Annie is Amazing

 Monday June 3, 2024 5:10 pm. Let me try and make sense of the past few days. Friday the 31st started out so good. For the first time since my tumble when the ladder sunk into the ground, I was able to get out of bed without pain in my foot or leg. I changed up Annie’s routine and put in her eye drops before feeding her. When she turned up her nose to her food I thought that might have been the reason. This bouncy puppy was lethargic and avoided any kind of movement.

This brought back how Stumpy was in his last days. I took Annie to the Vets later in the morning. They thought it would be best to drop her off and they would get back to me. It was later in the afternoon the Vet called and wanted to do a test for the parvovirus which can be deadly in unvaccinated puppies. I did a quick check on this virus and was not encouraged. I equated this to a death sentence. When the call came back Annie had tested positive, the doctor assured me there was a fighting chance. I walked back over to the office and left a payment.

For the rest of the day I was numb. Parvo is highly contagious. Fortunately Annie’s playdates were all vaccinated so there was no risk of them getting infected. All my clothes were washed in the hottest water and bleached to kill any virus that might have been on them. Annie’s dog cage, stuffed tiger, and food bowls were all disinfected. I’ll keep her quarantined for the next few weeks.

The office is closed on Saturday and Sunday. The phone call on Saturday was very encouraging. Annie was holding her own and eating well.

Sunday’s call was even more encouraging. Annie had greatly improved and should be ready to return home Monday afternoon. The vet and I both pretty much agreed that had this happened a week earlier when she first showed up, Annie would not have survived. That one week of healthy eating built her up enough to fight that damn virus.

Annie’s sudden arrival has sure changed the tenor of life here. Having the house back to just Holly, Me, and sometimes Snowcat over the weekend was a reminder of calmer times. It sounds horrible but I began to feel such resentment towards whoever abandoned this puppy into my care. The puppy’s life was no doubt saved but my comfortable life was turned upside down with a guilt trip added on by someone unknown to me.

I’ve been spreading the word that once Annie is healthy and back on her paws, I’d be comfortable rehoming her to a forever home. She is getting stronger now and it is amazing to watch her jump straight up in the air now!

Doc explained to me Annie’s eye was defective at birth and she will never have vision through it. He said it is fine as it is. That poor puppy is a fighter. After all she has gone through, she deserves a break…..

Annie will be on pills for a bit to treat her hookworm and the parvovirus. I learned early on with Stumpy when I had to give him thyroid pills, to mix the pill first with a small amount of wet food and once that is cleaned up, feed the rest of the meal. This worked like a charm for Annie.

An Abandoned Puppy Story

 I've put together journal entries to publish on my "Public Journal" that tell quite a story. 

This saga begins on Thursday May 23, 2024:

My sleep was disturbed by a dog barking. I figured it belonged to some student. Finally at 4:00 a.m. I gave up the idea of sleeping and put the water on to boil for coffee and hydrated as I caught up on the news. I use my beer mugs for everything. These mugs were a XMAS present from Linda and Paul back when I got my apartment in 1976.

Holly shared my water!!!

Installing the brick driveway back in 2012, Stumpy kept hydrated from these mugs also!!

Poor Ron used to get so agitated when his big white cat “Sister” would drink from his water glass. No matter how hard he tried to keep that glass away from her, she would find a way to drink from it! It is so much easier to just give in!

I heard this dog barking again. With the side door open it seemed to be coming from the front of the house. Checking the front porch I found a rope tied to the railing with a note:

At the end of the rope was a poor puppy.

The rope holding this puppy had this note:

There was a message folded around her collar

Inside were instructions how to treat this eye infection.

Sometimes I really despise the human race. Abandoning a helpless puppy and littering the “information notes” with smiley faces and “LOL’s” is beneath my contempt. I’m trying to work out a plan to get this poor puppy’s eye taken care of and find a home for her. There is no way I can take on the responsibility of caring for a dog. I’ve heard the horror stories how such helpless animals are used as “bait” for dog fights. She will get a safe environment.

