Friday, September 08, 2006

Of Crocs and Cinder Blocks

I was stunned (and I know I'm not alone) to hear of Steve Irwin's (aka Crocodile Hunter) death the other day. My prayers go out to his family. My family has learned a lot from his show.

On to cinder blocks.
When we bought our house, we inherited all the 'sh**' that came with it: a pile of whole and broken cinderblocks, bricks and cement pieces under our front porch. Not to mention the FULL septic tank in the back, that no one knew where it was until it started to spurt up through the ground when I flushed the toilet. But, that's a different subject.

Last year, I had a vision of removing all the cement and bricks from under my front porch, which runs the width of the house, getting rid of the weeds, and laying down landscape fabric with a topping of decorative stone. I tried listing the cement on Freecycle, but I couldn't even give the stuff away.
Yesterday, on Cheapcycle (think Freecycle, but just a little pricier) I noticed a listing looking for cinder blocks, whole and broken. Of COURSE I emailed, trying not to get excited. After all, the person is from the city, why would they want to come to my little ol' town just for cement? Imagine my joy when I heard they DO want to come and get the cement.
So...I've just spent a not-so-enjoyable hour hacking my way through the jungle that replaced my front garden, then removing the blocks. I tell you, didn't take too long before I needed a break. Crawling under the porch and lifting cinderblocks from a squatting position is kinda tricky. I know my muscles will ache later, but it will be a good ache, and my vision of a cleaner looking under-the-porch area is one step closer! A big step, btw!
Wish I had taken pictures of the jungle...I'll have to suffice with a pic (coming soon) of the two piles of vegetation that will be destined for yard waste pickup.

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