Water Water Everywhere

Water flows downhill. It's one of those "laws of nature" that we've been taught and that we've all seen in action throughout our lives. Although there might be some strange place on earth where this law of physics doesn't work; in general, unless pumps and other artificial force is put to work, water will always move down a slope. That's the problem and science behind our landscaping and building a new patio. Water control in our back yard is crucial.

I remember spending hours when I was a kid, floating leaves down the
sidewalk curb after a strong rainfall. I lived at the top of a hill
and we got some serious speed on those leaves by the end of the block. 

DH is meeting our landscaping contractor again this morning after meeting with the guy from the utility company. It's going to be a full day of talking about the new patio, grading, and how things need to work to make all of this happen, on time and correctly. The big concern we have is water drainage and making sure that the water continues from west to east down to the creek on our eastern side, instead of pooling on the new patio or (shudder) even entering the house through the back door.

We're trying to make sure that the water flows properly from
rainstorms as well as snow melt. Because we need it to
flow in two directions, the landscaping is crucial and
a bit tricky.  

We've been working with lines, levels and shovels to determine outflow, but it's a pain. We're working two different slopes here - one from west to east away from the castle walls, and the second from north to south to keep the water flow away from the house and the foundation, shunting it out into the larger yard and patio center, then down to the creek. We also have to miss the plateau where we will be getting the shed erected later this fall, and the back area where we'll be putting the new rack for our firewood.

September and October are going to be super busy. We'll get the
landscaping down, pull down at least one more tree, and hopefully
have the shed erected, all before Halloween. 

It's a lot to do, and so much hinges on today's meetings. If Derick decides that the utility cable can't actually be moved, we're sunk. If Anthony decides that he can't put down a deeper foundation for the patio or handle the two different water drainage slopes and the rest of the landscaping, we're also sunk. Today's meetings are crucial. DH isn't sleeping very well because he's super tensed up about today, but we'll know a lot more tonight. I'm just hoping that things will actually go smoothly and that we can go ahead and order the six palettes of paver stones we will need for the patio, have them delivered when we actually need them, and transport them down to the patio area where they will be used in the construction. A lot of things have to fall into place in the next 2-1/2 months. It's a bit frightening to watch those dominoes getting set up, ready to fall on command.

Have a great Tuesday and enjoy your day. I think I may post about waterfalls tomorrow. There has to be something pretty about water, instead of just nerve wracking.