I’ve put the word out with friends who hopefully can give me contacts.This poor puppy has been eating up a storm.

Puppy sure threw a wrench into my plans for today!

My first assumption is this puppy was abandoned by a student. There are instances when the student apartments are to be cleaned and pets are found that have been left behind. The “eye instructions” written on the note paper are a total contrast to what was written on the “cardboard instructions.”

Tuesday afternoon a homeless man stopped by looking for work. He said he had not eaten for days. I had fried chicken fingers left over from the Sunday picnic. I gave him most of what I had. I’m wondering now if he might have something to do with this abandonment? I should not be so quick to pass judgment. Perhaps “Puppy’s” owner realized “Puppy’s” care was beyond their means and knew “Puppy” would be cared for here. To have to give up a companion in such a way is really an act of total love.

Puppy has an appointment at the Vet in a few hours. She is very docile and sleeping on the cool bricks of the front walk. I think she knows she is safe now.

Phil stopped by early Tuesday morning and we visited on the front porch. He told me he was sorry that he was going to miss the Home In Place program at St Francis. My head stung from the dope “slap!” I’m to be a greeter there in a couple hours. It totally slipped my mind.

Parking in that area of the University District is a bear. It is easier to just walk over. It is about a mile and a half from my house. The stiffness from the fall seemed to work itself out as I approached the church.

The audience was all us “older folks” and the speaker was a retired Gerontologist who gave a talk on “10 Ways to Avoid Seeing a Gerontologist.”

One of those ways was to perform a “random act of kindness.” It did me good to give that homeless man food and now helping out this poor puppy really released the dopamine into my gray matter!

This speaker gave me a recommendation for a Gerontologist who is in the medical practice I’ve been going to. I have an appointment for August.

Snowcat has not been around this morning. She is smart staying away from all the drama!!!! As disconcerting this has all been, I so hope this messy morning will culminate with a forever, happy home for “Puppy."

Friday May 24, 2024:

Friday morning 8:08 a.m. I’m on the front porch enjoying the breeze from the ceiling fan. The new switch was delivered and the installation was a simple job. Just the kind of rewarding task I needed after all the drama of yesterday. I had to check the computer to see what day it is!! Back to Thursday:

There is a wonderful vet just around the corner from me. I was able to get “Puppy” in at 11:30 a.m. The major problem is her left eye. Doc said the lid was never formed properly and who knows how long that eye has been infected. Hopefully we will be able to save it. The eye drops seem to have made a difference already. Two drops in the morning and two at night.

Puppy is four months old and loaded with fleas and hookworm. She got all her shots and goes back in two weeks.

Jim and Ruth stopped by with dog supplies for me. Puppy seemed much more at ease and stretched out on the bricks. I am just bowled over with the outpouring of help I’ve received.

This poor dog can’t go by the name “Puppy.” Ruth said how since this puppy is an orphan, Annie would be an appropriate name after “Little Orphan Annie.” From now on Annie is this puppies name.

My neighbor Andrea brought over food for Annie who gobbled it right up. Andrea, and the twins Hunt and Mary Charles showed me how to give Annie a bath.

I’ll bet this was the first time Annie was ever bathed.

Caring for a dog is totally different from cats. I usually don’t have my cell phone on me so I was sorry not to be able to capture the excitement last evening. Annie is so wary of going up and down stairs. Ray is not into social media so he was unaware of all that had transpired.Word had filtered around the neighborhood. Ray showed up at the door with another neighbor, Taylor, and his dog. Annie charged off the porch, and down the stairs to make friends.Then Andera showed up with her dogs. Annie was in heaven getting and giving sniffs from her new friends. What an interaction. I realize now how dogs can be a social magnet. It is the total opposite in cats!!

I so want to take Annie out on the lead for walks but she is still skittish over leaving the front of the house. She will sit or lie down flat.

My street has a lot of foot traffic. I’m typing this out on the front porch and a homeless man just passed by. Annie stood up and looked. I wonder if she knows him?? From her demeanor I don’t think Annie was ever mistreated or abused. The more I study the notes that were left, I theorize whoever gave Annie up loved her and wanted a better life for her.

