Polar Plunge 2012

Ringing in the New Year Folly Beach Style....

There was a crowd at the starting line this much larger than in years past due to the wonderfully warm weather on New Years Day. 

We made a mad dash for the ocean because for the first time in years the temperature was pretty nice.  About 50degrees or so.

I believe the best part about this tradition is the characters that you see throughout the event.  I have never been to an event in this town where the age ranges from 5-60 and everyone is out having a good time. We met up with an old man wearing a dress and a wig and I have to admit the costume took the cake for me. 

I on the other hand was dressed as a pirate and took to the sea navigating my way to the ocean for an ice cold dip in the Atlantic. 

My wife remained dry but was a very patient and supportive photographer this year. 

We may not have been the best dressed but I have to say we had the most fun.

Hopefully the beautiful afternoon is a sign of good times to come in 2012!!!

2011 Year in Review

Take a look at the highlights of projects completed in 2011.  Hope you enjoy.

My Patio Project

I have added some of the pictures of the patio construction at my house.  In roughly 4 and a half months my wife and I transformed a tired backyard into a weekend retreat.  We took extra time to make sure the final appreance was attractive and functional.  I am by no means a professional stone mason or landscaper but I enjoy the process of building a backyard space that I can call our own.  I will go into further description on how to build some of the things we used in this patio on a later blog but the pictures below will give you a general overview.  I hope you enjoy!

     

Before

The old backyard

Overgrown bushes were trying to take over our house

Day one of digging

We had to remove the old concrete patio first

Sandy wanted to help dig

It is a good thing I have a large truck because we had it weighed down

Clean slate

I had to repair the existing water line going to the garage and added an extra utility line

The gravel arrives

We had to spread 15tons of ROC

Digging the footers for our planter walls

Filling the footers with concrete and rebar

Sandy always has to leave her mark and track it into the house

Unfortunately, my wife Meg had to be the concrete mixer

Compacting the ROC

Laying block for the planter walls

Rear view

Finished block walls

Stone for the planters arrives

I had a stone helper

Stone going on the walls.

My neigbors were not happy with all the dust

Finished stone planters with Bluetone caps

Hole for fountain

Fountain liner goes in.

Our new bubbling Basalt fountain

We had to raise the entire patio 6"

Finally the bluestone goes down

Bluestone laying Day 2

Bluestone Day 3

As the nights got darker earlier I had to grout the patio using a night light

We added new sod so the dog would be happy again!

The plants are added

We got some beautiful looking plants from Brownswood Nursery

More Plants

I had to remove an entire brick step but added a light a bluestone where the concrete used to be,

Meg planting fall vegetables in the new planters

 

We decided to resurface the garage

Becuase of the grade the door was raised 7"

I surprised my wife by adding a window

I invited some friends over to help me install the new siding and door

The door goes in

This was the suprise window for my wife.

The real surprise was on the inside I added an outdoor TV

Painting Day One

 My wife does all the detail painting

Patio complete

We finished just in time for Fall. Now we can sit out on our new patio and watch football. It only took us 4.5 months this time.