That Year We Made Our Backyard A Paradise

Removed sod

After a very turbulent week for everyone I wanted to share something positive for us.  What better year to beautify your yard than the one when you have to stay at home a lot.  I am so so happy we made the decision to install a brick patio this year to extend our living space to the outside a little more.  We removed part of the grass in our back yard but there is still about 50 feet of grass to the right for us and the dog to enjoy.  Four men, 3 trucks and a day and a half and it is done.  All except a topcoat that they will come back and do on Tuesday or Wednesday that we paid extra for - that will give it a bit of a more finished look.  They have to wait until the overnight temperature is above zero for that and it has been cold here this week with frosts every day but it should be 12 degrees celcius by Wednesday.  

Herringbone design, like a puzzle

The completed patio

I cannot believe how large our back yard now looks with the rhodos that were in the picture below were removed.  They only bloom a couple of weeks in a whole year and should have never been put where they were to begin with.  It doesn't look great yet but will as they used the sod they cut out and put it back where the rhodos were.  In a couple of months, it will be looking really good.  Now we need to have the furniture we bought for it delivered.  And no, the rhodos were not just thrown away.  They removed them for free and one of the Red Seal landscapers is going to use them in his yard as he just bought a house.  They spent so much time making sure everything was just right, including drainage as we have a very slight tilt to the yard.  It truly pays to use professionals for this type of work.  This project has been on our list of wants since we bought the house and since we are staying here forever we now have an outside room :).

The rhodos in the background are the ones we took out(taken 4 years ago)

So as you can guess we've canceled our trip to Mexico.  Our country is asking us to stay at home and we are.  People depend on us - in our business and my Mom and we need to be able to move about here as long as we can.  They are asking people to self-isolate for 14 days on return and for us, that was the kicker.  I have no worries about Mexico or traveling but I understand why they are taking so many precautions.  My poor blogging friend Mitchell who lives in Spain is under a 14-day mandatory lockdown right now. That means he is not even allowed to go for a walk on the beach.  If you don't think that can happen where you live you should think again and prepare in advance for it.  We bottled 30 bottles of red yesterday for hubby and I have 15 bottles of white plus I've stashed lots of chocolate and goodies (where hubby can't find them unless the poop hits the fan) and feel pretty prepared.  Oh yeah, I've already stockpiled lots of groceries so we are good.  We are over-compensating as Mom is in extremely high risk (77 with high BP and diabetes) and hubby has asthma.  Others may feel more comfortable being out and about eating in restaurants and such - to each their own.  I am not concerned about myself but want to keep my loved ones safe.

I stayed on hold for 4 hours on Friday to be disconnected trying to change our flights.  Then yesterday I tried again and was disconnected after an hour. Super frustrating but in the big picture an inconvenience.  We are canceling no matter what, even if we lose the money.  The tickets were bought on points but we paid taxes plus one change fee already.  We've only paid 1-night hotel that is nonrefundable.  I will try again on the phones tomorrow morning - I've set the alarm for 5:30 so I can start dialing at 6 when the phones open.

Our business has already felt an immediate hit this week with 2 potential contracts pulling out.  The first was an immediate spending freeze from a large Canadian company and the other was hubby was supposed to be a speaker at a conference that is now canceled.  Nothing we can do about it.  I feel so fortunate that no matter what happens we can weather this storm, financial and otherwise.  We can also help the kids if necessary.  For now they are ok.  My oldest stepson lost his job at a rec center a month early as they shut down.  His last month of college classes has gone online. His fiancee is a mechanical engineer who is now working from home so financially they are good and we've already told him to ask if he needs help.   Stepson #2 is ok, no changes yet.  Stepson #3 works for the largest plumbing company in Alberta.  Likely there will be layoffs but this family-owned organization is massive and does commercial plumbing.  For now they have promised their staff 2 weeks of paid sick leave if they are sick, no questions asked. That is huge.  We talked to my Stepdaughter yesterday and she was thinking of quitting her wine store job as is getting too many shifts at the bar she works at (she has 2 jobs).  We suggested to her likely the bar job would be very quickly slowing down and she should keep the second job, at least for a couple of months.  She is still young and hadn't thought about that yet.  Her boyfriend suggested they go stock up on groceries this week.  He is a nice boy who obviously has a good head on his shoulders.

Instead of going to the gym we moved hubby's weights in the living room so he can work out at home.  We have a treadmill as well.  For now recreation will be taking lots of walks with Buddy as well as visiting with friends and going to the ocean.  We all have to do the best we can with the cards that have been dealt to us.  Yes, this may have all been blown out of proportion but tell that to someone who has a loved one sick.  Better to be safe than sorry.