Ruth and Jim loaned me a dog crate which I set up in the bedroom. Once Annie settled in, she got comfortable and went right to sleep. Annie has gotten toys and treats. She went to sleep with her new tiger toy!

Holly seems to be pretty much nonplussed over the new addition. She just looks, no hisses or growls. Snowcat has been MIA for all this. Alex has spotted her in his backyard so she will show up when she wants.

When I first bought this property in 1996 little did I know what vibrant and caring community I was getting onto. The outpouring of help towards Annie and me is humbling. I honestly feel like I’m in the movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

Andrea and her son Luke,and the twins Hunt & Mary Charles stopped by this morning with a flea pill. What a loving interaction between Annie and this family. I need to give Annie another bath today as she still has a lot of fleas. Andrea said to use Dawn this time as the soap suffocates the fleas.

Will shift gears and move Annie into the backyard later. I’m afraid to leave her alone in the front just in case someone might snatch her.

The speaker at the “Home in Place” meeting on Tuesday gave ten ways to avoid seeing a doctor. One of those ways was to give of yourself to help others. Helping out Annie and then the outpouring of love and support for Annie has me so humbled.

A favourite New Year’s Eve episode of the radio show “Amos and Andy” made a lasting imprint onto my mind. Andy gives up numerous opportunities to major New Year’s Eve parties to others. Andy got the major prize to be Lena Horne’s escort to an “A list” function. Andy closed out the show saying, “I cast a few crumbs on the water and I got back a bakery!”

I feel like Andy

Todays journal entry:

These past few days have been such a learning experience. Annie, the puppy continues to blossom and improve. It is like I’m living a “DoDo” video. I can’t thank enough all the help from my friends.

I uploaded a video that Andera shot of Annie playing with the family’s dog Jasper. This all occurred Friday evening. What a change from the traumatized puppy I found tied to the railing at 4:00 a.m. Thursday.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MnL3cOJd23c

Sunday afternoon I had Annie on her lead on the front porch. When I was planting the front flowers Annie began to whine and fuss when I was out of sight. I figured it was separation anxiety. We moved to the backyard where she has total freedom to run. I think in Annie’s mind, being on a lead and alone she thought she was being abandoned again. She is fine on her own in the backyard. She has made up favourite spots in the ferns to keep cool. There are a number of water dishes for her to drink from.

Annie helped with cleaning out the back patio and the undergrowth behind the workshop. I’m inspired to finally scrape and paint the siding that has already flaked off most of the old paint. This area is in shade in the late afternoon so that time slot can be used for painting. .

Annie was such company. She rested as I pulled weeds from between the bricks. To block out the present day, we listened to one of my favourite Kitboga YouTubes, “Do Not Cut the Cards.” This is the full 3 ½ hour dialogue between a scammer and Don & Dawn Doitt. I first enjoyed this back in 2020. The Regina Changer restoration was my COVID project. It was refinished to Don and Dawn Doitt in the background. I know all the dialogue and voice inflections I’ve listened to it so often

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKOBZ7PpQI8

Annie’s eye infection seems to be clearing up. I hope her eye can be saved. I’m improving at getting the drops in. Two drops twice a day.

Snowcat made her presence as I worked on this entry. The view out the side door from the desktop.

Snowcat joined me and realized there was a puppy here.

I witnessed Snowcat being traumatized by the puppy her owner brought home. That was the puppy who grew into the dog central to the “dog bite drama” a few years back. As Annie regains her strength and curiosity, she approached Holly. Poor Holly took off. The backyard was her domain. Now she is on the front porch or side patio. I do my best to keep them separated.

It was a low key Memorial Day. My hometown, Lockport, NY has a “Hometown Hero” project displaying banners of veterans. I submitted my mom and dad’s wedding picture. They were married in their uniforms.

