Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Alexander the photographer
Alexander really enjoys taking pictures. Here's one of his that I really like. (Pretty good for a 5 year old.)
Flagstone patio progress
I have slowly been making progress on that flagstone pation I'm building. It took a very long time to lay every flagstone. Leveling each one is tedious and difficult. Some of the stones are quit heavy. I'm sure an experienced person could do it faster, but I understand why it's so expensive to pay someone to do this. There is a lot of labor involved.
I didn't actually make more than a couple cuts, as I wasn't trying to make the joints too tight. (Going for that rustic look.) The hardest part was getting the slope right, becuase I had one part where it slopes up to landing outside a side door. This throws off the whole project, and it took a while to get satifactory results. Even so, I can see that water is going pool up a little in the middle. Not a really big problem, as thats where the drainage pipe runs.
After putting all the stones down, I started sweeping in about a dozen bags of gold granite fines. It takes many passes to do this. I empty a bag, sweep it over the patio, and try and compact the joints with whatever I can use. (Shoes, sticks, etc.) I then flood the area with water to help the compaction. A day later, I sweep, add more fines, sweep again. Eventually, the joints begin to look a bit solid. Now I have a very dirty patio. I need to wait for everything to dry before I sweep off the loose fines on top, then I have to clean the stones. Not sure what I'm going to do about that yet, I'll try with just a simple cleaning solution, but I may need to resort to acid.
When joints dry, they should, hopefully, be rock hard. I need to wait and see.
I have one progress photo. You can see a couple of the large planters I intend to put in after the patio is finished.
I didn't actually make more than a couple cuts, as I wasn't trying to make the joints too tight. (Going for that rustic look.) The hardest part was getting the slope right, becuase I had one part where it slopes up to landing outside a side door. This throws off the whole project, and it took a while to get satifactory results. Even so, I can see that water is going pool up a little in the middle. Not a really big problem, as thats where the drainage pipe runs.
After putting all the stones down, I started sweeping in about a dozen bags of gold granite fines. It takes many passes to do this. I empty a bag, sweep it over the patio, and try and compact the joints with whatever I can use. (Shoes, sticks, etc.) I then flood the area with water to help the compaction. A day later, I sweep, add more fines, sweep again. Eventually, the joints begin to look a bit solid. Now I have a very dirty patio. I need to wait for everything to dry before I sweep off the loose fines on top, then I have to clean the stones. Not sure what I'm going to do about that yet, I'll try with just a simple cleaning solution, but I may need to resort to acid.
When joints dry, they should, hopefully, be rock hard. I need to wait and see.
I have one progress photo. You can see a couple of the large planters I intend to put in after the patio is finished.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Nothing like good weather
It has been so wet and cold this fall and winter that I've forgotten what good weather felt like. Its been ages since I've seen my kids wearing less than 2 layers of clothing. And finally, we have a weekend where the weather was just glorious. We are going to have one of the best wildflower shows this year in living memory.
Alexander had a couple milestones this weekend. First, on Saturday we rented a motor-boat out on our local lake. As we cruised around with no destination in particular, I repeatedly asked him if he wanted to drive, to which he replied, "No, I'm scared." Finally, out of the blue, he said, "Can I drive, Dad?" I said, "Sure", and handed him the stearing wheel. Well, after a few out of control turns, he got the hang of it. I could see the pride and confidence growing on his face as he took control of the boat and made it go where he wanted. I just sat back holding Sarah and let him go where he wanted. Pretty good for a 5 year old.
The next day, we concentrated on learning to ride his bike without training wheels. Now, as I recall, I never used training wheels when I was a kid. I have clear memories of being pushed on a bike in a local parking lot, surrounded by family members. I was very out of control and did not understand how to use the brakes. I recall running into someone. (I think it was my grandfather.)
As for Alexander, we got out on the street in front of our house. (There is virtually no traffic on that street.) I pushed and held onto his bike as I ran along side him, letting go when I thought he had control. At first, he was too scared to do anything. When Alexander is scared, he just talks and talks and talks and won't let you do anything. "Daddy, I want to tell you something. First you push me, and then you don't let go, okay? We will do it one more time okay, then that's it."
Well, after much cajoling, I finally was able to let go of the bike for a significant amount of time. By the end of the day, he managed to go a couple blocks without stopping. He only crashed once, which set him back for a while. What really helped was when we came across a neighborhood friend of his that was also riding his bike. Nothing like a little peer pressure to cool the nerves.
Sarah is healthy and happy. She spent a lot of time in the park riding the slide and the swing. She's learning new words everyday, and charming everyone around her.
Sophia keeps getting bigger. Pretty soon she'll be crawling, then walking. I can't wait.
Alexander had a couple milestones this weekend. First, on Saturday we rented a motor-boat out on our local lake. As we cruised around with no destination in particular, I repeatedly asked him if he wanted to drive, to which he replied, "No, I'm scared." Finally, out of the blue, he said, "Can I drive, Dad?" I said, "Sure", and handed him the stearing wheel. Well, after a few out of control turns, he got the hang of it. I could see the pride and confidence growing on his face as he took control of the boat and made it go where he wanted. I just sat back holding Sarah and let him go where he wanted. Pretty good for a 5 year old.
The next day, we concentrated on learning to ride his bike without training wheels. Now, as I recall, I never used training wheels when I was a kid. I have clear memories of being pushed on a bike in a local parking lot, surrounded by family members. I was very out of control and did not understand how to use the brakes. I recall running into someone. (I think it was my grandfather.)
As for Alexander, we got out on the street in front of our house. (There is virtually no traffic on that street.) I pushed and held onto his bike as I ran along side him, letting go when I thought he had control. At first, he was too scared to do anything. When Alexander is scared, he just talks and talks and talks and won't let you do anything. "Daddy, I want to tell you something. First you push me, and then you don't let go, okay? We will do it one more time okay, then that's it."
Well, after much cajoling, I finally was able to let go of the bike for a significant amount of time. By the end of the day, he managed to go a couple blocks without stopping. He only crashed once, which set him back for a while. What really helped was when we came across a neighborhood friend of his that was also riding his bike. Nothing like a little peer pressure to cool the nerves.
Sarah is healthy and happy. She spent a lot of time in the park riding the slide and the swing. She's learning new words everyday, and charming everyone around her.
Sophia keeps getting bigger. Pretty soon she'll be crawling, then walking. I can't wait.
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