Garden project

Some daylight photos (23 June 2007)

2007-06-23T20:01:00.000+10:00

The lighting is installed!! (8 May 2007)

2007-06-02T00:06:00.000+10:00

Well, it's finally over. Back at the end of January, we finished painting, and planted the garden; and in the last week of February, we installed the lighting.

All that's left to do is paint the french doors that now connect the new area to our back room, and start the series of BBQ's and dinner parties to enjoy this new entertainment area. I will take a few more photos during the day, but this is one of my last posts for this project.

We continue painting (14 January 2007)

2007-06-01T23:52:00.000+10:00

Second weekend of painting. We have started the first coat of paint.

One trick we used to create a sense of depth in the recessed walls was to use a slightly darker tone of the same color for the insets. Although this meant a bit more work due, the result should be worth it. Because of this, today we started with the lighter colour - it will be far easier to correct with darket paint if there is some 'paint bleeding' through the corners.

Time to paint! (6 January 2007)

2007-06-01T22:51:00.001+10:00

With the help of Steve, my brother in law, we started roller-painting the walls today. A lot of preparation time went into protecting the pavers with plastic sheets. After a nice BBQ-made hamburgers for lunch, we finished almost all of the undercoat for the walls.

We get ready for a long day of painting

First we painted with an exterior undercoat

The undercoat was excellent practice to get the technique right

Hmmm... yummy lunch!

The walls are rendered, and the area is paved (29 December 2006)

2007-06-01T22:36:00.001+10:00

We're getting there!! After finishing most of the structures, we hired a couple more professionals to help us.

First, we struggled finding someone to do the rendering of the walls - no one wanted to take on the job without warning us that they could not guarantee their work. In the end, we found Dino Barros from ABC Textures (02-9554-7889), a specialist in textures finisges for internal and external rendering. After observing the finished job, he decided he could deffinitely do a quality job on the render.

After he ws done, we decided to hire some help for the paving work, to ensure that the levels were right. Our trusted handyman had recommended Joe, who did an absolutely awesome job, as can be seen from the photos.

With the help of these 2 professionals, we are getting to the point where this is taking shape. We're not that far!!!

The pavers coming from the new area to the garage entrance

Rendered walls and paved area... looking good!

In this last stage, we also decided to make the lawn
a bit bigger than in the original design

The back of the water feature is made of
black stones, giving a nice contrast to the
light coloured pavers

We're ready to render and pave - Woo hoo!! (12 November 2006)

2006-11-28T07:00:00.000+11:00

Since the last entry, we have moved on to the walking surfaces. It looks like we had made a bit of a mistake also on the heights of the steps, so we had to make some form work and re-set in concrete the steps to the fountain side.

We also built the steps to the garden using bezer blocks which were then filled with concrete; and we waterproofed the entire surface of the water feature, including the back wall.

Another thing we realised was that the pipe we had laid under the concrete footing to the fountain was not wide enough to carry the flow required by the water head, so we are now debating how to fix it. The most likely answer will be to bury a large water tank behind the wall (in the front garden), cut a wide hole to feed the water back into the tank, and feed the appropriate size pipe through the back of the wall.

The back of the water feature is now waterproofed...

...Including the base and pit

We had to use (diluted) hydrochloric acid to clean the cement from the walls

And the steps are now formed and ready for the next steps

The walls are finally up (10 October 2006)

2006-11-28T06:58:00.000+11:00

It took some weeks to get back into doing the walls, but we finally finished them!! I decided to hire the help of professionals to finish the project, and Dave Killian, our trusted handyman (and retired builder) was kind enough to guide me through the steps, and allow me to work with him to finish the project. There were a couple of things we had to do to finish it off:

1. Lower the wall towards the back of the house. With a sloping land on the neighbours side, keeping the wall at the same height all along created too tall a division between the properties.

2. Re-lay quite a number of the cement-fiber sheets. As Dave explained to me, if we had kept laying the cement sheets in a variety of patterns, we would have an impossible time later on when we try to get a smooth finish during the paint phase.

After a few weekends of working on these 2 things, however, the walls are finished (the structures, that is). Next step is to get them rendered and painted.

The walls are coming up (25 August 2006)

2006-09-10T15:10:00.000+10:00

Two weekends have not been enough to erect the walls. With the help of Matt, Jason and Steve, we worked over the last 2 Saturdays to put up the frames that will become the walls that will shield the entertainment area from the road noise on Beecroft Road.