I wonder if anyone will pick up how mom and dad went against Army regulations of fraternization between officers. They were married in a whirlwind wedding before deploying overseas in 1943. The Army was never wise to this marriage. Serious repercussions could have happened.

I need to get a picture of Holly to finish out this entry. Then it will be working in the backyard before the day heats up……

Brick Driveway History. Prologue I

I posted a picture of my “driveway water sparkles” to my Facebook page and received a response that was beyond anything I ever imagined. This summer marks the 10th anniversary of putting all those driveway bricks down.

That 2012 driveway construction was not a case of simply engaging a contractor to do a job.

It was a project that evolved over the years and the miles between Lockport, NY and Tuscaloosa, AL. 

I got the idea to finally consolidate my many journal entries of the 2012 driveway project and rewrite this all into a more of a readable story over just recording what transpired. There is also the back story of the sidewalk bricks that ties into the driveway which can be considered a prologue to this saga. 

My mom died in December of 1994. I was the executor of her estate and it was in the spring of 1995 I was able to close the book on everything. As the year progressed, it was not realized I was also laying the groundwork to be closing the book on the Lockport, NY house I had called home since 1978. 

That summer of 1995 I finally had a deck built off the dining room. When I redid that dining room in the early 1980’s I installed a door to the south wall which did wonders to open that room up to daylight. 

For too many years that doorway was just a portal to nowhere. A deck installation was one of those “round-to-it” projects that never got done. Gary was in the process of installing a deck to his house on Niagara Falls Blvd in Buffalo. He was my inspiration in more ways than one. 

1995 evolved to be a brutally hot summer. Gary was under so much stress pouring cement for the footers, leveling up joists, not to mention all the anxiety that goes with such a job. I did not want to mimic Gary’s aggravations. 

When I contacted Chase Pitkin to price out lumber for this project, the manager of the lumber department informed me the store could contract out the basic deck and stair installation for a labor fee of some $400.00 added to the lumber costs. Where do I sign???

 That $400.00 turned out to be one of the best investments I ever made. Gary began his project way before me. I was putting on the finishing touches long before he drove the last nail to his project. 

Once the deck was up it was time to group all my bricks together into a patio. The treasured bricks I had salvaged in 1983 were finally installed in one place. The deck/patio signaled that I had maxed out the improvements I could sensibly undertake to that old house of mine.

The neighborhood had been slowly getting shabbier as the old established residents died off and their properties turned into rental units. I smiled inwardly when my neighbors complained to me how the 8ft privacy fence I installed blocked off the view to my backyard they so enjoyed. 

These tenants next to me would always back their “piece of shit van” into the driveway right next to the doorway to the dining room. That way they could exit by driving straight out. In the winter they would idle the engine of this smoky rattletrap forever to warm it up before driving off. The exhaust fumes would filter into my house. You could not reason with these people. 

It was in February 1995 I took a much-needed break from the executor duties and flew to Ft Myers, FL to attend the Orlando Phonograph Show. Billy picked me up at the airport and we tore into our lunches seated outside at the restaurant patio. As I luxuriated in the sunshine wearing a Lands End polo shirt, soaking up that glorious sun, a seed was planted into my mind. That seed was I did not have to endure endless Western New York winters anymore if I chose not to. 

One of the major anchors holding me to Lockport was watching over my mother. I promised dad on his deathbed I would always be there for her. I had fulfilled my obligation. In the fall of 1995, the exhaust fumes from the “piece of shit van” again saturated my house signaling the start of winter. It was like those noxious gasses germinated that seed planted in the Florida sunshine to move south. 

Harrison Radiator was again moving work to the Tuscaloosa, AL plant. Wayne and Julie were in line for the next transfer which happened in the late fall of 1995. 

It is funny the influence people can have on your life. Julie was good friends with my sister. It was Julie who found me my Lockport apartment in 1976. Mom was so upset when I moved out but it was time. My GM job seemed fairly secure so I no longer could use the excuse to live at home to save money. 

Julie was working in real-estate and she toured me through the house I eventually bought in 1978. 

