Getting it going out front

The driveway is happening!!! Luckily our Plan B worked out (major thanks to my brill contractors), and on Friday a big yellow backhoe made fast work of excavating all the old concrete and aphalt. Believe me, I was happy to see it all carted away. The next day, a crew arrived and everything was levelled, then the forms were built and set in place for the concrete curbs that will run from the house to the sidewalk. Plus, for some extra greenery - and really because we don't need parking spots for 3 cars - the crew also built forms for a second raised planting bed. Then the Home Depot flatbed truck arrived with our delivery of the chic and simple charcoal grey interlocking brick I'd picked out (more on that soon). Finally, the concrete mixer showed and gingerly backed into the driveway, dumping 8 cubic yards to create a stable bed for the interlock and to fill the curb and planter forms. Oh, and did I mention this was in the midst of a busy neighbourhood yard sale that we were participating in? Thanks to a v. kind neighbour (hi Mrs Fong!), we were able to set up all our bits and bobs on a yard a couple of doors down while all the construction action was happening on ours...

Before the crew shows up to lay the interlocking brick in the next day or two the painter is here slapping up a couple of coats of Farrow & Ball's super durable and environmentally friendly Exterior Masonry paint in Railings on the facade of the house. Okay, I will admit to butterflies when it first started going up, but imho, I think it looks totally fantastic!

Men at work

After all the ugliness with that bricked up garage door in the basement (take a look here) we had to take drastic action and a fab crew was called in to take care of it. They arrived bright and early Saturday morning with heavy equipment and set to it. The backhoe sliced through the asphalt like buttah and then made quick work of the fill (basically construction scrap and garbage) to reveal the drain and the soon to be replaced brick wall.

It's just lovely to see good work replace bad, taking us one step further to getting stuck in to the interiors. Not to be outdone, David and I kept busy by fishing out black crud from a basement drain that was slightly on the blocked side. Will the fun never end? lol