NOTHING. Nil, zero, zilch, zip, nada, diddly-squat. After getting up at the crack of dawn to move my car out of the driveway to make room for the crew’s equipment, I discovered – after a phone call, of course – that this team works ten hour days four days a week. What a blessing for them, because Friday turned out to be the hottest day of the week with temperatures hovering around 105 degrees.

I will only post photos on the days that something actually happens, and Monday the irrigation crew will start their thing. Then we will have to wait until the concrete contractor is available to do his portion. We are at a standstill until then. It could be two days this week or three weeks from now, so I will not be holding my breath. I have asked the landscape crew not to tear out the old wooden deck until the concrete guy gives us a definite date and has actually shown up to build the forms.

It’s 102 degrees in the shade, and the guys are still here toiling away on the surface of the sun. To the right you can see that a ditch is being dug. It was determined yesterday that because of a low spot close to the southeast corner of my house, two existing downspouts would need to be connected to a sub-grade drain pipe that would run from this corner to the alley between the garage and neighbor’s fence. I know… you’re probably thinking that it would have been easier to raise the grade. This isn’t possible, because we are keeping the existing original concrete and brick paving. So there.

Elsewhere, you can see the steel edging outlining the different beds and paths. This is being done prior to amending and tilling the soil so that the irrigation crew can start their work.

Looks kind of hopeless. As I post this, the little shed you see to the right in the above photo is being dismantled, and that big pile of concrete is waiting to be loaded onto a dump truck that has yet to arrive. If you’re wondering what that white pickup truck and trailer are doing in the alley, all I can say is that I hope that Mary and John understand that furniture is either being moved in or out of their house.