To jump ahead… Julie moved to Tuscaloosa, in 1995. I followed finally getting my transfer in late May1998. 

Then Julie went to Corvette Assembly in the winter of 2004 and I followed her arriving at Corvette in August 2004! 

January 1996, I flew to Atlanta. I stayed with Joe’s Uncle Tony for a couple days before driving west to Tuscaloosa, AL In Tuscaloosa I stayed with Lockport friends who had transferred to the Tuscaloosa plant in the early 90’s. 

After studying maps for weeks, I had a pretty good idea of the layout of Tuscaloosa and Northport. I took a drive around the city before contacting my friends. On this excursion I felt such a pull to the historic district where I now live on that first drive through. 

I began to make friends and connections with Tuscaloosa residents and building a network of friends. One connection was a real estate agent who toured me through a couple “historic” houses. One such 1890’s house had me blinded to all its faults. 

It just so happened Billy was enroute to Las Vegas to pack up a collection. His friend Paul was the “sidekick” to help out on this trip.

 Billy and Paul met up with us in Tuscaloosa for a quick visit on the way. Billy is no stranger to real estate. When I showed him this property I was “Ga-Ga” over he gave me the needed dope slap. He took me to the back and pushed my thumb through a back window sill to point out the rampant dry rot. That was all it took to pull me back to reality. 

The die had been cast for me to move south……

Brick Driveway Prologue II

 

After I returned from my first visit to Tuscaloosa the wheels were set in motion for packing up the house. Books and records were boxed up first. The original double hung windows were pulled out of the garage to be refinished and reinstalled when the stained-glass panels would be removed.

It was in late March 1996 things were very slow at work. I had been farmed out to building 7 stacking radiators. It was no problem to get time off for a fast trip to Tuscaloosa.

I bought a cap for the truck to facilitative hauling stuff to Alabama. Having a cap eliminated dealing with tarps and the worry of bad weather infiltrating the load.

It was a wet evening when I first began to dismantle the brick patio that had not even seen eight months of use.
Aftermath of that initial brick removal:

The fall of 1978 I prepared my backyard for a colourful spring. The bulb catalogue from Michigan recommended to throw handfuls of Crocus bulbs onto your lawn and plant them where they landed. I had Crocus plants growing everywhere in my yard!

 

After nearly 20 years they really multiplied. You could not mow the leaves down after the crocus bloomed as they supplied nutrients to the bulbs. The raggedy leaves and grass drove Ron to distraction! I basically just scraped off the sod and laid the bricks into the dirt for my first try at a patio building. The crocus bulbs were still intact.

Nothing says spring like Crocus in bloom. Ron’s old Tabby cat Chloe and Mom’s old cat Fuzzie having treats outside on the remains of the patio.

This Alabama trip would be my first long distance journey driving the 1995 Dodge Dakota overloaded with bricks. I had the weight in the front of the truck bed to attempt to balance out the load. There must have been some 125 bricks in the back.

This was my initial foray driving to Alabama. Google maps and Garmin had not been invented yet… or if they were out there, using them was very limited. I missed the turn off for I-71 outside Cincinnati so it was a straight shot down I-75 to Knoxville, TN. Williamsburg, KY was my stop for the night. It had been a nerve-wracking drive through too much snow in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The outside of the truck was white from the road salt.

A supermarket Deli provided my supper. I learned an important lesson for driving in the south at this stop. A beer would have been so relaxing with my sandwich to calm my frazzled nerves. I was in a dry county. The nearest place to buy beer was 12 miles away! From that time on, taking road trips in the south, I always made sure I had a six pack to fall back on.

I had arranged to rent a storage locker on Skyland Blvd. I drove direct to the storage facility when I arrived in Tuscaloosa. Those rear springs seemed to be breathing sighs of relief as the boxes and bricks were unloaded. I was a happy boy to see the truck bed rise up off the axle to the “normal” position.

I have no idea how many trips were made in the months leading up to closing on my Tuscaloosa, AL house in late August. That little storage locker was pretty full this time. It was emptied the day after I closed on my house.

