The grass has been planted at the Hardy Smith House!

It was a warm, sunny, very hot and humid in Dublin today. It was 97 degrees air temperature at the warmest. We got some much needed rain around 5pm today which dropped the temperature to about 80 degrees. It has been awhile since my last entry. We have been so busy working in the yard. The hardest of the yard work is behind us. The grass is planted and is coming up beautifully on the west side of the house. The rest of the grass is coming up little by little in the front and other side of the house. John planted the front and sides in stages because he had to prepare the soil for planting. The preparation of the soil for planting started with the tilling, then removal of the weeds, sifting of the soil to remove small rocks, sifting of the basement soil to layer on top, then seeding, then raking to ensure even planting and  watering every other day. Just seeing the green grass pop through for the first time about a month ago was a welcome sign of our hard efforts.

All the river rocks have been removed from the basement and piles we created and have been utilized to line the new driveway and walkway. The remaining rocks line the back of the house for which we plan to use for construction of our split rail fence. Another future project. We used the old bricks to fill in the area below the steps. We will have to find more to fill in the walkway. The way the bricks are laid now is just temporary.

We planted two beautiful palms in the garden area, near the breezeway. See the first picture above. The entire area is in the process of being covered with small river pebbles. It is a work in progress. I plan to do more with it next spring. Mondo grass will look great in the area. I planted wildflowers in the flower beds in the front of the house and wild they are. They are tall and basically took away from the beauty of the azaleas we planted. Well at least the wildflowers filled in the gaps until we plant more azaleas or other plants next spring. I plan to dig up the wildflowers this fall.

John finished the trimwork in the 'privacy area' (tiolet/sink). So the ceiling and crown molding are completely done. FINALLY! The picture to the left, is the one of the two bathroom windows that are completely done, with the original window latches reinstalled. Tomorrow, he will do the trimwork in the shower and linen closet area. The following day, he will do the window and all the trimwork near the claw bathtub. The picture below, shows the tan color in the intricate rope design in the crown molding. The rest of the bathroom crown molding will look like this as well. The work should be finished this week. Then we can say, the bathroom is COMPLETELY, TOTALLY, DONE! 

That is all to report at this time. Keep checking back for updates on new projects at the Hardy Smith House. Some pictures of the work we started in April.