Pink Droyd Montage

The Dekalb County Free Fair
was rocking Saturday night when Pink Droyd took the stage.  The Pink Floyd cover band had a great light show and were tight and polished.  We enjoyed the show and it was free.

Mountain Clilmbing or Landscaping?

Two very difficult hills have been our  landscaping challenge for the past couple of weeks.  One job is on Lake James, Ryan and Scott have been the primary installers each rock is handled five times by hand before is carefully nested in the glacial retaining wall.

 This one is a logistics nightmare back up the narrow steep driveway with a full load of rocks, wiggle next to the six foot tall concrete retaining wall and dump to a wooden backstop which prevents the rocks from rolling down the hill.  Pick up rocks hand drop to the next level.  Pick up rocks hand drop to the next level put in wheel barrow push ten feet.  Drop rocks pick up rocks hand drop to the next level.  Each drop point has a wooden backstop the lake is nearly two stories below.

It is back breaking work standing on a hill all day is hard enough but add to that toting 30-50 pound

rocks and shoveling uphill, hats off to you men it is another beautiful job.



The lot actually has treated timber terraces with a wooden staircase and brick insert.  Glacial rock is what the home owner wants to replace all the timbers with eventually, it would be a huge undertaking.  I know Ryan and Scott would not be anxious to work here again.









The other hill we are working is rather unique, very steep in a short distance 135" drop in 8' we have to have a extension ladder laying on the hill to wall up, in the beginning the men had a rope to repel up and down.

First order of business was to strip the hill of all plant material, Travis ended up covered in poison  ivy he had a very nasty rash had to to Urgent Care and get steroids.

It was necessary to jackhammer the seawall where we were fitting in the snap cut steps, that was a unpleasant surprise we were hoping just to saw and chisel but the concrete steps were poured right over the full seawall.  We removed a full staircase and found a second buried in the dirt.

Getting materials down this hill requires three men and a machine.  The bobcat operator lowers down the limestone and the snapcut stair tread, the bluestone weighs between 400-600 pounds.




Safety is paramount when handling these heavy steps the men take this busy very seriously one small mistake and it is goodbye finger and look out toes.

We had to stop work on this job because we need exact height for our last three stairs it has been difficult finding them but Matt at Felger's thinks he will have them Monday.

The renovation of this lakeside landscaping might be next on my list, I will give the customer a bid this week. We installed the block retaining walls several years ago for the previous homeowner and installed the snap cut stone staircase for the current owner last year.  Now they are ready to update the plant material.

Dale and Judy on Lake James have asked us to take a look at the space between the steps and the tree and suggest some landscaping ideas that would eliminate this difficult mowing.  I have a idea for a dry creek bed while Bruce is favoring ground cover, it will be interesting to see which was they go.

Catching lots of sparkly water and early morning fishing on the lakes these days, hear they are pulling some big bass out this fall.

A Step in the Right Direction

This pair of sandhill cranes has been about on our property much of the summer.  On this occasion the handsome couple danced and flirted with each other for several minutes.

We are nearly complete with the hard scape on this project out on Clear Lake.  The bottom step in this photo is one of the original I designed a new sidewalk and we needed to remove the top four steps and build new ones.  At first I thought we would have to have a mason construct the new stairs but once we tore out the old ones it became apparent that we could build the new ones.  The steps are actually only a poured cap right on top of soil with glacial stones set in.  The second white step is the first one we built with a mixture of concrete, it was our prototype.  We were not happy with the color so we changed it up for the next three steps.  Since this photo we have since removed the second step and will be constructing  a new one to match.  Actually it was fortuitous since the builder discovered a moisture problem and will be addressing the issue right where this step was sitting.

The new sidewalk and patio at the lakeside are nearly complete and Gary is working diligently on the road side paver walk, what a great improvement.

I took the dogs (Finn and Munch) out to check the jobs last week and we stopped at Wendy's for a burger hold the condiments, hold the bun, man that was a small piece of meat but the dogs did not seem to mind.

Over the labor day weekend we went to Fort Wayne to watch the semi-pro baseball team, The Tincaps play at Parkview Field, an all together pleasurable outing with good food, drinks and friends.  The fireworks were a bonus.

I snapped this fisherman on Crooked lake last week, it was a beautiful, calm morning with a bright shining sun.

We are on the last leg of our seasonal journey with about three months to go.  There are still lots of projects at the nursery landscaping, buildings to finish and the grand lay out to be determined what an exciting year.

Oops, There Goes 96'

The Mighty Oak Tree is What is Keeping Our Truck "96" from Rolling on it's Roof

Still getting in lots of hours with little sign of slowing down.  This time last year I was getting ready to go to work at Ladera in St. Lucia what a trip that was the teeth marks from the flip saw still look pretty fresh on my leg.  Might as well share the big story first.  Ryan flipped over one of the dump trucks, he was not hurt having jumped out before it went over.

The Wrecker Could Not Move the Truck Until We Shoveled Off Some of the Sand

The problem started at the gravel pit where he drove off over loaded with nearly 7 ton of sand, the trucks should never carry more than 4 ton.  The overloading effects handling, he was backing down a driveway and got to close to the soft edge and you can see the result.  I could not help but hug him because I he was shaking and I was happy he was not hurt, that was not exactly the reaction he expected.  Our ace mechanic Gary had the truck back on the road within 24 hours, looks a little better to me since Gary put some spray paint on the bumps,oops.

Rock & Sand Make Another Beautiful Wall by Ryan Bartell

Several projects completed this month and starting a few including maybe some work in Fort Wayne, the driving is such a waste but one is a promise and the other is just gonna be fun.  It took a lot of talking to convince this customer to start all over with the foundation planting on the south side of their home.  It had been done twice before repeating the same planting.  They still want it trimmed tight but we have a brand new pallet of plants now.

