Distractions

I was finally getting going on the sidewalk installation, and then, I made the mistake of talking to our yard man. I mentioned I needed to stub out out some pipes for downspouts and and a drain for under the house to our sump pump. I installed a french drain to get water out of the back yard several years ago but I never completed the project by installing the above piping. That would have required trenching the front yard and I just didn't get back to it. Now that I'm doing the side walk on the side yard, I need to get the pipes in the ground. Anyway, back to the yard man conversation. He mentioned that he had a trencher and a concrete saw. So, he came by the next morning and cut the front sidewalk and trenched for the pipes. The trench goes clear across the front lawn. His trencher could only get about 24 inches deep and the trench needs to be more than 36 inches deep to drain under the house. In addition, not all of it could be done by the trencher. So, I've been busy working on this trench project instead of the sidewalk. It takes some time to dig through the heavy clay soil, especially since it's wet. The wet is the reason for the drain. I haven't been watering and the neighbors watering is keeping the clay wet. So, it's taking a while and I knew it would, which is why I'd been putting it off. I need to get the front yard back in shape so we can hit the road for a few weeks with Dawn, before she starts back to school. I hate distractions like this. They goof up my well planned project list.