Photos: 2026/07-09

0702-yard-grading This is the progress on the yard grading behind the garage and on the west side of the garage. I had started to put strings down, stretched just above the ground as guides to provide an even pitch. After a few reference lines are in place, the rest of the grading is done by eye. I had just started to remove the sod on the west side of the garage and once I reach the road that will be done.
0703-distant-sail There is a sail in the distance but at least medium resolution is needed to see it. I didn't zoom in much to get the scale. It was near the other side, probably this side of Isleboro, so maybe 2/3 of the way to the mainland on the other side.
0707-yard-berm This is the start of a second mostly sod compost pile that gradually got bigger turning into what Shannon called the yard berm, in front of the weeds that Shannon generously referred to as the wildflowers.
0711-yard-grading Grading is coming along. The grade is in place along the back line and around the concrete pad for the propane cylinders. The corner was turned toward the road and the grade now ties into the neighbors yard nicely at least along the back side.
0712-yard-grading A new line was cut along the neighbors property, well on her side but with her permission. This allows a smoother transition of the grade and will better drain her property. A lot of soil was put on top of the berm which now buried the sod so the weed won't grow through.
0715-berm-weeding The cutting attachment was used with the DeWalt weed wacker, pole hedge trimmer. The weeds behind the berm were cut almost up to the property line with 3-6 inch margin for error. The berm was originally extended with only a vague idea where the line was and is 4-6 feet off the line.
0716-microburst After a little more work rain started. A microburst came by. Across the street and one lot up, a neighbor had 9 trees broken and 3 uprooted. No damage here. Power was out due to a service line down but a crew removed the line and put a new fuse in at the end of the street. The service line got fixed days later.
0716-yard-grading At this point grading along a narrow path has been almost completed to the drainage ditch by the road. The string is a refernce but the grade needs to come down about 4 inches near the center of the string closest to the road.
0727-garage I finally cleared the junk out of this side of the garage. The garage is 32 feet deep here but the back wall is only 18-19 feet back leaving an area behind where the car is parked. Maybe later Ed will finish the sheet rock taping and do some painting. Insulation along the ceiling and sheet rock there is needed. The idea is to keep the rest of the garage warm in winter even when the garage door gets openned for the car, not to keep the car warm.
0727-weeded-berm At this point the area behind the berm has been weeded with the pick. Those reeds have very stubborn and fairly deep roots. Some soil has bee added to make it easier to bring the wheel barrow back there.
0803-yard-grading This was much needed diversion grading the soil on the east side of the garage and creating an edge. Later mulch will be added.
0805-driveway-skirt The city took the big drainpipe hump out of my driveway skirt and put in a nicely paved flat skirt.
0808-sw-tofu This recipe is online and called Southwest Tofu Scramble. I served it over sourdough toast. The remainder of the pan was transferred reasonably intact to two 8x8 pyrex pans.
0811-peaches Some of the peach branches on the larger tree were close to the ground so had to be cut. These were made into peach chutney which didn't come out very well.
0816-yard-grading Further progress on the yard grading required more room to put the plentiful rocks that were being found in the area near the road.
0820-yard-grading The small stones that had previously been put down had to be raked up and these were reused over the large rocks.
0821-boat-weeds Having not weeded all summer the weeds under the boat were getting out of control. The area behind the keel was weeded first. The tall weeds by the bow provides contrast.
0821-yard-grading Raking the small rocks was very time consuming persistance pays off.
0822-boat-weeds Under the bow of the boat was weeded but the weeds near the stern were already starting to grow back.
0822-yard-grading More room was made for rocks and raking the small rocks continued.
0823-luke+shan-cape-cod Luke and Shannon took a trip to Cape Cod and met Tara in Chatham.
0824-peach-trees A very large number of peaches had already fallen from the larger tree which ripens earlier than the smaller tree. These went to waste.