To build the walls, we had to use treated pine to build frames, and then use cement sheeting to cover it. We are also filling the frames with sound-proofing material to further reduce road noise.

So far we have completed 70% of the work required to build the frames, and I will then have to spend some time nailing the cement sheeting to the frames.

Matt worked in assembling the frames

The walls coming up. We had to Nail the back-facing cement sheets before lifting the frames and bolting them to the retaining walls.

Steve did a fantastic job measuring and cutting the cement sheets to the right dimensions…

… and obviously used a breating mask and goggles to avoid cement dust getting near his eyes and lungs

Jason works in nailing the cement sheets to the back of the water feature wall

That's me at the top of the wall, checking that it is level and flush

On the second weekend, Jason had a go at the Circular saw and really enjoyed it

The crates on the left contain the pavers that will be used in the entertainment area

The retaining walls are core-filled (23 June 2006)

2006-06-23T11:06:00.000+10:00

Before core-filling the walls, I had to set up an ag-drain behind the walls, to ensure that any excess water that is collected behind the walls is taken away and does not start putting pressure on the structure. To do this, I laid some blue-metal at the base, and then placed the drain material over it, covering it again to the top of the wall with additional blue-metal. The drain was then connected to the storm-water drain. Before I did this last step, I also screwed some plastic material (typically used to make garden borders) to the fence, to avoid grass and roots coming through and interfering with the structural integrity of the walls.

Once this was finished, I core-filled the retaining walls. To do this job, I had to puchase several bags of cement, hire a cement mixer, and use a bunch of the road base that I (clearly) purchased too much off. It took me a whole day to mix the concrete and pour it inside of the walls, but the job is finished.

A word of warning: if you ever decide to do a job like this, get yourself a GOOD pair of working gloves. I used garden gloves, and they had tears after half a day. By the end of the day, my hands were severely bruised and very sore!

The (electric) cement mixer I hired to do the job

Retaining wall at the end of the job - doesn't it look good?

Ag-drain behind the retaining wall on left side

Ag-drain behind the water-feature wall

The retaining wall is built! (5 April 2006)

2006-04-05T19:05:00.000+10:00

The retaining wall is in place, and it looks SO MUCH BETTER!!

I must confess I ended up hiring a bricklayer to do this job. It was trickier than I thought, so I decided to hire a professional for the job. As you can see, I am extremely pleased with the results.

The wall is made of bezer blocks which are hollow. Reinforced steel bars are layed between each row of blocks, to strengthen the structure, and there are vertical steel bars that will solidify the join between the foundation and the wall (and keep the wall straight and 'un-bendable'. I am yet to core fill the blocks with cement, which is what will make the wall rock-solid. I may work on a couple of things (like laying the lawn) before I get to this task.

There was one more task that needed to be done, and I have already completed: to waterproof the back of the retaining wall. The purpose of doing this is to ensure that water does not come seeping through the wall we will build in front of it. To do this, we use a special paint that, when dry, becomes the sort of material that is used in wet suits. I had to use some material to stick on the joints between the wall and the back of the foundations to ensure a water-tight seal; and then applied 2 coats of the special paint to create the waterproofing membrane along the back of all retaining walls. I will also need to do the same to the base of the water feature.

Special thanks (again!) to my friend Matt for laying the row of bricks that forms the structure of the water feature.

Panoramic view of the wall

The drainage is ready to be 'locked into' position in the trench

And the water feature has been created already

The special paint I had to use to waterproof the back of the retaining walls.

I finished digging the drainage!! (5 March 2006)

2006-03-05T21:29:00.000+11:00

This weekend I set myself the goal of completing all the digging for the drainage, so that we can accelerate the pace of the project a bit. It was quite hard work, but worth the effort. The next step will be to lay 'bezel blocks' (hollow cement blocks) and then fill them with concrete to make the retention walls; whilst also fixing the drainage to the concrete foundation. Will report on thos steps when I am completed.

The exciting part - once we get that out of the way, we can then get the road base and dingo, pack the base for the paving, and finish levelling and shaping the garden. That should be the last time we need to bring heavy machinery in through the garden, so after that I will move quickly to lay some turf and re-establish a decent lawn for Daniel!!!

Hard at work digging drainage trenches

I had to use a pick to break the hard clay.... again!