Now That's a Big Barberry, Ouch Lots of Prickers

We finished up this pond for a fellow who lives in Chicago, the pond is on his mom's property which is a rural haven for this busy guy from the city.  He plans to plant it with natives and hopes to attract lot's of wildlife, shouldn't be a problem.  I gobbled handfuls of blackberries when I went to help out on this project, the apples are getting ripe so I will have to make excuses to visit soon.

This is a house on Clear Lake that we just began, we did a big tear out and now the old concrete sidewalks, patio, stoop and four stairs are gone and we are preparing for pavers.

On the drawing board this project on Coldwater Lake will have to pass a special zoning meeting to get approval before any dirt is moved.  The sight is challenging to say the least and there are some issues with the property lines as well.  But we have some great ideas.

Reeling in the Years

Tyler copping a snooze during lunch, minutes before he was a stone shoveling machine

This past week was really fun.  It is Bruce's 64th birthday August 5, and we have been on a birthday roll. Seemed to me 64 should be celebrated heartily in the tradition of the Beatles classic "will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?"  64 seemed really old to me when I heard that song, now it is just another number and I am grateful to see Bruce reach it healthy and wanting to have some fun. 

We started on Tuesday by going to dinner at  a well known Japanese steak house in Fort Wayne and seeing the band Steely Dan at the Embassy Theatre what a great show, with good company.  Friday found us on a secret mission, secret from Bruce as we headed out the door with another couple destination unknown for the birthday boy.  A great meal at Schuyler's in Marshall, MI and a quick trip to Firekeeper's in Battlecreek where we saw The Steve Miller Band perform.

Ryan working on a pond out in the country

Finally last night we had a small party with friends and family, lots of really good chow of which I ate way to much.  Had chocolate pie, boysenberry cheesecake, egg casserole and fruit and that was just leftovers for breakfast.  Good times.

Work is jammed Bruce has a deadline to install a foot of mulch at the playground of one of the schools and it needs to be finished by next week.  Takes lots of equipment to dig out the earth and lots of manpower.

Lone Tree Point on lake James offered its usual
 challenges when we installed 15 ton of river wash on a hill and terraces.  Doug built a shoot and we shoveled it down, turned out it was more effective to drag it down in weed fabric.  Oh well got to do a little engineering every once in a while.  We still
 did good on the job the men worked really hard.

Went specimen shopping for me the other day at a couple of nurseries.  The purpose was to show a customer potential plant material for selection.  It was easier to review the presentation when each plant was sitting right in front of us on the table.

 We installed this dry creek bed and simple planting for a new customer in Angola last week.   She really liked the finished product and it is very easy care.

Up, up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon

If lack of blog posting is any indicator of how busy we have been then I don't feel so bad, forgive me Lord it has been 19 days since my last blog confession.  Nineteen busy, happy, hot days especially this past week where we have suffered through heat index temperatures past 100 degrees.

We had a great show last Friday and Saturday morning at our shop on 200W the annual Balloons Aloft past right over our building on their morning races.  It was super groovy.  The most balloons we counted were 26 at once.  We went to the night firing at the airport as well, pretty cool when they fill them at night, the burners create a beautiful glow.

Thanks to our buddies at Aquarius Underground we were invited to bid on landscaping a new lake house.  Aquarius was installing the irrigation so it was a good time for Shawn to show the crew how to work the newest Toro control box.  We often need to run the irrigation systems so we try to keep informed.

This flagstone walk needed to meet up with the neighbors driveway and we wanted as few steps as possible so the solution was a short rock wall.  Ryan set the base and showed Von how to build, he caught on quickly which is unusual.  Von does have a good eye and like Ryan is artistic, a wood carver.

Once the wall was built the limestone base was installed, then leveling sand and the stones.  Polymer sand is poured between the joints to form a hard grout like surface, helps keep weeds out also.  Of course you can put grass,  plants or sand in the joints but the poly-sand is easy care.

Sometimes we hit something buried underground, Tyler found his first phone line and Doug showed him how to repair it a valuable skill to learn.

We finished up the south side landscaping  of a home on Jimmerson Lake and stained the existing concrete porch and walk.  Before staining we patched some of the worst holes and cracks.  The rich dark color adds a lot to the entrance.  The home owners seldom used the walk so staining was an affordable solution rather than replacement.

Fins Up

The summer concert schedule for Bruce and I included seeing Jimmy Buffett last Thursday night near

Indianapolis but what made it one of my best Buffett concerts was my the company, my family and a good friend from college.  We really enjoyed the show, sang off key to every song drank a couple of margaritas and danced about with all the other Parrottheads. 

Being able to go to a few shows during the summer is one of our guilty pleasures during the landscaping season.  Next up on the list is The Eagles in Louisville, KY this coming weekend.  Neither of us has seen The Eagles and we are really looking forward to it.

Work has been going extremely well and we are really busy.  The new location is marvelous and we have all adjusted well.  One of the last remnants left at our home were the two storage sheds one wood and one a old box truck body that we used as a chemical shed.  One of our employees Cody and his dad
decided they could put them to good use and we waved goodbye to our old truck. A legend never dies.

We are finally finished with spring clean up and have just finished the second round of fertilizing.   Doug and crew are now onto landscaping installations and we are running out some odds and ends.  We have hired a new young man and on his first job found that our customer was his first grade teacher, they both remembered each other .  We did work for these folks last year and are working our way around the house.

While I was at the job neighbors asked me to bid some work as well.  We have done work for the neighbors in the past.  It is such a friendly area and we get a warm welcome.  We met the new collies named Barely and Blue, they go to obedience school with our book keeper and her dog Bindi, such a small world.