Team Yardwork – Got it done from start to finish in one weekend.

Joey: Uh oh, Holly is out in the yard again. I sense more work coming on…

Holly: A couple weeks ago while shopping for some colorful plants for the front yard, I came across a small group of dense soft shrubs (dwarf pittosporum) and the image of a nice maintainable hedge sprang to mind. They were on sale, so I bought 10 and hauled them home. Initially, I was thinking they’d look good outside the fence by the sidewalk, but after propping them up in front of the porch, I decided that was a much better location.

A gang of Dwarf Pittosporum loitering by the front porch.

They were just the right height in those containers, but the plastic buckets were an eyesore, so after a little thinking and discussion with Joey last week, we mapped out a plan of attack for building a brick planter on either side of the porch, to house the hedges.

Joey: The ‘mapping’ and ‘plan of attack’ was where I came in. After 4 years of marriage, I’ve figured out that Holly likes to start projects, but tends stall when the initial fun and excitement wears off. Fortunately she is married to someone who HATES unfinished projects just cluttering up the house. I usually won’t even start a project unless I know it can and will be finished. Without some ambition, goals, and vision then you will be like a blind person meandering around and bumping into things (Isaiah 59:10). Your project will never get finished and eventually you’ll just fall into a ditch. Well, I didn’t want Holly falling into the ditch, so I challenged her come up with general plans and time frame. I also stressed teamwork and asking for some help. We proceeded to loosely assigned jobs and tasks to each other and figure out a time frame for everything to happen….

Holly: Joey’s friend Raul has lots of experience with brickwork and masonry, so he was a terrific resource. Raul’s roommate Arturo is Ivy’s favorite “uncle” and so he came over to watch Ivy while the rest of us gathered up materials, dug, stacked, mortared and worked on the planters this past Saturday.

Joey: Holly was the ‘mule’ and hauled two truck loads of brick from the brick getting place (not sure where that is). We timed it so that we could start working Saturday morning while she went to get the second load. Everyone convened at the house at 11:00 am. Raul and I began digging up dirt, mixing up concrete, and laying down bricks. Ivy was busy playing in the dirt and radiating cuteness. This work went on from 11:00 am until dark.

The helper.

Holly: One planter was completed on Saturday. Joey got up early on Sunday and finished laying bricks for the other planter, while Ivy and I went to church.

Joey: When Holly returned, I took off to go to softball practice, and she and Ivy took over the detailing. She put the hedges in the planters, filled around them with soil and cleaned up all the mess. Tada! A weekend’s worth of work completed in a total of about 10 hours …. from start to finish and looking good! Holly did a good job on making the whole project go from concept to reality.

1. She started with an idea,
2. expressed and defined her ambitions,
3. came up with some concrete plans,
4. imparted her vision,
5. rounded up some people with skills,
6. deliberately purposed a chunk of time to accomplish this goal,
7. delegated jobs,
8. supervised,
9. and even contributed her own skills (detailing) at the very end to finish up the project.

Got it done!!

Finished and filled! Our new front porch hedge planters!

Success - a much more finished look to the front porch!

Holly: So I’m somewhat sore from loading, unloading and moving 300+ bricks, along with 11 60-pound bags of mortar mix, stooping to plant hedges (which, as I found out, there’s an easy and not-so-easy way to fill a planter with 5-gallon potted plants… the easy way starts out putting the soil in first and fitting the plants, rather than putting the plants in and filling soil around them) and the like. But, the end result is quite nice!

Next up is replacing the dull concrete walkway from the sidewalk to the front steps. That concrete is much thicker than it looks, and does not come apart in nice big chunks when you swing a sledgehammer at it. More like pulverized dents. We may rent a tool to cut into things. More to come….!