The bricks were stored in the backyard. The big “square ended” bricks are the pavers from Clinton Street Hill.

Ron’s old cat Chloe perched on the Clinton Street bricks fall of 1996. Dagney on the old train station pavers 1999.

It was in the spring of 1999 I got the approval from the preservation board to install the cast iron gate and brick sidewalk.

I was still a novice working with bricks. I laid out this sidewalk in a simple "basket weave” pattern as I had no way to cut the bricks. I was so proud of that project. My friends were told how those bricks would never come out in my lifetime!!

Prologue III

 

III: The first Nelsonville “Star Bricks.”

It was 2008 when I attended my first brick swap with the International Brick Collectors Association. What an eye opener for me. I immediately developed a hankering for the salt glazed patterned sidewalk brick pavers. The bricks I had salvaged and installed as my sidewalk were similar but not quite up to the quality level of the salt glazed variety.

I tracked down a source of Nelsonville “Star” pattern bricks in Richmond, VA and did a pickup of some 150 “star bricks” in September 2011. I had attended an event in Southeastern, PA. which afforded me a pick-up on the way home

I was not able to finish the packing away of the run till late in the afternoon Tuesday the 6th of September. My original game plan was to drive to Gettysburg, PA Tuesday after packing up the run. There I was to stay with friends and relax Tuesday night and all-day Wednesday.

The rain never let up and an 85-mile drive in the dark to Gettysburg, PA was out of the question. I was too beat to drive any distance. Instead, I decided to just cancel the Gettysburg section of the trip and head for home early.

First, I checked with Dan the E-bay seller if I could pick up my bricks in Richmond, VA a day earlier on Wednesday the 7th. The original pick-up day was planned to be Thursday. That change was OK. We agreed upon a pick-up time of 11:30 a.m.

 I left the campground exhausted Tuesday right around 6:00 p.m. and headed toward Lancaster, PA. I found a Motel 6 listed on Lincoln Highway East. My GPS guided me through the back country roads. Many of the crossroad names I remembered from when I sorted the parcel line at the Lancaster, PA UPS center in the early 1970’s.

The rain never stopped. Many of the roads had water rushing over the surface. I dread driving in these conditions. I took my time and arrived safely to the Motel 6.

Got all checked in and went to the near-by Texas Road House for a greasy, bacon-cheese burger and a cold beer. Got a local Lancaster Wheat beer. It was very good.

I crashed and burned early. According to my GPS it should take some four hours to drive from here to Richmond, VA to where I was to pick up my bricks. I planned on an extra hour and a half for traffic in planning my departure.

 

Got on the road about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday: Things went pretty smoothly driving on route 30 to York, PA and then down I-83 to Baltimore. It was when I got on the I-695 outer beltway things bogged down. The information sign over the highway summed it all up. The driving time to my exit some 12 miles away at I-70 was given as 55 minutes! This time was pretty accurate and “normal.” There was no evidence of an accident or problem.

Finally got to my exit and drove west on I-70 to route 29. Went south on 29 which brought me to I-95. It has been many years since I have driven in this area of the north-east. I remember now why I avoid driving on these roads like the plague. The traffic is unbearable.

The sky opened up as I was on the I-495 around Washington, DC. No more rain. PLEASE!!!! This rain was the solid wall of water variety that you can barely see through.  The road can’t shed the rain fast enough so it is just ends up being standing water to send you hydroplaning. My knuckles were white as I clenched the steering wheel traveling at 45 mph a safe distance behind a semi with the 4 ways flashing. I hate/dread driving under these conditions.

My GPS showed a later and later arrival time to Richmond. When I finally got to I-95, driving/weather conditions calmed down a bit. I pulled off for gas and called Dan to let him know I was running late. He was kind of relieved as he was also running behind. We pushed back the brick pick-up time to 1:30. Now I could relax a bit.

 

I got to the address where the bricks were stored a bit early. I had a Starbucks coffee to relax with. The rain was finally over and day was heating up. The humidity was so thick it could be cut with a knife. I changed out of my thermal shirt into a tee shirt before Dan arrived.

