My Working "Vacation"

It's about time I showed y'all what I was bellyaching about last month. The sidewalk completion project got off to a great start when the handlebars to the Roto-tiller decided to break. I got this far (left) before I had to resort to pick and shovel. Fortunately, the lawn tractor was working this time, so I didn't have to haul dirt in the wheelbarrow.





Welding the handlebar struts was out of the question; fortunately, Lil Bro is handy around the barn and dug through Dad's Boneyard o' Various Lawnmowers (Dad was a small engine mechanic by avocation) and found a handle we could bend and drill into a suitable replacement.







Woohoo! Back in the saddle again! Lil Bro was able to chip in a day's digging, but I ended up doing most of the shovel work since I wasn't about to waste all the weekend working...I had all week for that! Lil Bro offered some great suggestions for leveling the November-built sidewalk and ensuring this one wasn't as lumpy...these suggestions wilted against hard rock just under the turf. Okay, we'll put some sand down and get the sucker finished!




The alignment marker disappeared over the winter, so I relied on the Old Mark I Eye Ball. After I detected a curve to the left, I did some extra digging to the right to correct it.











Sure was nice having a relaxing range day before the grunt work began. I need an Advil just looking at this picture. Lil Bro was blessed with all the height in the family, but this was a case where being closer to the ground was beneficial.










The sidewalk ended up with a slight bend to the right (I over-corrected) but I won't have to worry about Mom wondering years from now how much she paid some contractor to build her sidewalk...she'll know by all its faults that it was built by sons with more love than talent.