Over the last few weeks we have been clearing an area out for a parking lot. Over the weekend we marked out the area for the parking lot and our good friend Bo ran the backhoe for a good 20 hours over two days clearing and making the area flat and moving more brush.....
Today we got started on the parking lot.. Receiving dump truck loads of gravel for the parking lot throughout the day.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A Beautiful Day at SHP
I awoke this morning to what seemed to be another cloudy dreary day at the park. Boy, was I wrong! The weather turned out to be beautiful. It was a nice 80 degrees today with a decent breeze flowing through the park. It ended up being a great day to get some work done, and boy did we get some work done.
First, Nick and Manny pretty much finished off the three bay barn. Here are few pictures of how the three bay barn progressed over the past month.
As you can see the barn has undergone a massive transformation. It is invigorating and refreshing to finally see something accomplished. Thank you Gregg for getting on us about the barn.
Next, Matt and Travis, one of our new guys, ran the stump grinder all day long. We only have the stump grinder for the week and we want to really get some of the stumps out the park... I mean once you chop down 1 million trees there are bound to be some stumps right? Well today it was Matt and Travis's turn.
Next the pavilion. Scott, Mike, and Chris our other new guy, worked on it all day. First, they removed half the roof and then started on the cedar shaking. I'm really excited about this project myself. I think it will improve the look of the pavilion ten times over.
Next, the parking lot. The parking lot has been a pain in the rear. Today that is where Brittany, Ric, Ryan, Ellie, and myself worked. Today we cleared away some scrap metal, properly disposed of 27 used tires, cleared out another 10 or 15 honey suckle bushes(which met there end in a nice little bonfire), and cleared a large area of weeds with the weed eater ( which fought with Brittany most of the day).
Then there is our favorite little Stonehouse worker Lexi. She is always making sure she looks cute and that her mom Carissa gets no rest.
The dogs had there work cut out for them today as well it seems.
First, Nick and Manny pretty much finished off the three bay barn. Here are few pictures of how the three bay barn progressed over the past month.
As you can see the barn has undergone a massive transformation. It is invigorating and refreshing to finally see something accomplished. Thank you Gregg for getting on us about the barn.
Next, Matt and Travis, one of our new guys, ran the stump grinder all day long. We only have the stump grinder for the week and we want to really get some of the stumps out the park... I mean once you chop down 1 million trees there are bound to be some stumps right? Well today it was Matt and Travis's turn.
Next the pavilion. Scott, Mike, and Chris our other new guy, worked on it all day. First, they removed half the roof and then started on the cedar shaking. I'm really excited about this project myself. I think it will improve the look of the pavilion ten times over.
Next, the parking lot. The parking lot has been a pain in the rear. Today that is where Brittany, Ric, Ryan, Ellie, and myself worked. Today we cleared away some scrap metal, properly disposed of 27 used tires, cleared out another 10 or 15 honey suckle bushes(which met there end in a nice little bonfire), and cleared a large area of weeds with the weed eater ( which fought with Brittany most of the day).
Then there is our favorite little Stonehouse worker Lexi. She is always making sure she looks cute and that her mom Carissa gets no rest.
The dogs had there work cut out for them today as well it seems.
Lastly is Ryan. Ryan is leaving our Stonehouse park family to move to Denver. He spent most of the day packing and will spend most of tomorrow packing as well. We are planning on having a going away party for him tomorrow night in the newly finished three bay barn.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Pavers Day
I have not been posting because my children and I took a week-long vacation in Chicago and someplace between here and there I lost my camera. Hopefully it will turn up, but in the meantime I will write posts and perhaps we can add pictures later.
The last few weeks have been pretty aggravating. It seemed like no matter how hard we tried nothing was getting done. Everyone was frustrated and tempers were beginning to flare. Since then we have worked out some personnel issues and tried a few new ways of doing things. So far this week has gone much better.
Approximately 1 million Stonehouse Park trees have now been cut down and dragged to the burn pile and the space around the house and the barns is really starting to open up. The mulberries are in full fruit and I am not the only person walking around with purple fingers. I have been practicing tree identification and can now recognize boxelder, slippery elm, walnut, oak, maple, hickory and shag hickory (apparently you can make good syrup from the shag hickory tree.)
Our biggest project recently has been paving the 3-bay barn. Gregg had to kick us in the butt to get us going - it was a daunting project to start and everyone had a different idea as to how to do it - but it is now 90% finished! The floor of the barn had to be raised several inches with gravel and then leveled out with sand. Once the sand was completely level we laid down a pattern of 3 sizes of antique style cedar colored paving stones. The pavers had to be carried into the barn in stacks and then laid individually by hand. It looks great! Our backs are aching a bit, unfortunately. Tomorrow we will be covering the floor with sand to fill in the gaps between the stones, and then brushing the excess sand off and finishing the floor with masonry sand.
So...I guess that's something. Tomorrow we finish the 3-bay floor and start roofing the picnic pavilion. We are supposed to be done with several roofs already but we are behind schedule and only just now getting started. Sigh.
The last few weeks have been pretty aggravating. It seemed like no matter how hard we tried nothing was getting done. Everyone was frustrated and tempers were beginning to flare. Since then we have worked out some personnel issues and tried a few new ways of doing things. So far this week has gone much better.
Approximately 1 million Stonehouse Park trees have now been cut down and dragged to the burn pile and the space around the house and the barns is really starting to open up. The mulberries are in full fruit and I am not the only person walking around with purple fingers. I have been practicing tree identification and can now recognize boxelder, slippery elm, walnut, oak, maple, hickory and shag hickory (apparently you can make good syrup from the shag hickory tree.)
Our biggest project recently has been paving the 3-bay barn. Gregg had to kick us in the butt to get us going - it was a daunting project to start and everyone had a different idea as to how to do it - but it is now 90% finished! The floor of the barn had to be raised several inches with gravel and then leveled out with sand. Once the sand was completely level we laid down a pattern of 3 sizes of antique style cedar colored paving stones. The pavers had to be carried into the barn in stacks and then laid individually by hand. It looks great! Our backs are aching a bit, unfortunately. Tomorrow we will be covering the floor with sand to fill in the gaps between the stones, and then brushing the excess sand off and finishing the floor with masonry sand.
So...I guess that's something. Tomorrow we finish the 3-bay floor and start roofing the picnic pavilion. We are supposed to be done with several roofs already but we are behind schedule and only just now getting started. Sigh.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)