Getting ready to build the retaining wall

2006-02-25T21:57:00.000+11:00

The next step in this project is to get the area ready for building a retaining wall in the 'ground floor', so that the clay and soil from garden beds does not come crumbling onto it in the wet season.

Before we do this, I had to dig some more trenches to allow us to put the drainage that will keep the lower floor from becoming a pool during the wet season. For this, I needed to dig a trench running along the left-side (next to the side fence), and from there I needed to dig another trench along which PVC tube will run, taking the water from the drain into the rainwater pipe that is right next to the water feature.

One last thing - never underestimate the amount of rubbish that every step will generate. Some weeks ago I hired a Ute and took a lot of the formwork that I pulled out when cleaning the area. After todays work, I ended up with another pile (albeit a bit smaller) that will need to be disposed as well. I may just wait for the pile to grow before I make another trip to the tip.

Never underestimate the amount of rubbish you can create!

What a mess we made when we built the foundations!!

The steps came quite nicely from the formwork

Panoramic view of bottom level

Notice the trench on the left for the drainage, and the reinforced steel bars for the retaining walls

Concrete slab for the base of the water feature, with a trench to connect the drainage on the left

Another view of the water feature slab and the trench for drainage

Cleaning it out and getting ready for the drains (25 Feb 2006)

2006-02-25T20:40:00.000+11:00

Over the last 2 weekends I worked in pulling the formwork out or cutting the bits that stuck out when the rest was embedded in the concrete. The next step is to dig some small trenches, and then fixing the drain and connecting it to the plumbing.

This is the concrete slab that will become the base of the water feature.

The black 'pit' will house the pump and filter.

Another view of the slab & pit, with some of the plumbing visible

The bottom PVC tube will feed water to keep the water feature with

water always (will have a mechanism similar to that of a toilet)

The top (smaller) tube will be the backflow pipe for when it rains too much,

avoiding flooding of the lower level

This is a view of the foundation on which the wall on the upper level will rest.

Notice the PVC tube at the back for electrical connections

Getting rid of the formwork in the steps was quite hard work.

When I took this photo, I still neded to get rid of the one in the second step.

This was the most mpressive concrete foundation of the whole project.

Pulling the form out was tricky, and I had to leave the wood

at the bottom (gave it sort of a nice finish though).

What a work of art!!!!

The row of reo bars were set to enable the creation of a retention wall

that will ensure a safe & sound lower level. The retention wall needs

to go at the back (water feature) on the fence side, and to the sides

of the steps that go from the lower to the upper level

This are the steps from one level o the other

And I thought I was done taking rubbish to the tip!!

The area is cleared, the garden shaped (7 January 2006)

2006-01-07T22:10:00.000+11:00

Yesterday we had SO much fun!! We hired a mini-excavator (like the one we used to dig the shape some months ago), and a 'dingo', and with Matt's help we cleared the 2 mounds of clay and dirt that were piled up from my many days of digging. Whilst he broke these mounds and moved them to the back-garden using the excavator, I used the dingo to move all that dirt into a 15 cubic meters bin that got delivered to the garage entrance. As you can see from the photos below, 15 cubic meters of earth are a LOT of stuff to move, so it took us the whole day to do that. Then today (Sunday) I kept the dingo and used it to shape the garden beds into a more 'oval' shape.

One of the things I had to do on Friday as a preparation for the Big Day was to destroy (demolish) the porch at the back garden; as I may have mentioned before, this porch was too small to be usable for anything except decoration, but large enoug to make a material difference to the final size of the garden; so, we decided to get rid of it and make the garden a bit bigger. Unfortunately the 15 cubic meter bin was not large enough to take the earth AND the wood from the porch, so I have my work cut out for next Sunday: I'll have to hire a Ute, and take all that rubbish to the tip.

Next steps:

Take the rubbish to the tip and clear the working area
Clear the clay that fell on top of the concrete foundations
Lay the bezel blocks for the retention walls
Get the road base delivered and lay it on what will be the paved area
Get the top-soil delivered and lay it on the garden

I am so excited! This is starting to take the shape it will ultimately have, and I can see what a massive difference it will make!

A triumphant stance having finished to put all earth in the bin

Using the dingo to shape the back garden. I regained at least two meters
of area just by doing this.

More dingo fun!

