When we first moved into this house my mom came out to spend a couple of weeks to help us move in and to get a leg up on some house projects. For those who know my mom, project is her middle name. Actually, it's really more like her first name, and don't-mind-work is her middle name. During that first visit, she took to cleaning parts of the house--armed with a toothbrush, razor blade and ammonia--that I'm sure the previous owners completely managed to avoid ever cleaning in the sixteen years they lived here before we did. Now I'm sure that the greatest housewarming gift you can give someone is to mop behind the fridge.
But from the very beginning she singled out the rotting railroad ties being used as a small retaining wall at the top of our driveway and said that she'd like to build a rock wall there. It's come up on every other visit in the years since, but there have always been other projects at the top of the list instead.
In this year's visit, they once again did not dissappoint. They painted some closet doors, tilled a section of the lawn with compost to amend the soil, pushed the very large aerator over the whole lawn to prep for seeding, dug out/sifted many bucket-fulls of gravel from a French drain, hauled all the dug-up gravel in multiple wheelbarrow trips up the hill, helped with homework assignments, ironed shirts, woke up early to oversee piano practicing, made sandwiches for lunches, and cleaned the bathrooms, etc. I'm trying to remember what I did besides catch up on my Netflix queue.
Well, earlier in September I had all (and I mean all) of the overgrown landscaping in the front of the house removed. I should interject here a little pity for poor Adam; it's really unfortunate for him that my love language turned out to be home improvement projects. The landscaping decision was impulse (not that I regret it), but it left the rotting railroad ties at the top of the driveway completely exposed. So when my mom again suggested building the rock wall, even Adam agreed. Immediately my mom and I were calling rock suppliers, and soon enough my dad and I were on our way in borrowed a pick-up to buy 3000lbs of field stone.
When my dad wasn't moving rocks for my mom, he was being pestered by Saul for a walk down the street.
After a few afternoons of work, they did it. And, wow! The finished product looks pretty fantastic. I invite anyone to come on by anytime; I'll even set up some folding chairs in the driveway so we can sit and admire it. Thanks, Mom and Dad. We love you too.
4 comments:
It looks so great! How awesome to have a project mom. And I am sure tending to netflix was vital as well.
The picture of your dad makes me miss the east coast just a little. My neighborhood is so treeless.
You mom sounds AMAZING. And a lot like my mom. Every time she comes she gets right to work; things that I'd consider for several months before maybe gettting around to she completes in several hours. I feel really bad for my kids that when they are grown up and have homes of their own, chances are not looking good that I'll be that kind of mom. My mom also is a world-class packer when we move.
"it's really unfortunate for him that my love language turned out to be home improvement projects" made me laugh. Nephi sort of moaned in sympathy reading about your insulation post. "Poor Adam" he said knowingly.
The wall looks great!
That looks great! I love your mom & dad. :)
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