Diverdowndoc

He's a lumberjack and he's OK...

One of our large oak trees died during the pool construction process, so we had to hire lumberjacks to come out and cut down our tree.  I just like saying that.  They were lumberjacks. Lumberjack.  I don't use that word enough in casual conversation.

They cut it down piece by piece, the lumberjacks do.  Then the lumberjacks shred it or lumberjack it (not jacket) into firewood. Lumberjack.

UPDATE: For some baffling reason and though I tried, my Youtube video won't display.  It is present in the HTML page, but I can't get to to display and hence, play.  So therefore, by way of satisfying Kristen's request to see burly men doing burly things, here you go:

Update: Dang!

Driving skidsteer- remix

I happened to google "driving skidsteer" when I noticed that my picture pops up (with someone named Logan mentioned in the text).  I also discovered that I have been give 4/5 stars (presumably for my attire, since my driving doesn't rate NEARLY so high).  As of this post, the video has been viewed more than 1400 times and linked to by 5 sites.  I guess my 15 minutes isn't up quite yet! 

Video, in case you missed it the first time:

It's not a party until the Oak Tree dies

Isn't that a popular (not poplar) saying?  We lost one of our venerable trees from the construction and the strangely wet Georgia drought that caused so many rain delays.

Now we gotta get that sucker taken down without mangling the new construction.  Sigh.

We'll tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree and haul it out of here.

Pool view from the top

Pool panorama

Some panoramic views of the backyard at the 'end' of phase one (is it ever REALLY the end?) and I am delighted with the results.  Click on pix for picture.

BINGO!!!

The pool is finally done!! I will be adding some more landscaping once my wallet recovers, but it is looking great!  The doclings have already taken a dip!

Pool plaster and palms

Big things are happening!! They sprayed the pool deck, installed some landscaping and the batting cage, painted the slide, and put in the first layer of pool plaster.  Now they will polish the top layer off of the plaster and (I think) do some kind of sealer coat.  My understanding is that the next step just requires us to ADD WATER, then bake in a 350° oven for 1 hour.  OK, maybe not the oven part, but we definitely add water in the near future. 

Inaugural Chess Game

We played our first game on the giant chessboard.  I lost to male docling, then he played Mr.ddd and showed me definitively that guys of the male gender can turn anything into a gun.

They finished the pavers today and they look fabulous! Landscaping is supposed to start tomorrow, and there is still a good bit of clean-up to do, but we are within days of finishing! 

Drying up

Finally we got some dry days, so the paver-laying is going quickly. Yay!

Me driving Tonka® Toy

OK, it isn't an actual Tonka® toy, but I told the guys that I wanted to drive the skidsteer before the end of the construction project.  So, since we are rain-delayed during one of the biggest droughts in Georgia history, I thought I'd take it for a spin!