0824-yard-grading The small rocks had mostly been moved and raked. The sod near the road had to be removed next. This area was full of large rocks and the grade needed to be brought down as much as 6-8 inches in places.
0825-big-rock A large boulder was found near the road. This was removed and somehow I got it into the wheelbarrow.
0826-berm The berm was growing and needed more room. In order to make it taller a dirt ramp was made so soil could be dumped on top.
0829-yard-grading The tie wall was extended a little as soil was cleared from the hole to take more rocks. The boulder and other large rocks were used here to provide a twist to remove some of the twist in the lumber.
0901-peaches The smaller tree was ripe so most of the peaches were picked and moved to the dining room to be canned. Time was limited due to the yard work and only 7 quarts of peaches were canned. The rest ended up buried in the berm later.
0906-berm The ramp on the berm was now being used to add height to the far end of the berm.
0906-yard-lake A lot of room had been made for rocks but after a rain the area would flood and creat a temporary lake.
0907-yard-grading The wall was extended somwhat as the hole for rocks was enlarged quite a bit.
0909-yard-grading At this point all of the sod had been removed from the phone poles to where the wall would extend toward the ditch. A lot of progress was being made removing rocks were the grade needed to be brought down and putting them in the hole.
0910-joann+margo-bday Jo-Ann and Margo celebrated their 70th birthday. I conspired with Shannon to surprise them be meeting them at the restaurant.
0912-sailboat-view This is the view from my back deck when a sailboat sailed by flying a colorful spinaker.
0917-yard-grading The hole was enlarged further. The soil was moved to the berm along with the sod from the grass and weeds in that area. Rocks were being moved to piles to be later moved into the hole.
0918-yard-lake Having made the hole bigger the lake resulting from a rain was also bigger. Drainage channels were dug to remove most of the water so the hole would dry faster.
0920-sunrise This was a colorful fall sunrise. The photo was taken from my back deck.
0921-yard-grading The hole was still drying and piles of rocks were move to behind the wall were the hole was dryer.
0923-drain-ditch We had known for years that there was a water main break that was making the area near the road very wet. The amount of water had increased and the area was wetter than in the past. The ditch was cleaned out to allow the water to more easily drain.
0923-yard-grading The string had now been extended all the way to the ditch marking the intended grade of the soil. A lot of soil was removed and rocks moved into the hole. The rototiller was used to loosen rocks and then rocks were raked to one side and soil to the other side.
0924-untwist A number of the 12' lengths of 4x4 had twisted. The boulder was being used to put pressure on a twisted length of lumber on the second from the bottom layer. It started with a 1/4 inch gap. The boulder weight reduced the gap to about 1/8 inch with the wood still dry.
0925-roto-tiller One of the rototiller blade assemblies fell off while tilling rocks. The 5/16 inch stainless steel bolt being used as a sheet pin had sheered. I had the right size bolt and nut in the garage so the repair was easy.
0925-shipping-damage Rough handling during shipping put a dent in the cardboard box and marred one of the chairs of my new deck table and chair set. I haven't complained yet (a month later).
0925-yard-grading This is were I left off tilling the rocks before the tiller broke. The light area is where I hadn't tilled. Most of the weeds and rocks brought to the surface had been removed.
0927-water-main The water main leak became substantial. This was enough water leaking out for Belfast Water to finally address the issue a few days later.
0930-untwist After heavy rain the weight of the boulder, a 20 lb sledge hammer and a spitting mall was enough to take all of the twist out of this length of lumber. The gap was now negligible.
0930-water-main Belfast Water came on Wednesday morning. The had used a metal detector and an acoustic sensor and heard hissing under the road so they dug up a section. The pipe was not there. They used an instrument that put a signal in the metal pipe and a sensor to locate the signal. This put the pipe under the ditch. It was some 8-9 feet deep which is why the metal detector didn't pick it up. The patch was completed by the afternoon and they filled in their holes and used the backhoe to pack it down. Later they will patch the road.