Sunday, July 23, 2006

Sixteen Five Tons and What Do You Get?


A resurfaced parking space, that's what! 18' x 24'

While Donica worked from home on Friday, she squeezed in ordering 5 tons of granite gravel to resurface our 3-car parking spot at the end of our driveway. The original granite had sunk into the Georgia clay and had left spots for mudpuddles when it rained.


When the dump truck came, I was ready, of course :) Warning: This is where I plug my Canon S3 IS camera again, for the Sports' mode that allows for action shots. I took a continuous sequence of about 20 shots as the truck unloaded and got a video-like short movie. That was one of the reasons why I picked this camera and am thrilled with the option. But then I had to pick just one photo so as not to bore you! Anyway, this is obviously the beginning of the fall!


Because of Donica's pain, I would not let her help me--DUH (and then she apologized for ordering the gravel when she did). But little by little, that Friday evening, when the sun was down, I started shoveling the gravel around for about an hour. I actually like that kind of physical activity which I find to be quite therapeutic. The plan was to finish the next morning, yesterday.


The next morning, however, by the time I got outside and unbenownst to me, Donica was already going to town. She had things down to a science, telling me that it worked better to shovel the gravel into the wheelbarrow and then dump the little loads to wherever for raking smooth.

"AND WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT!!" I asked.

Well, even I have to admit that her answer made sense. "I'm sure it's not a strained groin muscle," she said. She wanted to test it by shoveling and raking and guess what: no pain! She had been told by a co-worker (who frequently gets kidney stones) that her doctor told her to drink lots of water and jump up and down. HA. So Donica decided to shovel and rake.

The pain is still there, coming and going, but was not any worse in the few hours around the exercise. In fact, she actually felt a bit better and thought maybe she had in fact passed what she thinks is/was a kidney stone.

However, at her mom's later last evening (finally celebrating Donica's bithday, almost a week later!), the pain returned a bit. Mom says it may be "gravel" and not a kidney stone per se, which would explain why it hasn't shown up on the scans.


Speaking of gravel, here's the job, done. All smoothed out. Five tons of it.

If that's the problem with Donica--"gravel" in her system--we pray for as speedy a smooth-out. If not, we go to Plan ? (what is it by now??).

You load sixteen tons and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go,
l owe my soul to the company store.
(-Merle Travis, from "Sixteen Tons,"1947)

14 comments:

  1. Donica, be carefull! I know you want to test yourself and that's okay, but don't overdo!

    We're thinking of you both and hope that you can find what really is causing the pain asap! Sending good energy to you both! I'm sure you'll "smoothe out the gravel" ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, and Ginnie... Make sure you're not the one to get a strained groin muscle ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. HA, CS. I actually thought of that myself--that I need to be careful, too. Thanks again for your TLC.

    Donica is getting a bit sheepish about us talking about her all the time but I told her it's because we all care. So there! (i.e. Get over it :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. well I guess you might be a bit tired out, and well exercised... Glad that things look better. I've finally taken pics and will work on sending soon via email. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Get over it Donica! We all care about you and want to see you get well. But I understand, though. Just get well soon :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. ET: I was pleasantly surprised at having no muscle pains at all. Anywhere. Something sure seems wrong with THAT picture, doesn't it! (And thanks a million for the pics!)

    CS: I ditto your sentiment exactly. But she needs to hear it from someone besides me, so thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for the compliment to the Norwegian!
    Seams like you have a big project here, but I'm sure it will come out just great!
    Have a lovely Sunday and a great week ahead:-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gorgeous work, ladies. Now why do I feel so satisfied when I look at your neat gravel parking spot? Odd. But I do.

    ReplyDelete
  9. RennyBA: You can be downright proud of your Green Jersey man! Ditto on stopping by. The project wasn't as big as it looked, believe it or not. It was done before we knew it.

    Lisa: I think you are enjoying it vicariously through us :) Don't we always like it when we can do a good man's work (ha)!

    James: Well, Hello! I KNOW you're loving P-Town. Good for you. And yes, the offer still stands. Just use my g-mail address.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Maybe the word picture is wisdom/insight from above for Donica's pain! Let's hope she's done with the pain soon.

    The gravel looks great, and I can't wait to see this camera in person for you to show me all the tricks!

    (btw, Josh is 5)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mrs. M/Shari: This is Donica's first day back to work since this all started in Germany almost 2 weeks ago. Hard to believe it's been that long. The pain still comes and goes but she says it's not nearly as excruciating as when it first happened in Hannover.

    I'll be delighted to show you my camera. Are you shopping for one? When will we see you next--Christmas? next July 4th?

    Josh is 5 already!!!! We need to get him and Nicholas together at the cottage.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you so much for lsting me and I'm glad I can recall your visit to Norway this way.
    Your very right: Vigeland park is beautiful. Have you seen my posts on it?
    http://rennybasblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/doll-in-winter-wonder-land.html and http://rennybasblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/vigeland-park-not-quite-as-erotic-as.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. RennyBA: It was WONDERFUL to see Vigeland Park through YOUR eyes, especially in the snow. Thanks. I love that place and would go back there in a flash!

    Tim: It actually was not as bad as it looks. I was pleasantly surprised.

    ReplyDelete

Texel Island, NL, 2024: Renovations

  To be honest, I thought I had already posted about our January trip to start some renovations in Jaap's bungalow, as a gift from Astri...