Thursday, September 02, 2010

The Mother-In-Law project

I have said repeatedly over the past 15 years that if Kev and I ever divorced, my folks would keep him and dump me. It's true, they would! Why? well, because Kev does handy-man stuff for my folks and he builds things for my Mom. See, while my Dad is a wonderful rancher/cowboy...he SUCKS at anything mechanical or...handy. Granted, keeping cattle alive and thriving is a handy skill to have, and we all appreciate it every time we take a bite of beef. But still, sometimes, it would have been nice for Dad to be useful around the house.

Last year, Kev decided that my Mom needed a disappearing waterfall. He asked her if she'd like one, and she thought maybe that would be nice, so Kev started planning on how he was going to build it. Here's the finished product: It's called a disappearing waterfall because there isn't a pond of water. The water just disappears amongst the rocks at the base. In actuality, it does go in a pond that is under the rocks and it is then pumped back up to the top of the waterfall. (and for all you cattle people out there, we're using a mineral tub for the "pond".)
As part of the project, we decided to expand her deck by the kitchen door--the door that everyone uses. Kev had build the deck years ago--at least 12 years ago. We decided to expand it clear to the cellar door so that we wouldn't have to put pavers between the two. In doing so, we were able to move Dad's grilling table up to the deck, making it much more convenient for him to get to. Dad is a pretty good welder, he built that table for a welding station and Grandpa used it, but now it's a grilling station. (The top is slate left over from a pool table. It makes for a very heavy table.)
Grass has never grown on the south side of Mom's house. So, after putting in the waterfall, we built a stone patio for Mom. We did edge it with timbers and then set the pavers. Instead of sand, we filled it in with fine, red, Kansas dirt which is closely related to fine, red, Oklahoma dirt...only better.
Here's a view of the patio and the waterfall. The area to the right, under the air conditioner, will become planting boxes. That's a project for next spring. We'll put up a retaining wall with a pathway and then Mom can plant flowers or veggies or whatever she wants to there.
It's been a long road to get this far, but we're pleased with what we've done so far. I for one, am looking forward to seeing it completely finished next summer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forword to it too. I love the waterfall, and the deck, even with the cut phone line (which was my fault). Kev is my favorite son-in-law! (okay, so he is the only son-in-law, but that doesn't matter). Love , Mom