St. Patrick's Day

Susan took these cupcakes to work today to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I found the cute little chocolates at a local cake decorator shop.


Before leaving for work this morning, Susan put a brisket in the crockpot for dinner. Yum!

Drain field, continued....

This is a continuation of the post I started yesterday. The pipe is now hooked up to the downspout and connected to the pipe under the sidewalk.

In the photo below you can see them digging the trench for the drain field and the pipe is visible extending out from under the sidewalk.

Today they are filling in the drain field and putting new barriers around the septic tank lids.

And yes, we still have dump trucks bringing in loads of rock and gravel.

Under the Sidewalk

In my last post I mentioned that our contractor needed to connect a pipe to the downspout on the front of the house. Today they started the process of getting a hole dug under the sidewalk that they can place a pipe through to connect to the downspout. Mike is in the Bobcat just starting to dig out the trench for the pipe.

Another guy is digging by hand on the house side. With any luck the holes will match up.

Ben laid a pipe down in the trench that Mike just made with the Bobcat.

Then, Mike started nudging the pipe forward with the Bobcat. I though this was a very clever way to get under the sidewalk. Well, it did not take long before the end of the pipe broke into several small pieces. The guys just cut off the broken end and kept right on going. I think they have done this a time or two.

I'm not sure what is happening now because I came into the house, but I can still hear them working. The dogs are not impressed with the banging taking place while the guys try to get a hold dug under the sidewalk.

Spring 2011 Construction

Now that spring has arrived, we have two major projects going on around the house. Our contractor is working on changing the slope of the ground in front of the house. The picture below shows the area of the most difficult work. You can see the downspout on the side of the house. We had purchased a rain barrel to use over the winter to catch the water from the roof. Unfortunately, there was way too much water for the barrel to collect. The ground flooded and the sidewalk down at the end next to the heat pump was under water for several weeks. Now, our contractor has to dig under the sidewalk and connect a pipe to the downspout so the water can travel under the sidewalk and get awayfrom the house.

Once the pipe is under the sidewalk, it will extend out to the middle of the front area and drain into these plastic pipes that slowly diffuse the water into the soil.

Just this last week several dump truck loads of soil and rock have been hauled in. The first truck that tried to make a delivery got stuck in the mud, just like the moving van did last year. There are also several pieces of heavy equipment sitting by the shop.

On the other side of the front sidewalk, the slope of the ground will be changed so that water runs away from the sidewalk and any water running off our neighbors property will run down to the length of the fence and collect where it does not cause any damage. This is what the rock will look like around the sidewalk and front of the house.

Any plants or flowers we want out front will be in raised beds so we will not need to get down on the ground, or disturb the rock. This should also help keep the weeds under control. The large dirt area in the next picture is above the septic drain field. We will have the same thing done here just in case we want raised beds in this area in the future. The rock will really help keep the dust down this summer.

Before we had gutters installed last fall, we had gravel placed around the base of the shed. You can see the difference in that gravel and the rock being placed around the house. Right now, the ground is so wet that stepping on the smaller grey gravel feels like you are stepping on a wet sponge, while the larger rock is solid under your feet.
The other major project involves the wetlands. This is the year for planting the trees and shrubs required as part of the wetlands agreement. In order to do that all the dead vegetation and noxious plants need to be removed. This involves a large portion of our 2.5 acres and right now we are getting estimates from people just for cleaning out the property. I will take pictures and post them when the clean up starts. More to follow........

Toby's Stroller

Susan and I have been going to the track at one of the nearby schools practically every day to walk. Even when I go during the day, I take Tillie so she can get more exercise. Unfortunately, Toby gets really upset when we take Tillie someplace and leave him home. Since he hurt his back last year, he cannot walk far enough to take him along but I still felt bad about leaving him behind.

Susan did some research online and found this stroller that seemed like it would meet our needs. We have only had it less than a week, but it has already seen a lot of use.

The stroller is made by Pet Gear and has many nice features. The handle is high enough for me to push without bending over or looking down. The wheels are big which helps the stroller ride over uneven surfaces easily. In fact, now I can take Toby up to the mailbox on our dirt and gravel road. There are two cup holders on the handle bar along with a little tray for keys, etc. Underneath where Toby sits, there is a compartment for dog bowls, leashes, and anything else the dogs need. This stroller holds 60 lbs, which means Toby has room to move around. Even though you are not suppose to put two dogs in the stroller, both of ours would fit in an emergency.

It was windy and cold today, just before we started our walk. We might even get some snow tonight. Toby had a coat on and a blanket in the stroller. Tillie was fine, but she was moving around. While it can be a little boring to walk around the track, the surface is better for my back and knees and we do get to see some beautiful things like this full moon.

Creekside West

Last night Susan and I went to Creekside West for dinner. This is a new restaurant in Yakima that just opened at the end of January. We both had the Shoulder Tenderloin and it was delicious. Even though the place was packed due to Valentine's Day the employees were very nice and the service was good considering how busy they were. We also tried a wine that is new to us called Sweet Bliss. It is a Merlot and we liked it so much we got the information about the winery before we left.

Faculty Brass Quintet

Susan and I went to listen to the Central Washington University Faculty Brass Quintet today. So many more people came than they expected that they ran out of programs. The concert was free but donations were accepted.

The faculty members were putting on a concert at Englewood Christian Church as part of the Second Sunday Series. They played compositions by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Collier Jones, Maria Newman, Jan Koetsier and Paquito D'Rivera.
After the concert we walked around the track again but it was not nearly as nice today as it was yesterday. Still - no complaints.

The White House

A few weeks ago Susan and I spent a Saturday afternoon helping one of Susan's friends, Kay, learn how to use her new digital camera. To thank us, Kay took us out to lunch today at The White House. The White House is a cafe and Bed and Breakfast that is located just a few blocks from North Star where Susan works. Today's lunch at The White House was a special event because the proceeds are going to Children's Village, which happens to be located right across the street.

Children's Village works to connect children with special needs and their families to supportive services. They opened for business in October of 1997 and since then over 16,000 children and their families have entered for services. Mental health resources, drop-in child care and parent help are just a few of the services provided.

The table setting was so pretty, I just had to take a picture of it before we sat down to eat.

While we could order off the menu, all three of us decided on the event menu. Everything was beautiful and delicious. In addition to everything you see here, we each received a cupcake that we all took home because we were too full to eat it after the incredible chicken salad.

I wish more people needed help with their digital cameras and would take us out to lunch like Kay did. We both felt very special.

Susan and I went to a new kitchen store after lunch and then went to the track to try and walk off some of the extra calories we ate for lunch. What a great day and to top it all off, it was 65 degrees today.

Toby's Pillow

Since he hurt his back last summer I have noticed that Toby never lies down unless he can put something under his head. He works and works on the blankets in the dog beds until they are in a little pile and then he finally settles down. Yesterday, Susan and I went to Target and while we were there Susan found this little Valentine's Day pillow and I thought that it would be just great for Toby. We brought it home and when I gave it to him it took him less than 2 minutes (he had to sniff at it first, of course) to position it in place.

NFL Playoffs

We were planning to make football cookies yesterday to celebrate the Seahawks win over the Chicago Bears. Well, Susan did not wear her Seahawks shirt so they lost the game, but we decided to make football cookies anyway. Through the remainder of the playoffs we will cheer on the Pittsburgh Steelers. After all, Julie, Tommy and Adam do live in Pittsburgh.


Go Steelers!