Outside - Bricks and Blocks; Outside - Front Lawn; Outside - Steel Clothes Line Poles; Doctor Who and Captain Jack

My battle with the outside world continues.

I've been working on a walk from the carport to the patio behind the house. Both were installed many years ago from a combination of bricks that were ordered and an assortment of found bricks from any number of places long forgotten. I do recognize a group from a fireplace; but I can't remember the location of the house.

Finally with the removal of the roots and stumps, it is much easier to set the bricks in place. One thing I have noticed is that the bricks seems to come in every size. The fireplace bricks are oversized. And at the other end, there's a set of long, thin ones.

My initial hope was to be able to do some strategic replacement. But I've come to realize, everything will have to be replaced and re-worked.

I also want to use some concrete paving blocks to connect the walk to the driveway. This will also allow me to create a bed between it and the carport.

With the removal of the old fern bed and bird bath, the collection of the straw and debris, and the elimination of the tree stump, the front looks so much better.

It can be mowed in about 30 minutes. However, I ran into a problem with the trimming of the drive. I'd been using a plastic line trimmer, but the spool only holds 25 feet of line, which does not go very far. You can buy a replacement spool, but they are about $8 each. Or you can use the same spool and add new plastic line, but that is a tiresome process that has to be done a certain way, or it will not work. And you still only have 25 feet of line.

Saturday, I decided I'd see what else I could find. It didn't take too long to come across a trimmer that uses a spinning metal rotary blade. More expensive than the line trimmer, but you don't have to worry about replacing spools.

Once I got it home, assembly was easy. But you do have to guide it properly, or it will strike the concrete. I need some more practice in this area.

In the back, there are two t-shaped steel poles designed for stringing wire from pole to pole to hang clothes on. This was a common site at any house build in the 50s or 60s. But disappeared as the dryer came into prominence.

I'd kept noticing these two for months and wanted to get rid of them. So I took a shovel and started digging. Problem number one was roots. A maze of crisscrossing roots for about a foot. The second foot was better, but the soil was almost solid clay. Finally, I found the top of the concrete foundation. But I had no idea how far down it would go. (The well at Oak Island immediately came to mind.) Then it dawned on me that I didn't have to remove the pole; I could use the reciprocating saw and cut it off at about 18 inches below ground.

Fortunately, I had a blade designed for heavy metal. So it only took a few minutes to make the initial cut. The metal was about 1/4 inch thick, so it took a while to hack the pole into sections for disposal. Normally, the trash guys will not except some items of which metal pipes is one. But I've come up with a number of tricks to bypass this inconvenience. Like wrapping several of the pipes together in newspaper, then splitting the packages among several garbage bags. (I feel like Raymond Burr in "Rear Window," but I don't have a trunk.)

Doctor Who ended it's season last Friday. Of all the seasons, this had to be the most nuanced. For the first time, I thought of the Doctor as a genuine character instead of a simulacrum. There's a wonderful line in one of the episodes when he says, "Don't you see, everyone gets to live!"

One of the great additions to the series has been Captain Jack. Also see Wikipedia - Jack Harkness.

Essentially character Jack Harkness is bisexual and is played by John Barrowman, who is openly gay.

Near the end of the last episode, Jack gives Rose, the doctor's companion, and the Doctor, a kiss. High marks to BBC!

PAX!