Taylor’s Blog

So this weekend there was some progress on the many projects around the house.. Like most projects
there always is something unexpected, like that loose thread on your sweater you know you shouldn’t pull but you do anyway..

Before I get to the
project in a project an update on the garden.. Everything was sewn on Saturday.. Raised beds are well quite easy to plant in, all you really need to use
is your hands the soil is so loose.. Sheila and I bought another 2 tomato plants, and a red pepper plant.. We planted the some seeds (carrots, some kinda
squash I already forgot, etc) and the peppers and tomatoes that we raised from seedlings..

It still looks like a bunch of dirt, but
here she is.. We shall see how the garden grows in a few weeks or so..

My rabbit cage I don’t think is overbuilt now.. One of the little
fuckers hopped right up close to Sheila and I and started eating the weeds in my yard.. I am OK with him and his 100 future offspring if they stick to my
weeds, but you know they will want the garden..

And now for the sweater thread.. The part of the project that forces you to start on a whole new
project.. Another 5 trips to Lowes/Home Depot/Hardware Store.. You know.. The thing that makes you curse owning a house, much less one that is older than
your grandparents..

So Sheila and I start digging next to the house for the patio foundation (You have to dig down 8 inches you know) and I hit a
ceramic pipe.. Interesting I think.. I dig a bit more and realize that it is next to another pipe.. Turns out it is the original drain pipe for the
gutter.. The pipes have nothing between them anymore.. All I can surmise is that they were originally held together by something similar to tar paper.. On
the side of some of the pipes there is stuff that looks like the remnants of tar paper.. The inside of the pipes are filled about 2/3 of the way up with
sediment, and are most likely barely carrying any water to the catch basin in the back yard..

It’s like cholesterol for drain pipes..

So now I have found out why the north side of the house is always so wet, but that has opened up a new project.. Replacing the drain
pipes on the north side of the house.. So far I have dug out about 2/3 of them, and will be putting in 4″ PVC pipe.. It won’t cost too much, but it is
still a shitload of digging.. I also need to get the drain all done soon in case it starts raining.. i don’t need a mud pit 6 inches from the foundation
of my house..

That’s what i have gotten out so
far..

I don’t know what I will do with all of those yet.. Sheila and I will probably plant some flowers or something in them.. We shall
see.. I suspect I will end up with 30-40 of them when i am done digging them all up..

The trench so far..

The
rain has always been a problem at my new house.. One side of the house (opposite the patio side) all the roof water just turns into a river and runs into
the backyard since the drain pipes are all concentrated at one exit point.. I have a simple solution to that.. A Rain Barrel.. The city of Greensboro has
a rain barrel program where they subsidize it so I can
get a 65 gallon rain barrel for 80 bucks.. I am going to call the folks today and see what I need to do to pick one up.. They are made by a company in
Raleigh..

Hopefully all of my drainage problems will be resolved shortly, but we shall see..

Until next time this is Taylor for This Old
House.. Be sure not to miss our next episode where Taylor uncovers another project he had no idea he would have to take on, curses the PVC gods, throws
rocks at rabbits, wishes he never had even wanted to make a stupid patio in the first place, and in the end sits down happily with a beer..