Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Just Walk Away



  In two days, we installed the remaining upper stretch of Bruce and Pam's fine granite walkway.  It took a little longer than the lower section, as there were challenges in bringing together the different grades and positions of the top step, the garage door, and the driveway entrance; and of course, we didn't have Bruce's brute strength or razor-sharp eye helping us do the prep and layout, as he was busy moving about three tons of leftover wall-stone by hand! But it all came together beautifully in the end, nonetheless.
  This landing stone in front of the garage door was my favorite out of the bunch:
   A veritable Rorschach Stone...

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Driveway Walls of Hot Heaven





  So, after about five weeks of being sequestered on a 600 square-foot patio nightmare island of back-breaking labor and financial ruin, we were able to get back out to Damariscotta Lake and finish the wall on the other side of Bruce and Pam's driveway. And though it was almost a hundred degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, we were extremely happy to get back to a sensible and creative project in a peaceful environment controlled by kind and sensible people. I think we are going to stay there permanently...  Maybe if we just work 2 hours a day, 3 days a week, we can stretch this thing out to last all year.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Instant Walkway, Just Add Water


  We went out to Bruce's on Damariscotta Lake Saturday, uncertain whether or not the rain would hold off long enough to make it worthwhile, which it did for the most part. Bruce had a swale all dug out for the desired walk and a pile of random pieces of cut and thermalled granite. The edges were rough, but all we had to do was establish a loose design, measure, and cut to fit. We had a fine granite walk installed in less than 5 hours, just as the rain turned from a drizzle to a downpour.