Halfway done digging holes!

I've worked really hard the past 2 days digging and measuring holes for my deck footers. These are impressive holes: twenty-two inches square and between 24 and 28 inches deep! I have 6 holes completely done and three partial holes dug. I'm taking a break in the heat of the day, but may work on them more later tonight. So far I haven't broken any nails, but I do have some blisters forming.

ps. This is my 100th post! 2 accomplishments achieved :)

2 ft of concrete

I began digging holes for my deck footers soon after getting my permit. Fortunately, only one of my footers conflicted with the posts of the old chain link fence. Unfortunately, one footer conflicted with a post. That post was set in two feet of concrete!!!
I started to dig around it and realized at one foot deep that it wasn't moving at all. My coworker lent me his heavy concrete breaking tool.

It's pretty awesome, but would have taken me forever to do. Steve, however, dominated that concrete! Here's what's left:

And not only did he do that, but he hauled it out of the hole on his own and then dug the hole to 28+inches deep and 22"x22" square. Twelve more holes and I'll be ready for 1st inspection! Well, I have one other pretty much completed and some others partially done, but a lot of digging still left to do.
This deck will not be going anywhere when it's built on that much concrete. And it's going to be awesome!

Finally sealed and varnished kitchen floor transition

I had my kitchen redone over a year ago. I have been meaning to seal and varnish the wooden transition from the dining room into the kitchen since then. A couple of weekends ago, the temperature was perfect to open the windows, which meant I no longer had an excuse to keep the sealant closed.

After little sanding, cleaning, and using painter's tape to protect the kitchen tiles. I grabbed a paint brush applied the sealant and went to bed so that it could dry. Since it was such a small area that I needed to varnish, I realized it would be an awful lot of effort to put together the varnish pad that I have... and it would be a waste of water to clean. I ended up using a Viva Paper towel (and gloves as is good practice) to apply the varnish. 

It's just a small project, but it's a relief to complete!

Questions I was asked yesterday

1. "Do you need any extra tools?" 
2. "Hey, I'm going to Home Depot. Do you need anything?"

As I always have house/yard projects underway, these are acceptable questions to ask me. A couple of great things about these questions really struck me: 1) Tools are meant to be lent. 2) Errands are meant to be bundled. 3) Most of all, I have a good support network of friends who will go out of their way to help me, lend me tools, run an errand for me.

I'm am so blessed that I have to take some time to expand on 3 a bit (please bear with my sappiness, but I wouldn't be able to tackle these projects if #3 didn't exist). The first question comes from Steve who helped me blow insulation into my attic, fill my raised garden with soil, and other projects. He texted me over the weekend to offer to help me with my deck... out of the blue.... just cause he has some time available. Steve, who could be doing a variety of other things, is going to help me dig holes in my backyard... and may even bring his own tools. How cool is that? The second question comes from my neighbor Amy, who is my free-mulch-gathering-sister and the owner of my dog's girlfriend. Over the past few months during doggy play dates and other hangout times, we have bonded over our love for Mother Earth News, gardening, healthy food experiments, and fun exercises. Her inquiry about my need for anything from a hardware store may seem like no big deal to her, but it's further evidence of her generosity (there are too many other occasions to list, but take my word for it that there would be a lot... and we've only been friends since February!).

Those questions reminded me of my other friends who have helped me paint, install ceiling fans, surprised me with a housewarming party; of neighbors who have helped me clean out my gutters, cut down tree limbs, gave me seeds; of co-workers who lend me tools, share their experiences; of family and family-friends who have helped me reseed my lawn, weed, grout my tub, fix my roof, plan my deck and will help me build my deck. And that list is by no means inclusive!

Thanks to each and every one of you!

Deck Permit!

I have a permit to build my deck! It was a long process to get all of the plans together, and to interpret my city's deck details, but I did it! It also doesn't help that I have to build around a stoop, which makes things all the more complicated. The building code people were really friendly though and going through the process last Friday afternoon was pretty simple. Some of the regulations are probably overkill for my low deck (1 ft high from ground level), but it certainly will be stable.

Now I just have to keep digging the holes for the footers. Too bad my dog insists on digging in the wrong places b/c he could get it done in no time.

Yard find

I've found teletubbies and a random assortment of items in my yard... I wouldn't have guessed it to be a potential paleontology dig site though. This well-preserved specimen is my latest find: