{Pipe under Brick Walkway & Trench for Water Control}

On December 9, husband Pieter did start with the next Water Control project under supervision of our felines. You will see cute pictures below. This time he managed to place a Pipe under the Brick Walkway & digging a Trench. That way we for sure manage to get rid of the water that runs down the street and now into the trench and downhill into the creek instead of towards our front porch...

December 9, 2013, preparations for getting through the soil, under the concrete and brick walkway.

Tiggy–Tiger is sitting in the planter; studying HOW TO... she will soon find a solution!

Barty joins his adopted sisterTiggy–Tiger so they together can supervise their Papi as he's doing his back breaking job.

The trench got dug, now trying to get through to the other end by running the hose inside a pvc pipe and making the soil soft for bumping it through.

A rather muddy job...

Well, here comes the team! Barty the eldest cat–man with the youngest cat–girl Speckie following  with her tail up and tiny Tiggy–Tiger also follows her adopted sister. They soon will tell their Papi what and HOW to do this!

All three of them inspect and THINK hard. How to get through there...

Luckily the concrete below was not that thick, only a foot wider than the walkway on this side.

Takes patience for softening it all the way to the center.

Speckie is trying to use the plastic bag like her Papi does;  to sit on your knees on it for not getting all muddy... Barty on the brick walkway.

Tiggy–Tiger is contemplating that probably not today we can get through. It needs time to soak and soften...

Speckie is now getting into the trench to look underneath and see if the water is coming through already...

It looks like it's kind of blocked somewhere.

Tiggy–Tiger thinks it is better to go now inside the house, nice and warm for enjoying a snack...

We just wait another day!

Waiting for four days... as it rained heavily the first day and than some more and next we got frost.

See, this ice had to be removed from the water hose before starting the same game all over again.

On December 14 of 2013 it got DONE!

One more part of the Water Control managed.

Neatly done with large tiles alongside beginning of trench.

Still two more projects to be completed... stay tuned!

Do your kitties also love to supervise projects?

It seems to have been a good idea for several others...

Related links:
{Our New Retainer Wall & Vinyl Picket Fence} | previous post showing you part I of Water Control
{65 Year Old Pine Tree Cut Down} | previouis post showing you preparation of Water Control

{Our New Retainer Wall & Vinyl Picket Fence}

Our final mega project for 2013, did come along very well! Husband Pieter did finish placing the two new segments of vinyl fence panels on December 28. Photos have been taken yesterday. We already did have 6 Gothic Picket Vinyl Fence Panels in place. Pieter did dig them up and on the Internet I'd found and ordered 2 more of these 3-ft x 8-ft Vinly Fence Panels from Lowe's Home Improvement  

Bandido-boy, is proudly showing off his new Gatehouse Arborley Gothic Picket Vinyl Fence that he helped his Papi build.

On December 16, I did drive this cute little trailer back home from Lowe's, Vidalia, Georgia where we picked up the 2 panels that I'd ordered on line. Here Pieter made another trip with our Toyota RAV4; our loyal work horse for 16 years!

Just enough space for passing by the huge Southern Magnolia.

On December 18, another load of concrete blocks and concrete mix for building that retainer wall after the 65 Year Old Pine Tree had been cut down on the 17th. This is part of our water control, for keeping the rain water behind this retainer wall and not again running towards our home.

Bandido-boy helping his Papi, day after day. And our felines thought that the mulched tree trunk + the dug up soil was their new HUGE litter box...

You can see the spot of the mulched trunk to the right.

Precision work for leveling it out neatly...

Pouring concrete and on top of that come those concrete blocks...

Some back breaking job for removing the old green metal post that was deep into the concrete. Hacking it clean from concrete again and also finding a huge surprise in the ground.

You can now clearly see where the 65 Year Old Pine Tree once stood!

No, the huge surprise he found in the ground was nothing valuable but these Saw greenbrier, Catbrier, Bullbrier or Smilax bona-nox L. roots! 

It got tangled up into the huge oak tree, unseen with its mean thorns and very hard to kill.

That's where the 65 Year Old Pine Tree once stood...

All done! Retainer wall painted and the Vinyl Fence Panels all erected again! The old green metal post anew into the ground in the concrete for fastening the wire fencing.

Leaving an opening between the white vinyl post and the green metal post for Cat–Thresspassing.

That's where friend cats come to visit and our Tiggy–Tiger goes to see them...

Neat job or not?

And that for an eighty four year young man!

Guess that my Pieter does more physical work than many young men half his age...

Healthy living!

Our Tiggy–Tiger girl figured it out how to get to the other side again.

Notice that the first panel is NOT set on concrete blocks.

Husband Pieter didn't dare to dig there due to the wiring in the ground...

But do you see now how different the height levels are and why the water after tropical showers runs towards our home?

For the end of the year, I feel mighty proud of my dear husband Pieter's accomplishments.

Living frugal from one pension, with 3 adults, we also manage to be happy with our 6 felines.

Now, I'm off to scanning the FINAL100 slides and than I will have managed to make them all digital by the end of 2013 for archiving!

Have you also accomplished some major project this year?

Wishing you all a happy New Year's Eve and a Happy and Healthy 2014!

Thanks for reading here.

Related links:
{65 Year Old Pine Tree Cut Down} | previous post of Part I
Gatehouse Arborley 3-ft x 8-ft White Gothic Picket Vinyl Fence Panel | link from Lowe's

{65 Year Old Pine Tree Cut Down}

On December 17, the weather was wind still and finally the people from Soles Tree Service, Inc could come and cut our HUGE 65 Year Old Pine Tree down.

We had to cut it for keeping the water away from our home...

You will find out below!

Here it was... Funny enough our cats think their Papi created a huge litter box for them!

Speckie girl is right behind me...

This tree was on the border line with our neighbors and it could become a hazard to either one of us.

But the main reason that we cut it, with permission of our neighbors, is to prevent the rain water running down from the higher areas towards our home.

There it is; tall like the oak tree next to it. Our home is out of perspective due to the distance...

Our Southern Magnolia to the left.

It really was a HUGE one...

Our Vintage Woodworks elements are showing very well here.

This photo I took from the neighbors garden and you can see the steep slope running down towards our home...

The total length of this tree measured about 27 meters or 88.5 feet.

The traffic was temporarily stopped as it fell on the road.

We already did have these white vinyl picket fences up there on the border.

BUT as a matter of fact husband Pieter had requested the builder to erect a retainer wall on the border when he was constructing the house. We were working and living in Indonesia at that time. He did NOT erect that retainer wall... 

We paid the price for it this year!

Right through this opening, to the right of the pine tree, was a track where the water would run down straight towards the bay window area...

Now you can see the plan. In the center where the vinyl picket fence has been plucked out, husband Pieter already started pouring concrete and putting concrete blocks on top. Thus creating a shallow retainer wall for keeping the rain water behind it and forcing it to run down hill, alongside the retainer wall towards the back. No more threspassing of rain water!

Yep, here I stand next to parts of the top...

You can see the first part of the picket fence about 4 meters off the road. 

This photo is from August 20, when the water did rise up against our front door steps.

That's the time we had problems with our basement and we want to avoid having to mop up water again for 4 days and nights non-stop!!!

For the time being; this mission is accomplished and in about ten years this huge pine tree could have caused problems as its core was hollow.

Will show you soon the finished project!

Have you had to do something on your property to keep rain water away from your home?

Related links:

{Fighting the Water + Scanning Slides} | previous post by me

{Do you know Dutch DWEILEN for Mopping up Water?}| previous post by me

{IMPACT and AFTERMATH of TROPICAL THUNDERSTORMS} | previous post by me

Rainy July Day in Georgia II - iPhone upload  | shows you how it looks like with heavy rains...

{Our Wood Trail in 1994}

• While scanning old slides I came across this one from 1994, showing you Our Wood Trail. 
• Husband Pieter had dug the ditches and build this wooden walk way, all the way from the gazebo to the greenhouse. That was our first water control project to rid the property of some wet spots.

• From here you are looking at the gazebo and the back of the house, towards the road.
• We only could start with our gardening after we came home from our 3 years of working and living in Indonesia. 
• This was the beginning of our lush garden with cute wrens bird house on the tree.

Azalea Helen Curtis is blooming here

• Same Wood Trail, 17 years later... The wrens bird house still on the tree.
• This photo is taken in the opposite direction.
• The ditches have been filled up with the dirt that came out of the basement when Pieter dug it out for building the Rose Suite. 
• That were 60 tons of dirt and it ended up on the side and in the ditches and on the back of our property near the creek. You can't even tell it was that much.

Do any of you have a walk way into the garden?

