Dirt and Columns

Heya Everyone!!

How's the heat going? We are in the low triple digits still with a heat index between 110 & 112. We even had a major heat advisory issued for us this morning!

Today was also a sucky day to be doing what my father and I did today - dirt moving.

If you remember, about this time last year we had our sewer line re-done and hocked up to the city sewer. Since then we have had a large pile of dirt, and a few other little piles we hadn't gotten to, in the west yard. Today we worked on them.

Yes, we are nut - doing this type of work on a day like this. At least we started fairly early and were finished about noon.

My father drove the tractor and I used the hoe, rake and shovel to help level as well as cleaned the junk debris that was in the dirt.

For those of you who know me I'm a HUGE history buff. One of my favorite periods to study is Ancient Mesopotamia - specifically Sumeria and Assyria. I also enjoy studying about Ancient Egypt as well as Rome.

Today however my mind drifted to Sumerian farmers. Perhaps it was the heat and the dirt but my mind kept going back to them.

While playing in the dirt, with the heat beating down, I couldn't help but think of those ancient farmers toiling in the dirt in one of the most harsh areas of the world.

My father worked in the tobacco fields and cotton fields of Georgia when he was a kid in the '30s and '40s. The method of farming they used was not much different than what the Sumerians used. Dad even remembers using mules to pull the plows.

And here we are today with air-conditioned tractors and combines!!

Anyway, here are the pictures for you.

This is dad with his 50s tractor and yes, that is the original high-loader.

The pile that was left over from the sewer main hook-up is almost gone.

And here he is taking care of the scar from when we tried to fix the septic system a few years ago.




Now that we have given the sewer trench almost a year to settle we can fill the depression with the dirt.


Here's where the new line connected to the house.

To the right, and the biggest reason for smoothing the dirt here, is where a landscaping experiment took place. Let's just say it's better we not talk about it.

Looking West along the new sewer line trench.








Looking South along the line of the original septic system repair.






And here is the area where the contractor removed the last of the foundation from the building we had to tear down.


Now we have nice, flat, spots. It will make mowing a lot easier!!

As an afternoon project I tackled something interesting - a porch column.

Remember a couple of posts back when I said we needed to plan in case the porch could not be re-done next Summer? Well, I spruced up one of the columns so SWMBO would get an idea of what I want to do.

The new columns will be similar to the experimental one and will give us an idea of the 'over all' look.

This is one of the columns as they are now.

Not to whoopee looking is it? At least this is one of the 'better' ones.












Here is the new, enhanced version.

It is missing the quarter round for the base as well as the crown-moulding for the top. I thought I had a stick of quarter round but was mistaken and the crown-moulding will be attached the closer we get to painting (I don't want to scrape around it).

Hopefully you all think it looks 'okay', I think SWMBO is not too sure. She thinks the top doesn't look quit right but it will look better once the moulding is attached. All-in-all it looks better than what's on the porch now!

Base close up - not yet finished.










And the top.

I do need to add a second, support piece, for the crown-moulding, but this will have to wait till I'm done scraping.

Well, that's about it for today.

Let me know what you think of the column.

Till next time...

Cheers!
Larry ~