Saturday, November 30, 2013
I've learned if you are in a bad mood or depressed sitting around feeling sorry for yourself aint going to do anything good. So I decided to do a project.
The area between my concrete walk and the sidewalk, and the area between the sidewalk and curb gets slippery when it rains because the soil my neighborhood rests on is very clayey. It was agricultural fields for over 2,000 years- there are prehistoric Early Agricultural Period pit structures about 500 feet away from my house.
The areas of dirt. And Buddy.
Anyhow, I first when down to the dry bed of the Santa Cruz River to collect some sand.
Buddy.
I poured some of the river sand down and then started to lay bricks. I used some of the bricks piled up from my super secret brick source. They were different colors and widths.
The areas of dirt. And Buddy.
Anyhow, I first when down to the dry bed of the Santa Cruz River to collect some sand.
Santa Cruz River.
The river once ran year-round and provided the water for the farmers who grew crops on the floodplain. The Acequia Madre Segunda, the second largest historic period canal, ran in the ground right across the street to the east, and you can see the U-shaped crack in the house on the corner, settling down into the canal fill.
I filled my buckets with sand and carried them back to my car. So heavy!
Over 200 total pounds of sand.
I returned home and started on the smaller area first. I dug out the dirt and threw it into my yard.
Before.
Buddy watched with interest. He had to stay inside the yard because he wants to run around and be naughty.
Buddy.
I poured some of the river sand down and then started to lay bricks. I used some of the bricks piled up from my super secret brick source. They were different colors and widths.
After.
It became apparent that working with different sizes of bricks was problematic and would make things harder. So I went over and counted how many identical bricks I had and realized I did not have enough for the next area. So then went to my secret source for old bricks and mined out another 40 or so. I did not injure myself, unlike a previous time when I slipped and gouged my left palm, with a scar now forever marking that moment.
I dug the dirt out, most went into a wheelbarrow. It was very soft because of last weekends rain. Doug told me I had to use a board to run from the sidewalk to the curb so that the bricks sloped down nicely.
Laying the first set of bricks.
I did a stretcher bond and had to break some bricks in half. It took me about an hour to lay the path.
Completed project.
Well that was a good way to spend a couple of hours. No more muddy feet for Mummy when she goes to the mail box.
