Other happenings since August

Other than our front yard renovation, we have done quite a few things since the beginning of August.

Wendy, Eric, Anton, Tanya, and Maddy went to the final summer free concert in the Dundas Driving Park. 

Maddy seems to not like loud music any more - she shivered and hid for much of the concert

Wendy went with our niece and her two children to a "Barbie Experience" event. 

Wendy and Eric got their 4th COVID shots at the clinic in Lime Ridge mall. Very efficient and we could also go shoppping.

Wendy and Eric celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary. Wendy said not to get anything for each other, but Eric has learned that flowers are not covered by that agreement.

Parker and Tanya had their birthdays. Wendy made an angel food cake and decorated both halves differently.

Wendy and Eric took Parker and his girlfriend Jaclyn to the "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" live show at the Mirvish Theatre in Toronto. Great show!

Eric and Wendy took a long weekend away to relax before the September rush. We went to Barrie and stayed in an AirBnB on top of a nice restaurant facing the lake. 

Almost too hot in Barrie on the Labour Day long weekend

Very nice looking beach

We even took a drive up to Orillia to go to Casino Rama. 

Lost our $20 in 10 minutes flat

Eric, Adam, Anton, and Tanya went to the evening version of the London drive in airshow.

First time going to an evening air show

The September rush has started and everyone is back to their usual schedules. Eric and Wendy are mostly working on site at work. Anton is working his remote job (from Toronto), Tanya is winding down her Ukrainian job and looking for work in Canada. Both received their G1 driver's licence cards and are actively learning their driving skills. Adam is busy with work at the helicopter shop and cadets, while Parker is still working full time with his real estate job.

Our front yard renovation!

In the beginning of August we hired the same contractor who did our back yard to essentially slash and burn our front yard. It has needed a refresh since the late 1960s (honestly!), so starting over was the best approach.  Our plan was to remove the tired shrubbery and terribly narrow walkway, to pull out the small and decrepit trees, and to scrape away the horrible lawn.

The old walkway and shrubs

Precarious stairs

The worst lawn on the block

Work began and moved very quickly.

Trees going away

Walkway gone

Roots being dealt with

Lots of progress - rocks being prepared for installation

Since we previously had a very narrow and treacherous path to get to the front door, and that most people climbed over our old 'rock garden' instead, we decided to put in real stairs where the rock garden was, and to put a wide and gradually sloping walkway as well. Options!

We wanted the walkway to curve to the driveway rather than to have a sharp turn

Large pieces of granite separated the driveway from the front yard

Concrete was poured and pebbles (plus an addition) were pressed in to allow it to become exposed aggregate later

Walkway needed to cure for a day

The top surface was washed away to create the exposed aggregate to match our back yard

The addition to the top of the walkway was a glow in the dark chip. Essentially, the walkway is studded with glowing green/blue spots. Not particularly functional to highlight the path (unless the lighting is right), but kind of fun either way.  The following two images show what it looks like in the dark.

The new walkway with some extra soil added to the garden areas.

We got a new post lamp installed and new electrical - including an external electrical outlet on the side of the house for us to plug in Christmas lights without running extensions from the garage.

New sod was installed and some mulch to cover the garden areas.

Mulch added

The new entrance

The "after" shot

All that remains is watering the new sod and planting in the gardens. We have a gardener who helps with our back yard and she is going to provide lots of suggestions for making the new front yard look spectacular! This project took approximately one month to complete, and it will hopefully last another 50+ years.