diy retro concrete block pad

 So we built a bench (for another post) and then discovered we had no where appropriate to put it.  I thought we could place in front of the new shed, directly on the grass, but was informed my multiple people that the wood would wick up the moisture from the grass and rot in a hurry.  We needed some sort of pad. My husband thought we could use some left over bricks from another project but that seemed too boring and really not special enough for the awesome bench we are going to bestow upon it! I decided the solution was to find some used decorative concrete blocks that were common in the '70's  and fill the voids with pea gravel. I knew my only chance of keeping HH on board with this plan was to not spend too much so I needed to find the brick for free or really cheap.  I scoured craigslist for the concrete blocks but nothing was panning out until I happened to spot a pile of rubble next to the highway at an old motel.  I contacted the motel and they gave me the concrete blocks for free. Lauren had some left over pea gravel that she donated to the cause.

We dug out the sod and then put in a couple inches road mulch (gravel) as the base.

Next we placed the concrete blocks with a couple inch gap between them and filled the voids with pea gravel.

After some tinkering with getting things level the patio was complete!

DIY Grass Couch

I have a grass couch in my backyard.  This is something I don't share with everyone except on the internet.  It all began in the fall when I had a lot of dirt and a husband away on a business trip.  In trying to dig out under our deck I had run out of places to off-load the extra dirt and thought I could be more creative than just piling it up in a corner.  After searching the usual websites I did come across some stock photos of grass couches - some looked rather less than organic, i.e. sod thrown over old couches.  These images looked great but I'm sure they were really only meant to last the day of the photo shoot.  Can you imagine an old couch in your backyard rotting beneath a layer of sod with springs and wood poking out?  I did find a public garden in the UK that used  bales of hay to make their grass couch base, this idea looked like it lasted for sometime, but I had soil, not hay to work with.  My idea then evolved, I picked up 20 cardboard boxes from the liquor store and filled and stacked them to make the couch structure.  I was pretty sure my husband would not be onboard with my engineering plan and I didn't feel like justifying my crazy idea so I had to work pretty hard to complete the project before HH arrived home.  You can see the soil filled and stacked liquor boxes below.

The image below shows the backside "support" for the couch backrest.

 I mudded (not sure if this is a real word) all surfaces with a dirt, water and grass seed mixture.  You can see below it had started to sprout before winter arrived.

 At the end of winter, to everyone's surprise the cardboard box and dirt structure had held together, grass was growing, even on the vertical surfaces but it was pretty patchy.  I ran out of patience and decided to speed up the process with a trip to my local turf farm (bet you wish you had a local turf farm too).

Pictured above is the final version of the couch draped with fresh sod.  The kids don't look particularly impressed in this photo.  Let's hope the grass couch holds together a little longer and that I can capture all the fun that a grass couch adds to ones life.

Thank you to my local liquor store for helping to make this project happen in more ways than one.

rhubarb muffins

I have happy rhubarb.  It is already growing like gangbusters so I decided to make some rhubarb muffins.  I've been eating these rhubarb muffins since I was a kid, I'm not sure where the recipe originated.

Rhubarb Muffin Recipe:
1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 and 1/2 cups rhubarb
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt


Topping (optional)
1 Tb melted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon


Directions:
Combine sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and milk
Stir in rhubarb and nuts
Add dry ingredients
Put in muffin tray and sprinkle with topping


Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes

Now off to eat a muffin with my coffee.  Do you have any favourite rhubarb recipes?

DIY paving stones under the deck patio: part 2

This is the continuation of our project to create a patio under our sundeck. 

With the concrete retaining walls complete it was time to lay down the paving stones.  I wheel barrowed in 3/4 yard of road mulch (fancy gravel that compacts well) into the area.  On another snowy March Sunday we rented a plate tamper, the snow helped us slide the heavy machine down into the base.  After tamping down the road mulch I wheel borrowed about half a yard of sand and raked this out.  The next step involved a term I've recently learned called "screeding" which is a method of pulling a straight board over two one inch boards inset into the sand to create a track that aids in pulling the sand into a perfectly level surface. You can see the method pictured below.

Finally on another rainy Sunday we are able to lay the pavers, using Shannon, her HH and handy paver saw to lay them down.  Pictured below is the new yoga pose: downward facing level.

HHs' completed the paving stone patio by  sweeping, spraying and hand tamping in special sand to fill in the cracks and keep the pavers in place.  Below you can see the results of our labour.

Pictured above: I filled up my cortan steel steps 3/4 of the way with road mulch, tamped this down and then filled to the top with pea gravel.

