Paving My Way

One of the many home improvement projects I've planned on since buying my house last year was to build a new walkway from the driveway to the front door. Not than anyone but my insurance agent ever uses the front door. Everyone else always goes to the carport door. Is that a southern thing, I wonder? Or maybe they WOULD use the front door if there was a functional walkay there!

Anyway, so the walkway that the house has right now is a grody, crooked, laid wrong brick path that the previous owners installed. It was a good idea in theory but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. It doesn't even come all the way up to the porch! And is nowhere near the driveway. It's just this random (crooked) path of bricks in the middle of the front yard. Neither functional nor pretty.

So, as I mentioned yesterday, Lowe's had some cobblestone pavers on sale. Regularly $5.98 a stone, they had them for 3.98. Daddy and I had gotten together Sunday and measured out about how many I'd need and made arrangements to meet at Lowe's yesterday afternoon.

And I just need to pause here and say:

I have the most amazing, wonderful, helpful and terrific daddy in the whole intire world universe...No, the whole entire HISTORY of the whole entire universe.

Because those things? They weigh a TON and I had to buy 40 of them. And guess who had to load them on the cart thingy and then load them into the truck and THEN unload them at my house. Because ya'll? They were so heavy I couldn't lift them at all! And I thought I was strong. I mean, I move my own furnature when needed. I weed eat when needed, I paint and carry a 15lb pom/chi around. But apparently concrete cobblestone pavers are HEAVY.

I wish I'd taken a picture of Daddy's little Ranger. 1600lbs of concrete pavers very nearly had the back end dragging the ground. As it was, the mudflaps dragged whenever we hit a bump. Needless to say, it was a slow ride home last night.

I kinda worried about him while he was doing all this loading and unloading business. He was breathing hard and sweating.  And you know he has a heart condition. And bad knees. And leukemia, though that one is in remission. I even offered to stop at 20 pavers but he insisted.

And honestly, I think I'd have decided to forgoe the new walkway but he really wanted to get it done and seems excited about the project. Of course, he loves all that outdoor business and junk. He gets excited about flowers and landscaping and building stuff. And this past winter has been hard on him. He's the kind of man who needs to be doing something at all times. And since he's been unemployed, he's relied on yard work and stuff to keep him busy. There was none of that this winter. And after deer hunting season ended he just didn't have much of anything to keep him busy.

But so far this spring he's taken on his, mine, Granny's and Aunt Grace's yards. I hope he's not taking on too much. But I feel like he should know his own limits. I plan on helping with my yard as much as I can. Maybe build some more muscle by weed eating more often. Or helping him spread the dirt for the walkway. Or something. And he did tell Mama that he'd probably take it easy today and do light yard work like planting his pots, poisinging weeds and other non heavy lifting stuff. Or whatever. What I know about yard work could fill the head of a pin.

So anyway, at some point this spring (before it gets TOO hot) I'll have one of my major outside home improvement projects done. One more thing to check off my (seemingly endless) list of home improvements. :)