Despite the flaws in our yard, I was still compelled to spend much time and energy weeding. There may have been more weeds than grass, but I thought to myself, "If I can fill a five gallon bucket with weeds every day, one day there will be no weeds." I bought a long handled weeding tool to aid in my battle and concentrated my efforts to a small section of the yard each day. I figure that over time, I poked at least every six inches of that yard. Often, stubborn weeds would grow next to big rocks under the lawn, making it difficult to use my weeding tool. Normally I could poke from a different angle to avoid the rock and still get the weed. However, One day I kept hitting big rocks and no matter what angle I tried, I kept hitting the rock. Not known for my patience, my temper began to boil. "CLUNK! Scritch, scrape, scrape, clunk!" went my tool. Sweat beaded on my brow as I crouched for better leverage. "Scritch, scrape, scrape." I couldn't get around the rock and still be close to the weed. I stomped to the garage and returned with a trowel. This is war...no weed is going to get the best of me! I dug all around the weed until I could tell I had reached the end of the rock. Then I plunged the trowel into the ground and pried up the obstruction. A brick, then another right next to it. What an odd find! Then two more just a couple feed away, and again, and again.
Ah ha! Stepping stones! It's a little path. What fun! I pried them up and stacked them near the house. I knew we'd need bricks to replace the void once the slider was removed, but hadn't figured out yet where we'd find bricks to match the house. Later, I discovered a small brick patio around the camellia tree and happily pried up all those bricks, too. Nick found a similar brick section buried at the parking strip and as we continued to work in the yard, we found bricks lining the edge of the concrete walkway.
Although we found a great many perfectly matching bricks buried in our yard, we still didn't have enough to cover the void once the slider was removed. We started searching for bricks on Craigslist postings and were delighted one day to find a couple about 5 miles away selling bricks from a 1927 house (ours is a 1929). It was a good match and we were delighted to have found them.
Do you think the brick pathways /patio were placed by the previous owner who installed the slider? Or do you think they were placed by the original owner? I found a brick pathway to the kitchen porch at the farm. It had been there for years but was grown over. We removed them even though I felt nostalgic about that pathway.
ReplyDeleteGosh, it's hard to say. I get the impression that the previous owners didn't spend much time outside. Our neighbor said the guy built the deck for a birthday or graduation party and purchased a grill. They had the party and the grill stayed in the middle of the yard for years. It makes sense that the bricks could have been the excess that were displaced when the slider was put in, but they were all clean--no evidence of mortar. It would be quite a project to clean the mortar off the bricks so perfectly, so I guess that leads me to the hypothesis that it was an original placement. Maybe Nick will stop by the blog and share an opinion.
DeleteSo now you're a backyard archeologist.
ReplyDeleteWeeds are a never ending battle. And that morning glory is sneaky - and persistent. However, I've found that goat's head (puncture weed) is the toughest of all to completely eradicate. I've tried digging out the roots, poisoning, meticulously collecting all the seeds and it still comes back.
Yep! I've found sprinkler parts, glass marbles, yard tools, screws---nothing too interesting. The marbles and bricks are the best finds. Since we tore everything out and reseeded the lawn, the weed problem has reduced, but the mulch we've put around brings with it a host of different weed seeds. And. You'll never beat the introduction of new things from the animals doing their thing.
DeleteI'm loving rereading the history of your work with the added fun of your comments from this perspective! I cans just hear your house purring with happiness over it's resurrection.
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased that you are enjoying my little blog! With each "finish" the house becomes more of a home.
DeleteRemember the children's book, The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton? Your house reminds me of that story, even though it's not the same story.
DeleteI don't remember this story. I'll have to look it up.
DeleteYou can read it when you visit. I left it on your bed.
ReplyDelete