Jeanine and I spent a couple of hours in the yard this morning. We deconstructed five waddles that had been used for erosion control during construction, harvesting the hay inside for mulch. We also cleared the front yard of leaves.

Shortly before lunch, we joined Nico at the kids’ new triplex to help him ready his unit for tenants who will move in on May 1. I also addressed two issues that pertain to the entire building. First, I removed all unnecessary wires and components from the gnarled mess of Verizon junction boxes. This was not necessary work, but I could not stand walking past this abomination for another minute. By the time I was done sorting things out, I was able to remove all four junction boxes and two-thirds of the wires. On my next visit, I will wash the siding and fill all the holes. Second, I patched a 3-inch hole in the foundation with concrete. On my last visit, I used an expanding foam to seal the hole and create a substrate for the concrete. Jeanine washed the siding on the front porch for a dramatic improvement to the appearance of the building and went shopping with Nico for various items needed to ready the apartment. I also stabilized a loose flagstone on the front porch, removed old curtains from the rear porch, hammered down hundreds of nail heads that were sitting proud of the decking, and painted a small area of unfinished siding.