It was raining when I woke up. Oh, no, the dirt was getting wet. It would be heavier to lift. Bummer. Keith was sitting in a blue chair, waiting for the rain to stop so he could continue working on the pavers. He needed to dig out the track, put down the leveling sand (bags carried by me, of course. He laughed when I suggested I could bring them to him. Really, when you think about, that was very lucky for me. I think I can lift 50 pounds. I think I can carry 50 pounds. I always think I can do a lot of things. I am glad he thought I shouldn’t try), then paver base tiles, then the base side rails, then the pavers, then put dirt all around the edges, then rake up the dirt, then lay the sod. Oh, he also needed to use the circular saw with a new stone cutting blade to cut the 24 end pavers. Wheeeeeee. By noon, the rain stopped, and he was at it.
I carried a pile of pavers in advance down to the end where they would be needed. It takes a lot longer to walk the 20 feet with two pavers than it takes to put them in place. When it was paver time, he used my stack up in about 4 minutes, then had to wait for me to schlep the rest down to him. Still, it was better than having to get up and down a gazillion times.
At 2:40 he came in for a drink of water and disappeared upstairs. He came back all spiffed up with his two-day-old trumpet (the UPS truck came at 2pm Saturday. I went out and waited for him to come out of the back of the truck because I knew it needed a signature. The doorbell camera told Keith that I went out the front door – geez, surprise much? No – so he came from the back to the front in anticipation. We were talking when the engine restarted on the UPS truck. We both spun around and must have looked stricken, because the driver turner off the engine and waited while Keith hurried over. The guy had looked all over the truck but couldn’t find the box. Oh, disappointing. Keith told him if he did find it, we would be here all day, just out back laying sod – please come find us if you find it. At 8:00, we sat down to dinner and I said, “I guess the UPS guy didn’t find your horn,” and literally at that moment I saw the truck pull up out front. YAY! Keith signed and turned around with the box in his arms. He has the best smile when a trumpet comes in the mail), ready to play taps at 3:00. It’s not a very long song, so after he played we talked a bit about it, came back in, and it was 3:03. I suggested we have a quick swim, because it was hot out and he needed a longer break (according to me). He agreed. I was out back first and opened the cover. I got in. He came out and said, “oh NO.” I, of course, freaked out like there was an alligator in the pool. No gater, but the cover had come off the rail on one side and had sliced the liner most of the length of the pool. AAAUUUUGGGHH. This is definitely not something he can fix. Professionals need to be called. We tried not to think about it and floated a bit, then he fixed the cover and went back to work. It was paver cutting time.
I was quite sure he was going to cut off his hand. I hid around the corner from the cutting, with a towel to staunch the imminent blood, for the first two pavers. Then I went back to weeding, this time in the front yard so I could run and help. He periodically came over and wiggled his hands in front of me – “still have two hands.” He is very thoughtful.
He finished paver cutting and placing about 7pm and was very tired. He thought perhaps he had run out of fuel, since he hadn’t eaten since a quick breakfast. I went in to make pasta and sauce. At Christmas time, Benjamin and Sean visited her parents and tasted Trader Joe’s Truffle sauce. Her parents were in love with it. They thought it was too much to eat plain on pasta but adding some to sauce was terrific. Then adding some to vegetables became a thing. Then adding some to everything became the thing. Sean thought it would make a great Christmas gift for her friend’s chef-y father, so they picked up a couple jars on the way to an after Christmas gathering. Benjamin noticed that on the receipt it said Christmaslimited, and recommended that Sean let her dad know that he better stock up before it disappeared. When they stopped before going back to Madison, there were 36 jars in the front entry. He went and bought ALL they had – including asking for what might be in the storeroom. I LOVE IT! That is some excellent follow through! Benjamin hopped over to see them yesterday and he got two jars in a care package (I don’t make them care packages. I didn’t know. I will think about that) and he gifted us one – recommending we put it in everything. So, I made some penne and added truffle sauce to the Prego. It was very tasty. I recommend. But I don’t think you can get it, unless someone you know has a stockpile.
We cleaned up all the building materials, because the wind got all windy after dinner. There was still a little light, but it was not nice out there. We came in and watched Top Gun, so we can go see Topper Gun soon. We both stayed awake. I was amazed.