Galax - Week 2

Will the rain ever stop? We started Monday with showers and with only a few exceptions, the rain has continued all week. But we, and our hardy work crews, have soldiered on! The landscaping project was delayed until Rojas returned on Wednesday from his holidays, and Jamie and his crew were delayed by the rain from changing the window in the cassita and building the outside bar. However, a couple of cloudy but rainless days changed all that and progress was made.

First the landscaping. As I write, we have finished all the excavation for the footings for the "Great Wall of Deer Creek," and have begun installing the stones. The whole process is arduous to say the least. First you have to excavate (and there is lots of rock in the mountains of Virginia)! Then, you have to install the french drains, with their heavy gravel base and cover, to ensure proper drainage. Then you have load light gravel on top to allow the stones to be set properly. Then you establish the level lines to ensure that the walls are even and consistent.

Then you set the stones - one-by-one in what seems to be a never ending process. The next step is to cover the back of the wall with filter cloth and back-fill with the heavy native soil. Finally you add the top soil and begin the process of locating all the plants. We are now at the stone laying stage and clearly have a lot of work to do between now and when we head to Red Bay next Saturday!

Early in the week, Suz and I took advantage of the rain to tour the area, but mostly made what seems to be endless trips to Lowe's and WallMart for landscaping and other materials. We also headed down to Mt. Airy to Acme Stone to pick out the granite for the counter top for our outside bar. The evenings were mostly spent at the coach, although we did hit Macado's a couple of times (our cell phones work in Galax, but not always at Deer Creek - thank you Verizon), and on Thursday we headed over to Sparta with 9 neighbors to bowl and have dinner in a local cafe. Bowling and dinner has become a regular Thursday event and we had a great time, although the bowling was pretty bad I must admit. We are really enjoying the neighbors, they are a great group of people, always helpful and a lot of fun to be around.

While it looks and feels like the work we have cut out for ourselves will never end (nor will the mounting expenses), there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and we hope to have most work done before we leave (assuming the rain lets up!) What doesn't get done will still be there when we return in late May. I'll let you know how we did in the post next weekend. Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog