Concrete Day

Good morning all.  I have stretched this story out as our "bigger" projects are dwindling.  The whole concrete job really took 3 days and they came back to make the cuts on the 4th day.  Today I will post the pictures of the concrete being poured for the patios and the new driveway.


On an unrelated topic last Tuesday was my birthday and it was a very nice one.  Nicole helped Mike with his present and I got a real piece of "machinery" for my kitchen, a new Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I have been playing with it this week and have made some good things.  Nicole has been helping me by sharing some of her recipes.  Nicole also sent me some goodies:)  I got a SideSwipe which scrapes the sides and the bottom of the bowl which the regular attachment on the Kitchen Aid does not do.  She also got me a waffle iron:) and silicone baking mats, which means I don't have to spray pans to bake and nothing sticks.  Thank you Nicole:)

Nicole said she liked that I made a "Wish List" on Amazon.  It sure makes it easy for people to buy you things you would like to have:)  I think everyone should make a wish list…it sure would make it much easier to buy gifts for those really hard people to buy for….like Mike, lol.  He usually gets M&M's and Hershey Kisses.  Mike also took me out for a very nice dinner.  Thank you so much Mike…I love you with all my heart.  You're the best.


OK…back to the work:)


The crew is here to work and the first concrete truck is here.  Pouring the concrete into the pumper:

The hose extends all the way to the back of the house.  The one man pours while the others lay it out:

Ooh this is going to be my outdoor cooking area right off the kitchen:)

Ha, ha…I teased the guys and told them they reminded me of County workers where one man is working and the rest are watching, lol.  Seriously though they really did have to wait for more concrete to be poured:

This is going to be a big patio:

The trucks and the hose:

Working on the walkway and starting to pour the driveway:

Looking good:

The back patio is done:

Ugh…after three trucks of concrete and they ran out with only this much to pour.  That stinks:

The rest did get poured and the crew finally got to leave after waiting for a new truck to come out.  Mike and I let it dry over night and we will not drive on the drive for about a week or so.  It will turn from Gray to almost white as it dries.

The next day Mike and I have some clean up to do but meanwhile….

The princess is the first one to enjoy the new patio:

A couple of guys from the crew came back to pull the form boards off:

Mike digging some dirt we have from a mound by our fence.  We need to back fill all of the concrete before we can add the new sod:

Niki had to move since the guys are now cutting the expansion joints in the main patio:

Cutting the driveway:

And they are out of here…yay…you know Mike and I hate having contractors around!!

Mike filling in some dirt between the drive and patio doors.  We will make a garden there and eventually take out the old sliders:

Mike can shovel but I still have to be the one to use the wheel barrow:

Filling in along the side of the driveway:

And that is what we did for the rest of the day.  Dug up more dirt and filled in any of the high spots.

It will be exciting to finally be able to use our new drive and patio:)

Have a great week and I will write again next Monday for a story and on Thursday for a recipe.