Related links:

{205 Winfield Road Then and Now} | previous post by me

{Walk Our Wood Trail With Me + Helen Curtis Azalea} | previous post by me

{Fighting the Water + Scanning Slides}

• On Friday we drove to Atlanta, early morning in heavy rain... Luckily on the way home it only was drizzling. 
• Saturday was my day for cooking a dinner for 8 people, at our home. You did see some pictures from the table setting earlier this week. 
• While entertaining our guests, husband Pieter went downstairs twice for emptying the full, 6 gallons, wet vac in his work  shop. Water was seeping in from the outside wall, where our gutters could not hold all the rain water, neither were the pipes big enough for transporting it away from the house. Maybe some burrow from a chipmunk; who knows why and how; but it found its way inside. 
• No damage, nothing as we have all tile floors. Great thing was that we have those TRINITY EcoStorage™ NSF 6-Tier Wire Shelving Racks on wheels from Costco, so we could easily wheel them off! Imagine having fixed shelves... But it is quite a challenge that Water Control!
• After serving dessert to our guests, I did scoot downstairs to empty the big bucket and to mop up some water. 
• But we had no idea it would worsen over night. It was nearly impossible to keep up with it and we could not go to sleep. 
• Pieter did lie on the bed a couple of times to stretch his back and during the in-between time, I sat at my old laptop + Epson scanner (my second) for scanning our slides. In the office upstairs I keep another Epson scanner for non-slide scanning jobs. Archiving everything...

On the left is the opening for pushing strips of negatives inside...

• Got a lot of slides done that way, because it did not stay with only one night. In fact, on Thursday night we had everything dry and could sleep in one stretch through the night without any bucket-emptying duty.
• But kudos to the inventors of those wet vacs or shop vacs. Ha-ha, shop vac it was, as it worked for us in Pieter's work shop! 

• This one, our second, came from The Home Depot and holds 6 gallons or 22.7 liter.
• It takes some muscle power for lifting them, all night long = divided by two humans!
• Also wringing out those floor cloths takes some energy...

• Soaking up some water with old raggedy floor cloths... called 'DWEILEN' in Dutch.

• This kind of work did ask for some 'Popeye' food so I sautéed some baby spinach with garlic to eat with scrambled egg, made from egg beaters. 
• That makes for a yummy and healthy heart meal! Read about how to on my FB Page: facebook.com/MariettesBaktoBasics

• Pieter got smarter as he opened up the wall, so he could attach the hose right there to suck the water up.
• He left his knee pads still on the floor...
• The noise of this 6 gallons shop vac changes when it's full, so next door in the Rose Suite's living room, I got up from my slide scanning job and took the lid off in order to empty it out.

• 6 gallons shop vac - wet/dry utility vac
• It served us very well!

• My hands sure didn't look that happy after wringing out floor cloths that many times...
• I never wear any gloves; just use my bare hands.

• My left hand with the Dupuytren's Contracture after one year...
• Still functionable and even able to perform heavy duty.

• Did any of you have to fight some water?
• We're lucky with no damage, except that the wool/silk rug in the Rose Suite living room got wet on one side, earlier on February 12 on my Mom's birthday when we also had to fight the water.
• I really feel for all those that lost valuables such as photos or whatsoever due to real flooding!

As Pieter's Dad always used to say: 'Water is like Money; there is Enough of Both but it only is Poorly Distributed...'

Related links:
{Table Setting for Friends} | previous post by me
{Our Wild Creek} | previous post by me
{Our Rose Suite Work Shop & Mariette's Back to Basics Shipping Center} | previous post by me
{My Hand and Dupuytren's Contracture} | previous post by me

{Our Wild Creek}

Due to enormous amounts of rain over the past couple of days, we have a full and wild creek running through our property. The bridges had been elevated, as we learned from previous raging waters. So far, so good. Pieter took some photos with the iPhone.

 Let's have a look at our wild creek...

• This is our newest bridge, close to the road as you see. Husband Pieter finished it just before Valentine's Day in 2012.

• It looks more like a lake now and over the years this has grown in diameter a lot by raging water swirls.

• Branches and all kind of things get to travel down the creek.

• Looking from across the bridge towards the house...

• Showing our center bridge as well...

• This shows the two bridges.

• In the end you also see the first bridge; we got three in total. 
• Lots of rain but it would be far better if it came over several weeks instead of a couple of days.

Are you getting a lot of rainfall in your neck of the woods as well?

Related links:

{Our New 3rd Bridge} | previous post by me

{Our Damage from Tornado spin off of Hurricane Earl, 2003} | previous post by me

{205 Winfield Road Then and Now} | previous post by me

{Our Backyard Wildlife HABITAT Certificate from August 1997} | previous post by me

Rainy July Day in Georgia II - iPhone upload | showing how it looks like...