Saturday in Lakeside, Ca

Don and I went to visit Dad, Julie, and Tom on Saturday. We all met at the Home Buffet at the Trolly Square in Santee at 8:00 a.m. when they opened.
After a fabulous breakfast Don and I went to the swap meet and then met the folks back at the house. The projects de jour were the removal of a concrete/wood post in the driveway that was threatening tire damage, the removal of a tree branch that was threatening to fall on the fence, and the raising of some dry wall.
Meanwhile I did the more important work of photographing the trespassing rooster who has recently taken up residence in their yard, and recording the various projects on "film" for posterity.

The back yard

Also the back yard with Dad on the left picking up his leaf blower and Don on the right digging a hole around the concrete that is holding a wood post in place.

Now you can see what he's up to.

This driveway starts at the street and goes past the house to the bottom of the hill.

Turning 180 degrees from the preceding view, is this view of Dad and Julie's house.

Poor Don really wants that thing. There's something about starting a project that demands it be completed. We've been to Home Depot for two shovels and they've been helpful. Here Don has gone back to the idea of braking up the concrete around the post with a hammer, which is how Dad had begun this project, but now that there is a deeper and wider hole around the concrete it is breaking up easier. You can see some of the chunks there in the little mound of dirt. Occasionally Don grabs the post and yanks but nothing happens.

Don stops to breath and Dad picks up the narrow blue shovel.

Wow! I took a little walk around taking a few photographs and when I returned the project was over. The post and concrete were out and the hole was filled back in. The only evidence is this little circle of churned up dirt.

And here's that dastardly post now! It's the rectangular one pretending to be all meek and harmless.

Next project? Well, the Eucalyptist trees have had a bad habit of falling in bad weather, so Dad would like to cut a branch that would land on the fence should the tree fall.

It's the branch on the right whose minutes are numbered.

Don has wrapped this rope around the branch. Soon Dad and I will plant ourselves in a postion to pull on the rope so that the branch does not land on the fence when it falls. Don will saw the branch while we pull. That means there's no one to take pictures.

Here is the reciprocating (?) saw that Don used. It took a long time with Don needing to stop occasionally. Possibly another case where he considered quitting but felt compelled to complete the project. This may not have been the best saw for the job...or perhaps just not the best blade, but considering the height it had to be lifted to cut off the branch it was probably the one that could be hefted and held there for any length of time.

Success!
A chain saw came out, much to Don's relief, to chop the fallen branch up.

Final project? to nail this dry wall in place.

This is doubtless enough for one post (Blogger has been known to drop all of my pictures when I load several on a single posting). I'll save the rooster and a couple more yard shots for the next post.