Just when you thought our renovations were complete... we've begun again. We've had a very busy spring and summer here on the home front, but this time, all the activity has been taking place outside. From a new post lamp, to a fenced-in backyard, to a new clothesline, to a front walkway, to the removal of Pake Dykstra's old work shed, all 4 sides of our yard have seen some major changes/improvements.
First, came the lamp post. For as far back as I can remember, Mr. Gryce has always dreamed of having a house with a post lamp out front. This past spring, we set out to make that dream a reality.
First, Mr. Gryce rented an excavator to dig the hole for the actual post lamp, plus a long trench for all the electrical wire to get to the post. Our friend Andrew came to help.
Once the trench was dug, Mr. Gryce had to fill the bottom with sand before running the conduit with the wire. Then he had to cover the conduit with more sand.
Next, Mr. Gryce and Andrew installed the base for the lamp post.
Then came the huge task of filling in the trench, without the rental excavator.
We had to get rid of a ton of rocks!
Our yard looked pretty rough.
Mr. Gryce finally got to do what he does best: the actual electrical work.
Even though our lamp post was fully operational, we had a ton of grading work to do in order to get our yard back in shape.
We purchased a load of soil.
And graded it ourselves.
By mid-summer, we finally got some grass to grow!
And while we were at it, we had our driveway re-done.
While all this was going on, we also planned to have a fence installed around our backyard. This meant digging up part of an old sidewalk leading to the barn, and leveling part of our vegetable garden.
The guys worked quickly and our new fence was up in two days.
Of course, the new fenced-in yard required a lot of grading and landscaping afterwards.
The solar lights look pretty neat at night.
Of course, no back yard would be complete without a swing set...
...and a turtle sandbox!
Because of the new fenced-in the backyard, we also had to move my clothesline over. Mr. Gryce had to rent a jackhammer just to get the new holes a few feet deep.
We also needed it to remove the concrete from around the old post.
Our next order of business was to remove Pake (grandpa) Dykstra's old work shed.
It stayed in the family though, because my brother removed it in once piece and ended up taking it down the road to his house!
No more eyesore!
As you can see, there is never a dull moment here!
Here's hoping we can enjoy just one summer where we don't have any big projects.....
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