Dan showed up and we loaded up my truck with 150 Nelsonville Star Sidewalk pavers. My truck suspension bogged down as that worked out to be some 1,500 pounds. The sweat was pouring off me as I loaded up the truck bed.

The 150 Nelsonville Star Pavers all loaded up:

From Richmond it was I 64 west to Staunton, VA and I-81. I-81 south to Wytheville, VA.

I arrived at the Motel 6 right around 6:30. I was so worn out I could barely walk into the lobby to register. The clerk remembered me from the previous week. This is a perfect ½ way stop. Tuscaloosa is 500 miles from here; I had 480 miles already under my belt.

Walked down the hill to the Mexican Restaurant: the wait staff remembered me from last week. Splurged and had two Dos Equis with my chimichangas. There was one other guy at the bar across from me. We joked about the Spanish “Judge Judy” show that was on playing out on the big screen TV. This guy before the “Judge” was caught with some strippers in Las Vegas and his tortured wife was really giving it to him. It was very interesting with the hysterics all in Spanish!

Walked up hill to the Motel and crashed. I had a 4:00 a.m. wake up call. At this stage of the trip, I just want to get home!

Prologue IV

 It was in 2002 I poured out the sidewalk to the workshop in the back. I  first laid out the side forms and would mix and pour a section or two after work. This will all be coming up and replaced with these star bricks. This initial cement project was recorded in  my early journal.

Journal entry from 9/11/2o11

Sunday I worked on tearing up the cement walkway and getting things ready for the Nelsonville Sidewalk pavers. This work is pretty fussy and can eat up lots of time. Normally I would have the radio playing my favourite NPR weekend programs. As a tribute to 9/11, memorial programming is all they aired for the entire morning and afternoon. I kept the radio off.

Getting ready to tear into the cement:

I’ve developed a new type of form for pouring the cement side of the new project. Since I’m reusing one of the old forms from the original walkway, this should keep the spacing pretty even and allow the side to stay pretty level. I was too beat up to set the thing up after putting it all together last evening.

The new improved cement form:

I stopped by Publix on the way to Homo-Depot to get the wood needed for the new forms. If there is a new addiction in my life it is the Raspberry Wheat, Shock Top beer I discovered. I got-me (That is Southern talk!) a six pack of that along with some heavy cream. I’m throwing caution to the winds and cooking up Alfredo tonight!

9/12/2012

I’ve reached the point where I want this latest project DONE!!! This has required so much preparation and set up work. It is frustrating in that you don’t see the immediate results and it feels like you are doing all that work with nothing to show.

I’m still pouring cement into the forms for the one side. However, now I can work in stages in that the earliest work can now be added to. Once the cement form dries, bricks are mortared and leveled out to the top edge. Once they set up, I can pound crushed limestone in and install the new sidewalk pavers. Being able to lay 15 pavers yesterday made all the difference in the world. Now, I can see light at the end of this project!

Here is a picture that shows all phases of this project at once: Digging up. Pouring the cement, and installing the bricks.

A close up of how the new pavers will look .. 

9/17/2011

The main focus in my life now has been to get my brick project finished up. This is incorporating many different styles of bricks. The “main sidewalk section” is composed of Nelsonville “Star” design sidewalk pavers. Where this joins to the main patio by my house I used “Hill Brick” salvaged from a reconstruction project done on Clinton Street Hill back in the late 1980’s. This brick had a bevel on one edge so when it was butted up to another bricks square side it would give traction as compared to a smooth surface. That bevel makes a nice transition for the drop from the patio to the sidewalk.

Where the star pavers end I have that demarcation point filled with heavier than normal paving blocks. The light coloured pavers are known as “Worlds Fair” bricks. These bricks were made in Malvern, Ohio by the Robinson Clay Products Co.  This company was so proud of the awards they won at the Columbian Exposition they imprinted the winning medals into their bricks! It can be hard to make out the detail, but you can just make out Columbus stepping into the New World. This imprint was never meant to be seen.  It is this type of pride and workmanship that is so lacking in the marketplace today.

