Once you go Black

Every year we get a robins nest there in the right corner of the trellis up in the vines.

I noticed some twigs and stuff in that corner and didn't see anything, but the nest wasn't large enough yet to see.  But today I saw that the pair of robins were busily building the nest and it was much more noticeable.

I was trimming all the grapes off the vines and tried to get rid of the ones around the nest area while the robins were out collecting nest building stuff.  Then I saw a robin giving me the evil eye, while sitting on a wire.

So I moved my ladder to another location and began trimming the vines there, until they left again.

Afterwards I installed a piece of vinyl to catch any nest crap, and bird droppings in that area, while the robins nest and raise their young.  Usually they are only here for about 6 weeks.  I noticed the female robin making herself comfy in her nest.

Anyways.  Moved on to the next project. I didn't expect to be doing this weekend.  Repainting the garage door.  It was always this dark brown colour.  It was tired looking and was something we planned to do for years, but never got around to it.  Well today was the day we paint it black.  

It was also the day Tresa stained the back fence black.  Everything was going black today.

The paint I got was Behr exterior paint meant for metal siding.  At first when you apply it, it goes on gray, but as it dries it goes black.  The paint can is also got this plastic lid with a spout you put on.  It was very handy and easy to pour.  Less mess for sure.

And because the garage door turned out so well, I asked if I should paint the side door entrance as well.  I wasn't sure if it was a definite yes.  But I cleaned up the door and taped up the door handle and sides and got it painted by the time Tresa came back out to the garage.  I was inside the garage watching the Umbrella Academy while it was drying.  It looked fine before, but it had scuff marks and painting it just cleaned it up and now it looks sharp!  

Kinda looks a bit like a TARDIS now.  Just needs the POLICE signage.

My job wasn't finished there.  Tresa always wanted to put our house number on the garage.  I thought she wanted the numbers to be the height of the door itself.  I've seen it on other garages.  But she instead just wanted it in the upper right quadrant about 24x24 inches for each number.

I taped off the boundary so the numbers would be more or less proportional.

She wanted it white.  And I drew the numbers out so I could know what font style to do it in.  I wasn't sure how it turn out.  And it took me probably longer to tape it all out than it did to paint.  I did end up paint the curved parts free hand.  It was just too challenging to tape it, so I trusted my steady hand.  But it turned out really nice!  I'm very pleased.  

You know what they say ... Once you go black!

A few weeks earlier I tackled this eyesore on the side of our garage.  It's Tresa's vegetable garden and dumping ground of stuff that can survive outside of the garage.

We just got a new Napoleon BBQ grill and I needed a level place to put it.  And thought about what to do back here that would be the least amount of work and cost.

I also needed to sort out that downspout and the drainage.  This area can sometimes get flooded on heavy rain days.  Even regular rain days water can take a while to drain.

It doesn't look like much but this stuff was heavy.  Each bag was 30kg.  And those are 30x24inch tiles which weighs just as much.  I ended up needing a few more tiles. Another 30x24 and two 24x16inch tiles to covers the cistern that the downspout now drains into.

It took me three trips to HomeDepot to get my materials: gravel, limestone screening, tiles, and filter cloth.

My brother in law gave me directions on what I needed to do to achieve what I wanted.  Basically a cleaned up, less ghetto looking area beside the garage for our recycle bin, garden and more importantly the new BBQ grill.

It was heavy work moving out all those tiles.  I reused what I had and added to it.  It took me 1 day to remove all the old brick that I had before that was crumbling and becoming a hazard and all uneven.  I couldn't leave our new BBQ out there on that.  It wouldn't even be able to roll over it.

So while I had the time, I got to work and I did have stakes and string set up to re-level out the side yard.

Laid down the filter cloth.  And then dumped all 17 bags of limestone screening.  I initially bought 16 bags, and needed 1/2 of another to finish setting in the last 2 tiles.

When we first redid this side area, we didn't use any filter cloth and used pea gravel.  The filter cloth and limestone screening made it much easier to spread and level the area.

I sloped the screening so that it drained away from the garage.  And the top of the tile would be about 3-4inches below the door entrance.  That's so any water doesn't end up flowing in to the garage.

It was back breaking and watch your finger type work getting the tiles back in place.

I had to trim and cut a few of the tiles to get them all in nice and evenly.   Except for the home made tile that had rebar in it.  All the others were quite easy to cut.

At least now I can wheel our BBQ out and free up some space in our garage.

It's a lot cleaner looking now, a lot easier to move around back here too.  And Tresa still has plenty of space for her veggie garden.  Down the road we mad mod the space and install a raised garden.  But we'll see how it goes.

Things Change

It's been a week of new changes.  I actually wasn't sure if this was going to happen, but I started at a new company this week.  It's not strange, just different.  And it's exciting and I'm raring to be productive.  I looked at this change as positive right from the get-go.  It had been some time at my old place, where I was not entirely satisfied with how things were.  It felt like I needed a change.  I knew I needed a change.  And for about 8-10 months I was putting into motion the chance to make a change.  

And a little over 2 months ago that opportunity arrived.  And it was a really great thing.  For the first time in a long while, I felt free of work stress.  I felt like I could recharge, and give me some time to reflect, for sure, and I felt excited again.  It was a gift.  So that I could find and get my mojo back.

This week has not been the most productive, as I'm still trying to get organized and set up so I can focus on my role and navigate new waters.

I'm not worried.  If there's once thing I've been able to do all these years.  It's learn and adapt.  Because change is inevitable.

Some change is harder than others to accept, mostly because you can't un-change it no matter how much you want to.

We said goodbye, far too soon, today to an amazing person.  Lucky to have had the chance to experience his presence in our lives.  He'll be missed, but will live on in memories, as he was such a charismatic character.  He loved to talk, and you would enjoy hearing him speak.

He had this way of making you feel appreciated just by your presence as a contribution to bettering his life experience.  He was just "cool" in his very own and unique way.