For the Record

These pictures won't matter to anyone reading this blog other than my siblings (of course, does any part of this blog really matter to anyone-- there's the real question!)- but in my last post I talked about Dave and I heading to St. Clair and that "we" would be jackhammering up part of the patio with my dad. And two of my siblings came back with a comment about the fact that it would be DAVE doing the work... So, yes, here is a picture of Dave doing the jackhammering, you've got that right!!


But I did do my share of work over the five hours, hauling concrete as Dave broke it up. Here's me and Dad, hefting rocks into the wagon - we hauled six wagonfuls of concrete pieces down to the ditch by the barn!

While we worked, the doggies played. We brought Rocky and Zoe-Wilson with us, and they gave poor Quigley a run for his money. He's been the only dog at my parents' house for the past several months, and has become very sedentary. But they were all three worn out by the end of the day Saturday, after chasing each other around the yard all day.

Here's the finished product; some of the concrete was a FOOT thick! Dad said it had been there for 50+ years, and that our grandfather, Pop, was the one who put it in. Instead of "rebar" (is that the word?) he just used whatever metal he had... there were several big old barn door hinges, part of a tin roof from one of their old barns, and just various odds and ends of scrap metal that held the concrete in place. One section of the concrete was newer, and easier to break up, but the majority was old, and it took Dave the better part of five hours to break it all up.

My dad called yesterday (Monday) to tell us that he had already picked up all the little rocks and raked the small stuff into a pile, getting ready to put some topsoil down and plant his garden there. It was nice to help him work on it; we are going back in a couple of weekends so Dave can help him repair some of the foundation on the house back by this area. That will be the last visit for a few months, as far as home project weekends go- we wanted to help him get it all done BEFORE lake season hits! Of course no worries about that at this point, considering we have had days of non-stop rain, and no end in sight.

Tomorrow night we are heading with Jace to Jeff City for the fourth grade tour of the capitol. It is Thursday, and I am one of the chaperones. He is riding with us to Jeff City on Wednesday instead of riding the bus early (6AM) Thursday morning, but he will be riding the bus back home on Thursday afternoon with all his buddies, and I know he is looking forward to that!