Ladies...

He's single...

4 years of homeowner toil...

Well, we can finally say our own yard is finished. We had the all the woodwork stained last week. (We had to use a solid colour as we left the wood age too long, we are very happy with the result though)

March 2004

August 2004

June 2008

Most of the major work was completed in year two, deck, retaining walls, patio, shed, irrigation, but it has only been since last year that it became really pretty, the big trees were put in (highly recommend the largest trees you can afford) the shrubs grew up etc.

April 2006

We can now sit back and enjoy our yard. 4 years is not too long to complete everything from new home to finished yard, time sure flies.

June 2008

Flipp'd 'er on the Deerfoot...

Wow, the things that were going through this guys head. (pens, paper, pop cans, glass, metal, asphalt) and then imagine what was going through his head during the crash!

Some people think trailer safety and vehicle weight rating are bit of a joke. While this truck may have been 'sort of' in control at 50kph, the physics of the car and trailer that is too heavy tend to take over at highway speeds. I assume this guy tried to slow down quickly or change lanes, and the trailer just decided to try and pass him. Very lucky the trailer stayed attached.

Here is a quick synopsis of this situation

- 2005 Ford Ranger 4x4 weighs 4064lbs

- Factory rated truck towing capacity is 2339lbs

- The 1991 Ford Thunderbird weighs 4318lbs

- The car hauler trailer weighs 2000lbs

- Total trailer weight is 6318lbs

6318lb is 3979lbs over weight to safely tow behind this vehicle. It's a wonder he didn't kill someone. Notice the bungee cord holding the car on the trailer as well.

YIPEEE!!!

YAAAAAAHOOOOO!!!!!

WOOOOWOOOOOO!!!!!

The pride of Elton...

... is his Multi-level flower bed. This was the second time he built the bed. It's always better the second time we always say. Great job, it looks fantastic!

And Hedi, you did a wonderful job on your... uh... flat... ground... um... thingy thing.

Seriously, we always seem to show the big features, but the projects are really made up of hundreds of little parts fitted together, including Hedi's base structure for the rain barrels. We are installing a pretty unique system for the rain barrels.

There are 2 barrels connected to allow for more rainwater storage, but instead of having a tap right at the barrels, we are running a line underground to the veggie garden wall and having a hose bib there where the water is needed. Very cool indeed. Great idea Mr. Current Client! Also any overflows are run into the underground drainage system in the yard.

Veggie garden stairs

A really nice looking set of stairs, me thinks.

Updated photos - Cranston Project July 07

Here are 3 updated photos and an original completion photo of a project we completed last July. It is amazing what a year of growth brings! Our client does and amazing job of upkeep!

Trembling Aspen forest, one of our favorite features!

June 08

July 07

What...... is...... it.....?

2 steps backwards...

... in the mud. It seems like we are actually accomplishing something, but when push comes to shove, we end up further back from where we started and now have big deep ruts to fix. To take the day off from any work, sometimes gives us a head start when we return. Plus it is very unpleasant working with 19lbs of mud stuck to your boots.

We are approx 2 weeks behind schedule, we were supposed to start the evergreen project on May 19th finishing around June 7th. Yeah... not so much on time. So... we will shoot for a goal of June 23rd to finish the evergreen project then it's on to Glendale for a week...

and then back to Cranston for a couple of weeks!

We are sincerely looking forward to long hot sweaty days...

Global warming...

...my ass. I guess the scientists haven't been to Calgary recently.

Things we do...

The things we do that we think are important...

- Sweep the street every time we move material from it
- Park our trucks and trailers so as to not block the main flow of traffic
- wear clean uniform t-shirts and hats
- have full personal protective equipment, and use it
- supply all the water and energy drink to our staff
- take care of our vendors with PO's, on time payments, clear instructions, etc.
- deliver project and company information pamphlets to all the neighbors informing them, when we work, how long we work, that they can come see us if they have questions or concerns.
- not start until 9am on Saturdays
- give long weekends off for our staff
- keep a blog of our current activities
- use new, well cared for equipment, and keep it clean
- use traffic controls in busy neighborhoods
- complete one project at a time (this pushes our schedule back most of the time, but it is always worth it in the end)
- don't overbook with projects, if we can't do it, we won't quote it
- sometimes we take a day off.

Picture is 3888 - 750ml sport drinks that we bought for the 2008 season for our staff on site.

Hedi screwed up...

Or is it screwed down. Yeah, she is fastening the deck boards down. Looks nice and straight too!

This post is brought to you by Rigid tools and white socks. (we wear socks on the cedar decks as our boots cause too much scarring. We will leave the dents and marks up to the client after we leave.)

New look news and notes...

I thought we needed an update to the blogger look. Any comments? Do you like this one or the old one?

Progress, progress, progress..

... it is steady as she goes, we are building and digging and proceeding, slower than should be, but progress nonetheless.

And we can all walk a little taller now... now that we have 6 inches of mud on our boots.

The back wall for the veggie garden is complete and we are proceeding with the base for the main upper wall, 18 pallets of retaining wall and paver brick will be arriving on Friday, and we will be ready!

We started early...

...but unfortunately the rain started early as well. I hope this current weather means the rest of June will be dry. We have now caught up to our schedule and are officially behind on projects. The summer always has a way of making up for bad weather though, so here's hoping...