WOO-HOO!! We have poured the concrete! (20 December 2005)

2005-12-20T21:09:00.000+11:00

It's finally happened!!

After many weeks of trying to organise it, we've managed to pour the concrete foundations. Yesterday Inee left to the South Coast with Elizabeth and Daniel (ahead of Gonzalo and I, who still had some work to finish), so I organised for the concrete truck to drop in at 2 PM and do the pour. Helping me where Matt and Trent, the husband of a good friend of hours(Phoebe) who now runs his own gardening business. TO make the pour easier, we got the truck to drive into our neighbours driveway (other side of the fence) and pour it straight into the foundations. The 'shoot' wasn't that long, so we had to use an extension that Matt had previously made out of left-over wood from the form work.

Note: Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the foundation as it was poured, nor the day after (since we left to the South Coast to join Inee, Daniel and Elizabeth)

Tips:

When ordering concrete, the company will demand that you call them and confirm delivery when you're ready to pour so that they can send the truck. As they say, once it is mixed, you mus pour it somewhere , so there is no point in sending the truck if you aren't going to make it that day. This was particularly useful as we had a couple of days when we had planned to do it, but the weather didn't help us and we ad to postpone.
If you can find a way to get the truck close enough to pour directly into the trenches, it will save you effort, time and money. In our case, we had to 'push' some of the concrete from the middle of the deep trench (as far as our improvised 'shoot extension' would reach) down to its end at the back garden; But this was nothing compared to what we would have had to do if we had to barrow it in from our driveway. Given that the truck allows 35 minutes for the pour, and charges extra for additional time, this would have increase costs quite significantly.
At the end of the pour, you will need to use a trowel to smooth the top of the surface out. I learned that a smooth plastic trowel can be easier to manager than a metallic one (which is what I had).
You also need to be careful in how well you build the formwork. Some of the concrete started spilling into the gap between the house and the form through a gap at the bottom, so we had to scoop it out at the end and pour it back into other parts where we didn't have enough concrete
Lastly, make sure you calculate the amount of concrete you need with a decent degree of precision! Too little and you will end up with foundations that are not properly poured; too much and you will have to find a place where you can drop the excess (and then you will have to deal with breaking it and taking it to the tip, as the truck will not take any excess concrete back to base)

I hate the weather!!! (3 December 2005)

2005-12-03T01:59:00.000+11:00

!!!!!!AAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After being all excited to be ready to pour the concrete, I have been well and truly 'rained down on'! It has not stopped raining for days, and the results are disastrous!! The trenches are full of water, a bunch of clay has collapsed on the fence trench and the back-trench (near the fuontain feaure), and most trenches are half-filled with water. My spirit is down today, as this means I have to not only postpone pouring plans, but (yet again!), I will also have to get in and dig (*sigh*) all the rubbish out. Then I will be praying for the water to dry quickly and for the rain to stop pouring down on me.

On the other hand, how much WORSE could it really get? There's got to be something positive after all ;-)

The clump of clay that was holding the fence

pillar together collapses into the trench

A whole lot of dirt fell into the deep
trench that runs along the house.
Cleaning this will be a titanic job!

The trenches area ready, but the concrete pour gets postponed due to bad Weather (26 Nov 2005)

2005-11-26T22:09:00.000+11:00

For the last 2-3 weeks we continued with the form work, adding "boxes" of re-inforced steel (reo) trenching mesh inside each of the trenches. Having never done this kind of stuff, there were a whole lot of things I learned in the process (see "tips" at end of this posting - they're pretty technical and may bore the general reader)

Unfortunately, luck was not on my side. After literally MONTHS of digging in very dry weather (which, by the way, dries up the clay and makes it hard as rock!!), and then rushing up to put the formwork in, the weather turned and 'rained down' on my plans!! As you can see from the photos, a significant amount of rain fell and flooded the trenches with water. This is a significant problem, since the concrete would NEVER set right were we to pout in like this. Now we need to wait for dry weather to dry our trenches to a reasonable level (moist is ok; flooded is not), before we go ahead with the concrete pour of the foundations. I guess now it is a matter of hoping and waiting for better weather, wait for trenches to dry, and THEN organise the concrete pour.

The water fell on all trenches and flooded them.

More flooding of the trenches - what a pain!!

