A BIG, HOT Mess: The South AND My Back Yard Renovation Project!

I'm told yesterday was the first day of summer.  Hmmm...NO KIDDING!  We southerners are MELTING down here.  It is not so much the near hundred degree temperatures but the humidity that goes along with them; our air conditioners are working overtime and I've got the newest utility bill to prove that.  OK...Here's your opportunity to tell me, "I told you so" if you want to.  When I was up there in Cleveland complaining about how miserably cold it was, I knew this day was coming...and it is definitely here...IT'S "OFFICIALLY" SUMMER!

A couple of days ago, Robby called me on my way home and asked if I wanted to go out to a barge he has to fish.  I told him I would but as I continued my ride home, I thought about it a little more and by the time I opened the door to my kitchen I told him that I had decided I would just stay home and start supper while he went out there.  He looked at me like a little kid, disappointed because I told him his best friend couldn't spend the night.  HEY...That look wasn't gonna get to me; it was WAY TOO HOT outside for me to even consider going fishing!  That, however, didn't stop him from trying to change my mind.  He told me the barge was covered, therefore, it wouldn't be as hot.  I simply turned around, looked at him and asked, "Is it air conditioned?"  He and Justin burst out laughing, thinking I was joking.  I was not joking; that was the ONLY way I was getting out there in that heat.

As I said, it is not only the heat but the humidity as well that makes it so miserable here.  And since it is now hurricane season, the rain has begun.  Most days it feels like a rain forest, where the temperature and humidity continue to rise until the thunder begins and then the rain.  The rain is a welcome relief from the heat...except when one is right in the middle of a back yard renovation project (ugh...).

At first there was dirt everywhere you looked.  Under the carport, on our shoes, in the car, on my kitchen floor.  You get the idea; with all of that bulldozer work and clearing out, the dirt was expected.  However, when the rain began, all of that dirt turned to mud.  The construction crew continued to work on forms and prepare for the concrete pour, which was scheduled for Wednesday.  We had two separate companies coming to do finish work and Robby kept checking the weather, while the finishers continued to call and ask if we were still going to pour on schedule.  I heard him tell them, "If I waited for it not to rain here in Louisiana, I would be waiting for a long time."  The pour would go off as scheduled.

Oh, rain it did on Wednesday; three separate times, in fact.  But we did get the concrete poured (yay!) and Phase 2 of this "Backyard Renovation Project" is done!  Here are some photographs I took of the progress...

 The forms for the concrete started going up and we decided to make an area through part of an existing flower bed and around the hot tub.
               As you can see, it took LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of dirt for this project!
                               And then it was finally time for the rainy day concrete pour.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the stained concrete that was poured around the pool. We decided on it to blend in with the rocks surrounding the pool and hot tub.  There, in the distance, is the slab for the pool house!  I'm told this project will take about 6 more weeks to complete...We'll see about that.  Phase 3, construction of the pool house,  will begin on Monday.






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