Shannon just completed an order for some plants for landscaping and I have a few other pieces of furniture I'm looking for to complete the space.   If anyone spots a vintage bar cart suitable for the outdoors in their travels, please let me know.

Thank you to all our family members whose time, effort and skill made this project happen!

Some of you may recall this area was once dubbed the "pit of despair".  I think we need a new name for the pit, please comment with  your suggestions.



it's starting to feel a lot like spring!

After a long wet winter, my garden is emerging from hibernation.  Come to think of it, so am I! Yesterday, I spent some time in my garden jumping from area to area doing a little pruning here, a little weeding there and moving plants about.  Today I was less frantic and decided to actually check out what was growing in my garden.


Yellow crocuses are blooming in my front border.

Purple crocuses are just emerging in my back border.

 My rhubarb is poking it's head out in my vegetable garden.

And self seeded parsley plants have started to grow.

I'm looking forward to the continued spring awakening of my garden.  Have any plants that are emerging in your garden?

Living walls at a local mall

Now the DDS' are more likely to be found at an early bird Nursery plant sales than shopping for shoes at the mall, however, we were recently enticed to take a field trip to Guilford Mall in Surrey, B.C. to view the relatively new interior and exterior design that includes fantastic living walls.


Below you can see the outdoor living wall that covers a pedestrian overpass that connects the mall.  There are lots of hardy low profile plants here that illustrate how you can have a palette of plant colour even in the winter in our Pacific Northwest Climate.  We spotted lavender, Japanese forest grass, junipers and hydrangeas among many others -growing on the vertical.

 

 

 

Below you can see the walls inside the mall.  The height and abundance of the wall is quite impressive.  Lush tropicals seem to thrive inside the mall.  

It's exciting to see even the local mall is going "green".  There are lots of residential products out there for you to have your own living wall such as this one from Lee Valley.  I can see how this would be enticing, especially in a small space balcony where growing vertical could give you way more square footage of gardening space.  At present I still have some horizontal space left to fill, now if only I could buy some plants at the mall!

DIY concrete retaining wall and patio

For several years a half dug out area underneath our sundeck has been an eyesore dubbed the "pit of despair".  Our sundeck is about 6 feet above ground with a support beam bringing the head clearance even lower.  We I decided at the time of building our sundeck that it would be great to dig down to get full 8 foot height and also allow for a "walk out" from our downstairs area. Tired of telling kids to stay out of the pit and explaining the situation to visitors, near the end of the summer I jumped down in the hole and resumed the digging that I abandoned several years prior.  I had thought only a few more wheelbarrows would do the job not realizing...well a lot of things.



Below you can see the beginning of the dig out.  I was able to find spots to deposit the dirt in all my various beds and also utilise the extra soil to build a grass couch (the grass couch will be featured in a future post).

The footings were poured and rebar tied together before Christmas.  We've been working the last month to put together the forms to make a 27" concrete retaining wall. 

Below you can see Shannon and Dad putting navvyjack and cement into our heirloom mixer.

It was a bit of an intense process as we had to work quickly so the mix wouldn't harden and there was also a risk that the forms could pop apart making for disaster.  Prior to pouring the concrete I was instructed to rub old olive oil on the inside walls, I'm told this was so the concrete didn't stick to forms but I'm pretty sure this is not standard procedure.  We rented an industrial concrete vibrator, which apparently if you don't use enough can result in empty craters in the wall, use too much and all the aggregate will sink to the bottom compromising concrete strength.  Yes, I did have to call various rental companies and ask if the had any vibrators available for the weekend.

My father in law and HHs dump concrete into the forms below. 

We had to wait to the following weekend to pop of the forms and see how the concrete cured. We're very pleased how the walls turned, the forms popped off without sticking and experienced only one major first aid incident.  The walls are smooth as a toddler's bottom, with just the right amount of air holes and Shannon's HH is walking despite the nail puncture wound to the foot.

Below is the completed retaining wall.  You can see that corten steel is embedded within the retaining wall to create the kick plate for the steps.  Corten steel is often used in exterior architecture and develops a nice rusty patina over time, it will also withstand the constant eroding drip from being beneath the drip line of the upper deck.

Thank you to all our extended family for all your hard work and expertise - we could not have done it without you.

Now all that is left to do is lay the paving stone floor/patio, landscape the surrounding area and decorating the newest addition to our yard. We'll also have to come up with a new name for under the sundeck as it will be "pit of despair" no more!