TIPS FOR PREPARING THE TRENCHES WITH REO

Because concrete has compression strength but not tensile strength (According to The Concrete Producer's newsletter, "Concrete is usually assumed to be about 10% as strong in tension as it is in compression"), simply pouring concrete would not build solid foundations. If you're confused with the terms compression and tensile strenght, they just mean that although concrete is a very strong compund, it can bend easily. If I laid foundations with just concrete, and it bent over time, the bends wil eventually turn into cracks. For this reason, putting re-inforced steel (reo) inside the concrete structures makes sense, as it ensures that the foundations are as solid as they need to be and keeps their shape intact over time.
To reinforce the concrete foundations, one makes a long 'box' of reo to lay right in the middle of the concrete structures. To make 'boxes' of reo one uses 3 materials: (1) tie-wire - which is wire that is strong, but easy to work with; (2) Trenching mesh , which is two long bars of reo with smaller horizontal bars at regular intervals - it looks kind of like small but very long steel ladder; and (3) plastic 'chairs' , which are cones of plastic with indentations to allow you to place between different lengths of reo and let them 'sit right' (thus the name)

Once you have your materials, the first thing to do is cut the reo to the right lengths. You will usually want to leave a small gap between the ends of the trench and the start of the reo box. The reason for this is that after your pour the concrete, you don't want the reo to be in contact with air at all. When this happens, Rain and humidity will eventually oxidise the reoand cause 'concrete rot' in your foundation, compromising its structural integrity .
So you've cut down the lengths of reo, and want to make the boxes now, laying them inside the trench. When you purchased the plastic chairs, you should realize that they come in a variety of sizes, and you need to choose the size that will allow the reo to be evenly distributed between the bottom of the foundation, the bottom of the reo box, the top of the reo box and the top of the trench. You put chairs between two lengths of reo at regular intervals (every 2 horizontal bars, on alternating sides so that it becomes a stable reo structure), and then you put some chairs on the ground on the same configuration, and lay the 'box' on top of it

For trenches that are really deep (see second picture above), you can lay a standard box at the bottom of the trench, then lay a perpendicular, single mesh to hold the rest together. To make the vertical mesh, you cut 3 lengths of single reo bars to the height of the area you need to cover; lay 3 lengths of reo (cut to the width of the area - ie. how long this deeper trench is); and use tie-wire to tie the pieces together at the places they intersect.

If the lengths of reo you purchased are not long enough for some of the trenches (as happened to me with the one that goes all along the house), you need to overlay two boxes one after the other. When doing this, make sure there is 1 "bar" of overlap between the two contiguous boxes. Otherwise, you will have a weak point at the joint of these 2 pieces, and the foundation may 'bend' at this point later on. When Meshes join at 90 degree angles you also want some overlap.

Laying the boxes in the trench: when you do this for the first time, your intuition will tell you to construct the boxes in a spacious, clean area away from the construction site, and then come in and 'drop' the boxes in the right place. Don't do that! Surprisingly, it is a LOT easier to lay the 2 pieces of trenching mesh loosely inside the trench first (with the chairs at roughly the right intervals), and then little by little start putting tie wire across the structure. The reason for this is that as you put the tie wire, the structure starts becoming REALLY solid by and of itself. You can then even walk on top of the box (but do it on the thicker, length-wise bars; I broke a couple of horizontals by walking on them). The last step is simply to adjust the location of the chairs that you placed underneath the box so that the structure is held in place in a stable, solid manner.

One last thing - a lot of the "tips" were VERY hard to describe!! If you want a better explanation leave me a comment to this post, which part you want to understand better, and I'll try to draw a diagram of what I mean!!!

The formwork is completed (18 November 2005)

2005-11-18T20:51:00.000+11:00

The formwork is completed, and the reinforced steel is laid. I will explain the technical bits in a later post, but these are some of the photos after we finished the preparation. I am SO excited not to have to do any more digging!!! Next week we will get the concrete truck, and pour the foundations. Woo-hooo!!!!

This is the preparation for the water feature foundation.
The black pit will house the equipment (pump, etc).

This is the formwork for the side of the house. It was
the most complex of the lot, as it has a very deep
foundation to assist with proper ventilation and
avoid humidty problems.

