow, flower, seed itself, and then fill in naturally next year. I will add a picture of our side path that we did last year. The clover has indeed filled in nicely and it is staying nice and green with minimal water. You can see it on the left in the very back of the picture. The clover is about 30cm/1ft tall and is full of blooms.
Got the mowing done before it got too bad out. I hate the heat. I was able to enjoy stopping in shady spots around the property to eat mulberries off the trees. We're going to have a good crop this year. We're also loaded with black raspberries but they aren't ripe yet.
Working from home today due to scheduled highway closure which means I could do yardwork early when i would normally be commuting! Woot!
Thinned the apple trees! Slightly more apples on the Blushing Delight than the Northern Spy.
Both trees look healthy though it looks like aphids have invaded the Blushing Delight with the assistance of the local ant population.
We got more alt-grass seed to finish off the last part of the driveway before its' morning drink.
#yardwork #DIY #PortAlberni #Home #RemoteWork #WorkFromHome #BCHwy4
thankful for the rain today!! Only took a few days for the new grass/clover/flower mix to sprout!! 
Going to get hot this week so I am very glad it has begun successfully now.
#driveway #yardwork #diy #portalberni
Here is the progression over the past ten years! A long way from the cement driveway that allowed the car, and the rain, into the basement! #selfie #diy #yardwork #driveway #gardening
https://mstdn.chrisalemany.ca/@chris/114572233613936652
GOT'ER DONE.
It started to drizzle and there was no way on this earth I was gonna let the lawn soil get all waterlogged before I added the last little bits needed. So I heaved one more load of drain rock back into the dolley and finished it off.
Needng to charge the car was a good motivator! 
️
I really didnt want to put this off another week! Done! 
So close to finishing! Had a standing appointment at 3 so had to stop just short.
Might try to finish it after dinner. Supposed to rain tomorrow, it would be good for seeding the grass/clover!
Body is sooo sore, mostly from shovelling the drain rock which is simultaneously slippery on a shovel and heavy to lift and cart around. But the end is near!
Positioning the slate slabs at the car doors. Only had 3 left from the pond project. We’ll get another load of those in time.
#selfie #diy #yardwork #driveway #gardening
called it quits at 2:30 so I could go grab the load of lawn soil Ill need to finish it off tomorrow. Almost got all the rocks replaced with the clay from the backyard but not quite fast enough. 
All good. It should be complete tomorrow and we'll be able to plant the clover/alt grass!
turned into a warm day.
phew. #selfie #diy #yardwork #driveway #gardening
was an early start this morning. The challenge with doing things DIY is sometimes you do the wrong thing... usually it's not a big deal, and this wasn't, but it was a lot of shovelling to remove the drain rock I had put down.
After lunch I will start with what I should have done in the first place. Add in a bunch of dirt from the back to bring it close to the final level, get the a final load of top soil and then just put down a thin layer of rock.