The empty spot will be filled in today with an assortment of yellow bricks surrounded by Culver pavers. I enjoy making up designs using the different bricks in my collection. There has always been a soft spot in my heart for yellow pavers. I just wonder if that has to do with the “Yellow Brick Road” from the “Wizard of Oz”????

9/20/2011

A recap of how the backyard brick projects evolved.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same” is so true in my life. With my last brick project pretty well finished up, I was searching my picture files for some early shots I could use for comparison. I can spend hours just reliving the past viewing those pictures. I decided to be kind to myself and only go back to 2000!!!

The year 2000 was when I poured the cement pad to my driveway, built the wooden gate/fence and poured the sidewalk to the existing pad that was at my back study door. It was May 29th I poured out that cement according to the date scratched into the surface. The two bricks Judy got me from Niagara Falls Blvd are incorporated into the border of this pad!

I’ve have always envied those people who have a vision right from the “get-go” on how they want things to be. In my case things seem to evolve which can end up causing much more work and aggravation.

It was in 2001 I got the idea to install a walkway to my workshop from the driveway to make it easier to get my 1988 Lowrider out of the backyard. Oh my god: how many bags of cement did I mix that spring?

Here is a shot showing the many different levels of patios and walkways I had to contend with. This is a kitty who used to visit Stumpy!!

All those levels and odd angles made my “tits itch”. As Ron aptly coined me, “That Jimmy is like a squirrel in a cage; he just keeps going round and round and round.” In 2009 I got the bright idea to revamp that mess.

Overall shot showing the sidewalk.

Busting up those old pads:  

Laying out and building the extension:

Showing the how the new patio meets with the existing sidewalk:

The finished extension:

This is a shot I tried to duplicate of the first in this series taken this morning:

 

I lived pretty happily with this configuration until the mess at the workshop end of the sidewalk started to bug me. I knew I would not rest until I ripped out that sidewalk I installed ten years previous.

Installation of the new bricks: 

Because these bricks were a “hodge-podge” there was no uniformity in size. This makes laying these out an extremely labour intensive proposition. I tried to get a picture to show the assemblage of bricks in the mock up stage to show the differences in brick height:

The Nelsonville Star Pavers though were a dream to install as they were all the same size.

The new installation looking to the workshop:

Looking towards the house:

 The street paver bricks are laid with a "sand topping mix". This is a mixture of sand and cement. It is swept between the cracks and then soaked with water. This makes a pretty permanent installation, and prevents weeds from growing through. It is a royal pain in the butt though as the residue also fills all the details of the bricks you want to expose. Using a shop vacuum you have to work fast as the bricks are kept wet to suck up the residue. The results are great, but it is so much work. Those gel knee pads I splurged on years ago have paid for themselves many times over! The Star Pavers I did not set with the sand/concrete mix. I just have sand between the joints. They are a valuable brick which may be salvaged and moved again when I’m long gone from here…. I’m worn out from this project. It is safe to say I will not be undertaking another task of this scale for a while!  

Kitboga often interjects in his scambaiter YouTubes that he is such a fan of “foreshadowing.” 

One of my favourite comedy pieces is Anna Russell performing her explanation of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.” This set of four operas is considered the apex of musical achievement. Anna Russell teaches how utterly absurd the underlying plot of this masterpiece is. 

When I reflect back on the brick projects I’ve done…where I’ve finished this entry up, I think how Russell bridges the last two “Ring Operas.” 

Siegfried awakens Brunhilde from her “fire surrounded sleep upon a rock” and they instantly fall in love. Russell coins this as "Love on the rocks." The Opera “Siegfried" ends on a positive note…  Here comes the foreshadowing from Anna Russel…“But nonetheless, they are in love and everything is very happy and you'd think that would be the end of it, wouldn’t you…Oh dear… “Götterdämmerung ””

The continuation of my brick saga will be my “Götterdämmerung !!!”