What a massive amount of digging!! (22 October 2005)

2005-10-22T20:48:00.000+10:00

In order for the paved area to be in a stable environment, and given we would need to build some retention walls for the lower level, the next step was to dig trenches all around for a proper concrete foundation. I must confess I never imagined I'd have to do so much digging for this project!! Given the nature of the ground (clay), I had a HARD time digging it out. Nevertheless, after about 2 months of digging, the trenches were ready for the next step - setting the formwork for the concrete pour.

Trenches on the side of the house needed to be wider to allow for proper ventilation and avoid humidity problems later on

Formwork of steps between the high and low levels.

Heavy Equipment arrives!! (31 July 2005)

2005-07-31T20:14:00.000+10:00

Today was the day I learned how to operate industrial machinery that weights more than 1 kg!! With Matt's help, we hired a mini-excavator from Kennards for the day, and essentially bulldozed the side garden. We used a dumpy level to work out the heights, and created the two 'levels' of the entertainment area (See diagram of project below)

The day was pretty busy, and it took a bit of practice to figure out how to drive 1.5 tonnes of equipment over uneven terrain without putting myself nor my house at risk. By the end of the day, the two levels were ready for the next phase!

There once was a fountain... and then it was no more!

Half way through building the 'lower level' (towards the front of this photo)

Tips on using this equipment:

I used the excavator on the lowest 'throttle setting' possible for the first hour or so - that way it made it harder to run into the house as I learned how to drive it
As I became more familiar with it, I decided to use it at the end of the day to re-shape another part of the (back) garden. That was a Big Mistake!! All I managed to do was get distracted from the main project, and in the process wreck the lawn in the back garden (My wife Ines was certainly not impressed with that!)
The earth around my home is very heavy clay, which meant it was HARD breaking it up. It was good that we got the excavator with the optional 'clay bucket', which has teeth (like a fork) to dig into the ground.

The renovation starts by chopping some trees (24 April 2005)

2005-04-24T22:04:00.000+10:00

Getting ready for it. Let the fun begin!!

First time I operate a chainsaw. Took a bit of practice and instructions, but quickly got the hang of it.

Some tips I learned:

If you need to chop a large tree, make a small cut from below before you chop it from above. That way, the weight of the chopped branch won't pinch the chainsaw within the cut
Start with smaller pieces from the top, and then work your way down. Always work safely by ensuring the branch falls clear and away from where you're standing
Hold the chainsaw with both hands, and ensure that the safety bar will engage if the saw hits a hard object and recoils.
Make sure you keep both feet firmly on the ground, and your stance allows you to have a stable position through the cuts.

There once was a garden.... (24 April 2005)

2005-04-24T08:00:00.000+10:00

Side of the house - leading to the front garden

Side of the house - Fountain and entertainment area

Side of the house - Full view from the back of the house

Side of the house - The entertainment area is a bit small and narrow

New Year, New blog (11 Jan 2006)

2005-01-01T08:00:00.000+11:00

Sometime in May this year, Ines and I decided to renovate the side garden and make better use of the space we have available. The idea is to pave the area, build a small wall right next to the boundary fence, and build a 'lower level' where a more intimate 'room' of the garden will house a water feature and 2 wooden benches.

Unfortunately, we did not realise how much work was this going to take. With the great assistance and direction of our awesome friend Matt Foster (and the patience of his family, who have put up with him being away on several weekends to come show me how to do various things and work alongside with me on the various tasks), we started on this project of gigantic proportions. I started writing about this project in my other blog (Brief History of my life), but have seldomly posted pictures or given a better description of the steps we have taken.

So, this New year I decided to start a new, smaller blog to diarise my garden renovation project. I hope this will help not only family and friends to stay in touch on what's happening with what is probably the biggest project (outside of work) I have ever started in my life (with the exception of moving from Colombia to Australia for good, that is); but that this will also help other people learn some of the tasks and principles I have learned throughout this journey.

When I started this project, I was hoping we could finish it by Dec 05. That milestone was not achieved due to a combination of weather, the work being a lot more than I thought originally, and having to work around the availability of some very good friends who helped me with key steps I could not have done alone. When will I finish? Only God knows!! The optimist in me hopes no later than halfway through 2006. The pesimist in me doesn't even want to make an estimate :-) Wish me luck, and enjoy the story and photos of this major garden renovation project.

So that's it for my first post! I will try to create a few more posts in the next few days before I alert friends & family on the existence of this, my newest of blogs.

Stay tuned for an update!

31 June '05 - with the help of an almighty excavator,
we manage to level the ground on the
side of the house